Female-fronted metal bands are not hard to find in Italy. Most of them are gothic metal bands, the most famous being the Milan-based
Lacuna Coil
. In fact, the Italian metal scene is so closely identified with female-fronted gothic metal bands that whenever an Italian metal band has a female lead singer, some headbangers automatically assume that their music is gothic metal. But despite the fact that
Exilia
have a female lead singer,
Masha Mysmane
, and come from Milan, they aren't gothic metal and don't sound anything like
or
Macbeth
(another female-fronted gothic metal band from Milan).
My Own Army
is clearly alternative metal (or nu-metal, if you prefer), and
's sound could be described as
L7
meets
Korn
(minus the hip-hop influence) with elements of
Pat Benatar
. No one will mistake
Mysmane
's vocal style for gothic metal singing or accuse her of trying to emulate
's
Cristina Scabbia
.
offers a raspy, husky, hard-edged vocal style; she doesn't have a pretty voice by any means -- and while that might be unfashionable in goth circles (women in gothic metal and goth rock often favor darkly angelic vocal styles), it works well for
on forceful alt metal tracks such as
"Far from the Dark,"
"The Hunter,"
and
"Deleted."
's roughness also serves the band well on an unlikely cover of
Phil Collins
'
"In the Air Tonight"
;
maintain the song's moodiness but make it rock a lot harder and demonstrate that a
hit, can, in fact, acquire alt metal appeal with the right arrangement.
isn't quite as consistent as it could have been, but there are more ups than downs on this generally decent alt metal outing. ~ Alex Henderson