Good Music

As I mentioned in my previous post, I love hardcore. But almost as much as I love hardcore, I love female singers who can really tear it up or who front bands who can. I'm not talking about Lacuna Coil, where Cristina Scabbia has a lovely voice but fails to make me feel like she's got any edge when she takes off that corset of hers, but other female artists who know how to shred lyrics like it's nobody's business.

Here are two bands you should know about that I adore:

Schoolyard Heroes (www.schoolyardheroes.com) - the lead singer of this band sings creepy, f'ed up lyrics about love and death (but not in a whiny way - see previous post) atop some intense guitar riffs and sounds like she's teetering on the edge of insanity. Their third album will hit this fall.

Otep (www.otep.com) - Otep Shamaya, who fronts this band could take on Corey from Slipknot in a scream-off and she might just win. Her vocals are as brutal as watching a baby lamb go through a meat grinder, and the music she sings over just makes you want to rage. Great stuff.

And a few others that you should be aware of:

Walls of Jericho
Arch Enemy
Made Out of Babies