Let’s rant about the Revolver’s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock list some more. God knows they deserve the attention.

The biggest issue at hand seems to be whether or not it’s sexist. It is. As a female and as a metal fan, I do, in fact, find it sexist. Look at the name. Referring to women as “chicks” on a nationally recognized and widely read magazine is sexist. It demeans women. I might be overreacting, I might be overly politically correct, but if you’re going to insist that it’s a celebration of talent, then why is it portraying women as objects right off the bat? I do give you points on being honest, though, Revolver. You could’ve gone with full denial and named it “The Most Talented Chicks in Hard Rock.”

My biggest problem with this issue is that it really has nothing to do with the music. Yes, the women who pose do it by choice, and hope that after all the gawking some reader might actually listen to their music, but ultimately, those readers probably won’t. Why? Because the magazine features bands and musicians who already have a fan base and a clear, set audience. People who know them will still buy their records, but I highly doubt some guy will be like, “Hey, that Amy Lee is quite the looker. I should probably check out her stuff.”

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Last year, the cover of Revolver‘s “Hottest Chicks in Metal/Hard Rock/Whatever” issue was graced by a girl so young that even thinking about her while masturbating should be illegal. This year, though, Evanescence’s Amy Lee is on the cover. Thinking about her while masturbating should be illegal, too, but just because her music was recently indicted for war crimes by the UN, not because she’s too young or anything. Because she’s thirty. “Thirty?!?!” Ted Nugent screamed in disappointment when reached for comment. “I wouldn’t even take a viagra for that old, wrinkly vagina!”

Oh well. At least they didn’t Photoshop the image in order to ensure that she met with unrealistic standards of physical beauty. Oh wait.

-AR

[via Metal Injection]

I’m sorry, I just love this angel from heaven too much. This last vaguely-metal-related video is kind of amazing, because when it begins you think, “Oh, Neesa is gonna cover Pantera this time!”, but then she says “Not in this house!” (what does she have against Pantera, I wonder?), and instead does a vocal cover of… Seether. That terrible song with Ame Lee from Evansuckence. Oy.

I was kinda hoping her largely phallused boyfriend might join her to sing the dude’s parts of this duet, but, no, she does both parts. Thing is, when she really belts it, she’s actually only not terrible. (And by “not terrible,” I mean that she’s at least as good as Phil Labonte.) Amazing!

If you missed ‘em, check out Neesa’s covers of Megadeth’s “Holy Wars” and Overkill’s “Years of Decay.” The only word I can think to describe her talents is “divine.”

-AR

Call it the Sarah Palin Effect: so much is already stacked against In This Moment (a metalcore band two to three years after metalcore flickered out with an incredibly attractive frontwoman equipped with a ridiculously provocative sense of fashion) that the bar is set almost comedicaly low. But much like struggling to answer simple follow-up questions during one of your first televised national interviews, any slight hint of competency already exceeds expectations, and by many, will be perceived a victory. I wouldn’t call The Dream, the band’s latest album, a victory by any means, but considering the flaccidity of the genre in which it exists, they manage to ascend from “Why do bands like this still make music?” to “Not that bad, really,” with relative ease. Though by no means a classic, it wobbles between lame metalcore and admirable pop-rock somewhat effortlessly to maybe work their way onto the guilty pleasure heap – no small achievement when considering the ocean of sneers and venom already directed their way before playing a note.

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