Banshee is a trap-meets-hyperpop artist who has already gained a quarter of a million followers on TikTok. But to start 2022, she’s claiming a new place on the metal scene after initially leaving it because of the abuse she suffered.
If you’re on TikTok or other social apps, you might have come across Banshee, the creative nickname for Rachel Knight. She grew up playing guitar and singing in various local bands, but now tells a painful story of frequent cruelty and exclusion. The mistreatment escalated into abuse before she left to start over.
“Setting boundaries shouldn’t kill the vibe, so I romance it,” Knight says of her latest single, “CHAMBER,” released Thursday, Jan. 13. She adds, “No matter what you wear or how you act, your body belongs to you.” (Listen to the track below.)
The new song, an example of what she calls “fairy metal,” came to Knight after she recently took inspiration from black metal again. Banshee had already released the first album FUCK WITH A BANSHEE, but “CHAMBER” – complete with thoaty black metal screams – points to his upcoming second effort, aptly titled Metal Fairy.
Speaking to Loudwire this week, Knight explains: “Metal became so closely associated with abuse for me that it became a trigger. I couldn’t listen to it without having flashbacks and panic attacks. At the same time, I was really getting into various styles of hip hop, classic house music, and modern EDM. Electronic production became the most interesting thing in the world for me, and the music felt safe and welcoming.
She continues, “When Banshee started to take off, I started associating metal with Banshee, not bad memories. Dealing with trauma through music gave me the agency to love the things I loved. I liked. Setting limits can be very hard to do. Your body belongs to you unconditionally, and your limits are your choice.”
As for where she thinks Banshee fits into music today, Knight says, “The worlds of metal and electronic music are coming together right now, and I think that’s cute. Some people people will say it’s metal and others will say it’s not – I think it’s a good conversation to have, but I’m just doing what I want to hear I never knew what to call my music; I think it’s harder than ever to define genres.
Listen to “CHAMBER” below. Check out Banshee on TikTok, Spotify and Instagram.
Banshee, “BEDROOM”
