 EXILED HOPE Releases Lyric Video For “Behold My Shattered Skies” Watch “Behold My Shattered Skies” HERE Critically acclaimed gothic power metal artist EXILED HOPE, has revealed a lyric video for “Behold My Shattered Skies”. The song is taken from Apocrypha, which was released on all streaming platforms on April 11, 2025. “Behold My Shattered Skies” is a standout track on Apocrypha, with a sound that blends both folk metal and 70s rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac with a cinematic quality. Sofia comments, “Behold My Shattered Skies” is very different from the rest of the album because it’s a purely acoustic folk song (with extra synth layers for ambience). This song is an outlet for my spooky folk influences, which is a genre that I love almost as much as metal. This song was strongly inspired by the soundtrack to The Witcher 3, drawing from “Ladies Of The Woods” and “Priscilla’s Song”. I took it as another opportunity to add a soundtrack-style feel to the album and to remind listeners that my influences venture beyond even all the various metal subgenres.” Watch the video HERE: https://youtu.be/oHTXQMcN9mQ Order Apocrypha HERE: https://exiledhope.bandcamp.com/album/apocrypha-2 Listen on all streaming platforms HERE: https://linktr.ee/exiledhope  About EXILED HOPE: Multi-instrumentalist Sofia Frasz established EXILED HOPE in 2019, and draws musical inspiration from the likes of AVANTASIA, NIGHTWISH, KAMELOT and CRADLE OF FILTH to name a few. EXILED HOPE’s releases all take place in the same fictional universe and combine to form a dark fantasy metal opera. Each album centers on a character dealing with both an internal and external conflict in this world, and the lyrics explore how they navigate those conflicts. This is intended to provide some kind of escapism through the lyrical world building, while still keeping the songs grounded in real, relatable emotions despite their fantastical setup. EXILED HOPE is working towards the next album, Apocrypha, due to be released April 11th, 2025. Through EXILED HOPE, Sofia has composed music for two short films, Hallowed Paths and What Happens After Midnight, and has collaborated with UK melodeath outfit STEEL FORGE. EXILED HOPE is: Sofia Frasz – all instruments and all vocals https://music.apple.com/us/artist/exiled… https://exiledhope.bandcamp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ExiledHope https://www.instagram.com/legally_metal/ https://open.spotify.com/artist/024Bd5Vi... https://www.tiktok.com/@exiled.hope https://x.com/exiledhope99 https://www.youtube.com/@exiledhope Track Listing: The Summoning The Day Will Come Blood Of The Ancients Dreamwalker (Feat Metal Matt) Over For You Altar Of Moloch feat Imperator Mortem The Silence Is Deafening Behold My Shattered Skies Deathslayer Lightborn Remnants Forbidden Majesties |
women artists
Ultimate Guide To Women In Rock and Metal
On Metal Valkyrie, I have been determined for a decade to share the absolute best of Women in Rock and Metal. Now there’s more women than ever in heavy music, and many bands are dominating the scene. Bands like Lacuna Coil, Halestorm, Evanescence, Spiritbox, Jinjer, Linkin Park, and The Warning are at the top of their game. If you haven’t heard this bands, you probably live under a rock and resemble a mushroom at this point, but there are so many bands that aren’t receiving the same press or play volume as those pinnacle bands. So in honor of Women’s History Month (which was actually last month) I decided to make an ultimate guide of 50 great bands with women in them that are pretty new or just relatively unheard. It took hours and hours to come up with a good diverse list, because there’s so much out there, but sadly there is very little promo for most of these bands. Please Record Companies, start picking up and promoting these bands! They all have the “IT” factor in multitudes of ways and deserve more marketing value. The future is female!
50. Vulvarine: An All Girl Hard Rock Throwback from Vienna.
49. Cobra Spell; All Girl Spain Based Heavy Metal band, Dio would be proud!
48. Dawn of Ouroboros; A Jazz Black Metal Atmospheric blend from Oakland California
47. MESSA; Italian Doom Metal/Rock Brings Some Jazzy Atmospheric to Desolate riffs and Vocals
46. PLUSH: All Girl rock band all under the age of 28 brings 90s Hard Rock and Soulful Chris Cornell Vox. The most underrated Rock band on the planet.
45. Heathen Heretic; Swiss Black Death Atmospheric Metal with Soaring Melodies and Folky Goodness.
44. SCARDUST: Israeli Insane Progressive Power Band With one of the most dynamic Vocalists
43. Frantic Amber: All girl Melodic Death Metal from Stockholm with Serial Killer themes
42. Glimmer Void: Italian Alternative Rock band with Prog Influences
41. LINX: An Industrial Rock band from Canada Bringing Fresh sounds to a 90s Genre
40. Pave: An Alt Rock Pop Band Bringing some Pvris sounds with punchy drums
39. Beyond the Black: German Symphonic Metal band fuses Modern Rock with Arena rock and great riffs
38. Rolling Quartz: Korean Rock band with funky riffs and technical guitar solos
37. Infinitas: Swiss Fantasy Symphonic Metal band with soaring melodies
36. Frozen Crown: Italian Power Metal with insane technicality akin to Unleash the Archers and Sonata Arctica
35. Eleine: Swedish Dark Symphonic Metal with Black Metal bleakness and Arch Enemy riffs
34. DOGMA: An American based All Girl version of Ghost with profane and occult themes
33. Ankor: A Spanish/Greek Alternative Metal Powerhouse with a dynamic female lead and one of the best female drummers of all time
32. Miss Krystal; Insanely good Industrial Rock and Pop composer from Phoenix, Arizona
31. Phantom Elite; Modern Metal Powerhouse from Netherlands/Germany with chuggy guitars and soaring high vocals
30. Novelists; Camille Contreras breathes new life into famous Prog Metalcore from France. One of the best bands on this list, in my opinion
29. Oceans of Slumber; Texas Southern Doom Metal with Blues and Soul from below. One of my absolute favorite bands of all time
28. The Beaches: Canadian Alt-Rock with a throwback 1970s to 1980s sound
27. The Last Dinner Party: Fantastic Alt-Rock band with Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, and Blondie sounds and a great vocalist.
26. Elysion; A Greek Gothic Metal band akin to Lacuna Coil, Moonspell, and Tiamat. They released one of my favorite albums of the decade a couple years ago
25. Ad Infinitum: Swiss Modern Metal band with Symphonic aspects and constantly evolving their sound
24. About Monsters: German Alt-Rock Post-Hardcore band with modern metal breakdowns and lower pitched vox
23. MEER: 8 Piece Pop Progressive Orchestra With Dynamic Dual Female and Male Vocals. The talent in this band is staggering
22. Pure Reason Revolution: Prog Rock group from Great Britain with Chloe Alper on backing vocals, keyboard, and bass
21. Calva Louise: A British Metal/Electronic/Alternative Rock Group that keeps you guessing
20. Walk In Darkness: Italian Symphonic Metal with premium technical vocals and Beauty and the Beast dueling vocalists
19. Too Hot For Leather: Nashville based Southern Rock band with gorgeous well-controlled vocals.
18. Eva Under Fire: Chicago Based Hard Rock band with some of the best vocals I’ve ever heard
17. Fortune Teller; A UK Based Power Metal band with no bs
16. Seven Kingdoms: Florida based Power Metal band with great 80s Arena Rock sound. One of my favorite bands of all time. Hits you right in the feels
15. Lutharo: Canadian Heavy Metal band with Arch Enemy influences. One of the best bands I have ever seen live
14. LYRRE: Polish 4 piece band with a lead singer who’s an expert on the Hurdy Gurdy
13. Seven Spires: American Symphonic Metal band with Dimmu Borgir influences and Berkelee College of Music Graduates
12. As December Falls: UK Alt-Rock Prog Metal band brings some interesting touches from J-Metal
11. Holy Wars; American Alt-Rock Indie band brings teeth to Pop hooks
10. Conquer Divide; American All-girl Rock Band turns it up to Metalcore on staggeringly good new record. They’re like a much heavier Modern Metal version of Tonight Alive
9. Meerkat: Dutch Rock band with Proggy drums and immense groove
8. Solarcycles; Dutch Symphonic Folk Metal band with modern and smooth delivered vocals, reminds of old Within Temptation
7. Never Obey Again: Absolutely incredible Italian Modern Metal band. So glad I discovered these guys! The influence of Lacuna Coil is rarely talked about, but it’s evident in most of the Metal bands on this list.
6. Black Spikes- A Lithuanian female fronted Modern Metal band fusing Alt-Metal, Death, and Black Metal for a unique sound
5. Illumisade; A Swiss Symphonic Metal band with metalcore riffs and classically composed songs with Eluveitie’s Dynamic female vocalist Fabienne Erni. I have no idea why this band isn’t enormously famous. There’s nothing else like them on the planet
4. The Birthday Massacre; Canadian Dark Wave Gothic Rock band with entrancing synths and vocals
3. BRUTUS; French band fronted by a female drummer. A power post-hardcore trio of the ages. One of my absolute favorite bands on this list.
2.Infected Rain; Modern Heavy Metal band with dynamic vocalist Lena Scissorhands and impossibly fast chuggy bassist Alice Lane. Fantastic band formed in Moldova in 2008. Love this band.
Number 1, Last One for now: Alt- Metal Electronic band with Elder Scrolls lore
That’s 50 insanely awesome Rock and Metal bands featuring Women! Who should I add to the list and who are your favorites? Comment below and let me know if I made an oversight on a great band.
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ILLUMISHADE Reveal New Album Details
Swiss modern metal upstarts ILLUMISHADE unveil their magical sophomore record and Napalm Records debut, Another Side of You, out February 16 2024! Fronted by vocalist Fabienne Erni and guitarist Jonas Wolf (both of Eluveitie) and completed with orchestration and synths by film composer Mirjam Skal, bass by Yannick Urbanczik, and drums by Marc Friedrich, ILLUMISHADE skillfully balances all things both dark and light on Another Side of You.
On their new single cut from the new album, “Here We Are”, Erni’s radiant charisma shines brighter than ever with her crystal-clear vocal delivery. Wolf’s guitar work is as blazing and emotional as ever, while a fresh dose of modern prog brings a cutting edge to the band’s elaborate songwriting. The song impresses with a stomping chorus and an exciting variety in its middle passage, and arrives alongside a stunning music video.
ILLUMISHADE on “Here We Are”:
“‘Here We Are’ is an anthem to the essence of being in the here and now. It tells about accepting the legacy of history, acknowledging our current standing as a foundation from which we can move forward.”
Another Side of You is the successor to ILLUMISHADE’s acclaimed debut album, ECLYPTIC: Wake Of Shadows. The second coup showcases a more modern approach both lyrically and musically, while still transporting the listener into an immersive world rich with mesmerizing soundscapes (even enhanced by the Budapest Art Orchestra at certain points) and massive and dreamlike vocal lines, marking the perfect start of a brand new chapter for this promising outfit.
ILLUMISHADE add:
“Marking the beginning of a new era, our album Another Side Of You bridges the tangible and the ethereal. It’s an odyssey to the many facets of human emotion but also the challenges we all face in this ever-changing world. Another Side of You is about grounding in reality, yet also letting the music carry you to places unknown.”
| Pre-order your copy of Another Side of You HERE: |
Another Side of You Tracklisting:
1 Enter the Void
2 ELEGY
3 ENEMY
4 In the Darkness
5 Cloudreader
6 Here We Are
7 CYCLONE
8 Fairytale
9 The Horizon Awaits
10 HYMN
11 TWILY
12 Riptide
13 Hummingbird
14 Verliebt (feat. Coen Janssen)
ILLUMISHADE are:
Fabienne Erni – Voice, Piano
Jonas Wolf – Guitars
Mirjam Skal – Orchestration / Synths
Yannick Urbanczik – Bass
Marc Friedrich – Drums
ILLUMISHADE online:
Instagram
Facebook
Website
Napalm Records
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