We've Got Senator Barbie, Astronaut Barbie, Dr. Barbie…so Why Not Metal Barbie?
If you missed my first installment on Aldious, here it is:
Something can be a stereotype and still contain a bit of truth. Metal is stereotyped as dark, angry, and abrasive. The reality is that since the early, classic era, epitomized by British groups like Iron Maiden and melodic thrash bands like Metallica, a majority of metal acts have gone down the rabbit hole of increasing harshness. Screaming and growling are now more common than “clean” vocals. The dress code is also pretty standard — lots of black, (yes) metal adornments, the occasional ghoulish makeup, and scowling.
However, there are offshoots of metal that defy the prevailing trend toward darkness and angst. In Europe and Asia, a lot of metal bands have steered back toward melody and harmony while preserving the love of musicianship and technicality, which is really the defining hallmark of metal. Interestingly, these offshoots, especially the European symphonic rock movement, are largely led or fronted by women.
And why not? Worldwide, when the playing field is level, women now outperform men in many areas that were once considered off-limits. One of the last bastions of male dominance was rock and roll. In the U.S., it still remains that way. Women dominate the pop charts but are largely absent from rock or metal (there are, of course, exceptions like Halestorm).
Things are quite different in other countries. In Europe and Asia, women lead many of the best rock and metal bands. In Japan, all-female groups have pretty much taken over. And they are taking the scene in a decidedly different direction, musically and aesthetically.
So, you have this:
Founded in 2008, Aldious were one of the first of the new wave of heavy-metal “girl bands” to sign with a major label and one of the first to have their albums chart. They have undergone several personnel changes, but the band's core have remained constant (with a couple of brief breaks).
Their current personnel are:
Yoshi: Founder, lead guitar, bandleader, usually audience right;
Toki: Co-lead guitar, pink Flying-V, audience left; in 2019, she took time off to have a baby.
Sawa: Bass. One of the founding members. Left in 2009 to focus on her death-metal band Galmet, then rejoined Aldious full-time in 2010.
Marina: Drums. Marina is the stepdaughter of the legendary Terry Bozzio, who played with Frank Zappa for almost two decades. She joined in 2014, replacing Aruto, the original drummer.
They play a range of styles, from thrash metal to rock ballads. Like most Japanese rock bands, their rhythm section is solid and technical and gives the guitars and vocals free reign to do their thing.
Aldious have had four lead vocalists. Rami, the original singer, left in 2012 because of health issues, and they recruited Re:No to take over. This proved to be their most commercially successful period, despite some controversy among their fans over whether Re:No was “metal” enough. She retired, also for medical reasons, and R!N stepped in. They seem to have been hexed at with this position: after recording a few songs with the group, R!N announced she was leaving, at the height of the pandemic, because of stress and burnout.
Fans have vigorously debated the very different styles of the three vocalists, with Rami being considered the most “metal” but each bringing her own distinct sound to the mix. Re:No’s smoky, sultry sound is unique in metal. Maki Oyama has been filling in on vocals in recent performances. The question now is whether they will find a permanent vocalist. Many fans hope Oyama-san joins permanently, but she may be hesitating because of the worry that the position is hexed.
“We Are” (2017, official music video)
Japanese musicians tend to be less overtly political than their American counterparts. This song breaks the mold just a bit: “We Are” is a self-explanatory declaration of their existence. They seem determined to forge ahead regardless of the obstacles they have had to overcome. I love Marina’s barn-burner of a performance on drums. And overall, the song just kicks a**.
…….
“夜桜” (“Cherry Blossoms at Night”) (from the “Radiant A Live at O-EAST” concert, 2016)
I discovered Aldious in 2016 and hoped to see them live during one of my trips to Japan. Then Re:No announced her departure from the band in 2018, and they went on hiatus while they recruited a new lead singer. They found R!N and began releasing new songs with her, and were starting to tour again, when the pandemic hit. We know how that went.
This gives you a sense of what their live shows are like. There are echoes of Guns ‘N Roses, among other influences. The breakdown starting around 2:10 is about as down and dirty as it gets, a little reminiscent of early Metallica. They may look like Barbies, but they’re more metal than me and probably more metal than you!
Aldious have been cited to me as a Japanese band some musicians do like here in the US; but like with a lot of Japanese bands with "idoru" cultural marks, people are wary of the intense marketing and otaku chatter around them.
Can't quite agree with you on the "male-dominance of metal" here in the US; it's been my experience the past few years that most of the bands who rise above the pack, regionally, in terms of popularity and sales here in the Midwest are fronted by women or have women playing other roles in the band.
To name a few:
The Lucid Furs (Detroit, MI)
Horehound and Lady Beast (Pittsburgh, PA)
OLATHIA and TRUSS
(Cleveland, OH)
Electric Citizen (Cincinnati OH or Philadelphia PA, I forget which).
There's also Sweden's fine THUNDERMOTHER; who blew through America last year in support of Scorpions (+ who I got to open for in a "breakout" show with BS in Cleveland), an all-women band who made a big impression in the time they were here, and Canada's Unleash The Archers; who has acquired a huge, yet non-toxic, worldwide fanbase over the last 7-8 years.
IME, bands of women or fronted by women have an advantage even in metal; they tend to attract better professional management (not just creepy dude wanna-bes, but real business folks, many of them women themselves)much earlier than all-male bands; it's easier for them to acquire label interest, and their social-media marketing accrues numbers a good deal faster and larger (partly bc they're more skilled/ amenable at creating content). This seems to hold across styles of metal, from the lightest to the most extreme. These bands also code as more "organic" than many of the Japanese variety; which makes them an easier "sell" to metal fans here in the US.
The debate over "organic=authentic=
good" will never be over in metal (I mean, look at GWAR, lol, "visual kei" if ever there was); but the idea of metal as a "male-dominant" space is largely a construct from a pastiche of the (decades) past and a useful strawman for non-male groups to hang marketing hooks upon.