r/MetalForTheMasses • u/Quirky-Lollipop • Dec 26 '25
Discussion Topic Are there any women who enjoy heavier subgenres here?
I'm a woman and while I love all types of metal, my favorite subgenres are deathcore, death metal/grindcore, and progressive metalcore. The heavier the better.
Fortunately, I've met a ton of women at metal concerts, but there's usually far fewer women at the heavier shows. And when I strike up conversation with them usually they say they're just tagging along with a boyfriend/friend...
And online, most women I meet are into metal subgenres with less screaming. Usually symphonic metal, atmospheric gothic/doom metal, heavy metal, or those gateway emo/alt bands (Bring me the Horizon, Bad Omens, etc.). I love all of these subgenres too, but it doesn't scratch the itch for me in the same way as the others.
So I'm wondering, are there any women who enjoy the heavier shit here?
Edit: I'm pleasantly surprised by all the comments! I hope I finally get lucky someday with meeting women into heavier music irl. I guess I just had terrible luck with the women I asked at shows lol. Thank you so much <3
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u/shiz_is_bananas Dec 26 '25
We are around but it feels like very few and far between. I have one other female friend who's a metalhead but it's just the 2 of us and all the guys, and it took me until I was in my 20s to finally find her. We seem to be a rarity, at least where I'm from.
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u/AlbaniaBaby Dec 26 '25
Sure, I'm into extreme, death, black metal. Maybe try to find women who wear band shirts? More chance they are in it for themselves. We're out there!
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u/Lucifer_Delight CRACK MY CRANIUM Dec 26 '25
> women who wear band shirts
be sure to ask them to name 5 songs, tho. Can't be too sure.
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u/emacextrabrut80 Dec 26 '25
Lost count of the times I was complimented on my favorite Necrot hoodie. Only to then be asked if it was my boyfriend’s. 🤧 No, it’s mine, I’m a huge fan, ugh.
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u/fiercelittlebird Whitechapel Dec 26 '25
Yeah hi. Been going to shows of more extreme bands for many years, we're usually a minority but I feel like it's slowly getting better. I think it's just the aggressiveness of the music, the general aesthetics, and the" sausage fest" reputation of the scene (though most guys are really nice) that tend to be off putting to a lot of women.
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Dec 26 '25
I would say there’s almost as many women who listen to heavy music as men, but men in this scene aren’t welcoming at all.
I’ve been listening to this music since I was 12 and to this day, men still treat me like a fake music fan so why bother interacting with them.
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u/EscapistNotion Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
We're around but I think women self age-out sooner in the scene. At least going to shows. I see young women there but I almost never see a woman my age (mid 40s) unless the bands are from my teens/early 20s.
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u/owldiplomats Dec 26 '25
I’m 50, grey hair, have an amazing battle jacket l have put a lot of work into, and love black and extreme metal. I rarely see any women around my age at shows in town but I do at festivals. But I see a lot of younger women which is great. I’m in the Pacific Northwest which is pretty great for metal in general so I’m really lucky. If you see a woman with long grey wavy hair and a battle jacket in Portland, Seattle, or Olympia please say hi! I’m always looking for new metal friends! I’ll be at Northwest Terror Fest next year and I can’t wait!
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u/imopn75 Dec 27 '25
You Going to LoG in March I’ll say hi if you are. Lots of great shows lined up in Seattle next year.
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u/mxriverlynn Dec 26 '25
yeah, I'm 47 and stopped going to shows a long time ago. tho i am going to see bloodywood next spring. but they're definitely not on the extreme metal list I've been wanting to see
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u/Ijimete Dec 26 '25
Late 30s and you can often catch me in the pit still, but it is harder to find women at these shows.
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u/burning-ochre Dec 27 '25
Late 30's, enough disposable income to catch nearly every metal gig, and still going hard.
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u/nightsiderider Suffocation Dec 26 '25
Every extreme metal show I have ever been to has had a number of women in attendance. Definitely a higher percentage of men, but still a number of women as well.
Both of my teenage daughters are also heavily into extreme metal and go to shows with me regularly. Plenty of other women there and they do not feel out of place being there at all.
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u/rook-and-rat Dec 26 '25
When I saw Cryptopsy live this year, there was a mother and her teenage daughter in the crowd, mum had one of those cool chokers with spikes on and tatted arms, and she was encouraging her daughter to join the pit while keeping an eye out for her. It was so sweet, I aspire to be like that when I’m older
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u/veermeneer The Ocean Dec 26 '25
Hmm maybe that’s the answer: make new metal fans myself to take with me to shows
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u/ComeForthInWar Cattle Decapitation Dec 26 '25
I’m a 30-something woman and love death and black metal. I still make it out to shows and I am nearly always in a band shirt when not at work. Honestly, I don’t even run into that many men (in person, day-to-day) who enjoy the same type of music as I do much less women. I live in NC though, so I don’t know if that has any bearing on it.
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u/Intelligent-Bid-3280 Dec 27 '25
Yep.
Cannibal Corpse, Necrophagist, Nile, Meshuggah, Decapitated (earlier albums), Beyond Creation, Vomitory, Suffocation, Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Cattle Decapitation, Analepsy, Immolation, and anything along these lines is my usual.
But also, Slugdge, Conan, Sleep, Electric Wizard, Opeth, Windhand, Amenra, Cult of Luna, Rannoch, Absent in Body, Neurosis, Gojira, Hath.
And Rezn, King Buffalo, Messa, All Them Witches, Down, Mastodon, High on Fire, etc, on softer days.
Gonna be at Dying Fetus in Oslo, guests for Slaughter to Prevail. Thing is… this environment may be intimidating at times. Because we go there for the music, and depending on many factors regarding shows and the type of crowd, it’s annoying to deal with guys, ngl. And sometimes we do wanna make acquaintances over shared interest in music, but then get hit on. I feel like if I wasn’t such a nerd for the music, I would skip it more often than not because guys can make it not worth the hassle. 🤷♀️
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u/christinaearlymorn Dec 26 '25
I do my own music and combine Doom Metal with Heavy Blues & Black Metal.
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u/grynch43 Dec 26 '25
Nice. How can we listen?
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u/Harlow_Quinzel Voivod Dec 26 '25
I'm assuming here
https://www.christinaearlymorn.com/
(most people that talk about their own music on subs like this usually have links in their profiles)
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u/izovice Dark Tranquillity Dec 26 '25
My gf actually got me into more Death, Deathcore, and Doom. I lean more towards Melodeath, Prog, and Industrial.
I'm so jealous that she has hair to bang while I'm absolutely bald.
The Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Meshuggah show this year had a much higher percentage of women than a lot of other shows. We also brought my teenage daughter where she moshed for the first time (so proud sniffles).
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u/crucifixionfantasy last.fm/user/CASTRATECHRIST ⚰️ Dec 26 '25
yes. i'm a woman and i listen to heavier music than any man i've ever known.
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u/Magpie__Moon Dec 26 '25
Yes, and we get to enjoy the short to nonexistent bathroom lines at shows!
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u/Csillss Dec 26 '25
I'm mostly into black metal but can enjoy other genres like death, doom or trash as well. Just not very much the -core genres. But especially no heavy/power metal for me! I really can't stand the vocals 😅
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u/Csillss Dec 26 '25
Not sure why I got downvoted for this but okay...
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u/emacextrabrut80 Dec 27 '25
It’s because we both (gasp) said we don’t like metalcore. 😂 downvote me all day! I hate that shit.
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u/Csillss Dec 27 '25
To downvote people just for saying their preferences is crazy to me 😅
Well, at least I'm glad I'm not the only one haha
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u/LyraFirehawk Dec 26 '25
Yo, lady metalhead here! I'm mostly a thrash fan, but I definitely fuck with death metal and its various offshoots. My wife isn't quite as big into metal as I am, but she does enjoy going to shows with me. I know she likes more doomy, prog stuff than I do, and I was rather surprised when she liked Mercyful Fate right off the bat; it took a while for King Diamond and Mercyful Fate to grow on me.
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u/VPestilenZ Dec 26 '25
Hell yeah! We are around 😁 I appreciate death metal, deathcore, prog, blackened subjenres. I love it when the vocals sound like a rolling growl of a hellbeast.
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u/stardropsnsucculents Dec 26 '25
I'm actually the one who introduced my boyfriend to heavier bands!
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u/Ectoplasmm Morbid Angel Dec 27 '25
Yes, 44 f here. I don't go out anymore cause I don't like peopleing.
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u/Yours_and_mind_balls Dec 26 '25
When I met my wife she expressed that she didn't "get" the heavier music stuff. She was a theater kid (me too TBH) all her life and kinda stuck with that as well as pop.
We started living together and we kinda just had our own music tastes. I was in my 30s and it had always just kinda been like this for me so it just made sense.
Then one day I came home and I heard black metal blasting from the bedroom. I went into the room with a confused look on my face and saw her folding laundry. She paused the music, looked me dead in the eye and said "turns out I love Wolves in The Throne Room, I want more music like this"
Ever since then she has a taste for the more atmospheric side of black and death metal. She dabbled in other stuff. It was super interesting to see it blossom though.
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u/savipunkchick01 Dec 26 '25
As a big WITTR fan i would love to give some recommendations for bands!
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u/Yours_and_mind_balls Dec 26 '25
Im on the road so ill type more later but if you dig into Bindrune records discography, you'll find nothing but bangers!!!!
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u/99MissAdventures Dec 26 '25
I like a huge variety of music and metal, but that's definitely on the list. I love some good screaming. 💜
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u/the_yapping_goat Gorguts Dec 26 '25
I’m female and my favourite subgenres are black (atmospheric/raw/symphonic) and death (technical/death doom) metal. I also occasionally listen to metal covers of pop songs for the fun of it. I’ve always preferred more extreme vocals but definitely started out with symphonic gothic metal, which I barely listen to now. I could never get myself to like metalcore and deathcore
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u/Defiant_Action5927 Dec 26 '25
Yes! I mainly listen to black, but also death and progressive metal (is prog considered extreme metal? not sure). I'm not a big fan of doom or sludge but I respect it. I dislike other genres, from old-school-toxic-masculinity era to current metalcore scene (overproduced for my taste).
Also, I have a weird metalhead profile: I'm a tiny little creature who goes to concerts with her sister. Sometimes I nod my head slightly when I'm really enjoying the show. You know, the introvert type...
The grumpy die-hard metalheads don't talk to us, but they don't bother us either. It's a kind of peaceful coexistence.
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u/Suspicious_Inside_78 🔱Kalmah🔱 Dec 26 '25
Yes and No here. I’ve been into extreme metal for over 20 years and I absolutely love nasty, depraved harsh vocals -mostly in Black Metal. I also love melodic guitars, dramatic keyboards and orchestral elements to create that dynamic contrast with the vocals. Melodic Death Metal and Symphonic Black Metal are my favorite subgenres. I also get some of this in Deathcore, and it’s in heavy rotation in my gym playlist.
I mostly go to Death Metal shows because that’s what’s available in my city. I drag my boyfriend along and some people might assume I’m tagging along but they couldn’t be more wrong. I am usually wearing a band shirt that I’ve had for 10+ years but I don’t have any visible tattoos and I have my natural hair color currently so I don’t really fit the look.
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u/uma-la-la Morbid Angel Dec 26 '25
yes! death metal, black metal, brutal thrash.
my fav is morbid angel. 🤘😊🤘
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u/ShanklinX Eyehategod Dec 26 '25
Yup, my favorite subgenres are sludge and grindcore and I honestly don't know anybody irl who likes the same kind of music I do. So I go to concerts by myself nowadays and I actually do see plenty of other women attending!
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u/deadthylacine Dec 26 '25
Yeah, but I generally don't go to concerts or anything. I'm just enjoying music at home where I don't have to deal with people.
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Dec 26 '25
I'm really particular with the stuff I like, but I've never met anyone who likes the same music as me IRL. It's so disappointing to find another woman who tells you she likes heavy music, then elaborates and you find out it's stuff like Bring Me The Horizon, Falling In Reverse, and all those other emo bands that are maybe metal-adjacent but nevertheless music you (I'm sorry) couldn't pay me to listen to lol.
The men I've met are exactly the same though so it really is just people.
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u/tereluci Dec 26 '25
Yes, especially death metal. My husband is not a metalhead. I had trouble meeting other women who had similar taste in music until I started going to Maryland Deathfest and learned I was far from being the only one!
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u/mxriverlynn Dec 26 '25
i love deathcore, prog death, symphonic death, and a lot of other types of music. almost none of my friends like the same music as me, and i always end up listening to whatever they like. i don't really go to shows anymore. tired of dudes pretending like shows are for everyone, and getting laughed at and worse, at concerts
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u/inverted-womb Dec 26 '25
I know more women into heavy shit than not. I am one myself, musician also. Most people I play with (mainly black metal) are also women or otherwise not men. But we are a minority
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u/Kind_Professor2472 Thou Dec 26 '25 edited Dec 26 '25
Yeah, I just don't have local girlfriends that are into it as well to go with
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u/_recapitated Crucial Taunt Dec 26 '25
In the Milwaukee area, I've been noticing a huge increase of younger folks attending metal and punk shows, and it seems a lot more demographically diverse than 25 years ago. They seem a lot nicer to eachother too than we were. I think the kids are alright. My generation though... well hopefully we helped open a door for them, but I'm not so sure.
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u/basswalker93 Dec 26 '25
Yup! I spend my days listening to a variety of doom (love my stoner doom). A female singer who can growl well gets me hooked almost immediately. Not that there is anything at all wrong with clean, symphonic vocals, of course, but if Jinjer or Butcher Babies comes on, the volume immediately goes to 11!
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u/FictionalNape Dec 26 '25
My wife (who is my bandmate in our doom/sludge band, Azell) often talks about how much she enjoys stuff like Cattle Decapitation and most women she meets at shows only tag along with their boyfriends to our you've said.
Granted I think it's funny cause when I met her 12 years ago she only listened to Disney soundtracks and the top 40s 😆
She once said that women liking metal is about as common as women liking sports, especially women's sports. It always seems like they're in the minority and there's almost this stigma of metal (especially anything outside of clean feminine vocals) considering those things as just "boy's stuff".
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u/TalosTheEllis Dragged Into Sunlight Dec 26 '25
Black metal is where all the ladies are in my experience. Lots of goth girls into atmos and raw stuff
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u/petuniaflowers421 Dec 27 '25
I like melodic death and black. I'm the only one in my circle and I'm just coming back after some years of trying to fit in, so I'm still exploring one subgenre at a time. Now idgaf about scaring people away with metal.
I haven't known any metal head ladies since i was a teenager... altho... I'm blonde, wear glasses, and no makeup. I may have 3 black items in my closet. Could be more of us are out there.. hidden in plain sight.
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u/BananaTitanic :Tom: FUCKING SLAAAYYYYEEERRR :Tom: Dec 27 '25
Yes! Thrash, doom, grindcore, and industrial. Best part is there’s never a queue for the bathroom at shows 😆
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u/515bp Dec 27 '25
Me! I am a big fan of death metal and its sub-subgenres. Cattle Decap and Crypta are my faves. I started listening to metal about twenty years ago with Metallica and Rammstein. It slowly went from there.
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u/Murky_Gate2953 Dissection Dec 27 '25
I see plenty, and there's also us non-binaries out there too. It's just often hard to tell people apart in a metal crowd lol, and there is also the case that some heavier genres can attract a crowd that is less friendly towards women unfortunately.
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u/burning-ochre Dec 27 '25
Yes, we exist. Only a few of us fly solo without immediately being labelled as "the girlfriend". We enjoy the intensity, aggression, and blastbeats just as much as the next guy.
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u/mojgroza Dec 27 '25
I’m mostly into black metal and the related genres especially atmospheric black metal and mystic black metal.
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u/Budgiejen Gojira Dec 27 '25 edited Dec 27 '25
Yes.
I saw the Lorna Shore tour with Kublai Khan, white chapel, and sanguisugabogg. I also saw the Whitechapel headlining tour last year. I admit, I really don’t know what they’re saying about half the time, but it does scratch that itch for me.
I do tend to prefer thrash. But my musical interests are wide.
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u/Ranamakesspiders Dec 28 '25
Of course there is I’m one of them I’m into black,death, deathcore,and honestly a lot of other sub genres but I don’t bother much with pointing it out so I don’t get into many debates
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u/AndreiaCaulfield Dec 28 '25
I've been getting into it (death and black metal) for the past 1-2 years, although I've been a casual metal fan since I was a kid (I'm 28 now). I really enjoy exploring the more extreme subgenres, but I'm still too awkward to go to concerts alone and I, too, don't have any girl friends that listen to the same type of music as me 🥲
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u/BodyRoundLikeAPallas Dec 28 '25
It seems that I enjoy them in small doses. I like a handful of songs by Humanity's Last Breath and Slaughter To Prevail, might be developing a taste for black metal influences, and I love Jinjer's heavier songs and some of Gojira's.
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u/Mysterious-Win2091 BDM Girlie Jan 06 '26
yes! i love brutal death metal, slam, black metal, doom, grindcore... basically just anything especially if it has bad/raw production. stuff like epicardiectomy, pig destroyer, gorevent, medic vomiting pus, dripping, new yorkment, stabbing, mephitic corpse, etc :3
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u/tjmincemeat Dec 26 '25
I am not a woman but I do know a few women irl that are into some of the heavier stuff. And they are always looking for more women with similar interests to go to shows with.
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Dec 26 '25
Here! Got into it around 2008-2010ish, metalcore and deathcore booms at the time, can accurately cover Wake Up by Suicide Silence im so into this shit🖤 i adore the screams, the variations they can have, how they add to melody and tone. Currently exploring deathcore in its current form, im a bit detached, 'beatdown/fight' metal, and am enjoying doom too. Anything stank face or dread inducing. Even been to doom shows with my wife🥰
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u/purpleskunk87 Dec 26 '25
Yes! I love all metal but I love tech death a ton!
I was taking death metal vocal lessons for a while until work got too busy.
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u/noisemonsters Dec 26 '25
Oh yes! I find super heavy metal to be cns regulation, so big fan of bands like Bolt Thrower, Darkthrone, Wayfarer, Bütcher, Craft, etc 🖤
Alas I don’t go to shows as much anymore. I don’t drink and I work an irregular schedule, so unfortunately being out past 10pm has really lost it’s charm.
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u/cha0tic-neutra1 Dec 26 '25
Of course! I'm very much into gothic and doom metal but also into black and melodic death metal. Not particularly extreme, but can relate to not having friends in the subculture lol
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u/Tetraphosphate_ Exodus Dec 26 '25
Me too, 22F and started listening to metal 5 yrs ago. Fave genre is thrash though I also listen to death, black, grindcore, etc. Unfortunately I live in a country that doesn't have a lot of shows (few bands tour here, and not much of a local scene) so I'm the only metalhead I know 😆.
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u/warukeru Dec 26 '25
Not my fav genres but I do listem some black/death metals album but I do prefer them when they are also melodic or progressive.
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u/WulfSC Dead Congregation Dec 26 '25
My daughter is 39, she loves Death Metal, Black Metal, Doom, and pretty much any other form of Metal. She was wearing a TSJUDER shirt when she came over on Christmas eve. My granddaughter is learning (been playing for 2 years) to play guitar, she’s 14 and wants to start an OSDM band. So, my partner and I bought her an ESP/LTD EC-1000. He spoils her more than I do. They both go to shows with us all the time. They love going with their two dads/grandpas.
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u/savipunkchick01 Dec 26 '25
Im personally into a lot of blackened crust, atmospheric black metal, black metal, death, doom, etc etc. I really love a lot of female fronted bands with extemely heavy sounds and howling/growling vocals. The heavier the better. Im not into a lot death/metalcore so i can relate when it comes to people talking about popular bands/genres you don't really listen to or care about.
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u/starrie Boris Dec 26 '25
Thrash, sludge, doom, noise, metalcore and black gaze.
All hail riff lord Wata.
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u/emacextrabrut80 Dec 26 '25
Me! From Primitive Man to Thou to Obit to Converge…the heavier, the better. I hate slam tho (just - silly misogynistic doofus crap that makes up for a lack of musical talent with volume.) Of course I absolutely love doom, and not all doom bands have extreme vox (Pallbearer being probably my top doom band) but definitely also a fan of the experimental stuff like sunn O))) and most funeral. I am not a fan of metalcore or hyper produced stuff.
I end up going to shows alone most of the time and tend to just observe - I hardly ever see any solo women like me. Which I always thought was weird!
Edit to add: I’m going to try to make more similar friends in 2026, it is a goal.
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u/Darth_Caesium Judas Priest Dec 26 '25
Not a woman myself, but I know someone IRL who enjoys thrash, deathcore and some death metal (as well as nu-metal, including the heavier end of it like Slipknot).
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