DEI Metal: April 2025
Because metal is far more than just a bunch of straight cis gender white dudes screaming about their big feelings.
Band: Transgressive
Song: “Remember Us To Death”
Transgressive’s Extreme Transgression was one of the most furious albums of 2023, and now the band is more necessary and relevant than ever. “I am simply tired of being a wedge issue and a political chess piece to be used by those in power to retain more power,” Alicia Cordisco (Wraithstorm, Project: Roenwolfe) recently told Metal Riot. Cordisco, who is credited with Transgressive’s songwriting, did the vocals for their first record, but this time around Bethany “BEEF” Pitts is handling vocals. “Remember Us to Death” begins with the names of recently murdered transgender people and lyrics include “We won’t surrender, we will not run. The life we are given could be so much more. For all those that were and all those to come.” I am eagerly awaiting their second full length, Not Even Death is Sacred.
Band: Flummox
Album: Southern Progress
Song: “Siren Shock”
Flummox is “genrefluid sounds for the strange & nocturnal,” which explains why their album art includes the unfairly maligned and misunderstood opossum. Flummox’s music includes “the sounds of heavy rock, funk, extreme metal, jazz fusion, progressive rock, avant-garde, bluegrass, power pop, to doo-wop.” And if this sounds confounding, it’s because it is. In the best possible way. They are weird and wonderful. The brilliant lyrics of “Siren Shock” include “You’re the fork in the plug, and I’m the infant” and “If I can’t sell my soul a second time I’ll tell the devil my body’s just fine.” Furthermore, they describe their latest album, Southern Progress, as a “satirical and scathing critique of Christian nationalism, fascism, & collective trauma written by a band of queers living in the Bible Belt.” Here! For! It!
Artist: RØRY
Album: Restoration
Song: “Blossom”
I was reading Metal Hammer (the best smelling metal magazine in the game) when I came across a review of RØRY’s latest album Restoration. “Huh,” I thought. “That looks a lot like Roxanne Pink from the ADHD Instagram account I follow.” Well, guess what? They are the same person! I admit I was wary of listening to RØRY. What if I hate it and then no longer find the Instagram videos she makes with her husband charming? Well, good news! I like it a lot. RØRY is nü metalish with pop sensibilities. Her voice actually sounds a lot like Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries (RIP). RØRY’s songs touch on things like depression, addiction, feeling like a fuck up, and other fun topics. But her approach is affirming, not wallowing. Verdict: Take my money.
Artist: Lady Beast
Album: The Inner Alchemist
Song: “The Inner Alchemist”
Straight-forward traditional heavy metal with a lady (beast) of a vocalist? Hell, yes. Plus Lady Beast is an awesome fucking name. On Bandcamp they list their influences as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Dio, which I could’ve guessed with my eyes closed. They also claim to “fly the flag for refined heavy metal.” I am not sure what they mean by “refined,” but refined sugar is tasty as hell and so is this. When I heard “The Inner Alchemist” I immediately thought of Sanhedrin, a band I am a big fan of. They would definitely be related if you did a 23 and Me of metal bands. Lady Beast’s self-titled debut came out in 2012 and I do not know how they never got on my radar, but they are definitely on it now.
Artist: Peer Pressure
Album: This Hell On Earth Could Be
Song: “Ruins”
Peer Pressure vocalist Victoria Mladenovski sounds pissed. “We brought hell into this world,” she sings. “We’ll pay someday. We’ve made this such a dangerous place.” Why, yes, yes we have. And every day it gets worse! It could certainly be argued that the humans are in the “find out” stage of “fucking around.” Peer Pressure is from Quebec, Canada and have been around since 2018 (not to be confused with another band called Peer Pressure from 1979). So grab their album before Trump slaps a tariff on it or before Canadians stop sharing their art with the U.S. because we are assholes.
Artist: AlphaWhores
Song: “Pirate Mode”
Step aside, alpha males. AlphaWhores are here! On Bandcamp they call themselves “an alternative metal duo from Panama.” Sister and brother Massiel Pinzón and Juan Carlos García de Paredes have been combining their powers to make fuzz-filled doomy goodness with vocal harmonies since 2021. They do not make pirate metal, despite the name of this latest single. “Sometimes I just turn into a pirate,” sings Juan Carlos. “Pirates don’t need no reassurance.” As they explain on Bandcamp, “Going into Pirate Mode involves thickening one’s skin to better withstand life’s harsher blows.” Sounds like something we could all use right now. So let’s all get into Pirate Mode, get stoned, and let the waves of AlphaWhores wash over us.
Artist: Angel Fury
Album: Majic Eyes
Song: “Angel Fury”
More lady-fronted traditional heavy metal, which I love dearly. Though I have to say I am disappointed that Angel Fury didn’t name their EP Angel Fury because I love me a trifecta. Angel Fury’s twin guitars are rad and vocalist Luna Soto has a nice grit in her voice that gives the songs extra heft. On Bandcamp they claim to be “keeping the spirit of heavy metal alive.” A lot of bands make such claims, but as someone who is steeped in heavy metal, I personally believe its spirit is alive and well. In fact, the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal (NWoTHM) is proof that metal is hardly on life support. Angel Fury recorded their debut at Church Recordings with NWoTHM exemplar Trevor Church of Haunt and Beastmaker fame. It’s good! Listen to it!
Artist: Vulvarine
Album: Fast Lane
Song: “The Drugs, the Love and the Pain”
Vulvarine is a group of ladies from Austria who describe their sound as “raw punk meets hard rock and heavy metal,” which they’ve dubbed “Vulvarock.” The antithesis of cock rock, perhaps? “The Drugs, the Love and the Pain” from their debut full-length Fast Lane is melodic and catchy as hell. It also has a little breakdown in the middle that has a kind of reggae lilt to it. Vulvarine are all about empowerment. Hooray for feminist rock! On their 2023 debut EP, Witches Brew, they have a song called “White Pricks.” It’s like they’re singing about Trump and Musk: “Exploit the young, the poor and betrayed. Once nothing’s left we stand united in pain.” Looking forward to hearing more from them. And by them, I mean Vulvarine. Trump and Musk can STFU forever.
Artist: Voice of Baceprot
Song: “Mighty Island”
Voice of Baceprot is a trio of young Indonesian women who rock out with their hijabs out. Baceprot is pronounced bah-che-prot and means “noisy” in Sundanese. When I saw them live in a very small venue in Detroit a couple years ago, the first thing I noticed was that vocalist and guitarist Firda Marsya Kurnia, drummer Euis Siti Aisyah, and bassist Widi Rahmawatithat are tiny. But they are mighty. “Mighty Island” is basically about how humans wreck the earth because they’re greedy and only care about themselves. “Far too many things have been breaking lately,” sings Firda. Voice of Baceprot have a kind of ’90s alt metal sound, which reflects their influences like System of a Down and Rage Against the Machine. Go see them live if you have the chance. You’ll never see three people rocking out with more joy.
Artist: Aptera
Song: “Black Veil”
I first encountered Aptera through their song “When the Police Murder,” which as you can probably guess is about police brutality, from their 2022 album You Can’t Bury What Still Burns. The whole album is fierce AF. Aptera, a Berlin-based doom band with members from Brazil, Italy, Belgium, and the United States, characterize themselves as “a guttural cry that will lure you to your destruction.” Their latest single, “Black Veil,” is a true embodiment of that sentiment. “Beware!” the vocalist snarls. “The witch of the swamp. Don’t look in her eyes!” Consider yourself warned! On their Instagram, they describe “Black Veil” as “A mayhem of twin guitars, heavy riffs and blast beats. A scream of unbridled fury against fucked up society norms.” I scream, you scream, we all scream with Aptera.
