Metal music has defined decades with the acid rockers of the 1970s, to the hair bands of the 1980s, and finally with the rise of nu-metal bands in the 2020s. Metal music has reinvented itself over and over again and its listeners have done the same thing. They have taken themselves from one extreme to another. From big hair, chains and tight pants to baggy band tees and skater jeans. Within the shifts in genre and style, there has been a consistent growth of women listeners. Metal has not been widely accepted by women but with the rise of women-fronted bands, the culture is trending towards a more positive look on women.
It has been a stereotype for years that women only listen to pop and the music that is found within mainstream pop culture. The more grungy, darker and heavier music was left to the men who could “handle” it. Women weren’t allowed to listen to music that expressed rage or anger because those weren’t emotions they were allowed to feel. The feelings that weren’t socially acceptable are the emotions metal was founded on. The music is melodic, and heavy, and discusses what some find hard to say. It can take a difficult topic and turn it into a powerful ballad of strength and perseverance. Within a world that is so unknown especially for women because of the policies, programs and laws that are being enacted to keep them down, why wouldn’t they turn to metal?
Women have moved from just listening to metal music to creating themselves with the resurgence of female-fronted metal bands. In the past women have only been viewed as an accessory on stage for the big bands but now they are the headliners. One of the most prevalent female-fronted metal bands is Evanescence. Lead vocalist Amy Lee took it upon herself to popularize gothic rock and create a new subculture within this genre.
Evanescence led the way for today’s female-fronted metal bands like Halestorm, Poppy, and Spirit Box to create music they truly believe in. Spirit Box was nominated at this year’s Grammy’s for best metal performance for their song “Cellar Door”. This category has never seen a woman win it but bands like these are knocking at the door. Women are directly writing themselves in the history of metal music and the change could not come at a better time.
Not only has there been a growth of women listeners and women as lead singers within the genre but there has also been a shift from classic metal to nu-age. Listeners have moved away from classic metal bands and shifted to bands that don’t sound like anything we’ve heard before. Bands like Sleeptoken, Spiritbox, Ghost, Bad Omens, Korn, Rammstein and Slipknot are taking the world by storm. They are being nominated for Grammys and selling out stadium tours and festivals. Their fan bases are growing by the day and they are finally being accepted into pop culture. Women are right there at their concerts and their listening statistics. Women have been one of the main reasons these bands have grown into what they are because they are influencing the entire culture that is the metal fandom.
Women who are metal fans have finally coined a term for themselves: “Girlie Pop Metal.” They have taken something that has been looked down on before – being a woman and listening to metal– and turned it into a social media sensation. There have been dozens of playlists created on Spotify and Apple Music, with countless subgenres of metal within them.
There have been aesthetics created on Pinterest to show exactly how women want to be perceived by the genre. They have created dozens of TikTok trends by taking hardcore songs and choreographing trendy dances to them. Korn’s “Y’all Want a Single” TikTok dance is the perfect example of that. They have turned a song that is so dark and heavy and made it palatable for so many women.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2mtuTef
Women have finally taken over pop culture within metal music and I cannot wait to see what happens next!