The Top 22 Heavy Metal Albums With Female Vocals

The best metal albums with female vocals are a topic that is not often brought up in the community. Most people often mention the best bands with female vocalists or the vocalists themselves, but never the albums. It’s a shame because it shows many more of the bands’ qualities and what they can do.

These albums with female vocals can often show a lot of these bands’ musical variety and how much they can push the genre. This is very meaningful because these groups have achieved a lot and their albums don’t get the credit they deserve. That is why this list needed to take place.

On the other hand, it is also worth pointing out that this list is entirely subjective. If an album is missing, feel free to drop it in the comments. There are a lot of great metal albums with female vocals, although these are some of the best out there.

The best metal albums with female vocals

The criteria for selecting the albums on this list were based on several elements. This includes their achievements, cultural impact, sales, and overall impact on the metal genre. Of course, as mentioned earlier, the best metal albums with female vocals on this list are entirely subjective.

Which are the best metal albums with female vocals?

• Warlock – Triumph and Agony
• Nightwish – Wishmaster
• Chastain – Ruler of the Wasteland
• Show-Ya – Outerlimits
• Lucifer – Lucifer II
• Lita Ford – Out for Blood
• Burning Witches – The Witch of the North
• Doro – Force Majeure
• Leather – Shock Waves
• After Forever – After Forever
• Cyntia – Endless World
• Holy Moses – Finished With The Dogs
• Epica – Consign To Oblivion
• Visions of Atlantis – Wanderers
• Lee Aaron – Metal Queen
• Girlschool – Screaming Blue Murder
• Zed Yago – Pilgrimage
• Saraya – When The Blackbird Sings
• Arch Enemy – Doomsday Machine
• Within Temptation – The Heart of Everything
• Hellion – The Black Book
• White Skull – Tales from the North

Warlock – Triumph and Agony

Warlock is one of the earliest examples of metal bands making albums with female vocals. Singer Doro Pesch helped this German band to become a lot more notorious in the 80s with her personality and unique vocal style. And after a couple of strong and raw albums, 1987’s Triumph and Agony could be their peak.

Producer Joey Balin really adds a much cleaner and crisper sound to Warlock’s music, which emphasizes the guitar riffs and Doro‘s vocals. Of course, “All We Are” and “Für immer” are the band’s biggest hits. Tracks like “I Rule the Ruins” and “Three Minute Warning” are what 80s Metal is all about.

Nightwish – Wishmaster

Now, it was a tough call between this Nightwish album and the one that came before, Oceanborn. They are both symphonic power metal masterpieces but this one has a special melancholy to it. It seems that the band was grasping something special, dark, and bombastic with this record.

The title track is one of Nightwish‘s most popular songs, but “The Kinslayer“, “Deep Silent Complete“, “Bare Grace Misery,” and “She is My Sin” are also amazing. There is a lot of musical variety here and Tarja Turunen‘s vocals are, of course, some of the best in the entire genre.

One of the most successful metal bands in recent decades and one of the best Metal albums with female vocals.

Related: The 22 Best Female Heavy Metal Singers Of All Time

Chastain – Ruler of the Wasteland

Chastain is perhaps the most underrated metal band with a female vocalist of all time. They have been around since the early 80s and have churned out lots of amazing heavy metal albums with female vocals. If people want a mix of Maiden, Sabbath, Priest, and Dio, this is the band for you.

1986’s Ruler of the Wasteland, though, is a very special record. It’s Chastain at its heaviest, with guitarist David T. Chastain proving how much of a virtuoso he is. Vocalist Leather Leone should be up there with the best female vocalists in Metal. And journeyman drummer Ken Mary is a master of his craft.

The whole album is amazing from beginning to end and deserves all the attention it can get.

Show-Ya – Outerlimits

The best all-female metal band no one has heard of. Show-Ya is huge in Japan, becoming a massive success in its home country, and selling millions of records. In many ways, it’s one of the most successful all-female metal bands of all time.

However, these ladies have never gotten the credit they deserved in the West and it’s a shame. The best album to get into the band is 1989’s Outerlimits, which is classic heavy metal done extremely well, and should rank among the best metal albums with female vocals.

It has melodic vocals, shredding guitars, and a lighthearted approach that a lot of people are going to enjoy.

Lucifer – Lucifer II

Lucifer is a somewhat new band, considering that it’s been around for only a decade, which is still considered new in metal circles. And while singer Johanna Sadonis and drummer/guitarist Nicke Andersson are veterans of the industry (Nicke also plays with Entombed), this band has been a breakthrough for them.

In that regard, their second album, Lucifer II, is a very good record with a strong musical focus. Think of 70s Black Sabbath with a stronger emphasis on stoner rock and having female vocals. People who love music from that era are in for a treat with Lucifer.

Lita Ford – Out for Blood

Out for Blood was Lita Ford‘s solo debut album and came out in 1983, with the former The Runaways musician adopting a much more metal sound. While Ford was never the heaviest Metal musician out there, this record shows her at her most intense. It has a nice combination of guitar work, melodies, and hooks, making it very accessible.

In fact, this could be a great way to get into metal albums with female vocals, if people are interested in that.

Burning Witches – The Witch of the North

The 2021 album, The Witch of the North, was a major breakthrough for Burning Witches. It’s a Swiss all-female metal that started in the mid-2010s and has had a very solid run over the years, with this album being their strongest thus far.

The album itself is a combination of classic heavy metal bands like Savatage, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Dio. The combination of shredding guitars and Laura Guldemond‘s vocals make this album worth people’s time.

Doro – Force Majeure

The thing about Force Majeure is that it was originally going to be a Warlock album. However, there were a lot of legal shenanigans going on with the rest of the band members and this album came out in 1989 as Doro‘s first solo outing.

Therefore, this album feels a lot more like a natural progression from Warlock‘s 1987 record, Triumph and Agony. It has a strong emphasis on riffs and Doro‘s vocals are some of the best she has ever done. “Hellraiser” and “Angels with Dirty Faces” are very good examples of how much she has improved as a singer over the years.

When it comes to metal albums with female vocals, this one is truly underrated. Perfect for people who want classic 80s metal.

Related: The 20 Best Female Fronted Heavy Metal Bands of All Time

Leather – Shock Waves

As mentioned earlier, Leather Leone should have gotten a lot more recognition back in the day. She was a phenomenal metal singer with a lot of passion and personality in her vocal deliveries. And 1989’s Shock Waves record, her first solo outing, is even more underrated than her work with Chastain.

Lists about metal albums with female vocals rarely mention this album. It’s old-school heavy metal with a more melodic twist than Chastain. It also highlights Leather‘s vocals even more, delivering some of her best performances as a singer. An album that deserves a lot more recognition.

After Forever – After Forever

After Forever is a band that never properly got the credit it deserved and died an ugly death when the members openly admitted to losing passion for the project. However, this doesn’t mean that this band didn’t make a lot of great albums. 2007’s self-titled album, also their last, is proof of that.

No list about the best metal albums with female vocals would be complete without Floor Jansen, now more commonly associated with Nightwish. She is a generational singer and her performance here proves it, especially considering she contributed heavily to the writing. Underrated symphonic metal record and one people should give a chance to.

Cyntia – Endless World

Cyntia is a modern power metal band from Japan and they combine strong riffs with good melodies and phenomenal musicianship. Their 2012 album, Endless World, is a very good example of how to make catchy power metal while still maintaining a heavy focus.

“Meteor Calling” and “Run to the Future” are very good examples of what they are made of. One of the best albums with female vocals and a band that never gets mentioned in these discussions.

Holy Moses – Finished with the Dogs

Most metal albums with female vocals back in the 80s were either very commercial-sounding or classic heavy metal a la Priest or Maiden. However, German band Holy Moses was a different breed and played intense thrash metal. This band was one of the first extreme metal bands with a female vocalist, Sabina Classen, and produced several great albums.

However, 1987’s Finished with the Dogs is often considered the band’s peak and makes sense. It’s raw, it’s intense and is filled with powerful riffs and guitar solos. It’s a great album and an underrated thrash metal classic.

Related: The 15 Best Female Rock Guitarists Of All Time

Epica – Consign to Oblivion

Truth be told, people could pick several of Epica‘s earlier works for this list. The band led by guitarist Mark Janssen had a great start in the 2000s, cementing themselves as symphonic metal royalty. However, 2005’s Consign to Oblivion edges it on this list.

The thing that puts Consign to Oblivion on this list of the best metal albums with female vocals is the consistency. The album is very enjoyable from beginning to end with no major dips in quality.

The vocals, the arrangements, the lyrics, the melodies… this album has it all. From the opener “Dance of Fate“, “Blank Infinity“, “Another Me“, and beyond, Consign to Oblivion is one of Epica‘s peaks as a band.

Visions of Atlantis – Wanderers

Visions of Atlantis is the type of band people think of when discussing symphonic metal. Albums with female vocals? Check. A lot of symphonic arrangements? Check. Great melodies? Check. And 2019’s Wanderers is the band’s breakthrough record.

From the opening song, “Release My Symphony“, the album offers a very straightforward approach. If people wanted more of Nightwish‘s symphonic/power metal era of the late 90s/early 2000s, this is the record for them. Props to vocalist Clementine Delauney for having a great pitch and a lot of expertise with her vocal melodies.

Lee Aaron – Metal Queen

Now, now, now, it’s obvious that Lee Aaron moved away from metal fairly quickly after making a name for herself in that genre. However, no one can look at 1984’s Metal Queen and say is not a metal album. Heck, people could remove the vocals of the title track alone and replace them with Ronnie James Dio‘s, and could easily be a part of Holy Diver.

The great thing about this album is how 1984 it sounds. It’s a perfect time capsule of what metal was back in those days and in the best way possible. It also helps that Aaron is a very capable singer and adds a lot of personality to the record. When it comes to metal albums with female vocals, the singer does elevate the source material.

It’s a shame that Lee Aaron didn’t stay in this musical lane but that’s how life goes. Be that as it may, Metal Queen is an underrated 80s metal classic.

Girlschool – Screaming Blue Murder

Girlschool is a band that always had it rough in the early 80s. They were arguably the first major all-female metal band in the genre and perhaps a bit ahead of their time. After all, the girls in the band weren’t too busy focusing on being sexy and focused on the music. This, back in the day, played a bit against them.

Truth be told, any of their first three albums could be on this list but the third one, 1982’s Screaming Blue Murder, deserves a shout. It shows the band with a bit more musical maturity and the mix of punk and metal is a lot more natural. It’s New Wave of British Heavy Metal excellence and a phenomenal album from beginning to end.

Zed Yago – Pilgrimage

Zed Yago is the definition of arriving too late into the game. German blues singer Jutta Weinhold founded the band in the mid-80s and only released two albums before changing its name in the early 90s. It’s a shame because they had something special going on. But metal music was so popular back then that it was hard to stand out.

Both first albums are great but 1989’s Pilgrimage is something special. Great production, and great guitar work by the duo of Jimmy and Gunnar. Of course, when it comes to metal albums with female vocals, Jutta Weinhold is a special breed. She is similar to Leather Leone but a bit more sophisticated, adding an operatic layer to her singing.

Saraya – When the Blackbird Sings

There is an argument to be made that Saraya was more hard rock than heavy metal but this band is still heavy enough to be on this list. Besides, its second album, 1991’s When the Blackbird Sing, is certainly the band’s heaviest.

Vocalist Sandra “Sandi” Saraya is the show’s star because of her unique singing style and charisma. She is a great sell for this band and this album is backed with great production and musicianship. The songs sound great, crisp, and with a lot of energy. It’s amazing that this band never even had one major hit to put them on the map.

The group disbanded after this album and hasn’t made a comeback. It’s a shame because their two albums are phenomenal and deserve a lot more recognition.

Arch Enemy – Doomsday Machine

It’s hard to pick one Arch Enemy album to feature on this list because their best record varies depending on certain sections of its fandom. It’s a band with several records that could be on a list of the best metal albums with female vocals. So, 2005’s Doomsday Machine is the best way to go.

This album is an excellent combination of the band’s heaviest periods with their most melodic. In many ways, it is also a great intro point to a lot of newcomers. Angela‘s vocals are on point and the Amott brothers have some great moments on guitar.

Within Temptation – The Heart of Everything

This is the album a lot of people got to know Within Temptation through and the band that cemented its place among the biggest symphonic metal bands. In fact, regarding the best metal albums with female vocals, this is also one of the most successful.

It has a lot of memorable melodies, solid arrangements, and, above all else, musical consistency. This is something vocalist Sharon Den Adel agrees with, saying this album was when they cemented their sound. It’s difficult to disagree because they had been striving for the symphonic approach for a while and this album defines it quite well.

Hellion – The Black Book

Hellion is one of those bands who made metal albums with female vocals in the 80s and never got the credit they deserved. They are very similar to Chastain, having a fast-paced and heavy approach with a feisty female vocalist in Ann Boleyn. However, they arrived a bit too late in the 80s and it wasn’t their time.

Be that as it may, 1990’s The Black Book is classic heavy metal mastery. The riffs by Alan Barlam are masterful and drummer Sean Kelley is underrated. Boleyn has a good range and has that gritty and shrieky tone that fits so well with this music. Hellion also has that speed metal touch that makes things a lot more intense.

This is old-school 80s metal at its best.

White Skull – Tales from the North

Power metal had a massive resurgence in the mid to late-90s in Europe and bands like the Italians White Skull, sadly, didn’t manage to capitalize on that. However, this doesn’t mean this group didn’t make great music and 1999’s Tales from the North is best of the lot.

Vocalist Federica Sister is the show’s star, along with the guitar duo of Tony Mad and Nick Savio. The band takes a lot from mid-90s Blind Guardian: a strong emphasis on guitars combined with superb, epic vocals and arrangements. For people who love European power metal, this album is perfect for them.