Category Archives: Metal Chick of the Month

Metal Chick of the Month – Linda McDonald

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Scream for me, Linda!

Not many girls accept the challenge to “hide” their beauty behind a drum kit, but when they dare to pick up the drumsticks and start playing, the results are usually awesome. That’s exactly the case with our Metal babe this month, the amazing Heavy Metal/Hard Rock drummer Linda McDonald, also known as “Nikki McBurrain”, from the all-female Iron Maiden tribute band The Iron Maidens, and “Brandy Castillo”, from the all-female Ozzy Osbourne tribute band The Little Dolls . Besides those two tribute projects, she’s also the drummer for the cover bands Valley Dolls, Crabby Patty (I’m So Unclear!) and Unholy Pink, and the drummer/co-founder of the all-female Heavy Metal band Phantom Blue from its start back in 1987 until they parted ways in 2001.

Of Irish and Japanese descent, which kind of explains her exotic traces, Linda Ann McDonald was born in the city of Great Falls, Montana, United States, and by the age of 4 she was already drumming on her mom’s kitchen plastic containers, then taking guitar, piano, drums and violin lessons. Linda also attended several drumming and ear training courses at the Dick Grove School of Music to improve her playing skills.

Her biggest idols in the world of music are of course the beasts Clive Burr (R.I.P.) and Nicko McBrain, but she also mentions important drummers such as Simon Phillips, John Bonham, Alex Van Halen and Phil Collins as other influences in her music style. Linda is currently endorsed by Paiste cymbals, Vic Firth drumsticks, Drum Workshop drums, pedals and hardware, Coffin Case and Monster Energy Drink, and in terms of success and media, she has been featured in lots of music magazines such as Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Modern Drummer, some Heavy Metal/Hard Rock radio shows, as well as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and won many prizes including “Best Drummer/Performance of Drums and Percussion” at the 7th Annual LA Music Awards in 1997, and “Best Female Drummer” at the  3rd and 7th Annual Rock City News Awards Show, in 1998 and 2001 respectively.

Although she’s more recognized nowadays for her contribution to the music of The Iron Maidens, in my opinion the most electrifying moment of her career were her years smashing the drums with the amazing band Phantom Blue, with whom she recorded two full-length studio albums entitled Phantom Blue (1989) and Built to Perform (1993), an album of previously recorded demos called Prime Cuts & Glazed Donuts (1995), the live album Caught Live! (1997), and finally the EP Full Blown (1998). If you don’t know anything about this band, I suggest you listen to the entire Built to Perform album HERE: it’s impossible not to bang your head with this pure Hard Rock release. Despite the band breaking up in 2001, Linda and Courtney Cox, one of her bandmates from The Iron Maidens, joined former Phantom Blue members Kim Nielsen-Parsons, Gigi Hangach (who was the inspiration for one of our previous Metal chicks, Mia Coldheart) and Tina Wood for a reunion at a very special öne night only” concert in 2009 for the benefit of brain research in memory of Phantom Blue co-founder Michelle Meldrum, who died of a cystic growth in her brain in 2008.

With The Iron Maidens, Linda has recorded the albums World’s Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden (2005) and Route 666 (2007), the EP The Root of All Evil (2008), and a video in 2010 entitled Metal Gathering Tour Live in Japan 2010. You can find a lot of excellent videos from Linda and the other “Iron Maidens” kickin’ ass on YouTube, as for example this amazing version for The Evil That Men Do live in Las Vegas in 2012. And it’s easy to understand why The Iron Maidens are so good in what they do: according to Linda, excelling as a tribute band is all about recreating the whole live show vibe of the original band, including first of all the sound, with the stage, clothing and signature moves of the members up next.

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When asked about her favorite Iron Maiden songs to perform live, she always mentions the unparalleled classics Phantom of the Opera and Revelations as her top ones, mainly due to all the power and emotion they have. Furthermore, our gorgeous drummer considers the superb Maiden Japan as one of the most important albums of her life: in her own words, “Clive Burr is just on fire on that recording!”, and it was Clive’s perfect drumming on that album that made her decide to play the drums. Besides Maiden Japan, Linda said she would truly love to play the all-time classic Somewhere In Time from beginning to end one day. What can I say about that? That would be an impeccable concert without a shadow of a doubt.

In addition, among her favorite non-Iron Maiden bands and musicians, there’s a lot of awesomeness such as Pantera, Judas Priest, Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.), Steve Vai, some non-traditional Heavy Metal bands and artists like Static X and System of a Down, and even Barry Manilow. Linda also mentioned during one of her interviews that the song Fast as a Shark, one of Accept’s biggest classics and by far my favorite song from those Teutonic Heavy Metal masters, really opened her eyes to the power of Heavy Metal. All those formidable choices just corroborate her marvelous taste for music, don’t you agree?

And at long last, Linda is also an avid pet lover, having a dog, a cat and a parakeet in her home. I wonder if she has ever tried to teach any of those animals how to do that weird scream Nicko always does in between some songs during an Iron Maiden concert, or how they react to her intense drumming and to the music she listens to at home. Anyway, one thing I’m certain about is that those are really lucky pets.

Linda McDonald’s Official Facebook page
Linda McDonald’s Official Twitter
The Iron Maidens’ Official Facebook page
The Iron Maidens’ Official Twitter

“I just love knowing you are able to touch people with music and love sharing that connection.” – Linda McDonald

Metal Chick of the Month – Dani Nolden

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You know what I am… An angel with horns!

Brazil has a lot more to offer than just samba, caipirinha and half-naked mulatas dancing during Carnival. Especially in regards to women there, that stereotype really makes me sick: I guess not even 1% of the Brazilian girls are like that, and a very good example is the stunning Daniela Nolden, or simply Dani Nolden, lead singer of Brazilian Heavy Metal band Shadowside.

Dani Nolden was born on December 26, 1982 in the coastal city of Santos, Brazil, located about 70 km from the city of São Paulo and 500 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro. She started her life in music at the age of 8, taking piano lessons, but after she was introduced to bands such as Guns N’ Roses, Judas Priest and Skid Row, she took a completely different path of what their parents were expecting from her. She then became a Metal/Rock singer and songwriter, being with many independent bands until founding Shadowside back in 2001. The band then reached some success and status in the world of heavy music in its first year of existence, being one of the opening bands for the South American/Brazilian tours of Nightwish and Primal Fear.

In the following years, Dani Nolden and her band Shadowside literally “went places”: in 2006, Shadowside supported German Heavy Metal icons Helloween during their tour in Brazil; in 2007, the band won the AirPlay Direct‘s  “All Things Digital Hard Rock/Heavy Metal” among over 1,000 bands worldwide; and due to that exposure they signed a major worldwide deal and began touring the United States, Europe and South America, performing with bands such as Iron Maiden, W.A.S.P., Kittie, Sepultura and Temple of Brutality (feat. David Ellefson of Megadeth). One of Dani’s career highlights happened during Shadowside’s first US tour in 2008, at the Flight of the Valkyries festival in St. Paul, Minnesota, when she shared the stage with American heavy metal band Benedictum for a few Dio cover songs as part of an exclusive performance.

To date, Dani has recorded one EP and three full-length albums with Shadowside, being responsible for the vocals and keyboards in all recordings: Shadowside – Demo EP (2001), Theatre of Shadows (2005), Dare to Dream (2009), and Inner Monster Out (2011). By the way, the album Theatre of Shadows brings an awesome cover version for Dio’s unique classic Rainbow in the Dark, where Dani beautifully shows all her vocal range and potency. Besides Shadowside, Dani has also played with the symphonic band Sphaera Rock Orchestra, a project created by musician Alexey Kurkdjian that mixes Classical and Rock music, and appeared as a guest vocalist with the Brazilian Power Metal band Soulspell during their 2011 tour. She also works as a music consultant for the company The Ultimate Music when she’s not recording or on tour with her band.

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Her biggest influences in music include Heavy Metal legends Iron Maiden, Helloween, Nightwish and Sepultura, Hard Rock giants W.A.S.P., Skid Row and Guns N’ Roses, and more modern or contemporary bands like Disturbed, Soilwork and Rammstein. Moreover, she mentioned in an interview that if she had to choose only one band or artist for the “tour of her dreams”, that band would certainly be Iron Maiden. Up the Irons, Dani!

Last but not least, when this gorgeous metalhead is not doing anything related to her career with Shadowside, she enjoys playing videogames, reading books, watching movies, surfing, and practicing Kung Fu. She also loves soccer, which might be her biggest Brazilian characteristic, even being a teenage soccer player before having to abandon that potential career due to her increasing amount of work and tours with Shadowside. I know the world of heavy music is a lot better with Dani Nolden as a Heavy Metal singer rather than as a soccer player, but I guess no one would mind watching a simply stunning epic duel between our “Metal Chick of the Month” for Brazil and Hope Solo for the United States, don’t you agree? At least visually speaking, that would be a lot more pleasant to watch than any of the matches between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Dani Nolden’s Official Facebook page
Dani Nolden’s Official Twitter

“Dare to dream, it just might come true!” – Dani Nolden

Metal Chick of the Month – Agnieszka “Nera” Górecka

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Nera, prawdziwa polska księżniczka!

Our Heavy Metal goddess this month is the perfect representation of all the beauty and finesse of her home country:  Agnieszka “Nera” Górecka, or simply Nera, is a gorgeous Polish singer and songwriter from the city of Katowice (Silesia), known for her potent vocals in the Polish Symphonic Black Metal band Darzamat, and more recently for her own solo project called NeraNature.

Nera started her career in 1997 with the Gothic Metal band MidnightDate, from the city of Gliwice, about 30 minutes from Katowice. Then after a few years she finally joined Darzamat, in 2003, with whom she has recorded so far three studio albums: Semidevilish (2004), Transkarpatia (2005), and their latest one Solfernus’ Path (2009), as well as a live DVD called Live Profanity (Visiting the Graves of Heretics). In one of her interviews, she explained the meaning of the band’s name, saying it comes from the Latvian mythology and it denotes garden goddess ( dārzs = garden and māte = mother, in Latvian). In her own words, “I really like it as it seems to me very “organic”, close to the nature and paganism”, showing her passion for everything related to Mother Nature.

Due to Nera’s powerful voice, astonishing looks and sexy onstage moves (and of course, the overall quality of their music), Darzamat reached then some status, gaining respect from Heavy Metal fans all over the world, being invited to play in festivals with exceptional bands such as Arch Enemy, Carcass and Stratovarius, and even in a special Heavy Metal festival in India, which is something rare to see in heavy music today. Besides that, the band also featured in the 2009 edition of the amazing Metal Female Voices Fest. Nera’s mesmerizing performance with Darzamat can be seen in the videos In Red Iris, from the album Semidevilish, and The Burning Times, from the album Transkarpatia.

In 2009, Nera founded her own solo project called NeraNature, completely different from Darzamat. The music is more like some Gothic Rock, with Nera using her voice in a smooth and charming way, and according to Nera herself, “this project is more intimate, private and sometimes bizarre and freakish.” The name of the band is a combination of her own nickname and the word “Nature”, as a reflection of her deep connection with the environment. This connection can be easily seen in the lyrics, which are all about Nature itself, life, and a more feminist outlook of the world. She released a full-length album in 2011 called Foresting Wounds, which includes a pretty cool cover version of Garbage’s The World Is Not Enough, and has recently released a new single entitled Drifting (available on iTunes and Amazon.co.uk), which probably means there will be a new NeraNature album pretty soon.

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Apart from her career with Darzamat and NeraNature, she appeared as a guest singer in the albums Arcane (2010), by the Portuguese Gothic Metal band Dark Wings Syndrome, and Ordo Bellictum Satanas (2010), by the Ukrainian ex-Black Metal band Semargl.

Regarding her musical influences, Nera said the most important bands and artists in her life, which helped define her singing style, were The Gathering, Tiamat, Samael, Ulver, Bathory, Arcturus and Opeth. Furthermore, it seems she has a very eclectic taste for music, as she usually listens not only to Heavy Metal, but also to several kinds of rock, ambient, smooth jazz and some classical music. In her free time, Nera enjoys listening to music from the bands Peccatum, Emperor, Ulver, Opeth, Pink Floyd, Leszek Mozdzer, Satyricon and some soundtracks such as Twin Peaks, Requiem for a Dream, and Dracula. She also mentioned she has a special admiration for the music of the Norwegian Black Metal band Emperor, and that she would love to perform live one day with them.

And finally, when talking about her voice and technique, Nera said that your emotions, experiences and own interpretations are much more important than any singing classes you might take in your life (by the way, she has never taken any), and that the most exciting thing for her is that your voice is unique, it’s like your fingerprint, and it helps define each person in the world, not only singers. We have to agree with her, but let’s be honest and also admit that the voice of this gothic polska księżniczka, as well as her beauty and charm, are way above the average.

NeraNature Official Facebook page

“Nature is life, truth, beauty and power.” – Agnieszka “Nera” Górecka

Metal Chick of the Month – Doris Yeh

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Set Fire to the Island, Doris!

There’s nothing better than starting this year with a special post about the charming musician and activist Doris Yeh. Born in Taipei (or Taipei City), Taiwan on September 19, 1976 (at least, this is the date I found after a lot of effort!) and nicknamed “Thunder Tears” in her band Chthonic, this Taiwanese beauty is a good example of how music and imagery walk hand in hand on the path to success nowadays. Her exotic Asian traces, together with the powerful heavy music played by Chthonic, are leading her and the band to stardom not only in the East, but in the whole world of music.

Doris herself doesn’t like to define Chthonic’s music style as Extreme, Death or Black Metal. In fact, she prefers calling what their band does as “Orient Metal”, especially because the Western definition of heavy music is not the same as the one in Asian countries. We have to agree with her and the rest of the band that what Chthonic do is totally different from the traditional North American and European Thrash/Death Metal, because despite being heavy music they add many different elements (like the interesting instrument Erhu) and have a unique way to express themselves visually.

In one of her interviews, Doris said she used to play the piano when she was a child, and kept playing it for about 10 years before starting playing bass. She then joined Chthonic in 1999, replacing bassist Xiao-Yu, recording her first album with the band, 9th Empyrean. After that, she recorded the albums Relentless Recurrence (2002), Seediq Bale (2005) and Mirror of Retribution (2009), but her best albums with Chthonic are without any doubt Takasago Army (2011) and their most recent album, Bú-Tik (2013), where it’s easy to notice her improvement as a musican and her growing importance to the band’s current success.

Giants like Iron Maiden, Nine Inch Nails and Slayer, and more obscure bands such as Emperor and At The Gates, are among her biggest influences in music, and when asked about a great female bass player she enjoys, Doris mentioned the American alternative rock musician Kim Gordon, showing she’s not only connected to heavy music in her life.

Doris Yeh’s onstage performance is always amazing, not only due to her talent as a musician but also because of her beauty and energy. I had the privilege to see Chthonic live in Toronto during Arch Enemy’s North American Khaos Tour 2011, which also had DevilDriver and Skeletonwitch as opening acts, and I was impressed by her nonstop headbanging and total commitment to the band’s music and to the fans.

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After a couple of years with Chthonic, Doris became the band’s official spokesperson and business manager, taking over the responsibilities from the band’s founder and lead singer Freddy Lim. She is also seen as a sex symbol (surprise, surprise!) and often works as a top model too, appearing on the cover of different magazines in Taiwan and in the rest of the world, like Body Magazine, Revolver Magazine and FHM Magazine. Not only that, Doris also joins her Metal friends Angela Gossow and Alissa White-Gluz in the world of activism by supporting the Awakening Foundation, a Taiwanese organization founded in 1982 which main goal is promoting women’s rights and self-awareness.

In October 2012, Chthonic released a very special 96-page book of sexy photos of Doris taken at the Green Island in Taiwan, entitled Set Fire to the Island, which also includes a single that according to the band is a “symphony with piano, strings, and wind music, so that you may enjoy it not only with your eyes, but also with your ears.” Well, I still prefer Chthonic’s regular music, but I must admit that those astonishing pictures of Doris together with some good symphonic music are a delight for any fan of Chthonic’s unique bassist.

Equipment
Bass: ESP – Andromeda (5-string signature bass)
Amp – head : Ampeg SVT 450
Amp – cab : Ampeg SVT 410HLF
Effects: MXR M80 BASS DI

Doris Yeh’s Official Facebook page
Doris Yeh’s Official Twitter

“‘Dream big’ won’t make you a great person, ‘Do it’ will.” – Doris Yeh

Metal Chick of the Month – Mia Coldheart

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Rock Me Like The Devil!

Despite the fact that Angela Gossow is German, she is the lead singer of a Swedish band, so let’s stay around that same country for the second edition of the Metal Chick of the Month. This time I’m going to talk about Mia Coldheart, the lead singer and guitar of the awesome all-female hard rock band Crucified Barbara. Actually, I could talk about all four girls from the band, but let’s focus on one at a time to avoid any heart attacks, right?

Of course her last name is not Coldheart, and I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a cold heart at all. Her real name is Mia Karlsson and she was born on August 21, 1980 in the municipality of Tyresö, located in the Stockholm County in Sweden. And as you can see, she’s the only non-blonde in the band, which doesn’t mean she’s less beautiful than the others. Quite the contrary, her long dark hair makes her stand out among the other girls, and adding to that her powerful voice we have the perfect recipe for not only an amazing singer, but for a true hard rock frontwoman.

I believe Crucified Barbara would not be the same successful band without Mia’s voice. However, for those who don’t know it, the band started as a punk rock band back in 1998 and at that time she used to play the guitar only (unfortunately, I couldn’t finds any old material of the band to show how their music was). She became the lead singer of the band in 2003, just a couple of years before the band released their debut album, and in less than 10 years she has become a reference for many hard rock female singers all over the world.

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One thing that always comes to my mind while listening to Mia Coldeheart singing are the similarities between her voice and Lzzy Hale’s voice, from Halestorm. However, I prefer Mia’s voice a thousand times, and in my opinion the only reason for Crucified Barbara not being as famous as Halestorm is the fact that they’re not from North America, as I mentioned here. Pay attention to Mia’s voice in different songs and you’ll see how versatile her voice is, from a soft and smooth singing in the ballad Count Me In to a more hard rock approach in Rock Me Like The Devil, and a true heavy metal voice in the Motörhead-ish song The Crucifier. Lzzy is a great singer, but her voice sounds the same in every song, and besides, I’ve had the chance to check Mia and Lzzy singing live in some videos and Mia kicks fuckin’ ass. Besides, she plays the guitar all the time while singing, not only in some songs. If you don’t trust me, take a look at Crucified Barbara playing Bad Hangover live at Sweden Rock Festival (also check how cool the Swedish language is) and you’ll see what i’m talking about!

Talking about Mia’s biggest influences in music, I saw an interview where she said she started to play guitar because of Nirvana and the whole Grunge music scene, but then she started listening to bands like Dream Theater, Megadeth, and Helloween, and guys like Marty Friedman helped define her guitar style. Regarding her vocals, she said her biggest influence was Gigi Hangach, from the band Phantom Blue, who by the way was her motivation to actually start singing heavy music.

Mia’s entire career has been built with Crucified Barbara only, with which she has recorded three albums so far: In Distortion We Trust (2005), ‘Til Death Do Us Party (2009), and their most recent and my favorite one called The Midnight Chase (2012). Besides that, she has just recorded some additional vocals to some material from a Swedish progressive metal band called Mind’s Eye in two of their albums (Walking on H20, from 2006, and A Gentleman’s Hurricane, from 2007).

If you’re a fan of Halestorm, but would like to listen to something faster and heavier, you will love Crucified Barbara and especially Mia Coldheart’s voice. She will rock you like the devil, I’m pretty sure about that.

Equipment
Gibson Flying V (Gothic 2001)
Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier amp
Mesa Boogie 4×12 Rectifier cabinet
Rotosound strings 10-52

Personal website/blog
www.coldheart.se

“Don’t wait to find the perfect band. You can’t sit home and dream about a band. You have to get out, meet people, play with a lot of different people.” – Mia Coldheart

Metal Chick of the Month – Angela Gossow

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Be As Free As You Can Be!

Every month from now on I’ll try to add a special post about an important woman in the world of Heavy Metal. Although we live in a very sexist world, I want to focus on the importance of each selected girl to heavy music, not only on their beauty. Well, most of them end up being very pretty, but let’s say that’s just a bonus to their talent, right?

The first one is in fact one of the heaviest and most eloquent of all: Angela Gossow is a beast (I would say she’s the personification of Megadeth’s She-Wolf), and at the same time a role model to many girls that are taking their chances in the world of Metal or to the ones that decided to become more engaged in social projects for human or animal rights.

Angela Nathalie Gossow was born on November 5, 1974 in Cologne, Germany, and she’s been on the road since 1991, beginning with the cool band Asmodina, then with Mistress and finally with one of my favorite bands in recent years, the Swedish Death Metal band Arch Enemy. I personally don’t think she will ever leave Arch Enemy and start a solo career, especially because she’s married to band’s guitar and founder, Michael Amott, and became some kind of leader of the group.

Her greatest strength is, of course, her unmatched guttural voice. I’ve seen Arch Enemy live once in Toronto, and it’s impressive how she can recreate on stage exactly what you listen to in their studio versions during the entire concert. Some Heavy Metal giants are among her biggest influences, as for example Rob Halford (Judas Priest), Chuck Billy (Testament) and Dave Mustaine (Megadeth), and what’s really interesting here is that it’s possible to notice nuances from each of these guys in her style and technique, even from a non-guttural singer like Halford.

Another extremely relevant point that must be taken into account in her entire career is her mighty on-stage performance. She sings, screams, bangs her head non-stop and interacts with the crowd all the time, making the experience of seeing Arch Enemy live even more delightful. There are so many Metal guys that consider themselves as being “the toughest men on Earth”, but that in fact do not deliver on stage not even 10% of what Angela does, and that’s a very good reason to respect this woman even more as an artist and a performer.

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On the other hand, as a lyricist she still has a long way to go. I’m not saying that I don’t like the band’s most recent albums (I love the musicality in Rise of the Tyrant and Khaos Legions), but the problem here is that since she started having more decision-making power in the band, despite the important messages she’s been trying to send to everybody about animal rights, religion or anarchism, all lyrics became too repetitive. She can keep on talking about those topics in her songs, but she needs to try doing that in a more creative way. If she refines her writing style, Arch Enemy will grow even more.

Regarding being a role model to many Metal or non-Metal girls, the fact that she’s an anarchist, an atheist, a vegan and a Death Metal singer, all at the same time, makes her unique and helps her influence a lot any woman that is pursuing a career in different areas ruled by men in our society, including heavy music. Angela and the rest of the band are huge supporters of non-profit organizations like Amnesty International and peta2 (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), sometimes even mixing their music with those institutions either by participating in some of their events or by allowing them to sell merchandise with the band’s name on it.

And lastly, let’s reflect about an insightful thought from Angela about religion and atheism. What do you think about it? Do you agree with her?

“To me, human rights go hand in hand with atheism. Atheists cannot hold some insane religious tradition responsible for their horrible deeds against mankind. We are fully responsible for everything we do. Until this does not apply to all religions on a world-wide basis I feel that religion is indeed the root of all evil.” – Angela Gossow