Modern metal and this scary haunted house singing style

I know this cookie monster nonsense has been going on for eons, but seriously people. I kept finding all this cool music on the recent metal polls, but most of it ruined by the growly vocals. I guess the musical influence of Maiden, Sabbath, etc., stops at 16th notes and double kick. I don't know... some serious suspension of disbelief must be required.

Reading unperson's mind there?

http://music.msn.com/superfans/heavy-metal/blog/have-extreme-vocals-outlived-their-usefulness/

two thoughts:

1 - its def an aquired taste/distinction - i think i got into this on the poll thread somewhere so i wont go through it again. It helps to not think of it as a vocal per se, examine it as another instrument first and work from there.
2 - i agree when it seems lazy or tacked on (one of the #1 reasons that all this new american wave of post hardcore does like NOTHING for me, plus my suspicion that they are all just failed screamo fucks), but when it is used w/ intent it can be glorious.

yeah we discussed this on the poll thread last week.

I think like any kind of singing, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I wish more metal bands would try different ways of singing, but whatever. Sometimes it helps for me to think of the singers as non-human. For example, my love of Deicide coalesced around realizing that they were actual demons.

Also, I don't know about listening to metal if you are not actively into the idea of scary haunted houses. Metal is a scary haunted house in your ear.

; )

i've never had a problem with death vocals. so i don't know what to say.

i heart death metal. if you want something to sound like something else then i guess you just have to find something else to listen to. there are, as of today, about four million metal bands that use clean vocals. maybe try one of those.

I much prefer cookie monster to castrato operatics.

Yeah and what's up with all that vibrato shit in Opera? Why can't Opera singers sing more like Willie Nelson or Lady Gaga? I mean really.

Listen to enough of it and get used to it.

More King Diamond ripoffs, I say!

You got it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVEi3nFpWAI

quick thoughts -

Ned - thanks for the link! Didn't realize I was mind-melding w/unperson

sorry I missed the discussion on the polls

Scott, the distorted vocals seem to be just a standard part of the template to me. I bet a lot of these dudes just do it without thinking about. Probably worry that they'll be called pussy by their audience if they don't keep up the affectations

Yeah and what's up with all that vibrato shit in Opera? Why can't Opera singers sing more like Willie Nelson or Lady Gaga? I mean really.

more like why don't more indie bands put animals on their album covers. I mean really.

wow, its almost as if it's a genre construction that people who like that genre have come to expect.

Why do all these cop shows have people driving around in cars and solving crimes?!?!?!

more like a cliche that some people are sick of

I don't mind if there's a melody to it, but growly rapping gets tedious (/geir). And wailing tenor banshees sound way more evil and scary to me than Rolf the dog. Would like to hear some of these guys do more howlin wolf / beefheartian tuneful gravelyness but I guess that would be too blooz for the real metal men.

xpost

some people who clearly aren't metal fans

Like what type of human being listens to Cannibal Corpse all their life and then thinks, "You know, I really wish they would switch it up and SING SING SING"

Listen to enough of it and get used to it.
Listen to enough of it and get used to it.
Listen to enough of it and get used to it.
Listen to enough of it and get used to it.

and what that really means is there's an entire range of extreme vocalists. there's bands with growly dudes that i really like and other growly dudes that sound retarded to me. it's not just one style.

i like raspy cobra commander dudes more than deep-voiced dudes who sound like they're taking a dump

some people who clearly aren't metal fans

Hey unperson, if you're reading this, I hear you hate metal.

Hey unperson, if you're reading this, have MSN change that "white text on a black background" shit

btw extreme vocals are a great way to avoid metal lyrics, most of which aren't really worth hearing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Doz5w2W-jAY

The best defense I can think of is approaching the growling like just another instrument. And then ignoring it.

Many of the bands marred by growling do sound like they would be great as instrumental acts. The irony is the total seriousness of the cookie monster vox approach ends up so much sillier than Bruce Dickinson's or Rob Halford's OTT operatic ridiculousness. But not coincidentally, neither Iron Maiden nor Priest would work well as instrumental music, so go figure.

hearing james hetfield sing 'love is a four-letter word' and 'splash some color on this gray' made my life, so i would recommend that everybody at least check out some recent metallica lyrics if for whatever reason you havent already

sorry, "splatter color on this gray"

whoa wait are you repping for "love is a four-letter word" as some MINDBLOWER here

yeah unperson that band inherit disease you mentioned, i hate these kinds of vocals. but not all extreme vocals sound like this!

xpost

more as a 'almost cant believe hetfield actually sang these lines, and im fully aware of what he sang on st anger' thing

BLACKENED IS THE END! WINTER IT WILL SEND! THROWING ALL YOU SEE! INTO OBSCURITY!

LOVE IS A FOUR-LETTER WORD!

Allegedly Anastasis Valtsanis channels Burke Shelly on the forthcoming Dead Congregation. Perhaps he reads MSN? Or ILX? Or both?

ok ok was just worried that the future might hold other delights like "two in the hand is worth one in the bush" waiting to blindside you xxxposts

hahahaha

hetfield was always pretty clear tho, right? the whole thrash thing was sorta dorkily obsessed with intelligible lyrics because we all needed to know what joey belladonna thought about the noble native american or the 70th time dave mustaine had some nuclear war wisdom to impart

and i love thrash but srsly some of those earnest thoughts would have be way better if they were getting all corpsegrindered and unintelligible

for sure hetfields words have pretty much always been intelligible, even if in recent years it would probably be better if it werent so

I RAGE I GLAZE I HURT I HATE I HATE IT ALL WHY WHY WHY ME

hope hammett wrote that one, tbh

joe wolfe is my modern day hero. he gives me hope for the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHqwzMZ_KUE&feature=search

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOFQ6SuLL4E&feature=related

you can totally dance to that

Now that's some haunted house singing style...

screamy > growly. that's just my take.

bm > dm? I agree.

some bm vox are almost whispered yet screamy, i cant think of a better way to describe it. DM is definitely cookie monster and it's not a style i like myself, but y'know, each to their own.

I think ILX should pass the hat and buy Joe Wolfe a Shure 57.

Like what type of human being listens to Cannibal Corpse all their life and then thinks, "You know, I really wish they would switch it up and SING SING SING"

People old enough to remember metal pre-Nirvana. But, you're right. Only pussies like clean vocals and melodies.

that isn't remotely what Whiny said or implied

i mean you have a right to not enjoy death vox if you like but yr kinda imposing your opinion on people in this thread when it seems like you have a fundamental issue with a standard of the genre, ie the problem lies with you, not us.

and there's also a big diff between unperson's article, which is a longtime listening metal fan who has grown weary of death vox due to the sheer overabundance of generic vocalists, and someone who comes in going OMG THE GROWLING JUST RUINES IT 4 ME

for the record I love death vocals. they are another layer of percussion if done right, and sound sinister. it fits the sound. for god's sake IT'S A GENRE CALLED DEATH METAL

Darin is going to love Caninus and Hatebeak.

Ass Scott says, there's millions of bands with clean vox, and not just in the Trad Heavy Metal or Trad Doom Metal genres. I think Jeff T could recommend you plenty.

"Ass Scott"

new username, i suppose. i'm sure plenty of people would find it appropriate.

lolol oops

Also

People old enough to remember metal pre-Nirvana.

But Death Metal was around a good few years before Nevermind and was selling very very well before that album dropped.

But Scott will be able to expand on that better

do we blame Florida or Gothenburg?

But Scott will be able to expand on that better
you mean Butt Scott

this thread has made me lol several times, thank you everyone