On another thread, some folks gave made props to Crack the Skye by Mostodon. I youtube it and sure enough...death growl.

Don't get me wrong, the death growl has a time and place, but why does EVERY FREAKING modern medal band use it constantly? Let's go back to the EARLY days...Zep and Sabbath. Ozzy is silky-smooth by today's standards. And Plant? Imagine him doing the death growl!!

Go to the hay-day...Metallica, Megadeath, Slayer, etc. Death Growl? Nope. Pantera? Occasionally, but not overboard.

So when exactly did some blond-haired, fjord sailing, Viking Death Metal Swede find his way to America and take over ALL metal? And when are the young guys going to learn how to sing again?

Oldmanface rant over.

Maybe you should pick up the Beatles new box set.

Crack the Skye has almost no death growls, the arrangement of the 3 singing members vocals in the track Oblivion is awesome

What do you think about Killswitch Engage, with Howard Jones? They have plenty of both types of singing, and his clean singing is crystal clear.

Symphony X - Paradise Lost, youtube that and see how awesome their singer is in concert.

Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth has a beautiful voice and great guttaral voice.

Anselmo is my favorite

I am not a huge mastodon fan but like them more than most. My biggest complaint about them is the vocals tend to get on my nerves. Still a great album.

I think the Cookie Monster type singing is here to stay in metal. Most bands don't do it well but bands like In Flames and Soil Work do it great.

Bands like Arch Enemy just sound stupid. It does not help that Arch Enemy has a chick singing in the style.

for thumbs down on death growl - SO many great bands (musicians) out there with cookie-cutter growl lead singers that would rip it up if they just had someone that would actually sing.

And I completely agree - Pantera is perfect example of reaching, but not crossing, threshold into next stage of death growl but still being enjoyable. Now if there are others out there like above poster mentioned, I'd love to try them out but getting tired of trying new bands to hear same-ol, same-ol growling vocals.

Sevendust is a band you should listen to, no growling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYH-jkp8chw&feature=fvw

Down - Phil Anselmo is vocalist, f'n A

quote:

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Symphony X - Paradise Lost

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Russell Allen is amazing. You have to see them live to understand.

People today don't always define what they mean by death growl vocals. Screaming isn't all death growls style, and yes, there are different styles of screaming.



[This message has been edited by Raggy09 (edited 9/10/2009 11:36p).]

As I lay dying
Between the Buried and Me
Gojira
August Burns Red
Still Remains
All That Remains
Protest the Hero

Somewhat recent great screaming/cookie monster/guttaral singing bands

Also, does anyone consider Robb Flynn from Machine Head, as a screaming/death growl, cuz if you do, you are dumb, his singing is along the lines of phil anselmo, and Machine Head is F'n A

^
agree completely

R****09, i think a couple months ago you posted a link with Paradise Lost, in a thread like this, it convinced me to listen to Symphony X, and I would like to tell you thanks, and if it wasn't you, then thanks to whoever

i must be the only one who doesn't like symphony x.

i've been listening to a lot of high on fire. they have a very heavy sound. it's like stoner metal played a little faster and the songs are a little shorter.

Down = Stoner Metal, at least thats what all of their songs are about

The best...

http://www.myspace.com/killerstrangelet




I'm a Balla, Jak.

I agree with the OP. What is the deal with this cookie monster ****? Some of these bands have amazing musicianship and they're letting it go to waste and get shat upon by having these terrible cookie monster singers. The guy who sings for Symphony X is the sort of exception that should become the rule - the other guys in that band are talented at their instruments and he's a very talented vocalist as well who takes pleasure in showing it off, as he should. I also like the point about Pantera - Phil, jackass though he is, had a screaming, well really, yelling singing style that could go guttural but he didn't cross the line into perma-growling. It was aggressive without being silly. I think that's a distinction that a lot of these bands don't get. They sound goofy and laughable with that cookie monster crap. And for the other guys, the modern metal bands that don't do that, jeez find some other motifs to sing about or at least cage it in some way that isn't so childish as singing about dragons and flames and general "I will crush you" ****. I mean, for cryin out loud, Led Zeppelin was singing songs about Lord of the Rings, which is some cheesy ass subject matter, but they found a way to make it interesting and awesome in a way that the goof-troop bands of today cannot.

I agree with OP also. I'm gonna rant a bit..

I have been a long time fan of metal. I knew who in flames were before jester race came out, Cannibal corpse before ace ventura came out, and saw at the gates and dissection when they toured the states in 1996. I was excited when arch enemy formed, because of the ties to carcass, and I got Fear factory - demanufacture and cradle of filth frist album - the principles of... the day they came out

This was before ozzfest, and of course way before not just myspace, but mass internet in general.. which I think has contributed to what I think is a downfall of metal. It's more popular and alive than ever.. but it's not as good.
Think about a couple of early 20 year old's from Sweden, making metal, locally selling tapes and cd's, no internet site, no ozzfest.. and they decide to hop on a plane and tour the states in clubs like the Abyss in a beat up van, not having really any idea if they have fans or not, and not giving a rat's butt about money or girls or fame..

That takes huge amounts of heart, determination, and will, which in turn, makes good music.

Now, 4 guys can record on pro tools, put it on myspace, get recognized, play some local shows, and if lucky, get on ozzfest or jager tour, they get rich quick, there are loads of women and attnetion...
seems much easier, and not quite the sacrifice as it was back in 1994. There's clearly a bit more motivation compared to it back in early 90's as well.

Back then, for me, it was always new and refreshing to hear new bands that would surface.. vocal style and all. It seems, back then, there were probably 1/50th of the bands that are out now, yet every band I was into had a distinct style, vocal and musical. Now with 50X more bands, more and more of them sound the same.

That being said.. I'm obviously not a fan of new metal. Even bands that started back then, I really don't care for much, or perhaps I feel their current releases just don't touch their early releases. Fear factory, in flames, machine head.

There are exceptions, opeth being a huge one..

But as for vocal styles, pantera is great example of being extreme w/o just sounding like every other band. Burton bell is another example (FF),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmXduIRusM8&feature=related and robb flynn. Where are these bands?
maybe they are out there, but they just got mixed up in the sea of cookie cutter that I never gave it a chance.

growl into the microphone
i dont really think of myself as a growler.

As astros45 alluded to, "Crack the Skye" is a very melodic and beautiful album with harmonies throughout. Death growls are very very minimal. Give the entire album a few spins instead of a couple YouTube clips

Astros, if it was me, then you're welcome. ;-)

I did post a link to one of their live shows a couple of months ago here, probably was me as I don't know how many people really know Symphony X.

If you ever have a chance to go see them live, do not hesitate.

metal used to be good when voivod would release killing technology or dimension hatross..... these new bands are mostly garbage

OP,

Check out Protest The Hero

Mazag in tha hizzzzzy!!!! Where you been man? Yur azz hs been all writtten up on this thread _________ I trust your judgment, so let's hear it (and no Mastododon please)

It truly is hard to find good metal bands who dont scream or growl much at all.

Protest The Hero is about 75 % clean.

Others I have found and like...

Destroy The Runner - very good singer
He Is Legend - raspy, aggresive vocals, but not much growling.
The Human Abstract - also about 75%
Maylene and The Sons of Disaster - raspy, dirty south metal vocals
Project 86 is still putting out badass hard rock
Symphony X and Dream Theater are the closest you will find to 90's metal.
Three - Awesome band
Trivium has gone away from growling
3 Inches of Blood are kind of a gimmick.. but really ****ing good at it

How would you describe Chimaira? I think their singer has an interesting voice, where he is yelling with a raspy voice, but it is very easy to understand what he is saying, I also like this bands riffs, very creative I think

project86 is great..... but you're right, they are hard rock, not metal

If the OP thinks Mastodon is growling (which it definitely is not! The fact my wife likes them is proof to that) he won't like Chimaira or Protest the Hero.

I used to have the same opinion as many of the posters on this thread, but as I started getting into heavier and heavier music, I realized the in order to match the intensity of the music, the singer must adapt their singing style. All of the mentioned bands, Zepplin, Sabbath, and even Metallica and Pantera are heavy, but they aren't Meshuggah heavy. Can you imagine Robert Plant singing over "Bleed"? (Youtube that song if you don't know it.)

Growling is used just like the bass guitar IMO. You aren't supposed to listen for either. They are simply there to provide support for the rest of the song.

The good news is, we have started talking about metal on this board!

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quote:

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Symphony X and Dream Theater are the closest you will find to 90's metal.
Three - Awesome band

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Dream Theater's most recent album is quite heavy, and they don't death growl. "A Nightmare to Remember" off that album is easily one of my favorite metal songs ever.

And a huge +1 for Three. They are amazing...especially live. Although they probably aren't "metal" but I guess it depends on where you draw the line.

quote:

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Can you imagine Robert Plant singing over "Bleed"? (Youtube that song if you don't know it.)

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I really can't imagine that, since Robert Plant seemed to only sing songs that had melodies.

My point is Zepplin isn't metal, therefore it is silly to complain about metal bands not having Zepplin style vocals.

And to your point about Meshuggah not having melody, I would say you are wrong, but that it takes a vastly different way of listening to recognize it (or maybe just a slightly deranged personality!)

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Madman,

I'd never heard of Arch Enemy. They do indeed suck. The rest of the band should fire the lead singer and just do instrumentals because the music was ok, but she is awful. And if there isn't a significant amount of studio work manipulating her voice, I'd be amazed.

^
The Amott brothers disagree with you.

And no, there is not much processing that goes on with her voice. She spent a long time training it to be able to scream like she does. They're actually a very good live band as well.

I'm with the poster who talked about Meshuggah having melody. The complexity of their songs are beyond what a lot of people believe they have.

She trained for a long time to sound like complete crap? Interesting choice.

The band behind her is pretty talented, but, IMO, she is most assuredly not.

I'm struggling to come up with a reason that Nevermore hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet. And I"m failing.

Warrel Dane and Jeff Loomis put out probably the deepest, most textured, even (god forbid) kinda catchiest metal this side of Opeth.

Arch Enemy is a band that has lots of good riffs but no complete songs. Add the dumb vocals and I can't listen.

quote:

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I got Fear factory - demanufacture

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I saw Fear Factory open for Iron Maiden (Blaze Bayley version) in 1996 (or so) at a club near Kuykendall and 1960 in Houston. That show probably marked the low point in Metal's popularity. There were about 400 of us stuffed into this club to see Iron (f'n) Maiden in Houston, Texas for cryin' out loud.

I was deaf for about two days afterwards and I went right out and bought a Fear Factory tape. I was pretty stoked when Fear Factory wound up on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. We used to listen to Mortal Kombat when we in the Abrams (Tank) COFT (Conduct of Fire Trainer). Great times.