Hottest Chicks

Leading up to the end of the year, Revolver has asked some of our favorite artists to pick their Top Albums of 2012 and tell us why each record rules. Here, Brooklyn Allman (pictured left), vocalist of the hard-rock band Picture Me Broken, selects her faves.

5. Shiny Toy Guns, III
"A well-written album and a strong comeback for Carah-Faye Charnow."

4. Rush, Clockwork Angels
"I'm really stoked to see a classic and legendary band like Rush release something that sounds so modern. I think a lot of 'comeback releases' sound entirely dated as if the band was too stubborn to evolve, but this is not the case with Rush."

3. Lana Del Ray, Paradise EP
"I think Lana Del Rey is breathing new life into pop music. This follow-up EP to her debut, Born To Die, is melodically and lyrically rich and very sexy."

2. Muse, The 2nd Law
"This album sounds like Queen from space. Muse is always three steps ahead sonically."

1. Jack White, Blunderbuss
"This album was my favorite of the year. He makes an incredible solo artist and his songwriting only gets better as time goes on. I also love how he used two bands on this release, one with all women and one with all men."

The reality-TV competition show France's Got Talent recently got a much-needed blast of metal care of a girl named Rachel La Voix D'Homme, who shocked the judges and audience by covering the song "Permafrost" by Sybreed. Check it out below. Also, check out La Voix D'Homme contributing backing vocals to French metal band Kerion's "Fireblast."

Picture Me Broken—led by frontwoman, and perennial Hottest Chick in Hard Rock, Brooklyn—will release their new EP, Mannequins, on December 18. In anticipation, the band is premiering the lead single, "Torture," right here right now. Check it out below, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Led by frontwoman Kimberly Freeman, who is featured in the 2012 Hottest Chick in Hard Rock issue out now, One-Eyed Doll will be releasing their new album, Committed, in early 2013. But they are premiering the video for the first single and title track from the record right here right now. Check it out below, and let us know what you think in the comments.

The 2013 edition of Revolver's annual Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar — featuring Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless on its cover and exclusive pinups of 12 of the loveliest ladies in music — is available online. The calendar also packs plenty of hard-rock and heavy-metal trivia, including landmark album release dates, historic concerts, musician birthdays, and much more! Get yours now.

Canadian metal band The Agonist have released a video for their song "Panophobia." The track is off their third album, Prisoners, which came out earlier this year.

The video features footage from their performance in Montreal at Heavy MTL 2012 back in August. Check out the video below and let us know what you think.

Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless, one of Revolver Magazine's Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock (See her on page 63), can be seen in a new spoken-word video, during which she reads a verse from her song "Under the Water."

Although it's hard to tell at first, Momsen, 19, appears completely naked in the video.

Here's the verse she reads in the video, which was created as part of Amp Rock TV's initiative, "The Words":

"Lay my head under the water, lay my head under the sea. Excuse me sir am I your daughter? Won't you take me back and see? It's not a time for being younger and all my friends are enemies. And if I cried unto my mother, she wasn't there for me. Broken lines across my mirror show my face all red and bruised. And though I screamed and I screamed no one came running, I wasn't saved from you. Don't let the water drag you down, don't let me drown in the waves. I could be found, I could be one that was saved. Lay my head under the water. Alone I pray for calmer seas. And when I wake from this dream with chains all around me ... I've never been free."

Check out the video below:

When we interviewed Australian singer-guitarist Laura Wilde for our Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue (See page 50), we discussed several topics, including her musical roots, touring with Ted Nugent and her life as a student.

Unfortunately, due to space constraints, we couldn't include most of the interview. But that's what the Internet is for! Read what she has to say below!

REVOLVER: When did you first start playing music? When did you start playing guitar, specially?

Reluctantly, I started learning the piano at age 4 at the will of my parents, although I always had my sights set on the guitar from a young age. I was finally allowed to start playing the guitar when I was 12. My teacher was a touring musician so he rarely used to actually show up to the lessons, but I was able to use that time to learn the songs I wanted at my own pace so the time wasn't at all wasted.

What bands got you into hard rock and metal? How did you discover them?

My parents were young when they had my brother and me and were very much into rock and roll, so our television was always playing Rage ABC, an Australian music program. My earliest memories are of my brother and me, as babies, standing very close to the TV with pots and spoons and whatever else we could fashion into an instrument, rocking out to the music. The bands at the time were Faith No More, Green Jello and System of a Down. As some of the clips were scary, we'd drop our instruments and hide behind the sofa until it was "safe" to come out again.

How would you describe your music?

Hard rock infused with a glam and punk. Lots of blazing guitars and heavy drum beats.

What was it like touring with Ted Nugent? Any good stories?

It has been the most amazing learning experience. The Nugent crew runs an extremely tight ship, so it's sink or swim. We are all learning about the nightly technical difficulties. Recently our van sprung an engine leak so we all had to wait for a whole day in the customer-service area. It was priceless seeing the looks on people's faces when they would come in to wait for their car, seeing a mostly black-haired, tattooed smelly rock band sleeping all over the fancy sofas. They would turn on their heels and scuttle out immediately.

Since this is also our "back to school" issue, some school-related questions: How would you describe your school experience?

I found the environment to be extremely conservative and suppressive. We had to wear a uniform every day and it was more academic than creative. I can't exactly say I've missed it.

What kind of student were you? A nerd or a troublemaker or somewhere in between?

I guess I was a cross between a nerd and a troublemaker. I used to annoy the teachers by constantly talking in class and distracting whoever was sitting nearby, but always got my work done. You could say I was involved in the appropriate amount of mischief.

What's the worst trouble you got into while in school?

It was whilst I was involved in the school play when I was in 10th grade. I missed an entire semester of classes and rehearsals due to glandular fever, so when the first night of the play rolled around my character wasn't very well fleshed out and quite boring as I had just done the bare minimum of learning my lines. On the second night, however, I experimented with my role by turning it into a larger-than-life character, which happened to turn the death scene of Les Miserables into a roaring comedy. It brought the house down, but the entire cast and all the teachers involved wouldn't speak to me afterwards. I was banned from any plays or drama subjects for the remaining years of school.

Did you ever skip school due to hard rock or metal?

I missed an entire morning of school once because I was at my first Jet concert until late the night before. I kept the ticket as a souvenir, and let's just say my parents were far from impressed when they found it.

Did you ever have any run-ins with bullies?

The fashionista girls at school were always having a dig at my clothes because I dressed like a rocker. Funny thing was that when that style came into fashion they were all wearing black T-shirts of bands that they had never heard of.

Did music help you get through school? If so, how?

Playing the guitar was always very therapeutic when I was stressed out. I used to spend a lot of my lunch times in the music room on the drums and bass guitar as well because I didn't have any other access to play them.

When we interviewed Nita Strauss, guitarist for The Iron Maidens and Consume the Fire, for our Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue (See page 55), we discussed several topics, including her musical roots, Consume the Fire's upcoming album and her experiences as a high schooler.

Unfortunately, due to space constraints, we couldn't include most of the interview. But that's what the Internet is for! Read what she has to say below!

READ MORE: Check out our new interview with Nita Strauss right here.

REVOLVER: When and how did you start playing guitar?

I come from a very musical family, but I didn't pick up the guitar until I was 13. I had already gone from playing drums at home alone to playing bass in a terrible local death metal band. Then I saw a little movie that all guitarists should see called Crossroads. At the end of the movie, there's an epic guitar battle between Ralph Macchio's character and my now-favorite guitarist, Steve Vai. As soon as I saw that scene, I thought, "That's what I'm supposed to be doing with my life." I haven't played any other instrument seriously, or really done anything else with my life since that moment.

How's the Consume the Fire full-length coming along?

It's going great! I'm actually sitting in the recording studio watching our drummer track as I write this. It's always awesome watching your music come to life. Our debut release will be out this fall, and from there we plan to support it by touring as much as possible and bringing the adrenaline pumping, intense live CTF experience to as many cities as we can!

What's your favorite Maiden song to play with the Iron Maidens and why?

My favorite songs to play live with any band are the ones that get the big crowd reactions. I think "Fear of the Dark" is one of the most fun Maiden songs. It's really exciting to play, and I get that really catchy Dave Murray solo, plus it has that awesome part in the intro that gets the whole crowd singing along. When we were in South America, I saw some of the guys in the crowd actually tear up when we started that riff! It was seriously amazing.

Since this is also our "back to school" issue, some school-related questions: How would you describe your school experience?

Well, I've never really been much of a listener. I don't take direction well at all. I always want to learn things my own way, by making mistakes and correcting them on my own. So the classroom environment wasn't really easy for me. I even had to drop out of the guitar elective because by that time I had already been playing shows for a few years and couldn't handle the teacher telling me how to play.

What kind of student were you? A nerd or a troublemaker or somewhere in between?

Aside from being stubborn about classwork, I flew under the radar for the most part. My closest friends were in my band, and none of them went to my school, so I mostly kept to myself and played guitar with a couple other kids during lunch breaks. I did plenty of troublemaking at that time, but for the most part it was outside the classroom!

What's the worst trouble you got into while in school?

I remember at a school game in sophomore year, I shoved another girl into the sink in the bathroom because she grabbed the bottle of whiskey I had snuck in. She drank the last couple of big gulps. Someone went running to the teachers and we both got sent home. The funny part is, we only got in trouble for fighting, not for being 14 or 15 and drinking on campus!

Did you ever skip school due to hard rock or metal?

Yeah, a whole year! I was already missing school here and there for out-of-town shows, so I got my GED after junior year to focus on writing and touring with my band at the time. It ended up not being the best decision, because two of the other band members were still in school. So really all it accomplished was me having to do more work.

Did you ever have any run-ins with bullies?

I guess I was really lucky in that respect. I was always playing in local metal bands, so the guys in my band never really let anyone give me a hard time. The cool thing about being involved in your local hard rock/metal music scene is everyone kind of looks out for each other. People will join together and stand up for the outsider. I was just a weird teenage girl with short black hair playing in a metal band and running around drunk all the time, thinking I was invincible. My friends and band members were the ones who made sure nothing ever happened to me.

Did music help you get through school? If so, how?

Well, being in a band definitely did! At least at that time, playing in a band, you automatically got cool status that the general masses didn't! In all seriousness, though, music has helped me get through everything. It's the best outlet. Any time in my life that things get overwhelming or tough, I always can lock myself away with a guitar and shut the world out and after a while. Everything just seems right side up again.