Feminine roar | The Press

Extreme metal has long been the exclusive prerogative of men, with women being relegated to the role of extras, a fate that was too often associated with very unflattering representations. But some of the bands of the hour in the most muscular spheres of metal are led by women who are no longer content to sing the melodic passages of the songs. Incursion into a universe where women literally roar.

Arch Enemy, Jinjer, Spiritbox. Just add the word “reaction” after the name of one of these groups in your favorite search engine to find dozens of videos showing the unfeigned astonishment of coaches vocals listening to any of the songs performed by incredible performers Alissa White-Gluz, Tatiana Schmayluk and Courtney LaPlante. Their vocal prowess leaves you speechless: they perfectly master the techniques of saturated singing, better known in metal jargon as the “growl” and the “fry scream”. It’s wicked as hell, but barely 10 years ago, almost no woman dared to roar like this into the microphone.

“To be a woman and sing with this technique was incredibly rare at that time, and it is still quite rare today,” writes Montrealer Alissa White-Gluz, a pioneer who learned her skills with the group The Agonist before taking over from Angela Gossow with Arch Enemy. “The general public just didn’t believe it was my voice and believed it was post-sync or some other technology that changed the sound of my voice. »

Tatiana Schmayluk maintains that she learned in part by shouting … in her pillow! On tour in England with her colleagues from Jinjer, the 35-year-old Ukrainian singer from the city of Donetsk expressly asked us that the interview focus only on her musical activities, for the safety of her family. However, when we asked him if singing this way allowed him to express particular emotions, we understood that his daily life was not populated by rainbows and unicorns.

Inspiration

Jessica Dupré, of the Quebec group Fall of Stasis, rightly admits that Alissa White-Gluz and Tatiana Schmayluk are among the singers who encouraged her to take up screaming metal herself. “We didn’t know this type of singing existed, so it inspired a generation, a bit like an athlete in a new sport,” the 27-year-old musician tells us. Women have emotions like men, and being able to express our rage in the same way allows our emotions to be conveyed in the same way. It comes with hard-hitting and powerful messages, you want to shout them from the rooftops, it’s liberating! »

“It’s normal and agreed to see men being aggressive and noisy, when women are not supposed to act the same way, adds Alissa White-Gluz, on tour in Japan at the time of our interview. In a sense, singing like that is an act of rebellion. Personally, it makes me feel even more feminine to sing like that because it’s so dominant. »

mastery

If Alissa White-Gluz and Tatiana Schmayluk are self-taught and have learned to growler alone, mastering the right techniques is essential if you want to sing for a long time – Tatiana has also admitted to us that she has a different tone of voice from a dozen years ago.

Armed with a bachelor’s degree in classical singing, Corinne Cardinal, of the Montreal group Valfreya, is currently writing a thesis in musicology which focuses on saturated vocals in metal. Co-founder of The Monster Factory, a company that creates distorted vocal universes for cinema and video games, the 36-year-old singer is one of the few who teaches this kind of singing technique, which consists of knowing how to use her scythes. vocal folds by sparing his real vocal cords.

“I understood the mechanisms of the saturated voice, it helped me a lot,” says the one who currently teaches a dozen students, as many men as women.

Easy to imagine the reaction of the public toAmerica’s Got Talent when he saw the singing tour of the Growlers Choir – a Quebec choir which includes Jessica Dupré and Corinne Cardinal – or that of little Harper, a 10-year-old Briton who made everyone incredulous by interpreting Holy Rollerfrom the Canadian band Spiritbox.

“The reception would have been different a few years ago, although there are still people who call it ‘demon music’… But the judges liked it, and so did the crowd,” says Corinne Cardinal. It also allows women to get away from the clichés still often associated with women in metal, because the image of the leather pitoune or the very cute little gothic girl still sticks. »

The message conveyed by the girls who grow slow is however unequivocal: “Of course, it gives the impression that we are shouting, there is anger that comes out in the metal, that’s for sure”, affirms the singer of Valfreya, who will be on stage in May at Montreal with Swedish veterans of Hammerfall. “Women are also capable of being strong and angry, of expressing the same messages as men, but in their own way. »

We are certainly not going to contradict it.

Four fierce voices

Courtney LaPlante

Spiritbox

The group from Victoria was not only nominated at the last Junos in the metal/hard rock category, but also in the category of revelation group of the year. Hats off to the group led by Courtney LaPlante, who switch without warning from melodic to ear-shattering screams. All this in an indefinable musical setting that navigates with ease between metalcore, nu-metal, electro, post-prog, djent, a completely original and increasingly accessible cocktail.

lauren hart

OnceHuman

Lauren Hart is the devastating force behind Once Human, the band she formed in 2014 with Montreal guitarist and producer Logan Mader, formerly with Machine Head. Launched in 2022, the most recent album scar weaver was critically acclaimed, a ferocious, musically complex and accomplished opus that further affirms the California singer’s incredible vocal dexterity.

Eva Korman

Rolo Tomassi

Rolo Tomassi is another band that defies any form of classification. Notice to the unwary, because the British group hides its game, in all respects. The contrasts achieved by the quintet are so destabilizing that a new musical sub-genre has been created for the group, art-metal. Eva Korman is sometimes the angel who accompanies the soaring piano melodies, sometimes the banshee who wants to swallow our soul. Listening to Where the Myth Becomes LegendRolo Tomassi’s latest album, is an experience in itself.

Vicky Psarakis

The Agonist

The American singer took over from Alissa White-Gluz in 2014, brilliantly ensuring the continuity of the Montreal group’s work – the group’s last two albums were nominated for Juno awards. Incorporating elements of melodic death metal, metalcore, progressive metal and even symphonic metal, the band relies on the vocal prowess of Vicky Psarakis, who uses all overdrive vocal techniques in addition to relying on her natural vocals.