Singing VS Screaming

[hadesdaman]

Ah, the everlasting debate. Whether to sing or to scream, or both???
Of course, many genres are defined by whether you sing or scream (roar/grunt...whatever).
For example, it's impossible to imagine the gods that are Dream Theater having a roar of anger in an intro, yet it's likewise hard to visualise the devils that are Amon Amarth without that wonderful grunting.

However, for many new bands its a very real debate whether they should have singing, screaming, or include a mixture of both vocal types. I thought I'd bring up this topic, and see what your views are on it.

My personal view is that screaming should only be used when NECESSARY, ie:
1) If you're in drop tuning, and have lyrics inserted which naturally counter the flow of the song.

2) If you're death metal or another form of extreme metal.

3) If your song includes brutal or anger-fuelled lyrics (ie, the line "Gonna tear your soul apart!!!" sounds much better roared than sung.

4) In breakdowns.

5) If your melodic vocalist sucks.


Times when I think screaming should NOT be used:

1) If you're prog metal (way too smart to roar)

2) In GENERAL, if you play in standard tuning

3) In melodic songs

4) If you have a vocalist whose voice hasn't broken or has recently broken (belive me, I heard a band who tried this, and they really sucked).


In general, I feel that screaming isn't as good as normal singing, and is only necessary under certain circumstances, as described above. Yes, it does give an atmospheric effect, but cannot compare to if you have a really awesome vocalist. Also, fans do LIKE to be able to understand what you're singing without having to look up lyrics on the net or in your album cover.

What's everyone else's opinions?

(PS this is an opinion thread, not a debate about which is actually better)

 

[The.Jester.Race]

No one can say if one is better than the other, but singing clean requiers more self confidence and also you need good voice from birth, growls (and screams) are physically harder maybe and there's always the chance u fuck up your voice, but I think its more fun =D (I practice "extreme" singing for like 1/4 year and im 16 so i guess im not that good, but it is fun for me, i practiced today like 3 hours and i guess i should stop now ^^)
btw i dont think its possible to growl/scream if your voice isnt broken yet o.0

 

[Hexer]

hmm, about understanding the lyrics:
for me, its a criteria for a good extreme-vocalist if I can understand the lyrics (or at least most of them).

I've never really liked that Cannibal Corpse vocalist for example (damn, I keep forgetting his name.... Fisher??) because a lot of the time I just find it pretty impossible to understand what the hell hes growling EVEN when I have the lyrics right in front of me.

 

[Billenzimmer]

hmm, about understanding the lyrics:
for me, its a criteria for a good extreme-vocalist if I can understand the lyrics (or at least most of them).

I've never really liked that Cannibal Corpse vocalist for example (damn, I keep forgetting his name.... Fisher??) because a lot of the time I just find it pretty impossible to understand what the hell hes growling EVEN when I have the lyrics right in front of me.

I completely agree with that. I prefer vocalists such as Max Cavalera, Tom Araya, etc., who do entirely heavy vocals, yet you can still hear what the lyrics are. I find it hard to get into bands with the "cookie monster" style vocals, or are generally unintelligable, and when I do, it tends do be based on the sheer quality of the music, eg. Decapitated.
On the other end of the scale, i've found it difficult, depsite my love of thrash, to get into a lot of 80's stuff cos the old school, falsetto style vocals. They just grate against me too much to get past them, and quite often I find they dont complement the music. I have no problem with vocalists singing, so long as its not over heavy music, which to me dictates heavy vocals.

 

[Dj]

Screaming when songs have sort of violent lyrics and all and if a band is into extreme metal....needless to say it is indispensable.Singing is for softer stuff I guess....RHCP and the likes.

I personally like both of them equally.

 

[Zack]

I like the new amorphis style and opeth. A mixture of both if you will.

 

[Inhumanist]

Both vocal styles are used to achieve different emotions. One shouldn't compare one to the other, but ask if it achieved its intended purpose. For me, I can truly appreciate both, in different instances.

 

[reign_in_blood]

I like both, but in heavier music I prefer the "scream" as you call it. Like in Anthrax for example, the music is heavy, but the first singer Joey Belladonna sang like it wasn't, but the second singer screamed more and fit the music.

 

[.Carnage]

I find that both the screaming/ growling with the singing in a song makes good contrast.... if its all pure screaming, its still good- only if the song is that type... Some bands try to hard with it and it just starts to get purely annoying... bands like opeth both have it in there, and it sounds awesome... good example would be like.. the song deliverance.. starts off hard but then totally changes moods...

basically, i like it both in there.. makes for a good song.

 

[Consuming Impulse]

growling and yelling. clean singing can be acceptable but you got to do it right. most bands that do loud singing (usually stupid core singing) and clean singing (wich sounds emo) are stupid and queer.

 

[Mr Genvin]

I think they're both awesome for metal! I mean like Iron Maiden did pretty damn well without extreme vocals, just singing. I reckon that growling and stuff should be used quite often, it's one of the things that makes metal metal, other than the heavy riffs and double-bass, among other things. I think singing should be used to make songs melodic. And I'd like to say Opeth are an awesome example of both.

 

[Dazed and Brutal]

It's very hard to scream and sing in the same song for me, becuase after screaming my voice becomes a little harsh.

 

[Boru]

I like the new amorphis style and opeth. A mixture of both if you will.

A mixture of growl and singing is great. But you may need 2 vocalists.

 

[Hexer]

Die Apokalyptischen Reiter are a pretty good example for a mixture of singing, growling and shouting from the same vocalist (also all in the same song sometimes). only the high-pitched screaming is done by their bassist

their songs are cool for practicing things like that

 

[IWP]

I like singing slightly better. I also like screaming, but only when I can understand it. If it's just a bunch of random screams like "ooohh oooh ahhh ahhhrrrrr ahhahhahhhahhh orgh orgh" then it completly ruins the song. I've listened to Napalm Death before, and expected it to be good. The drumming and guitars were also, but once I heard all of those random screams I just started busting out laughing because of how horrible it sounded. I might get flamed, but oh fucking well.

 

[The.Jester.Race]

No one can say if one is better than the other, but singing clean requiers more self confidence and also you need good voice from birth, growls (and screams) are physically harder maybe and there's always the chance u fuck up your voice, but I think its more fun =D (I practice "extreme" singing for like 1/4 year and im 16 so i guess im not that good, but it is fun for me, i practiced today like 3 hours and i guess i should stop now ^^)
btw i dont think its possible to growl/scream if your voice isnt broken yet o.0

lol i saw that messege of mine again and noticed the date: may 29.
This is the last day I could growl. That day I fucked my throat, and since then (3 weeks) I cant growl/scream anymore. Those 3 hours damaged my throat, but I couldnt feel it then, only in the next morning.
I don't know what's the fucking problem with my throat

 

[Billenzimmer]

I've listened to Napalm Death before, and expected it to be good. The drumming and guitars were also, but once I heard all of those random screams I just started busting out laughing because of how horrible it sounded. I might get flamed, but oh fucking well.

Just out of curiosity, what Napalm Death were you listening to? From the sounds of it, I'd be willing to bet it was Scum, or one of the other early albums. The screams were themselves pretty random sounding, but the less than great production really doesn't help. The newer stuff is much easier to listen to in that respect. If you want to try out Naplam Death again, try Order Of The Leach or The Code Is Red..., then possibly move on to Noise For Music's Sake, a good best of.
Apologies for the rather off topic post, my bad.

 

[TylerTheNuke]

personally, I dig the falsetto voices of early metal. I never even listened to early metal until I heard death cover a judas priest song; painkiller. It was so cool that I am in love with falsetto, unless the singer sucks.

 

[Artisan]

It isnt about what sounds good or bad...its what fits the song. Thats why so many bands suck nowadays. They cant tell melody from noise.

 

[Thasis]

I like all styles of music... and by all I mean ALL. In the metal genre I have to prefer the Black Metal vocals (I guess Melodic, as I'm a particular fan of Shaggrath). Though I listen to everything and anything so it's all good.