Amaranthe frontwoman Elize Ryd believes she suffers from sexism in the metal community differently from other females.
That’s because haters will single her out for criticism of the band’s performances – even though there are two other vocalists in the band.
Ryd tells AU Review: “Within the band, it’s fine, because they see me as their sister. But sometimes we are very different because I like to do different things than the guys, so sometimes I feel very alone.”
Comparing her position to that of Nightwish, she says: “It’s different for me than Floor Jansen, for example, because I am one of three singers in the band and, usually, when someone has a bad comment, they put focus on me, even though there are five other guys they could have criticised.
“I also read very, very disrespectful comments focused towards me because I’m a woman, not because I’m an artist like the other guys, so there is a difference. You should not take it personally, but it’s very hard, sometimes, not to.”
But she stays strong thanks to the messages of love that outnumber the negative ones – particularly following a blog entry that shamed a Facebook troll.
She says: “I actually got a lot of e-mails about that from women who had been treated very bad and had lived with this kind of hate, and they really appreciated it, and they feel better when they hear that it also happens to me.
“I stay positive thanks to all the positive critique I get and the love I get from so many fans. It’s thanks to them I get more and more strong. It’s definitely the good responses that I’m sucking in.
“I still think it’s very important to actually point at people who are disrespecting you because you are a female. I don’t have any patience or acceptance for it.”
Amaranthe released their third album Massive Addictive this week.
