Vocal preference

[NAD]

Vocals are like the final piece of the puzzle. They don't really matter terribly to me, but are oftentimes the make or break element of a band. Case in point, Ephel Duath, who would be a much better band without those two annoying as fuck vocalists.

So do you have a specific style you enjoy, or is it all dependent on the music? For grindcore and old school death metal a monotonous growl is all I need, provided it's an interesting voice. For anything else though I like a nice varied attack like Mikael from Opeth or Peter from Hypocrisy.

Have at you!

 

[J.]

it depends on the music, I guess. I like death metal growls the most, though.

 

[lurch70]

Case in point, Ephel Duath, who would be a much better band without those two annoying as fuck vocalists.

I agree on that .. to a certain degree. I do like the "clean" vocalist, who quit by the way.
The other guy, with the hardcore screams has to go ... he ruins everything.

I do like me a good undecipherable growler, ala Suffocation, or Obituary.

Just growl ... don't shout

 

[JayKeeley]

For anything else though I like a nice varied attack like Mikael from Opeth or Peter from Hypocrisy.

I think Akerfeldt is a great vocalist - regardless of how Opeth have changed over the years, his vocals have always been a selling point for that band. He's a good guitarist too.

In brutal death metal, I like the vocals in bands like Nile. Really guttural noise, as if someones reached down their throats and ripped out their entrails. Having said that, the technicality in the music matches them perfectly (making up for the 'simplicity' in the vox). If you take Mortician, they're ok, but you only need one of their albums to get the idea of what they're about.

Thrash vocals have to really be pronounced - almost matching the riffs that are blasting out, like what Max Cavalera used to do. Another guy that's good at doing that is the lead vocalist for Suicidal Tendencies - really punctuated delivery.

The thing I have most difficulty with is melo-death vocals just because the music is so melodic (and borderline power metal) that the harsh screams don't work as well (especially when delivered over a quiet acoustic guitar or whatever). That's why I sometimes see Melo-Death as 'Traditional Metal gone wrong', heh. (See: Omnium Gatherum, or Johan Livva).

Essentially, harsh vocals should typically match harsh music - OR, put even more simply, vocals should match the emotion in the underlying music. I would NEVER want to hear Iron Maiden songs sung with harsh/grim vocals - it always fails, and that's why I avoid most tribute albums like the plague.

P.S. I don't know anything about hardcore other than I don't like it - but to me it's an outside genre, along the lines of jazz or punk, etc. It's not metal to me whatsoever, even though some blurring tends to occur. Rather than diss it, I just move along which I think is fair enough.

 

[NAD]

Thrash vocals always bug me unless it's someone like Billy Milano or Mike Muir ranting over the music at 400 words / second.

 

[Caelum Adustum]

I prefer more harsh/black metal style vocals (as long as they are not as high as Dani).

Examples of my fav. vocalists:
Jens Rydén - Naglfar, Dead Silent Slumber
Henke Forss - Dawn
Wrath/Kraath - Setherial
Jon Nödtveidt - Dissection
Ihsahn - Emperor
Grutle Kjellson - Enslaved

I like some death and some clean vocals as well, but I seriously cannot stand hardcore/metalcore screaming.

 

[Ayeka]

I always love a good screamer! And those 70s singers who didn't necessarily scream or even really do anything special but just had a certain charisma to their voice...I wish I could remember names. I guess Robert Plant has to be the most obvious one. David Coverdale counts too, but I'm thinking along different lines...

 

[SonOfNun]

Generally a mix of growls and clean vocals isn't a bad thing although I mainly prefer "harsh" or "growled" vocals over clean ones.

Favorite vocalists are Vintersorg and Mikael Akerfeldt.

Vintersorg=

 

[J.]

I can only stomach the clean/growling bands every so often. Arcane Sun is an exception as I think they executed the mixture far better than any other band, mostly due to their mix of death, black, whispered, and clean vocals. I also think Borknagar did this well, especially the albums with Simen and the one with Vintersorg, though I'm not a big fan of Vintersorg's clean voice.

As far as Akerfeldt, I think his growls are class, but I've never really liked his actual singing voice. Give me Simen over him anyday.

I still think Ares from Aeternus has the best growl.

 

[JayKeeley]

I still think Ares from Aeternus has the best growl.

True that. I totally forgot about him - he has the 'smoothest' growl going.

I like Vintersorg's clean vocals a lot, particularly on Empiricism. It's interesting about Simen Hestnaes though - all of a sudden, with this release of Lamented Souls, I don't think I like him as much as I used to just because I think he overdoes it a bit - too much of a good thing I guess. I think I prefer it when he chimes in here or there. I dunno - the jury is still out on that release.

 

[SonOfNun]

I like Vintersorg's clean vocals a lot, particularly on Empiricism.

I've really been listening to that album obsessively recently. Empiricism along with Cosmic Genesis have been in my cd player non-stop for a long while with only an occasional listen to Nightfall or Vehemence thrown in for good measure. I've also got The Focusing Blur on the way which means more hours of listening to Vintersorg ahead.

 

[Krilons Resa]

As long as they arent the half shout/half growl kind of vox. It's highly annoying. It's like a hardcore vocalist mixed with a death growl. Does nothing for me.

I also like it when the vox are mixed...if done properly.

 

[Demonspell]

I prefer vocalist with a diverse range and an ability to carry songs with just their voice, as far as growls go my preference is for people who can get as close to the aforementioned criteria as possible and complement the music extremely well, Mikael Akerfledt for example...

 

[Krilons Resa]

The ability to express emotion is very high on my list as well. Probably the top.

 

[JayKeeley]

As long as they arent the half shout/half growl kind of vox. It's highly annoying. It's like a hardcore vocalist mixed with a death growl. Does nothing for me.

Yeah, I'm not even sure how 'shouting' equates to 'vocals'. Whatever happened to the concept of artists doing what they do because they have a specific talent that the average joe doesn't? Let's see a show of hands for those of you who can't shout loudly. :Smug:

 

[Krilons Resa]

 

[NAD]

Yeah, I'm not even sure how 'shouting' equates to 'vocals'. Whatever happened to the concept of artists doing what they do because they have a specific talent that the average joe doesn't? Let's see a show of hands for those of you who can't shout loudly. :Smug:

Haha, you just described most thrash vocals to me.

Wanted: Thrash vocalist.
Requirements: tight jeans and white tennis shoes. No prior experience or vocal skills required.

 

[M.Lehto]

I remember when I was first introduced to Opeth before Morningrise (yeah, before BWP you fags ;oD ), I really liked Orchid, but everytime Mike opened his mouth I felt like "what the &/(% I'm listening here" and the vocals really bothered me, so actually Opeth forced me to listen harsh vocals and after that I've learned to like them and learned that there're good and bad vocalist no mather how you sing...So these days only bad vocalists bother me, not how they use their voice. Confusing, maybe but I just returned from Italy a week ago and this day has been the first day to visit my souveniers (wrong spelled, maybe, but the main reason is), since the "wife" is out of town and guess what, I'm Drunk LOL

 

[JayKeeley]

Haha, you just described most thrash vocals to me.

Wanted: Thrash vocalist.
Requirements: tight jeans and white tennis shoes. No prior experience or vocal skills required.

"I see the world old (echo: old)....I see the world...DEAD!".

Thrash does get a bit 'shouty shouty' - that's one thing I tend not to like about Chuck Billy. You can take almost any Testament song and replace each vocal line with "Look at the lost souls...they look so black!" and you'd never tell the difference.

 

[JayKeeley]

I remember when I was first introduced to Opeth before Morningrise (yeah, before BWP you fags ;oD ), I really liked Orchid, but everytime Mike opened his mouth I felt like "what the &/(% I'm listening here" and the vocals really bothered me, so actually Opeth forced me to listen harsh vocals and after that I've learned to like them and learned that there're good and bad vocalist no mather how you sing...So these days only bad vocalists bother me, not how they use their voice.

There is no doubt that Akerfeldt's clean vocals have improved drastically over the years. His clean vox on earlier albums are a bit weak and trembly, compared to say his vox on "A Fair Judgement".

Confusing, maybe but I just returned from Italy a week ago and this day has been the first day to visit my souveniers (wrong spelled, maybe, but the main reason is), since the "wife" is out of town and guess what, I'm Drunk LOL

Haha - you're in the right forum then.

[threadjack]So tell me about Sahti or Kilju beer you Finnish bastard! I hear that shit will make you go blind! [/threadjack]