In recent years, the world of heavy music has had a long overdue injection of fresh feminine energy. Armed with bold creative visions and the talent, confidence and drive to match, a new breed of femme talent are smashing through industry glass ceilings and misconceptions at a ferocious rate, dishing up innovative, empowered and impactful music that is changing the heavy music landscape in ways many never would have imagined.
This International Women's Day we're shining the spotlight on the femmes at the front of some of metal's heaviest acts. These are the five fiercest femme voices in metal right now.
The Five Fiercest Femme Voices In Metal Right Now
Larissa Stupar - Venom Prison
Welsh death metal powerhouses Venom Prison released one of the most uncompromisingly brutal and brilliant albums of the year last year in the form of Erebos with Stupar's ferocious roar upfront in the mix. Owner of one of the gnarliest, nastiest sounding screams in metal, Erebos saw Stupar push her talents beyond anything we'd heard from her before. Capable of conveying vitriol and venom unlike few others in heavy music, Stupar stands atop the modern death metal pile.
Justine Jones - Employed To Serve
British metalcore outfit Employed To Serve are often spoken of as one of the most criminally underrated acts in their genre. The vicious vocals and 'don't fuck with me' attitude of frontwoman Justine Jones are a big reason why. Jones devastating delivery took the band to new heights on 2021's Conquering one of our 20 Best albums of 2021. Curently tearing it up in arenas in support of Gojira in Europe, Jones starpower is even more undeniable in the live environment, playing conductor to the chaos on the floor below. The fact that Jones is also the co-founder of the very cool and very heavy UK indie label Church Road Records just adds to her overall badassery.
Tatiana Shmayluk - Jinjer
Ukraine's Jinjer dropped the massive breakthrough album Wallflowers in 2021 exploding into mainstream metal consciousness thanks to its bombastic blend of metal subgenres, placing charismatic vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk firmly in the industry spotlight where she belongs. As capable of pristine clear vocals as she is pungent rap-like passages and utterly ferocious growling, Shmayluk is everything you want in a heavy vocalist and more. It's not only with a mic in hand that Shmayluk and her Jinjer bandmates inspire though, after pausing their career to focus on assisting their homeland after Russia invaded, Jinjer were given permission to leave the nation as official ambassadors of the nation. Anyone who saw them at Good Things can attest Shmayluk is wel and truly living up to the mission.
Serena Cherry - Svalbard
Bristol's Svalbard walks the line between post-hardcore and black metal with guitarist/vocalist Serena Cherry's deep gutturals and piercing screams acting as the glue that keeps the chaotic soundscapes together. Cherry absolutely dominates on the recent single Eternal Spirits, continuing an evolution that has seen both Cherry and Scalbard develop into one of the most unstoppable forces in the UK underground. Svalbard are currently working on their fourth album, the follow-up to the wonderful 202 release When I Die, Will I Get Better?
Courtney LaPlante - Spiritbox
As the literal and spiritual voice of one of the most hyped metal bands on the planet Spiritbox, Courtney LaPlante's presence at the bold forefront of heavy music is undeniable. Spiritbox's debut full-length Eternal Blue has seen them explode to worldwide prominence and none of it could have or would have happened without LaPlante. An accomplished clean vocalist, capable of delivering emotional intensity like few others in the genre, LaPlante takes on a more demonic quality when she lets rip on throat-shredding screams. Always intense, but always in control of her instrument, LaPlante has become one of the most prominent voices in modern metal. See Spiritbox live on Knotfest Australia to find out why.
Looking for more fierce femmes in heavy music? Head here and here and here.
Listen to these Fierce Femmes and many others now on our Fierce Femmes playlist.
