A question for metal fans.

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Specifically, vocals. I've been listening to quite a lot of heavy songs lately, and I can't help but feel that the vast majority of them would be improved by the exclusion of guttural croaking.

Take this song, for example:

(Meshuggah went here)

The guitar, bass and drums are sublime. It's an articulate wall of noise that is a joy to hear. But the vocals detract from the whole experience. Now, I'm not a huge fan of lyrics in general, but when they're discordant and unintelligible, the whole thing seems like an exercise in pointlessness.

Back when I first started taking an interest in Metal, any sort of "harsh" vocals at all would instantly turn me off of a song/band/what have you. Then as I was exposed to more of the medium, I came to view that style of vocal delivery less as an instant "kiss of death (of my interest)" and more of an annoyance I suffered through to listen to all the parts of the song that I actually liked - this would be when my regular exposure to harsh vocals was via "beauty and the beast" performances by various female-fronted symphonic metal outfits, where for whatever reason someone decided that the perfect accompaniment to sublime soprano vocals was croaking.

But these days I can honestly say that I genuinely appreciate growling in certain contexts. Stuff like Meshuggah, well there we're in complete agreement, because there's no contrast - it's all growling, all the time, and non-stop growling is just a draining thing to listen to. Growling as a form of vocal punctuation, as a means of adding emphasis, those are the reasons I might actually enjoy growling in a song, but that requires your vocalist to, at some point, actually sing; you can't just growl your way through an entire song and get a favorable verdict from me.

So in summation of this point, I stick mainly to the varieties of Metal that involve nothing but clean vocal delivery, but I'm not adverse to growling if it's used judiciously (I will even tolerate screaming if it's the guy behind Alcest or Falkenbach doing it).

Sort of surprised to see you complain about Mikael Åkerfeldt's singing though, considering the man absolutely can sing, quite well in fact. Does he really growl so much during a typical Opeth song that it overshadows the clean vocal segments? I ask because I'm mostly familiar with him through his guest work and Opeth's Damnation album, and that's not a Melodic Death Metal album.

Spoiler: Which is fairly obvious if you listen to this track.

Anyhow, since I'm the helpful sort, allow me to take the time to steer you in the direction of a few groups that might strike your fancy, given you seem to want something with the heaviness that you find from the likes of Meshuggah, but with some vocals that you can actually get behind.

Communic
Ostensibly a Norwegian Progressive/Power Metal band, but from what I've heard from them, that Power Metal descriptor isn't very accurate - about the only thing they have in common with your average Power Metal band is their tempo and the double-kick drumming. They play eccentric and fairly heavy Prog-Metal songs that tend to run for about 9 minutes on average, only you won't notice because they never seem to outstay their welcome.

Scar Symmetry
A Swedish Melodic Death Metal band, playing very technical and heavy music that is simultaneously approachable, which is a rare feat. The fairly balanced mixture of harsh and clean vocals certainly helps hold my interest. Here's a couple of tracks from their last two albums (their original vocalist Christian Älvestam left after the 3rd album, and they ended up getting two guys to replace him).

[small]The original vocalist.[/small]​

[small]The new guys.[/small]​

 

[duktapeman90]

Any yahoo can scream.

Very much not true. That's like saying anyone can sing. Anyone can do it, but it takes skill to do it well. And if you can do both well and transition between the two well, than your awesome in my book.

I stand by my statement. Any yahoo can scream but it takes real talent to sing properly. It's not just dragging words on and changing pitch randomly, after all. It takes some talent and quite a bit of skill to carry a tune when singing.


Screaming? Kick any guy in the balls and you have part of a chorus for screamo. Noone would be able to tell the difference.


Even if it does take skill to scream to music it still sounds like shit anyways. I'd rather listen to something Autotuned than listen to screamo, and I hate autotune.

Fair enough. I get that that kind of vocals isn't everyone's cup 'o tea. But two things to keep in mind:
1) Don't assume that just cuz it has screaming it's screamo, that's just one sub-genre and a really annoying misconception.
2) People who actually like this kind of music would definitely be able to tell the difference. For instance, to me, all pop-punk bands sound the same, but to a friend of mine who's in a pop-punk band, all metal sounds the same.

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

Iv'e never actually said this here before, but I don't even listen to music at all.
I certainly don't mind music, but if an entertainment form isn't VISUAL then I... well... don't get entertained.
:/

 

[Alloflifedecays]

Screaming has uses which make it ideal for metal, a genre where singers aren't all that important and certainly aren't the focus like in so many other forms of modern music. Firstly, it's atonal, meaning that there's no melody from the vocals and the instrumental complexity can be heard at all times. Have a listen to DragonForce. They strip out their technical skill during the verses, and desperately fit in little trills during the parts where the singer is breathing in, simply because under clean vocals, instrumentals don't come through. A lack of a need for vocal melody also means that the instruments can create melodies that wouldn't be suited to the melodic aspect of vocals, but benefit from the rhythmic aspect, or the easy interface with the music it creates. In genres like technical death metal, it's vital that they do so, so screaming makes sense.

To see what I mean, have a listen to "The Ancient Covenant" by The Faceless.

It also have a lot of force behind it from a sonic standpoint. Genres in the extreme metal category, which are all about the force, find this very useful rhythmically.

Off the top of my head, Johnny Truant's "The Bloodening" will fit this point.

Then there's maybe the most important reason - certainly, the reason they were adopted in the first place; the simple fact that the anger, frustration or sadness present in a lot of these songs would feel contrived and insincere were it not growled, screamed or shouted. There are times when shouting is appropriate, or where a more "extreme" vocal style fits the sound overall of the song, and brings out the point, and the atmosphere, of the song much more sincerely. Remember that most metal musicians care much more about their own artistic fulfillment than they do about whether it fits public sensibilities, so this is much more important to them than whether their music sounds "nice".

 

[MindBullets]

I'd have to disagree with you regarding "Bleed", the vocals suit it a lot.

Taking out the screaming would kind of be like only using clean guitars. It's doable in the context of metal but it does change the overall tone of the song, making it less heavy and more melodic.

It's no better or worse than singing, it just depends on whether it complements the music or not. Usually, it does. If it's done well.

 

[Wilko316]

You'll get used to it, I remember hating now I can tolerate/enjoy it.

 

[Wilko316]

music is mood sensetive.

if you are angry, you feel like listening to metal for exampel

Stereo-typing much?
I listen to Metal because it makes me feel awesome and alive.

 

[Nayr]

Yeah anything that had screams which are "refined" or a really good quality like endzeit by heaven shall burn or anything by as i lay dying. The band shown at the first i don't really appreciate haha.

 

[ultimateownage]

Not all songs have to have intelligible lyrics or even good lyrics to be a good song. I much prefer when the horrid, unintelligible lyrics at least sound good. Some bands can do that (like Nirvana) and some really can not (like most screamo and death metal). My favourite music is the metal which is either not quite metal or just as violent but not really metal, like Motorhead and Rage Against The Machine respectively.

 

[kiwisushi]

I hate screaming. Any yahoo can scream. I want to hear singing. No, I don't care if the sound guy has to turn the volume on the vocals up just so we can hear them, that's what he's there for.

Really? try it. If after 10 minutes of doing it your throat is not wrecked for the next day or two, maybe you should go into an extreme metal band! I think anyone can sing, albeit not well or in key, but anyone can.

 

[Nazz3]

Screaming has uses which make it ideal for metal, a genre where singers aren't all that important and certainly aren't the focus like in so many other forms of modern music. Firstly, it's atonal, meaning that the instrumental complexity can be heard at all times. Have a listen to DragonForce. They strip out their technical skill

I fucking laughed

 

[demoman_chaos]

I agree mostly. Heavy Metal like Slipknot is great, but most Death Metal isn't due to them just kinda grunting.

 

[Son of Makuta]

I stand by my statement. Any yahoo can scream but it takes real talent to sing properly. It's not just dragging words on and changing pitch randomly, after all. It takes some talent and quite a bit of skill to carry a tune when singing.


Screaming? Kick any guy in the balls and you have part of a chorus for screamo. Noone would be able to tell the difference.


Even if it does take skill to scream to music it still sounds like shit anyways. I'd rather listen to something Autotuned than listen to screamo, and I hate autotune.

Try it. Actually try a death metal growl. It's really hard. Anyone can roughly approximate the noise, but notice how your throat starts hurting and you have to stop after bare seconds? Yeah.

 

[Lexodus]

I'm in complete agreement. I think, however, the occasional scream can go well placed- like the one in Number of the Beast, for example. Majority of the singing should be clean, no question about that.

 

[Goody]

I quite like as long as it's possible to understand without reading the lyrics in the booklet or on the internet. Basically if it's impossible to hear the words I won't like it.

 

[Lexodus]

I stand by my statement. Any yahoo can scream but it takes real talent to sing properly. It's not just dragging words on and changing pitch randomly, after all. It takes some talent and quite a bit of skill to carry a tune when singing.


Screaming? Kick any guy in the balls and you have part of a chorus for screamo. Noone would be able to tell the difference.


Even if it does take skill to scream to music it still sounds like shit anyways. I'd rather listen to something Autotuned than listen to screamo, and I hate autotune.

Try it. Actually try a death metal growl. It's really hard. Anyone can roughly approximate the noise, but notice how your throat starts hurting and you have to stop after bare seconds? Yeah.

Mere seconds, not bare seconds.
I hate how people use bare to mean wrong things today, especially when they mean 'very'. WTF, it's the COMPLETE opposite!

 

[FurinKazanNZ]

The only screaming I ever liked is Trivium

 

[Arqus_Zed]

I don't listen to metal that has nothing but grunts and screams in it... But here's my two cents:

I've also had the feeling that some songs would sound better without the vocals. However, when I go on the Tubes to check the instrumental version, I often notice that something is... 'missing'. Naturally, the vocals. So while you might think that a song would sound better without the vocals, the end result can often be disappointing. Mostly because songs with vocals were MADE to have vocals in them.

Maybe the vocals shouldn't be thrown away, merely replaced by something better?

Spoiler: Random piece of nostalgic metal that's completely off-topic

The instrumental version of a song with vocals can, however, become very good material to just play in the background. You know, bring some atmosphere, but not really focussing on the music.

 

[thecoreyhlltt]

since this thread has kinda become a "what's your fav metal song/band" thread... HERE'S MINE!


well, I tell a lie, it's a tie. between that one^ and this one\/ *Hint* it's the same band ;D


their lead guitarist (Chris Storey) is absolutely insanely crazy-mad with skill. The drummer is as well (supremely skilled) but i don't know his name.

 

[RanD00M]

I usually like the vocals. I listen to the Heavier spectrum of Metal while gaming or at the Gym, or even at school/work because it gets me in a good, hard working mood. Fast, heavy and angry. Which is the way I like it when I have to get through a tough task.
But some of the heavier "Grind" genres can get fucking stupid. Like pig squeals and shit like that.