Question re: Death Metal

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: paulxcook

Originally posted by: TheNinja
I like some of the groups like Killswitch Engage and Trivium that alternate growling with clean/harmonized vocals. It adds some dynamic and shows a lot of ability. Straight growling for 50 minutes on a CD is a little much even for a ninja!

Trivium is a joke, but Killswitch Engage is good.

If you want to hear ridiculous growling that even I, a lover of most metal and growling, can't stand, check out Nile. Technically they're amazingly talented (especially their drummer), but I have 1 album and I've never been able to get through the entire thing.

Heh. Nile is the band they use in the "Death Metal Karaoke" link I posted above.

 

[Xyclone]

Originally posted by: Gothgar
It is actually really fucking hard to do it... try, your throat will be killing you after a few moments, just a different skill in singing... or something

The lead singer from Disturbed actually damaged his vocal chords by constantly growling and yelling. :Q

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: uhohs
welcome to emo land

apparently, if you don't understand death metal, you must be emo.

join the club and step in line. you can use my razors after i'm done.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: Gothgar
It is actually really fucking hard to do it... try, your throat will be killing you after a few moments, just a different skill in singing... or something

The lead singer from Disturbed actually damaged his vocal chords by constantly growling and yelling. :Q

thats odd the 2 CDs of theirs i have does not involve much growling

 

[Vehemence]

Originally posted by: Xyclone

Originally posted by: Gothgar
It is actually really fucking hard to do it... try, your throat will be killing you after a few moments, just a different skill in singing... or something

The lead singer from Disturbed actually damaged his vocal chords by constantly growling and yelling. :Q

There's a technique to it, and doing it wrong can easily damage your vocals, especially while touring and playing so often. Usually getting caught up and singing with all emotion instead of technique can rip your chords up.

Although, Disturbed doesn't really do any sort of the extreme screaming/growling/shrieking as some metal bands, so he must really have done something wrong.

 

[BlackTigers]

It works sometimes, others I swear it's just there to sound 'cool'.

I don't mind it at all, as long as it works with the music. If the vocals are out in left field while the music isn't, it sounds odd.

link
I like that, and the growling gets mixed with normal singing.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: Ns1

Originally posted by: Kalmah
Sometimes music is deeper than what your shallow little minds can comprehend.

First of all, if a clean guitar can be music, a distorted guitar can be music, a drum, a trombone, the sounds of birds chirping, a piano, the sounds of waves... then why the hell not a heavily distorted voice? Just because it's not the 'normal' doesn't mean it's not music.

And it is in fact extremely difficult to do. I know a guy who practiced all through highschool before he could do it somewhat good.

Thousands have proven that it's possible to show emotion with the 'typical' singing methods..
Now try doing that with growls.. seriously.. record some guitar tracks and try growling some lyrics over it.. record it. Listen and tell me that it sounds as good as Opeth's growl vocals.

I've tried it, and gave up on it within a week. It requires too much devotion to be able to do.


Stop trying to listen for words when your hear growls.. listen to it as another instrument. Just the same way people probably neglected the first distorted guitar you are neglecting distorted vocals.

Now, I will say though, some death metal is complete shit when it comes to vocals. Like they are doing it just to be 'death metal'. That's not music... that's trying to be an image.

But the few bands who do it as another way to express their musical ideas... \m/

Excellently written.

except for that part

 

[SWScorch]

Originally posted by: vi edit

Heh. Nile is the band they use in the "Death Metal Karaoke" link I posted above.

I wasn't able to get that to play, but if its the video I'm thinking of, that's not Nile. It's Iniquity. Nile is even more brutal.

But to return to the question at hand, you have to realize that A) music is subjective. Anything that is a sequence of sounds in an organized fashion is music, whether you like it or not. I could record generic everyday sounds and arrange them in some fashion, with or without a noticeable melody, and it would be music. And B), just because you don't like something doesn't mean it doesn't take talent or skill. Growling well is extraordinarily difficult. Yes, its "easy" to scream at the top of your lungs. Some vocalists do this, and they annoy the piss out of me.

Opeth has been mentioned quite a bit in this thread because they are one of the most ridiculously talented bands to have ever formed (in my unbiased, objective view ) and care about melody and music. Mikael Akerfeldt has worked for years to perfect his growl, and intersperses it with clean, mellow vocals (same goes for the instrumental aspect of their music). Whether or not you enjoy their music, if you know anything about it, you can recognize their talent.

Furthermore, metal is all about aggression. Not necessarily anger, hatred, evil or Satan, but aggression. It is high-energy, aggressive music. The guitars are distorted, the drums are hard, it only makes sense for the vocals to progress to distortion as well. You can only sound so "metal" singing normally. Think about it, in Opeth's song "Serenity Painted Death," Mikael sings the following lines:

"Each and every one would die at my hand
Choking in warm ponds of blood
At last, weak and torn, I went down
Drained from strength, flickering breath"

Whether you think those are great lyrics or not, and regardless of what you think of the song, or the band, or the genre, those lyrics would not have the same effect if they were sung in a clean style. It's meant to symbolize the more intense emotions, and clean vocals just can't do that. Same thing as using distorted guitars. Can you imagine trying to play metal with acoustic guitars and John Mayer's voice all the time?

I can completely understand why most people don't like growling. It's tough to decipher the lyrics, it sounds alien or demonic and yes, it has a tendency to sound like a belch. I think it sounds awesome because it's so brutal and alien sounding. It unleashes the intensity that other styles just cant match. Also, metal is much more riff-oriented than vocals-oriented. Most metalheads care first and foremost about the music, and growled vocals are just another layer of instrumentation in the songs. that's not to say that the lyrics are meaningless, just that in the grand scheme of things, how things sound tend to be heard first.

I guess I've written enough about such a silly little topic, but I just wanted to inject my two cents to the conversation. Bottom line: yes, some death growls are ridiculous, and yes, a lot of death metal bands suck (Cannibal Corpse being a prime example). A lot of bands sound the same to an outside observer, but honestly, that is true of any genre. All country sounds the same. All jazz, classical, blues, rock, klezmer, Gregorian chant, etc. It all sounds the same until you embrace the subtleties and nuances that separate bands, styles and songs. Growling is hard to do correctly and does not necessarily cover up a lack of ability in regards to singing or songwriting. And, as amazing as it may sound, some people actually enjoy the way it sounds.

 

[mrrman]

Originally posted by: Ns1
So, as evidenced in an earlier thread, I went to Progressive Nation this year.

The first 2 bands were "between teh buried and me" and "opeth"

Now, I think the musicianship is cool, but seriously, WTF is the point of all that growling?

At least with Opeth, the argument "change in dynamic" works.

But for "between the buried and me", wtf?

I saw this last night....liked 3 and loved Dream Theater...the other 2 bands sucked and couldnt wait until they left the stage...