Worm Ouroboros

Worm Ouroboros

Sorry, dudes, she’s got you beaten | Profound Lore

We don’t have to tell you about just how male-dominated metal music has been over the last 40-odd years, but while the presence of women in the genre continues to grow these days, the question of whether or not clean female vocals on a metal album can yield results that remain true to everything the music is about remains a contentious issue. No matter how capable the singer, if it’s too delicate, too operatic, too damned melodic, for every fan, there’ll be two or three skeptics waiting to lampoon it.

It’s a tricky line for a female metal singer to walk, but Lorraine Rath does so brilliantly on this debut, looking past the usual metal influences and drawing from some of the more avant-garde sounds of the past quarter century. Musically, the San Francisco trio evokes the best qualities of doom, drone and dark ambient, drawing heavily from Rath’s legendary former band the Gault; but it’s when Rath enters the fray with her understated vocals that the album takes on a tone rarely heard in extreme music. It’s like Kate Bush sitting in with Asunder, Alison Goldfrapp fronting Atavist, murky, disturbing guitar and bass offset by tender singing that somehow feels more unsettling than your usual growling dude. As a result, this stunning record leaves an instant impression, whether it’s the mellow mood piece “Goldeneye,” the dreamy “A Birth a Death” or the imperial riffing of “Riverbed.” Sure, its feminine quality is more than apparent, but it packs a unique wallop that no testosterone-fueled dummies can ever match.

—Adrien Begrand

Username

Password

Forgot password

Register new account