The Brutality of Life,Love, and Metal

Metal appears to be heading in some different directions than one would expect given that it is associated exclusively with maleness or masculinity. This is contrasted with its sister genre Punk which is riff with female leads and even all female bands, which included such acts as Siouxie Sioux, The Slits, X-Ray Spex, and  The Runaways. This was so because punk was less of a working man's creation. It also emphasized masculinity less whereas Heavy Metal emphasized it more.Lately it has seen the inclusion of female lead singers, which seems to be both curse and blessing. It is a blessing as the inclusion of females into Heavy Metal could provide the change and adaptation Heavy Metal needs to stay relevant. It is a curse as most of the said bands with female leads sound a bit alike. Arch enemy seems to currently be the only exception to this rule as Angela Gossow gives the impression of being menacing in her appearances in media both visual and aural. Essentially women in Heavy Metal could be a very good thing or a very bad thing. As mentioned before Heavy Metal needs to evolve as it has done since its initial inception in in the 1970's I see the inclusion of women as hopefully providing the next evolution or iteration of Heavy Metal. As it has become as brutal and hardcore as it could ever possibly become with the introduction of Thrash Metal and the ever dark and grim Norwegian Death Metal, said genres have come and made their respective marks on Heavy Metal. I posit this idea as Women fronting aggressive Heavy Metal bands could provide a unique and new perspective that  Heavy Metal will need to continue to thrive and be relevant to a post gender segregated society. However where this trend could possibly go wrong is with bands like Lacuna Coil and other female fronted acts seem to emphasize the femininity of their female leads, which in and of itself is fine. However this trend could lead to homogenization in that Heavy Metal bands with female leads could begin to follow a formula in order to generate interest via marketing. Which usually involves utilizing sex in order to sell product. Furthermore the musical range of bands like Lacuna coil is limited, which possibly limits how the music could advance. Essentially female lead Symphonic Death Metal could become a sort of conformity trap, as they could simply be reliant on the attractiveness of their female leads instead of innovation. However should female fronted Heavy Metal bands take off they could provide a unique and different perspective with new stories and experiences. Basically we could hear Ophelia's story as well as Hamlet's.