8 of the Best Female Death Metal Singers of All Time

The best female death metal singers might be among the most underrated figures in the genre. While death metal as a whole can be niche, female vocalists have an even harder time getting decent exposure. Therefore, it is not surprising to see a lot of people not familiar with some of the best in the game and what they bring to the table.

All the best female death metal singers also stand out because of their bands’ quality. They complement the extreme focus on the music with an intensity, a gusto, that makes this subgenre so appealing. Moreover, most of them have been releasing quality albums after quality albums for a while now. Furthermore, it is worth pointing out that this list is entirely subjective. If any singer is missing, please don’t take this personally. Let’s begin.

1. Angela Gossow

There is a strong argument to be made that Angela Gossow is the most famous individual among the best female death metal singers. She became Arch Enemy‘s vocalist back in 2000 and started with the band on their 2001 record, “Wages of Sin“, which is a modern classic. Born in Germany and having a background in marketing, Gossow had been trying her luck with several bands until making it with Arch Enemy, becoming a symbol of the band.

Moreover, there are a lot of people who consider her time as the group’s singer as its peak. It is when Arch Enemy‘s brand of melodic death metal reached a considerable peak and her harsh and potent vocals were at the forefront. The fact that she then became the band’s manager only adds to the legacy she has provided for women in extreme metal.

“People wouldn’t buy a record because I’m a woman,” Gossow said to Metal Bite back in 2002. “I mean, they still have to like the music and still have to think the music is good. If somebody gets interested in Arch Enemy because they see a cover or a story with me and wouldn’t have checked out the music before, nothing is bad about this. So, I guess women are still very seldom or kind of rare in the metal scene anyway, so I guess this attracts people.”

2. Rae Amitay

Rae Amitay might stand out among the best female death metal singers in the sense that she is also a great drummer. However, during her time in music, mainly with the band Immortal Bird, she is usually focusing on the mic. In that regard, her singing style takes some major influences from black metal, giving the band some of that subgenre as well.

Moreover, Immortal Bird as a whole stands out because of the technical and complex playing style they have. If you are looking for a band that has an ambitious sound, this group is the one for you.

“Is it cool to get behind the kit again live and kind of do that in this setting? Yeah, I missed it,” Amitay said to New Noise Magazine in 2024 about her playing drums again. “In Immortal Bird, I kind of passed the drumming reins over to Matt and his predecessor, Garry Naples, before that because the drumming got very, very, very athletic and technical. And I really love and admire that kind of playing, but I’m just not great at it. It’s not my strong suit.“

“Immortal Bird stopped being a drum thing for me, but I missed playing. And yeah, I hadn’t played live drums in a band since I was with Eight Bells. I’ve been a drum teacher for the last five-ish years, so my love for the instrument has only grown, and I’ve missed playing in a band. So Wretched Blessing was a perfect outlet because we are in complete control over what the drums and the vocals are.”

She also has the project Wretched Blessing, which has a technical deathcore approach, if you are into that. While this band has also released a coupled of EPs, you can listen to Amitay‘s singing and drumming, which is always a joy.

3. Mallika Sundaramurthy

Mallika Sundaramurthy is a busy lady. She is not only one of the best female death metal singers, but also a graphic artist in the video game industry. Moreover, she also runs with her husband the label Ultimate Massacre Productions. It is safe to say that she keeps herself busy while also screaming her head off with her bands.

While she has played with several groups, she is mostly known for her time with the now-defunct Abnormality. This group combined death metal with technical, progressive influences, with her vocals on the more guttural side of things.

“If people have their low expectations, that’s their problem, and if those low expectations are blown out of the water, well… then good,” she said to No Clean Singing in 2016 regarding the expectations people may have with Abnormality. “I’m not concerned with that. We are 100% focused on writing and performing the best extreme and technical brutal music that we can.

She is now a part of the band Emasculator, which plays brutal death metal. While they have only released one EP, 2024’s “The Disfigured and the Divine“, they also deserve your attention.

4. Rachel Aspe

Rachel Aspe is a fun case among the best female death metal singers. She went viral in 2012 because of her performance singing Sybreed‘s “Emma-0” in the French television show “Incroyable Talent”. Ever since, she has been singing for several bands in her home country, France, including experimental group Eths from 2013 to 2016.

She is currently singing for the band Cage Fight, with her harsh, aggressive vocals standing out. It is safe to say that she is yet to lose a drop of intensity, which has been a constant throughout her career.

“Yeah, I’m exhausted after a gig,” she said to Invisible Oranges regarding her live performances back in 2022. “I’m drained. And this is what I want. I really need this, this is really saving me. When I was in another band for five years, that was keeping everything for me. It was very difficult. But this is really the way I feel strong on stage. I feel like I just give everything and if I don’t have this, it’s just very bad.”

5. Alissa White-Gluz

Alissa White-Gluz had a huge challenge in 2013, which was replacing Angela Gossow as Arch Enemy‘s vocalist. However, while she had to win over the fans at the time, she has become not only one of the best female death metal singers, but also one of the biggest names in the genre in recent history. This has also included collaborations with the likes of Tarja Turunen, Angra, Kamelot, Helloween, and many more.

Her singing style, harsh and aggressive, adapted to the material of Arch Enemy, but she is also capable of a more melodic approach. Add to that her stage performances and charisma and you have someone who has had a massive impact on modern death metal as a whole.

“One thing I’ve mastered over the years, also because it’s part of my character already, is not being super-interested in the fame side of things,” White-Gluz said to Metal Hammer back in 2020. “I feel the same playing a huge festival as I did when I played my first show to three people in a bar in Montreal. I just wanted to sound good, look good and for these people to be our fans and go tell their friends so we have more fans next time.

6. Madison Marshall

Madison Marshall might be one of the most underrated names when it comes to the best female death metal singers. She has been going strong with the band Cloud Rat since 2009, playing a brand of the subgenre with strong grindcore influences.

Furthermore, she has contributed to a wide variety of bands, such as Cabbage Heads, Immaculate Conception, The Gulags, and Wild Shape. But there is no denying that Cloud Rat has been her most notorious project thus far. If you want to give that band a chance, the debut, 2013’s “Moksha“, is a good starting point.

7. Larissa Stupar

Larissa Stupar became known across the extreme metal landscape thanks to her band, Venom Prison. The band focuses on playing a brand of thrash and death metal, with Stupar‘s harsh and powerful vocals being a great complement to their sound. Despite the group being currently on hold, this doesn’t mean they haven’t delivered great records since 2014, such as 2019’s “Samsara“.

“To be honest, I never had a female role model, which I really think is a shame,” Stupar said in an interview with Metal Chondria. “When I was growing up, there wasn’t that many Metal bands that I knew had women in them. The only ones were Evanescence, and they didn’t really consider them an extreme metal band (laughs). So it was for me, it was men. And I never really felt that I was any different from them.”

“For me, women and men have always been equal in my eyes. And it’s only when I started playing in bands that I realized that people don’t treat us the same, which is really a shame. And I think what we need to do, is to destroy the barriers in our heads, where we say that we’re different and that we can do things that others can, because it’s bulls… We can all do anything we want.”

The combination of fast-paced riffs and Stupar‘s aggressive vocals is a major reason why she is one of the best female death metal singers. And she definitely deserves a lot more exposure than what she already gets. Moreover, she sometimes adds some melodic interludes here and there, making her range a lot more varied as a vocalist.

8. Sharon Bascovsky

To talk about Sharon Bascovsky is to talk about Derkéta. Hailing from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Sharon and her friends started the band back in the late 80s. Moreover, they were one of the first all-female death metal bands and had a difficult time getting exposure. Hence why they only released demos and singles during the late 80s and early 90s.

“We weren’t expecting the band to get out globally,” Bascovsky said to No Clean Singing back in 2018. “We thought it was just going to be something to share with the friends who had already known us. Then we witnessed the power of tape trading and fanzines when we started getting around 10 letters a day from around the world. The reaction was positive for the most part.”

“I remember there being somewhat of a shock as there weren’t many girls who listened to underground metal, let alone writing it. And a female doing death metal vocals was out of the ordinary. There were some letters that were nasty to us, calling us whores and acting like we were nothing but groupies. They didn’t want to give our demo the time of day because we were females, and we couldn’t understand why they were so angry about it. Thankfully there weren’t many of them and the majority accepted us into their boys club.”

When it comes to Bascovsky, her singing style as one of the best female death metal singers is guttural and powerful. One only has to listen to the band’s debut, 2012’s “In Death We Meet“, to prove this. The album itself is doom death metal with a crunchy and organic production that may appeal to old school fans.

One of the many unsung heroes when it comes to death metal as a whole. If you want some old school extreme metal to listen to, Derkéta is a very good choice.