Well I've replied to like three of these threads already so last time I saved my reply so I could copy/paste it this time around. Here it is-
"EVERYONE can growl. You aren't born with it, and it's not really hard to learn. It takes practice to strenghten your chords a bit, and increase your sustain, but you should be able to find a growl you like within two hours if you are able to grasp what I'm about to say.
The key is to feel the gurgle in your throat, as this is what makes the sound. The proper term, is "vocal fry." Yknow that rasp you hear in metallica style singing?(think sandman) THAT'S vocal fry.
Start by talking like you've just gotten up in that morning, with a grog in your throat. Don't push much air out. Just groan, or say "oh I don't wanna get up." or something. Then use that to sing a bit. Don't push the air while your singing. The force of the air creates a clean tone, so by lightening this you make a pleasant rasp. You should really be able to get a feel for hard rock singing in a few minutes, I'm not saying you'll be in tune- but the rasp should now be there. If you do plan on singing this way, be sure to practice clean as well since many singers can't sing a clean tone if they sing this way too often. The growl won't affect that though.
Alright, here we go- take that rasp and drop down a few octaves in your voice. This should REALLY give you a feel for the growl. From here, you should be able to feel it in your throat, and learn how to control it. If at first you can't do it automatically just refer back to "oh I don't wanna get up" with very little air, and drop right back into that growl. Practice changing tones, and experimenting with octaves. Find what's comfortable for you and make use of it. It's been my experience that people tend to be comfortable with some ranges and uncomfortable with others. I know my black metal scream is pretty crazy sounding, and it's consistent in that range. My younger brother, who I taught to scream, has a low brutal death growl and his voice is higher then mine in real life- so go figure. The point is that once you feel that gurgle you should be able to experiment and feel whats comfortable. Make sure to try switching to a high(black metal sounding) octave while maintaining the rasp at least once to see if you like it. Practice when you can and soon you will be able to go longer without dryness in the throat. You should IMMEDIATELY notice that you will no longer be sore back there like it can get if you just scream as loud as you can. As long as you don't push too much air(to the point where the tone almost becomes clean) it's unlikely that you'll damage your vocal chords. In fact, it should be no problem to switch from a growl to clean singing. Practice makes perfect though, so if it's possible- try recording yourself as well, and adjusting it to the way you would like it to sound.
Hope this helps, tell me if you have any success(you should be able to get a good start to this within a couple hours). Cheers!"
On the subject of weathered vocal chords- it IS possible to sustain damage if you push air too hard and make yourself sore to the point where its hard to talk. Really, doing this makes for a WEAKER growl. And doing it every show on tour could surely cause damage. However, controlled vocal fry is completely safe and I'm pretty sure Mike is just comfortable in a low tone- he hasn't damaged his high. Most people are comfortable in a particular octave- and that octave is their most natural sounding singing. I've found that even if I overdo it in a high scream(never happens in low or mid) I get a bit sore but I can still sing normally.
As for sustain- I've practiced quite a bit to get where I am and that's only a ten second sustain. People who tell you to put NO stress on the throat aren't considering that this will pretty much drain your lungs. Your chords have to catch the air to sustain the growl. Mr. Niel gave me the best advice I've ever gotten on this- and that's to do it quiet. With a good mic, and some compression it can actually be picked up quite audibly. Just keep in mind it can't sound like a whisper, so you need to practice attaining the gurgle and still catching as much air as with a whisper. I'm slowly getting it myself and have upped my sustain to around 20 seconds now- but it still needs work. Anyway, that's all I have to say on it.
