I guess this has been brought up before but who are your favourite vocalists?
I'll put the clean and death vocalists separately since I find it difficult to compare and rate them together.
Clean vocalists:
1. Midnight (ex-Crimson Glory) - sophistication, emotion, range and power, Midnight has it all and then more.. if you don't know who Midnight is then I strongly recommend you to download the songs Lost Reflection, In Dark Places and Transcendence by Crimson Glory
2. Geoff Tate (Queensryche) - second best after Midnight, they were actually trained by the same vocal coach, amazing live
3. Warrel Dane (Nevermore/Sanctuary) - besides a great singer, a very fine lyricist too
4. Jon Oliva (Savatage, Doctor Butcher, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Avatar) - also a great songwriter and dude, can't hit the high notes of the Sirens' days anymore but still rocks
5. Kenn Nardi (Anacrusis) - not exactly the best clean vox but definately the most maniacal shriek I've heard
6. Bruce Dickenson - no introduction needed here
7. Hansi Kursh (Blind Guardian, Demons and Wizards)
8. Mike Paton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle)
9. Dave Mustaine - nuff said
10. Charles Rytkonen (Morgana Lefay, Lefay) - great performance on "Past Present Future" and earlier albums
11. Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) - very underrated
12. Daniel Brennare (Lake Of Tears) - also an excellent songwriter and guitarist
13. Devin Townsend (Steve Vai, Young Stapping Lad, Ocean Machine, Infinity...) - still new to me but so far I'm impressed
14. Fredrik Ohlsson (Veni Domine) and Tom Mallicoat (Lethal) - the best Geoff Tate clones.. (that's a compliment)
15. Robert Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus, Last Chapter) - one of the finest and most uknown American metal vocalists
Others worth mentioning are James Rivera (Helstar, Destiny's End), Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation), Andre Matos (Angra, Viper), Stacy Handchild (Vauxdivihl), Shawn Ames (Lord Bane), Stephen Green (Accomplice), Tobi Zoltan (Dreamscape)
Growlers:
1. Mikael Stanne (DT, IF) - the ultimate growler, absolutely crushing performance on the first In Flames album and uncompromising and innovative on all DT albums
2. Mikael Akerfeldt - the smoothest transition between death/black and clean vox, also one of the most prolific songwriters and guitarists
3. Dan Swano - the mastermind behind numerous projects is very close to Akerfeld in the vocal and multi-talents department
4. Tomi Koivusaari (Amorphis) - not much diverse but "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" is one of my fav death albums
5. Fernando Ribeiro (Moonspell, Demonarch) - his "goth" vocals are getting a little boring but his death growl is top notch
6. Anders Friden (In Flames) - a little predictable but still kicks ass, also I like his clean vocals better than Stanne's ones
7. Thomas Lindberg (At The Gates)
8. Felix (Crematory) - underrated
9. Simen and Garm - not growlers but very good combination of black metal shriek and clean vox
10. Paul Masvidal (Cynic)
I'll put the clean and death vocalists separately since I find it difficult to compare and rate them together.
Clean vocalists:
1. Midnight (ex-Crimson Glory) - sophistication, emotion, range and power, Midnight has it all and then more.. if you don't know who Midnight is then I strongly recommend you to download the songs Lost Reflection, In Dark Places and Transcendence by Crimson Glory
2. Geoff Tate (Queensryche) - second best after Midnight, they were actually trained by the same vocal coach, amazing live
3. Warrel Dane (Nevermore/Sanctuary) - besides a great singer, a very fine lyricist too
4. Jon Oliva (Savatage, Doctor Butcher, Trans Siberian Orchestra, Avatar) - also a great songwriter and dude, can't hit the high notes of the Sirens' days anymore but still rocks
5. Kenn Nardi (Anacrusis) - not exactly the best clean vox but definately the most maniacal shriek I've heard
6. Bruce Dickenson - no introduction needed here
7. Hansi Kursh (Blind Guardian, Demons and Wizards)
8. Mike Paton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle)
9. Dave Mustaine - nuff said
10. Charles Rytkonen (Morgana Lefay, Lefay) - great performance on "Past Present Future" and earlier albums
11. Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) - very underrated
12. Daniel Brennare (Lake Of Tears) - also an excellent songwriter and guitarist
13. Devin Townsend (Steve Vai, Young Stapping Lad, Ocean Machine, Infinity...) - still new to me but so far I'm impressed
14. Fredrik Ohlsson (Veni Domine) and Tom Mallicoat (Lethal) - the best Geoff Tate clones.. (that's a compliment)
15. Robert Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus, Last Chapter) - one of the finest and most uknown American metal vocalists
Others worth mentioning are James Rivera (Helstar, Destiny's End), Daniel Gildenlow (Pain Of Salvation), Andre Matos (Angra, Viper), Stacy Handchild (Vauxdivihl), Shawn Ames (Lord Bane), Stephen Green (Accomplice), Tobi Zoltan (Dreamscape)
Growlers:
1. Mikael Stanne (DT, IF) - the ultimate growler, absolutely crushing performance on the first In Flames album and uncompromising and innovative on all DT albums
2. Mikael Akerfeldt - the smoothest transition between death/black and clean vox, also one of the most prolific songwriters and guitarists
3. Dan Swano - the mastermind behind numerous projects is very close to Akerfeld in the vocal and multi-talents department
4. Tomi Koivusaari (Amorphis) - not much diverse but "Tales From the Thousand Lakes" is one of my fav death albums
5. Fernando Ribeiro (Moonspell, Demonarch) - his "goth" vocals are getting a little boring but his death growl is top notch
6. Anders Friden (In Flames) - a little predictable but still kicks ass, also I like his clean vocals better than Stanne's ones
7. Thomas Lindberg (At The Gates)
8. Felix (Crematory) - underrated
9. Simen and Garm - not growlers but very good combination of black metal shriek and clean vox
10. Paul Masvidal (Cynic)
and many of the Delerium vocalists
that means something else where I'm from...) ever: Aaron Stainthorpe from My Dying Bride (are you really surprised I said that?), on the first couple of albums and EP's. Noone else has ever sounded like him- so harsh and deep, but without that back-of-the-throat distortion that makes him sound like he's actually growling. Awesome.
