Stefanie Mannaerts
BRUTUS
As frontperson of the absurdly huge-sounding Belgian trio BRUTUS, Stefanie Mannaerts’s distinctly inflected voice sails across sweeping post-metal avalanches of guitar and mountainous bass rumble. (She’s also the drummer, providing the group’s driving hardcore beat.) Perhaps one way to tell the good clean singers from the great is on how well they can pull off their “YEAHS,” and on “Django,” the stomping second track of breakthrough sophomore album Nest, Mannaerts is in the finest form one can be. While her trademark is a classic rising and falling wail, she’s as flexible as the music demands, moving from almost new-wave harmonies to decimating shouts on “Techno.” Best of all might be “War,” which is a worthy addition to the world of metal multi-part epics despite sounding nothing like the group most famous for them, Iron Maiden. If you need more proof, just watch it performed live.