FemMetal Awards 2021 Nominees Revealed

It is again time to pay respect to all the musicians who managed to make us smile, cry, think or feel anything in yet another weird year. The past year was a stage for many bands who have returned to the studio to deliver new music to the thirsty Metal public. While COVID-19 retreated, the armies of Rock and Metal pushed forward as many stadiums, music halls, and arenas re-opened their doors back for the best fans in the world. And now, as the curtains of the 2021 scene are closing, it is time to call the best of these musicians on our figurative stage to honour them.

As our readers know, we are a bunch of feminist nerds on this website. And therefore, it is not physically possible for us to present these awards like normal people would, with our inner 90s kid screaming at us to dress the awards with a theme. And this year’s theme, to the delight of many fellow nerds, is Fantasy.

There have been two major changes in the direction of the awards this year. Previously, the awards used to be presented exclusively to new and underground bands. This year we have removed this exclusiveness and covered any Rock or Metal band that have released something over the last year. Oh, and when I say “last year”, I mean the period between the end of November 2020 to the end of November 2021. So if your favourite album that was or will be released in December is nowhere to be found down there, please take heed it is in the scope of next year’s FemMetal Awards before sending me angry messages on Instagram.

This change led to the addition of three new categories exclusive for breakthrough musicians. On the other hand, we merged the “Operatic” and “Clean” vocals awards into the “Best Vocals” (mainly because some people kept moaning about how certain singers aren’t “operatic”, even though “opera” is a form of theatre, not a type of singing, and we’ve coined this term to include singing in genres with dominantly story-telling elements, such as Symphonic Metal and Power Metal) and left the “Brutal Vocals” on its own. To catch up with the modern music market we also added a “Best Song” award to widen our scope to include bands who released singles without albums. In total, we now have ten awards with 8-12 nominees.

The other major change is related to who picks the nominees. Previously, we used to select a small group of people to draft names for possible nominees and then after the drafting period ends, vote for the number of required nominees. This year, we invited music professionals and influencers, such as journalists, musicians, social media personalities, and promoters, to draft names under each category. We then formed a sub-group from this community to vote for the final nominees for each category

Voting for the event will be through an online survey that will run from the 15th to the 22nd of December. There will be no live results, to avoid unhealthy competition.

So here we have it! Without further ado, here are the nominees for FemMetal Awards 2021!

Best Band or Act (Alias: Elven Queen Award)

1. Blackbriar
2. Burning Witches
3. Charlotte Wessels
4. Epica
5. Evanescence
6. Hiraes
7. Jinjer
8. Nervosa
9. Phantom Elite
10. Plush
11. Seven Spires
12. Temperance

Best Album in 2021 (Alias: Valkyrie Award)

1. Blackbriar – The Cause of Shipwreck
2. Burning Witches – The Witch of the North
3. Charlotte Wessels – Tales from Six Feet Under
4. Crypta – Echoes of the Soul
5. Epica – Omega
6. Jinjer – Wallflowers
7. Nervosa – Perpetual Chaos
8. Phantom Elite – Titanium
9. Scarlet Aura – Genesis of Time
10. Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
11. Sumo Cyco – Initiation
12. Temperance – Diamanti

Best Music Video (Alias: Archress Award)

1. Astray Valley – Firehearts
2. Astray Valley – Erased
3. Blackbriar – Weakness and Lust
4. Butcher Babies – Yorktown
5. Epica – The Skeleton Key
6. Epica – Abyss of Time
7. Jinjer – Mediator
8. Jinjer – Vortex
9. MoonSun – Slain by Silence
10. The Agonist – Remnants of Time
11. The Pretty Reckless – And So It Went
12. Within Temptation – The Purge

Best Song in 2021 (Alias: Mage Award)

1. Arch Enemy – Deceiver, Deceiver
2. Astray Valley – Firehearts
3. Blackbriar – Weakness and Lust
4. Epica – The Skeleton Key
5. Epica – Abyss of Time
6. Hiraes – Under Fire
7. Jinjer – Vortex
8. Nervosa – Guided by Evil
9. Seven Spires – Gods of Debauchery
10. Temperance – Diamanti
11. The Agonist – Remnants of Time
12. The Pretty Reckless – And So It Went

Best Vocals (Alias: Frost Queen Award)

1. Melissa Bonny (Ad Infinitum)
2. Anneke van Giersbergen
3. Zora Cock (Blackbriar)
4. Charlotte Wessels
5. Simone Simons (Epica)
6. Liv Kristine
7. Moriah Formica (Plush)
8. Courtney LaPlante (Spiritbox)
9. Alessia Scolletti (Temperance)
10. Taylor Momsen (The Pretty Reckless)

Best Brutal Vocals (Alias: Dark Mistress Award)

1. Clau Violette (Astray Valley)
2. Fernanda Lira (Crypta)
3. Britta Görtz (Hiraes)
4. Daniela Serafim (Invisible Control)
5. Tatiana Shmailyuk (Jinjer)
6. Diva Satanica (Nervosa)
7. Adrienne Cowan (Seven Spires)
8. Vicky Psarakis (The Agonist)

Best Instrument Player (Alias: Forest-lady Award)

1. Lizzy Siebenhofer (Adiant)
2. Fernanda Lira (Crypta)
3. Merel Bechtold (Dear Mother)
4. Jen Majura (Evanescence)
5. Prika Amaral (Nervosa)
6. Mia Wallace (Nervosa)
7. Eleni Nota (Nervosa)
8. Brooke Colucci (Plush)

Best Breakthrough Act (Alias: Shield-maiden Award)

1. Ad Infinitum
2. Adiant
3. Bad Bible
4. Dear Mother
5. Ewiniar
6. Hiraes
7. Light by the Sea
8. Manora
9. Plush
10. Stellaris

Best Breakthrough Song (Alias: River-woman Award)

1. Adiant – Coronation
2. Dear Mother – 12 Years in Exile
3. Ewiniar – Years of Heaven
4. Hiraes – Under Fire
5. Light by the Sea – Eleanor
6. Plush – Hate
7. Sharon Portilla – DIVID
8. Stellaris – Dust of Future

Best Breakthrough Performer (Alias: Fairy Award)

1. Patricia Gschier (Adiant)
2. Katarina Tramontana (Ewiniar)
3. Eszter Anna Baumann (Light by the Sea)
4. Mirte van der Ham (Manora)
5. Moriah Formica (Plush)
6. Sharon Portilla
7. Nicol Hofmanová (Stellaris)
8. Dion Legebeke (The Damned Few)

Read more