Written by Sunioj on 05.07.2006 at 12:38

I voted for Lacuna coil because Christinas voice is absolutely beautiful and she sings technically, very well, however I dont why everyone loves tarjas voice so much, her voice sounds lazy, like shes not using correct posture when shes singing IMO. Dunno, but if Tristania was here I'd vote for Vibeke.

Uh.... O_O
Are we talking about the same bands? Cristina has a very natural, untrained voice. It's pretty, but I don't think she's using any great technique. And Tarja's got a very classical, very trained voice; I'm a little confused why you think she doesn't have proper support. *lol*
I'm not trying to rip on you or anything, but your comments are so off the wall. *lol*

hmmm....
You are right in the sense that Cristina's voice is a differrent style of singing,
Well just listen to tarjas voice, sure its classical, sure its operatic, but she can put more effort into her singing, and it always sounds like shes not trying very hard to have more tone in her voice. As I said shes sounds lazy. Sometimes she sounds flat in when singing, or her vibrato is off.

I didn't notice "Other" and I voted Epica ...
Well , I find Arch Enemy the best female vocal band anyway she's just amazing

Written by [user id=14672] on 05.07.2006 at 21:09

Written by Daru Jericho on 05.07.2006 at 03:32

Sinergy, Tristania and Arch Enemy should definitely have been on that list!

But I choose other ~ Draconian (like Vaginal Disease), a band I have recently been introduced to. Lisa Johnson (I think) has such an amazingly strong and emotional voice. She lists Sharon from Within Temptatin as one of her influences but i think she has surpassed her. Draconain definitely gets my vote.

Haha arch enemy thats an intersting choise .. yeah she's really good at this.

And yeah about Lisa ... yeah she really is an amazing vocalist, very emotional and powerful. Going deep into your mind and heart!... especialy when I listened to the song ' akherousia ' that one really made me love her !

'Akherousia' is the very song that made me fall in love with her voice too! I heard it on their Myspace profile but I don't even have it on my computer. Hm...I'm gonna try and get it now actually. It's just too beautiful.

Written by [user id=12217] on 05.07.2006 at 21:55

Written by Sunioj on 05.07.2006 at 12:38

I voted for Lacuna coil because Christinas voice is absolutely beautiful and she sings technically, very well, however I dont why everyone loves tarjas voice so much, her voice sounds lazy, like shes not using correct posture when shes singing IMO. Dunno, but if Tristania was here I'd vote for Vibeke.

Uh.... O_O
Are we talking about the same bands? Cristina has a very natural, untrained voice. It's pretty, but I don't think she's using any great technique. And Tarja's got a very classical, very trained voice; I'm a little confused why you think she doesn't have proper support. *lol*
I'm not trying to rip on you or anything, but your comments are so off the wall. *lol*

I have to wonder about that comment too...

The more I hear Lacuna Coil, the less I like them in comparison with other female-fronted metal bands. Admittedly I havn't heard their latest album, which im hoping to get sometime soon - I do still like the band, after all. However, lyrically and sound-wise they just aren't as inspired/inspiring as many others. Cristina's voice also doesn't have the power/other qualities that I like in abundance, though she's still pleasant to listen to.

I said other, personally I like Arch Enemy, though it's a little cliche, I still love a woman that can growl like that. If I was voting for who had the best cleal voice, Tarja all the way. And yeah, I agree with Nemesis, I don't get where you found your ideas man.

i have voted to nightwish. Well for Tarja voice cause she has a wonderful voice and even better in a live concert .

These polls are so silly. Do you plan to make a "Best male vocal band" thread? No, because the gender of the vocalist has shit to do with the style of the music. Nearly all the bands you have above are symphonic metal.. many female fronted bands are NOT symphonic metal and can't be compared to them. Women sing lead in many black metal bands, power metal and thrash bands as well as the oh-so-popular symphonic bands. Can you compare Astarte to Amaran to Within Temptation? No.......

Maybe I'll go make a "best male vocal band" thread. That would be fun.. I'll just grab the 8 currently popular metal bands who happen to have a guy singing. Maybe... Blind Guardian.... In Flames... Kamelot... Megadeth.... Children of Bodom.....Emperor....Opeth..... and Dimmu Borgir? There!! Which is the best of THOSE bands?

ha ha nice post

Kinda agree with Lyrinan now that she mentions it ... didn't think of that before when I answered this question.

Well, since Arch Enemy is my favourite band in the whole wide world i'd have to go wit Angela. I've seen previews of the "Live Apocalypse DVD" and it sounds like she has really improved live! Not that she was bad before! If i had to choose from the list given, i'd go wit Tarja as i like Nightwish a lot.

I was always a fan of Ozma's vocal delivery. She being the front of the band Thorr's Hammer. Gutteral and spewing forth is always the perferred way.

Written by Sunioj on 05.07.2006 at 23:24

hmmm....
You are right in the sense that Cristina's voice is a differrent style of singing,
Well just listen to tarjas voice, sure its classical, sure its operatic, but she can put more effort into her singing, and it always sounds like shes not trying very hard to have more tone in her voice. As I said shes sounds lazy. Sometimes she sounds flat in when singing, or her vibrato is off.

I would disagree. I think she's got a very powerful voice and very good control. The only problem I've ever noticed is live, she has some very bad pronunciation, which makes her sound pretty odd. I don't notice that in a classical setting though, in videos of her classical concerts she sounds perfect.

Written by Susan on 06.07.2006 at 20:18

These polls are so silly. Do you plan to make a "Best male vocal band" thread? No, because the gender of the vocalist has shit to do with the style of the music. Nearly all the bands you have above are symphonic metal.. many female fronted bands are NOT symphonic metal and can't be compared to them. Women sing lead in many black metal bands, power metal and thrash bands as well as the oh-so-popular symphonic bands. Can you compare Astarte to Amaran to Within Temptation? No.......

Maybe I'll go make a "best male vocal band" thread. That would be fun.. I'll just grab the 8 currently popular metal bands who happen to have a guy singing. Maybe... Blind Guardian.... In Flames... Kamelot... Megadeth.... Children of Bodom.....Emperor....Opeth..... and Dimmu Borgir? There!! Which is the best of THOSE bands?

Sorry for the double post, I saw this after I made my last one.
There aren't that many well known female fronted bands. It's like if there was a poll about what band has the best violin - it's not that common, so even though the bands in the poll would probably fall into different genres, it still makes sense to have a poll grouping them together.

Written by [user id=12217] on 07.07.2006 at 00:32

Sorry for the double post, I saw this after I made my last one.
There aren't that many well known female fronted bands. It's like if there was a poll about what band has the best violin - it's not that common, so even though the bands in the poll would probably fall into different genres, it still makes sense to have a poll grouping them together.

I'm sorry that you don't know very many female fronted bands (or bands that use violins). You don't know what you're missing! Women sing and play instruments in many great (and not-so-great) bands across the genre board (and many bands across the genres use violins, cellos, etc.)

I guess I just never thought of the lead singer's gender as a way to differentiate bands.

Written by AnGina-- on 02.07.2006 at 23:15

Gotta love The Gathering I explained why in their thread and relly don' feel like explaining why I love them so much

This South Park Chick was saying the truth!!

Where is the Love for the babe in the gathering
she has the perfect voice when your feeling down or just want to relax and kick back

Holy Moses!

Written by Susan on 07.07.2006 at 02:23

Written by [user id=12217] on 07.07.2006 at 00:32

Sorry for the double post, I saw this after I made my last one.
There aren't that many well known female fronted bands. It's like if there was a poll about what band has the best violin - it's not that common, so even though the bands in the poll would probably fall into different genres, it still makes sense to have a poll grouping them together.

I'm sorry that you don't know very many female fronted bands (or bands that use violins). You don't know what you're missing! Women sing and play instruments in many great (and not-so-great) bands across the genre board (and many bands across the genres use violins, cellos, etc.)

I guess I just never thought of the lead singer's gender as a way to differentiate bands.

Most of the music I listen to is female fronted. However, while there are 1000s of bands with male lead singers, I would be surprised to hear of more than a couple hundred with female singers, and only a fraction of them are at all well known.
Don't you group bands by vocals? Death metal vocals, black metal vocals, clean male vocals, female vocals. Why is that off the wall? A woman's voice is not (or at least not usually) a death metal voice or a black metal voice. I might further differentiate between soprano female vocals (Epica, Nightwish, After Forever, The 3rd and the Mortal, Nemesa, Aesma Daeva, Draconian, Chalice, Ideas, Tristania, Lumsk), natural or non-classical female vocals (Lacuna Coil, The Gathering, Asrai, Delight, Midnattsol), and aggressive or lower pitched female vocals (Cruachan, Madder Mortem, Autumn, Flowing Tears), but they're all still essentially female. Generally speaking, with the possible exception of Madder Mortem, I would have an easier time comparing vocalists in any of those 3 different classifications that I would comparing them to any of the male genres. If you were comparing classical vocalists, would you compare sopranos to tenors, or to mezzo-sopranos or altos? Because there's a basic similarity (female voices), even though they're pretty different things it's easier to compare a soprano to an alto than it is to compare a soprano to a tenor.

Written by [user id=12217] on 07.07.2006 at 04:37
If you were comparing classical vocalists, would you compare sopranos to tenors, or to mezzo-sopranos or altos? Because there's a basic similarity (female voices), even though they're pretty different things it's easier to compare a soprano to an alto than it is to compare a soprano to a tenor.

Oh, if only we were comparing sopranos! That would make things really easy and fun. "Best Metal Soprano" would make a lovely little poll. Alas, this poll contains non-sopranos and is primarily about the band. "Which is better and more original" the poll says. The vocal style has a lot to do with the type of metal a band creates but the gender of the vocalist has nothing to do with it.

Once you explore different metal styles more you'll realize how many female lead vocalists really are out there - where you least expect it! There is a whole world of melodic AND extreme metal bands who happen to have female vocalists... beyond the world of Lacuna Coil and Within Temptation there are more than just a couple hundred. Enjoy

We're comparing females. See, sopranos, mezzo-sopranos, and altos are all females. Tarja Turunen, Johanna DePierre, and Carmen Espaenes are all females. Because they are female, it makes sense to compare them, even though they don't sing similar styles. See? It's really not that complex once it's put in simple terms. The gender of the vocalist may not determine what kind of metal the band plays (I think Angela Gossow's a pretty good example of that), but there is nothing wrong with using it as a way of grouping bands. The grouping "metal" has a huge range of broadly varied subgenres, but most people can agree that metal is a reasonable grouping. There are huge ranges in black metal, in death metal, but they're still considered a genre, and most of the distinction is based on vocals. Female vocals are different from male vocals, in the same way that death vocals are different from clean vocals.
Also, while it's hardly comprehensive, I made a list of all the female fronted bands I could think of. I'm sure it's not comprehensive, but even if you double it it still only comes to about 350 female fronted metal bands.
The 3rd and the Mortal
Adastreia
ADD
Aesma Daeva
After Forever
Alhana
Amaran
Anachronia
AnaDies
Angtoria
Antichrisis
Antimatter
Artrosis
Arwen
Ashes You Leave
Asrai
Atargatis
Atrox
At the Lake
Auracle
Autumn
Autumn Tears
Avringus
Ayraon
Battlelore
Beholder
Beseech
Blackmore's Night
Bloodflowerz
Brave
Cadaveria
Catafalque
Chalice
Chaoswave
Chastain
Clair de Lune Morte
Closterkeller
The Crest
Crisis
Cruachan
Darkwell
Dark Moor
Darzamat
Delain
Delight
Desdemona
Distorted
Doro
Draconian
Drastique
Dreamaker
Dylath-Leen
Ebony Ark
Edenbridge
Elis
Epica
Era For a Moment
Evanescence
Evenfall
Evensong
Even Vast
Evilion
Fairyland
Fleurety
Flowing Tears
Galadriel
The Gathering
Gretchen
Guano Apes
Haggard
Holy Hell
Ideas
Imperia
Kapel Maister
Kittie
Lacuna Coil
Leaves' Eyes
Lucid Fly
Lumsk
Lunatica
Madder Mortem
Magica
Mahavater
Midnattsol
Mordiggan
Morning
Mortal Love
Mostly Autumn
Naamah
Naio Ssaion
Nemesea
Nightwish
Octavia Sperati
Otep
Operatika
Penumbra
The Project Hate
Rain Fell Within
Ram-Zet
Saeko
Season's End
Seraphim
Siebenburgen
Silentium
Sinergy
The Sins of Thy Beloved
Sirenia
Sonata Nocturna
Stream of Passion
Sundial
Sunterra
Tactile Gemma
Tapping the Vein
Thalion
Theatre of Tragedy
Therion
Tiarra
To-Mera
Trail of Tears
Tristania
UnExpect
Via Mistica
Visions of Atlantis
Where Angels Fall
Within Temptation
Xandria
Znowhite

Feel free to add any more you can think of, I'm sure I missed plenty.
For the record, I don't have Arch Enemy on the list because I don't consider them to be female fronted. Yes, Angela Gossow's a woman, and I'm not trying to say that she's less of one for how she sings. However, it's not possible to tell that she's a female from her singing style, and that's what this is about. I don't think that growlers are female vocalists, I would classify them as death metal vocalists, whatever their sex.

Edit - added tiarra, magica, holyhell and galadriel

-tiarra
-magica
-galadriel(i think)-rudely offtopic
but i like lacuna coil's frontwoman's voice-not that operatic and she's actually hot :-o

@dagnytaggart,
nice list....because I really had no idea that altos were meant to be female.;)
I still think Tarja's voice is extremely overrated, her voice isnt at all powerful, compare vibekes voice to Tarja, Vibeke rips another hole in Tarja's lungs for Gods sake. Well, I never saw her live in a "classical setting", her singing alone on disc turns me off.

Written by [user id=12217] on 07.07.2006 at 09:51
For the record, I don't have Arch Enemy on the list because I don't consider them to be female fronted. Yes, Angela Gossow's a woman, and I'm not trying to say that she's less of one for how she sings. However, it's not possible to tell that she's a female from her singing style, and that's what this is about. I don't think that growlers are female vocalists, I would classify them as death metal vocalists, whatever their sex.

Oh shit, we've been talking about different things this whole time!! LOL. I thought "female fronted band" meant that it was fronted by a female. Silly me. How could I be so stupid as to think that. Of course "female fronted band" means "symphonic-based classical soprano/mezzo/alto fronted band" DUH!!!!!! So, all the women who front black metal bands, death metal bands, or otherwise sing in a traditionally male style are not in "female fronted bands" - whew! Glad we cleared that up

dag, you crack me up

Female means female sounding to me. It doesn't have to be classical, as I've said multiple times in my posts (I'm assuming you actually read them and didn't just quote random parts of them, but I could be wrong) and it's not just symphonic goth metal. Agnete from Madder Mortem is neither of those things. Neither was Nicole Lee from Znowhite. They're still female sounding though, so could be accurately grouped together even though they sound different from Sharon den Adel. When you hear death metal vocals, the sex of the singer isn't immediately apparent - they're death metal vocals, not female or male. Death metal vocals, or black metal vocals, sound different from female vocals. Even though there is a difference between Agnete Kirkevaag and Stine Mari from Lumsk, they're still more similar and easier to compare than Agnete and Angela Gossow, or any other death metal or black metal vocalist of either sex.
Wow, I never realized how much fun it is to try and explain a simple concept over and over! Please, continue being obtuse, I really do enjoy it.

Written by [user id=12217] on 07.07.2006 at 18:45

Female means female sounding to me.

It just seems that you have a more narrow view of how females are supposed to sound when singing. Like I said earlier: although they're not often found on MTV you'd really be surprised how many women front black metal bands (and sing in other extreme styles). You actually included Cadaveria on your list of female fronted bands. I'm really surprised you included her band and no other BM bands

Written by [user id=12217] on 07.07.2006 at 18:45

Wow, I never realized how much fun it is to try and explain a simple concept over and over! Please, continue being obtuse, I really do enjoy it.

Well said; that's EXACTLY how I feel

It seems we're getting off topic from this poll. I suggest you open a thread in the general forum if you wish to discuss this further

Man...
I can go on and on and on in this thread too, but when it all sums down, its metal!

Bullshit, female fronted bands means that it's a woman, not how she sings, it's like if we consider those women like men or something like that, if you consider that only the ones with clean voice the title of this poll is wrong it should be like "female clean voices fronted bands"...

What about men who sound like women? Does that mean it's a female fronted band as well?

Written by Daru Jericho on 09.07.2006 at 05:47

What about men who sound like women? Does that mean it's a female fronted band as well?

Jajajaja you got the point, maybe we have to include bands like that in this poll...

Written by Daru Jericho on 09.07.2006 at 05:47

What about men who sound like women? Does that mean it's a female fronted band as well?

LOL I was just thinking that! Rush was wrongfully left off this poll