Georgie Binks at CBCNews.ca has filed the following report:

She Raaah! Women Are Doing It For Themselves In The World Of Heavy Metal

Three years ago, on a blistering hot July afternoon at the heavy metal extravaganza Ozzfest in Darien Lake, N.Y., I witnessed dozens of male fans suddenly run towards the stage shouting, “You gotta hear this woman!” Surprised by their enthusiasm, I pushed through the crowd — making sure to steer clear of the moshpit — to see Angela Gossow, lead singer of Sweden’s Arch Enemy, take the stage. What emerged from her lips was a sound akin to the voice of Darth Vader. It was thrilling.

Gossow is part of a vanguard of female metal singers that includes Christina Scabbia (LACUNA COIL), Sharon den Adel (WITHIN TEMPTATION), Annette Olzon (NIGHTWISH) and Otep Shamaya (OTEP). Sam Dunn, the filmmaker behind the documentaries Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey (2006) and the recently released Global Metal, says women’s involvement in heavy metal music has increased in the past five years. “There have always been women going to metal shows as fans, but now we’re seeing women making a name for themselves as musicians. Typically, women have been vocalists, but now we’re starting to see all-female metal bands.”

Dunn believes the increased numbers of women involved in metal is changing the genre. “Female-fronted bands give metal the potential to open up in new directions. For instance, some bands are using the operatic, symphonic style, which has crossovers with the Goth scene. We see the crossover between metal, which has essentially been a boy’s club with a lot of grunting, mixing with a Goth scene, which has a more majestic, ethereal quality to it.”

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