Top 5 Metal Vocalists

Controversial opinion: I love Opeth, but Akerfeldt's a mediocre vocalist. Bland, unemotive clean vocals which are a joke by any non-metal genre's standards, and sound impressive only by contrast to the harsh lines. I fell for it for years, then one day I was like "wait a minute"
 
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zabu of nΩd said:
Controversial opinion: I love Opeth, but Akerfeldt's a mediocre vocalist. Bland, unemotive clean vocals which are a joke by any non-metal genre's standards, and sound impressive only by contrast to the harsh lines. I fell for it for years, then one day I was like "wait a minute"
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Yeah, I agree, but it works really well for the music. Its almost grunge in a way.

I love the subtle almost whispered lines on Orchid.

The new 70s prog worship stuff though....makes me wish for those growls again.
 
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One of the reasons why he stopped growling was because his voice was failing him, this much can be heard on Watershed.

His death vocals from Orchid up until Blackwater Park are still top notch though, even if his clean stuff ain't all that good. Still, I give him lots of credit for being able to sing & play guitar proficiently simultaneously.
 
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Forreal? I dont really notice it then. I do know he listed Nick Drake as a major influence though.

As for the Swano* comment - I could see that being the easiest biggest influence.
 
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Mikael's growls sounded incredible in Opeth and Katatonia, but his work on Bloodbath was never really impressive to me. He's a great growler in Opeth's style, but compared to beasts like Tägtgren, Mullen or Pillard, he falls quite short. Definitely not fit for a full death metal outfit IMO.

I mean, after seeing both Opeth and MDB live, I can safely say that Aaron Stainthorpe has a far more powerful growl and he is never discussed among death metal vocalists.

Mike's growl went to the toilet after rejoining Bloodbath. He wasn't used to do 100% growls live, he started to smoke more and got drunk in plenty. Bloodbath over Bloodstock is embarassing to watch. Lamentations, in the other side, is incredible.
 
Allfader said:
I can safely say that Aaron Stainthorpe has a far more powerful growl and he is never discussed among death metal vocalists.
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Aaron is a hidden gem, forreal. His growls got a bit weaker in the later years though, but not to the extent of Mike's. Comparing up to at least mid 2000s with that one. It doesnt mean he isnt bad though! That weaker growl sounds almost as dreadful (in a good way in MDB's case) as the older stuff.
 
CiG said:
I thought he sounded vicious on The Fathomless Mastery.
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His vocals sound very strained on that one. You can clearly hear him struggle to growl. Compare that performance with Ghost Reveries or BWP and you'll notice.

Terasophe said:
Aaron is a hidden gem, forreal. His growls got a bit weaker in the later years though, but not to the extent of Mike's. Comparing up to at least mid 2000s with that one. It doesnt mean he isnt bad though! That weaker growl sounds almost as dreadful (in a good way in MDB's case) as the older stuff.
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Fro some reason, in the albums is true, but he is delivering almost TLTS-level growls live.

 
Allfader said:
Compare that performance with Ghost Reveries or BWP and you'll notice.
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So I'm listening to this song and are you sure that's not just his style? Because to me he sounds strained here (as in the Opeth track) in places. Could be that in Opeth he was more dynamic and varied whereas in Bloodbath he just tried to remain low and consistent.

I'm not super familiar with or super into Opeth so perhaps people are just hearing a massive deterioration by contrast that I'm not, but I think he sounds great on most of the Bloodbath albums I've heard, which are mostly the old ones.
 
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CiG said:


So I'm listening to this song and are you sure that's not just his style? Because to me he sounds strained here in places. Could be that in Opeth he was more dynamic and varied whereas in Bloodbath he just tried to remain low and consistent.

I'm not super familiar with or super into Opeth so perhaps people are just hearing a massive deterioration by contrast that I'm not, but I think he sounds great on most of the Bloodbath albums I've heard, which are mostly the old ones.
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I think he delivered vocals on that album with that intention, but it's clear that the growl had a drastic change Watershed/TFM onwards. I love Mike's work but he lost the low end of his growl for good and some of the top end as well. His growls now are quite flat compared to himself in 2001-2005.

I don't think Mike was able to growl that much constantly from the beginning. It's clear when you listen the Wacken Carnage that he can't deliver the same heaviness on NMF tracks andhis voice "cracks" at times.



vs



Terasophe said:
^ thats roughly the last album Mikael stopped using death growls in anything.
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He did Watershed and TFM in 2008. GR is from 2005. Roundhouse Tapes is the last Opeth official live release with proper growling.
 
He definitely took on a more flat approach, I agree with that. I happen to think it was a successful shift, but yeah it was probably done in large part due to his limitations. That's fine, better that than he try a bunch of things he can no longer/never could do and ruin the whole album. Also he isn't Karl Willetts or Chris Barnes tier so he has that going for him.

Listening to the last two Bloodbath albums, in hindsight, Old Nick can't even compare to reserved Mikael's growls.
 
Mikael sounds so much more menacing in Bloodbath and I love it.

Isnt the guy from Hypocrisy the vox for Bloodbath now? Havent really listened to the post Mikael stuff.
 
It's utterly boring. In fact I wouldn't really even call myself a Bloodbath fan, I just think The Fathomless Mastery is a fucking fantastic record and stands out among their discography because it's the least "old school Swedish death metal" meme of the lot and actually has its own sound, especially with the riffs.
 
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Guess I gotta relisten to that one then.

Oh, on the subject of unique metal vocalists, Travis Ryan from Cattle Decapitation has some pretty gnarly vocal talents.
 
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