rank these thrash metal vocalists from best to worst

[mdmatt4ever]

heres the vocalists to rank:james hetfield, chuck billy, dave mustaine, tom araya, eric a.k., paul baloff, joey belladonna, steve souza,russ anderson, bobby ellsworth. thats 10 singers

heres how i'd rank them based on skill, versatility and ability:
1 chuck billy (best)
2 eric a.k. (if this ranking was based on singing all styles of music and not just thrash eric a.k. would be ranked first out of these 10 guys)
3 bobby ellsworth
4 james hetfield
5 russ anderson
6 joey belladonna
7 steve souza
8 dave mustaine
9 tom araya
10 paul baloff

 

[carnut]

Michael Sanders (Toxik) and John Cyriis are better

Hard to rank your list, they all are, or were, very good at some point. So , I'll stick to your list (ok, I'm too lazy to make my own )

 

[Marco Spain]

Difficult. Personal tastes? Technique? Singing live? Frontman?

Maybe it would be for me:

Chuck Billy
Bobby Ellsworth
Joey Belladona (but Bush is better )
Russ Anderson
Eric A.K.
Paul Balloff
Steve Souza
Mustaine (like songwriter he´s the number 1 on that list)
Araya (Tom can´t sing but that´s the key. Slayer is the best live act ever!!)
Hetfield

I´d add Mark Osegueda from Death Angel, David White from Heathen, Laaz Rockit´s Michael Coons, Sabbat´s Walkyrier... I prefer them to most from those ten.

P.S: I agree with Carnut. Cyriis=God. And Michael Sanders better than any on that list.

 

[Dead Children Speak No Lies]

1 hetfield (in his prime that is) Love that throaty roar.
2 chuck (death grunts, thrash roar - the man has it all)
3 baloff
4 mustaine
5 araya
6 bobby
7 russ
8 eric
9 souza
10 belladonna

 

[mdmatt4ever]

1 hetfield (in his prime that is) Love that throaty roar.
2 chuck (death grunts, thrash roar - the man has it all)
3 baloff
4 mustaine
5 araya
6 bobby
7 russ
8 eric
9 souza
10 belladonna

how in the world can you have eric a.k. so low and under tom araya and paul baloff for that matter?

 

[DarkOne]

Ranking purely on my opinion of vocal talent (and we all know that thrash isn't vocal driven)

Chuck Billy - Amazing voice and good range. Testament was always more than just a thrash band to me.

Joey Belladonna - Take a listen to 'Spreading the Disease' again if you forget what he could do at times.

Bobby Ellsworth - Could hit those high notes as well.

Eric A.K. - Never preferred him as much.

**************
There's a noticable dropoff here, and the rankings are much closer together. You want to argue that Mustaine had a better voice than Araya? Okay, I'll go with it.
***************

Tom Araya - Brought growling to the forefront.

James Hetfield - Matched up great with the music, and Metallica of the 80's is genre defining, but good voice? Uh, no.

Dave Mustaine - There's a reason he wasn't singing with Metallica.

Paul Baloff - Always grated on my nerves.

Can't comment on these guys.
Russ Anderson
Steve Souza

**Edit: One personal favorite that I forgot: Wrathchild America's Brad Divens (and yes, I did have to look up that name). WA was underrated in my book. I'd rate Divens 3rd or 4th on that list.

Steve in Philly

 

[thrashgirl]

Uhhhh...Rinehart!

 

[Wyvern]

1 dave mustaine
2.james hetfield
3.chuck billy
4.russ anderson
5.eric a.k.
6.joey belladonna

I don't like the rest

And to my taste some vocalist miss from that list: Ron Royce, Wolfgang Borgmann, Chris Astley, Stacy Anderson, Barry Stern, Nicole Lee, Kate (Acid)

 

[Marco Spain]

**Edit: One personal favorite that I forgot: Wrathchild America's Brad Divens (and yes, I did have to look up that name). WA was underrated in my book. I'd rate Divens 3rd or 4th on that list.

"Climbing the walls" is a thrash metal hidden jewel, no doubt. A pity that "3D" wasn´t as amazing and Soul At Zero (3/4 from Wratchild America) didn´t get my attention.

"The day of the thunder"...

 

[razoredge]

Mustaine is the only one that makes my list of favorite vocalists and that is due to his application which appeals to me. I've never been much on thrash due to the vocals. Hetfield had his moments.

 

[sixxswine]

Me I always have liked:
Chuck Billy, Mark Osegueda and Steve "Zetro" Souza...

 

[poundingmetal74]

With the exception of Belladonna, I don't think most of those singer's mentioned are all that good. Certain;y not from a melodic / technical standpoint.

Jimmy P. Brown II (Deliverance) and John Cyris should be on that list.

 

[Vegard Pompey]

Fuck these vocalists. Denis Bélanger beats them all. Mustaine is a good second though.

Why is Voivod never mentioned in thrash metal contexts? 'Cause they're only one of the greatest bands this planet has ever seen?

Also, Tom Araya goes on the bottom of that list. I don't like Hetfield either, but that's just 'cause I don't like his style, Tom on the other hand really is a horrible vocalist.

 

[rms]

guy from Realm > for high pitched screaming thrash

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Technical ability alone isn't important at all to being an excellent thrash vocalist.

Steve Souza
Paul Baloff
Chuck Billy
James Hetfield
Eric A.K.
Bobby Ellsworth
Dave Mustaine
Tom Araya
Russ Anderson
Joey Belladonna

guy from Realm > for high pitched screaming thrash

Agreed.

 

[ramses]

"Climbing the walls" is a thrash metal hidden jewel, no doubt. A pity that "3D" wasn´t as amazing and Soul At Zero (3/4 from Wratchild America) didn´t get my attention.

"The day of the thunder"...

Wrathchild America changed their name, not because of only three members still being W.A. It was because there already was a band in the UK that had the name first, and sued them for the name. I have the first 2. That's the only ones I like. And...fuck yeah, Ron Royce!!(not his real name, though) Coroner were doing growls and death grunts before Chuck Billy. Russ Anderson would be my favorite, because he could really sing. But, it just depends on the music, attitude, and intention of each thrash band. I mean, I can't imagine Testament being better if they had a melodic power singer, you know?

 

[Wyvern]

That's the only ones I like. And...fuck yeah, Ron Royce!!(not his real name, though) Coroner were doing growls and death grunts before Chuck Billy.

I quoted Ron, and he actually never growl or grunt, he has a harsh voice a bit softer in the vein on Mille from Kreator. His real name is Ron Broder and Coroner is the best thrash band ever.

 

[MURAI]

heres the vocalists to rank:james hetfield, chuck billy, dave mustaine, tom araya, eric a.k., paul baloff, joey belladonna, steve souza,russ anderson, bobby ellsworth. thats 10 singers

heres how i'd rank them based on skill, versatility and ability:
1 chuck billy (best)
2 eric a.k. (if this ranking was based on singing all styles of music and not just thrash eric a.k. would be ranked first out of these 10 guys)
3 bobby ellsworth
4 james hetfield
5 russ anderson
6 joey belladonna
7 steve souza
8 dave mustaine
9 tom araya
10 paul baloff

1. Tom Araya
No doubt he's on top.

2. James Hetfield
He's a decent vocalist.

3. Russ Anderson
It is surprising that he has a lot of range.

4. Chuck Billy
He's alright. He has a distinct voice but I do not think he's great or anything.

5. Dave Mustaine
Tolerable vocals.

6. Joey Belladonna

7. Bobby Ellsworth

Have not heard the rest:
Steve Souza
Erik A.K
Paul Baloff

 

[ramses]

I quoted Ron, and he actually never growl or grunt, he has a harsh voice a bit softer in the vein on Mille from Kreator. His real name is Ron Broder and Coroner is the best thrash band ever.

Yeah, they're up there with Heathen, and Forbidden with me. I have all their albums, and not a one is sub-par. When Grin came out, they decided to get experimental, and throw in a little industrial, jazz, and prog. You ever listen to the Coroner album? Half compilation, half unreleased material. They got even jazzier on that one. There was a little growling here and there, just not full on death grunting/growling. He sounded like he smoked a carton of cigs, and gargled glass before recording his vocals. Still to this day, I'll start a day with Die BY My Hand.

 

[Bryant]

I have to agree on this 100%. I enjoyed 3D, but it was not as good as CtW. Divens really didn't have much range and versatility, but he made the most of what he had. He basically sounded good on disc and live.
I think two more that are notable yet left off of the list are Joel Dubay of Powermad and Phil Anselmo of Pantera. Dubay would be very high on my list simply because he is simply way different. Powermad were definitely American thrash/speed metal, but Dubay had that high voice you get in Euro powermetal at times which made Powermad stand out to me.
Phillip Anselmo completely shot his voice out after Far Beyond Driven, but he was amazing on "Cowboys From Hell." Had he been able to keep his voice up for more releases, I think he would top the list.
One last notable is Mike Howe from Metal Church. I think they were more American style power metal than thrash, but "Blessing in Disguise" had quite a bit of the thrash style in it. He is one of my all-time favorite vocalists and he was great at the heavy and melodic stuff.

Bryant

"Climbing the walls" is a thrash metal hidden jewel, no doubt. A pity that "3D" wasn´t as amazing and Soul At Zero (3/4 from Wratchild America) didn´t get my attention.

"The day of the thunder"...