Some more female vocalists/female-fronted bands, which haven´t already been mentioned before:
Mari Boine (she and her male band have probably the best live sound I´ve ever heard and the live versions of their songs usually sound - more or less - different from the album versions; recommended album: "eallin")
Kari Bremnes (impressive voice, excellent lyrics - though very hard to translate (for me), because they are written in a Northern Norwegian dialect; she has also released two albums with English versions of some of her songs, but I definitely prefer the original versions, because - to my ears - it´s her Norwegian dialect which contributes to a very large extent to the authenticity of her songs; I´m really looking forward to her German tour in January 2004!; recommended albums: "Svarta Bjørn" and "Løsrivelse";
www.karibremnes.no)
The Bulgarian Voices "Angelite" (formerly known as Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares; it was Kate Bush´s cooperation with the Trio Bulgarka on "The Sensual World" which got me into this really impressive female choir - best viewed and heard live! To learn more about them, visit
www.jaro.de)
Kari Rueslåtten (former vocalist of The Third And The Mortal; her best solo album is in my opinion "Spindelsinn", which is entirely sung in Norwegian - "bokmål" to be precise; also check out her fine vocals on The Third And The Mortal´s debut-EP "Sorrow" and their debut album "Tears Laid In Earth")
If you like Scandinavian folk music (with modern influences), check out
Garmarna (Sweden)
Två Fisk Och En Fläsk (Sweden; hem.passagen.se/tvafisk)
Gjallarhorn (Finland;
www.gjallarhorn.com)
Värttinä (Finland;
www.varttina.com)
Hedningarna (Sweden/Finland;"warning": their album "Hippjokk" features only male vocals, though this doesn´t mean it´s not worth listening to)
If you like it "oriental", try
Natacha Atlas (though her latest album "Something Dangerous" is too much pop for my taste)
Sima Bina (
www.sima-bina.com)
Parissa
Sussan Deyhim
Mahsa Vahdat
(all four are from Iran - yes, they do have female vocalists there!)
Further interesting singers/bands:
Sevara Nazarkhan (from Usbekistan)
Sainkho (from Tuva, a part of the former U.S.S.R. bordering Mongolia)
Stepanida Borisova
Qntal (
www.qntal.de)
Heliumvola (
www.helium-vola.de)
Tactile Gemma (with Atrox-vocalist Monika Edvardsen)
My favourite female-fronted metal bands are:
Fear Of God (their debut "Within The Veil" is especially because of Dawn Crosby´s (R.I.P.) impressive vocal work still my favourite metal album of all times; since I bought it in 1991, I´ve listened to it more than 1,000 times and I still haven´t got bored of it; the most comprehensive site about this band is definitely
www.fear-of-god.com)
Atrox (to me, their new album "Orgasm" is the perfect mixture of heavyness, melody and originality and together with its predecessor "Terrestrials", I like it as much as Fear Of God´s "Within The Veil", though the music and the vocals are quite different;
www.atrox-web.com)
Madder Mortem
Nightwish (compared to a band like Atrox they play "very-easy-listening" music, but I like Tarja´s voice and their album "Oceanborn" very much - and their other albums aren´t bad either)
Within Temptation (their album "Mother Earth" sounds sometimes too "sweet" to my ears, but I´m pleased there´s no male "beast" grunting - otherwise I wouldn´t have bought it)
Well, there are probably lots of other interesting female vocalists/female-fronted bands (I haven´t mentioned all I know), but sometimes it might take years and very lucky accidents to discover them. And sometimes it might take some time until you really get into the music of someone. E.g. I had heard Kate Bush (her single hits to be precise) in the late 70s and in the 80s, but it wasn´t before 1990 that I really got into her music (especially the experimental album "The Dreaming" and "The Ninth Wave") and bought all her albums.
OK, I hope this comment didn´t get too long. Now I´m tired and I´ll go to sleep. Good night!
