Banshee’s ‘Birth of Venus’ | Look vs Sound
May 9 | Written By Jess Wilkinson
Rachel Knight, better known as Banshee, has an aesthetic and disposition that is completely at odds with her genre. But that’s not a bad thing. The Los Angeles musician is fully aware of the lack of correlation between her ethereal image and demonic sound. In fact, she leans into it entirely. On her TikTok, she has made videos with her song “DEATH OF A PREDATOR” with captions including “The fact that I look like this, but my voice sounds like this,” or “The fact that I look like this when my music goes harder than any man’s”, followed by the songs lyric, “That’s hilarious, bitch / That’s hilarious.”
Scrolling through her Instagram, you are likely to find pictures of Knight with her long, curly hair unbound, wearing a pastel coloured dress or a flowing skirt and milkmaid style shirt. On the cover for her single, ‘BIRTH OF VENUS,’ she poses in a mermaid-esque pearl bandeau in front of a glowing beach scene, reminiscent of the Botticelli painting from which the song gets its name. Similarly, the cover image for her third EP ‘FAIRY PHONK’ features pastel tones, a background of greenery, and Knight herself in satin and frills.
From her visuals alone, you might think she would fall into alternative, folk, or even classical genres. Her aesthetic suggests (traditionally) feminine softness, influenced by nature, mythology and Renaissance-era art. But when you start looking closer, you will find that her angelic image is juxtaposed by an utterly devilish sound.
Despite what the cover art and the artistic inspiration for “BIRTH OF VENUS'' may suggest about the song’s content, your expectations are quickly subverted when you actually listen to it. From the very start, your ears are blasted with an insane trappy, electro/metal beat, then Banshee’s airy, soaring vocals are combined with a raspy, throat-tearing scream. Perhaps not the song you expected when you pressed play.
Knight said in an interview with Ones to Watch that the song is “a retelling of the Birth of Venus myth from the female gaze, giving Venus a voice and agency in her own story.” The song indeed tells the story of Venus’ journey. Otherwise known as Aphrodite in Greek mythology, the Roman mythological version of this goddess was born when Cronos castrated his father Uranus and threw his genitals into the sea, resulting in Venus’ creation. Banshee’s song depicts Venus’ furious struggle to pull herself to the surface after she is formed underwater, and then finding peace as she makes it to land.
This journey correlates with Banshee’s own personal journey of coming to terms with her assault and various other personal struggles. Banshee said this in the Ones to Watch interview that her favourite line from BIRTH OF VENUS is: "Your secrets were never safe with me, when I scream the sea/sky is listening,” and that “This line is the essence of Banshee. I will never be silenced again.”
All in all, you would not expect such a cathartic, heavy song to be produced by someone who looks like Banshee. It could be said that part of Banshee’s appeal comes from her ultra-feminine presentation, as there are very few mainstream female heavy/alternative artists that look the way she does. Not everyone who enjoys metal looks like a member of Slipknot. Banshee’s femininity creates a space for feminine metal listeners, and destructs the idea that femme-presenting people are always gentle and delicate.
Banshee has said in an interview with Loudwire that she believes it is “harder than ever to define genres” in reference to the wide range of genres that her music falls into. Perhaps musicians don’t need to be confined to one specific genre. Banshee refers to her music as fairy metal, trap metal, black metal, witch house, etc. There are sure to be endless genres that Banshee could fall into, or endless new genres to be created based on her sound. In the same way, it shouldn’t be a given that both musicians and fans should align their appearance with their genre. You are capable of enjoying any and all music, no matter what you’re wearing or what you look like.
The driving factor behind Banshee’s music is her frustration surrounding misogyny, rape sexual assault/abuse, and all around discrimination. She said in her interview with Revolver that she is fed up with sexual abusers getting away with their crimes, continuing their careers and lives with no consequence while the assault survivor suffers. For example, directors like Roman Polanski and Woody Allen continue to receive awards and accolades despite the numerous allegations against them. Women who come forward about sexual assault are often shut down and criticised. In the Revolver interview, Banshee said that she will “scream about it until I die.” She refuses to let these abusers continue to get away with their crimes. Banshee will use the raw power of her siren scream against the injustices of the world until the end of time—and she will do it while wearing a beautiful dress.