ARCH ENEMY Frontwoman: I Don't Want To Be Doing This For Another 10 Years

Metal Edge magazine recently conducted an interview with ARCH ENEMY frontwoman Angela Gossow. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Metal Edge: You have a lovely speaking voice; it must shock some of the people you used to work with to hear you sing this way. Did you always sing this way?

Angela: "It was always the same, lots of death metal growling. I've been never been singing in a proper voice. [Laughs] I guess I'm one of the few people in this business that haven't grinded their vocal cords."

Metal Edge: How do you salvage your voice on tour, especially with so many dates coming up?

Angela: "Ah, yeah. Good question! I've had lessons with a vocal coach, and I really know what I'm doing with my voice. It's not uncontrolled extreme over-abuse of my vocal cords; I do a proper warm-up before each show, that's how I know what parts of each song I can deliver. I know where I can take my voice back for a while. The guys can do backing vocals, and I can take my voice back on days when I'm sick or I have a throat infection. I have various ways to save my voice; it's my instrument, so I have to make these decisions."

Metal Edge: Considering your vocal style — and this is not a matter of male or female — but is there longevity for someone who sings like yourse;f? How long can you do this? I mean, I can't see very many death metal bands becoming "heritage acts," although MORBID ANGEL comes to mind…

Angela: "Yeah, and they are really old already! [Laughs] I mean, that's the kind of decision which is about how long do you want to be active in this business. Because it's obviously kind of a young business; it's not so much about my vocal style. The older I get the easier it gets for my voice because people's voices get deeper with age. But do I want to really put myself in front of these people when I'm 40? No. There are singers out there who do it, but I don't really want to have this as a job in 10 years' time. So I'm going to have to look out for alternatives for what else I want to do; what I want when I'm 35 or 36 and so on."