by Alex Henderson

While there are plenty of women playing loud, aggressive, in-your-face rock in the 21st century, the death metal/black metal field continues to be very male-dominated. This shortage of women in death metal/black metal is not part of some sexist, misogynist, patriarchal conspiracy or a sinister plot to anger Naomi Wolf and Susan Faludi; rather, it is a reflection of the fact that many female musicians are simply interested in other areas of rock. Nonetheless, there are some noteworthy death metal and black metal bands that have had female members, including Lifend and Opera IX in Italy and Hypnosis in France -- and on Sirens, Greece's Astarte have an all-female lineup. Any males who appear on this CD do so as either guests or session players; Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath, for example, has a guest spot on "The Ring (Of Sorrow)." But Sirens shouldn't be viewed as some sort of feminist manifesto; this album is simply a matter of talented Greek women playing music they enjoy -- and the material on Sirens is best described as symphonic black metal with goth rock overtones. Astarte's members even dress in a goth-like fashion. Sirens, for all its aggression and bombast, is highly melodic; Astarte have a sense of craftsmanship, and this 2003 recording isn't about brutality for the sake of brutality. That said, Tristessa's lead vocals are totally uncompromising; she sings with the type of evil-sounding rasp that black metal is known for. Instead of getting into the extreme vocals/clean vocals contrast that is sometimes found in symphonic black metal and melodic death metal, Tristessa sticks to extreme vocals. But again, the songs themselves are melodic and relatively accessible. Sirens falls short of outstanding, but it's definitely an enjoyable, worthwhile effort from the Greek black metallers.