Hat. He sounded like he really wanted to tear his vocal cords while performing in Pentagram

Matti Way of numerous death metal bands is probably my favorite vocalist. His vocals are top notch on ever release but I've never quite heard anything like on the Cranial Impalement cd. It sounds like sucking up the last few sips for soda through a straw or something of a drain nature. While he is monotonous the vocals on that album top anything I've ever heard.

I'm also a fan of Mike Beams (formerly of Exhumed) I thought he had really impressive lows and very much miss him in Exhumed.

I think my favourite extreme metal vocalist may well be Lord Worm-- one of the most demented voices in metal, with a huge range of various growls, grunts, and shrieks, and I think he really captures the disturbed nature of death metal. Other favourites include David Hunt, Frank Mullen, Matti Way, Barney Greenway, Lori Bravo, Ruben Rojas, Sven de Caluwé, John Gallagher, Dominick Fernow, Vivian Slaughter, and Jeff Walker.

Jeff Beccera from Possessed is great; his weird hellish, echoey grunts make Seven Churches even better than it would have been otherwise. A part of the appeal is the effects on his voice, the production, but he still sounds raw, angry and urgent as fuck anyway. Great album, great vocals.

I always liked Daniel Corchado from The Chasm a lot too. His growls sound more like ancient warrior tribal intonations than anything - fitting with the exotic, epic vibe of the music.

I gotta second Hat on Pentagram. He sounds truly fucking evil. I was pretty young when I first heard that album, and his vocals legitimately scared me. I could not listen to that while trying to fall asleep for like a solid month. For these reasons, he is one of my favorites.

I would also say Neige is one of my favorite extreme vocalists. It's kind of funny, because his cleans are so soothing and mellow. Yet when he hits those high pitched yelps (See Peste Noire's "Dueil Angoisseus" or Mortifera's first album) I've never come across another vocalist that can match his intensity. He doesn't sound as good as he did a few years ago, but the recent Glaciation album still shows he has some of the fiercest screams in the game.

EDIT: Almost forgot Barney Greenway! That one is obvious though....

I'm gonna throw out this guy Fedor Buzilevich. He's from the band Holy Blood which most people probably don't know but he has a pretty decent range on him and the guy is fucking crazy, man can he scream his little Ukrainian ass off. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6fjSST-Thk Another good song is Wind of Death but I can't find a link for it anywhere.

personally i think Andy Annand is Frank Mullen's equal

bump

I've always loved Corpsegrinder's vocals, especially on the last four CC records from Wretched onward. To get that deep and go as fast as he can spitting out those lines without slicing your tongue to pieces is an amazing feat, and whether a song requires him to go full bore (Purification by Fire), utilize some mid-range dynamics (Festering in the Crypt) or play in a melodic death metal band without going as deep or as violent (Promises in Blood) the range is there and I really love his work.

Another vote for Matti Way. I love his work with Pathology and Abominable Putridity. Glad he's back w/ Pathology, too.

I'm not sure if he fits the 'extreme' tag or not, but Martin Van Drunen is one of my favorite in death metal.

As for my favorite in brutal death, slam, technical death and any mix of them there are a few that stand out for me:

Krisiun's Alex Camargo does a great job of bringing clear, genuine power. Something about the tone of his vocals and the energy and style that I really like, despite Krisiun not being one of my absolute favorite bands.

My favorite might just be Igor Filimontsev of Katalepsy (and Big End Bolt). His massive gutturals and diverse abilities to deliver a tremendous package of vocals to enhance and fit in perfectly with what his bands do is awesome. Truthfully, with the extreme music I listen to and enjoy the most the vocals are something that is mostly and accent. Pig squeals, gurgles, growls, and gutturals can be done is some great ways. These types of vocals don't dominate the music but rather enhance and support it. Igor is one of the vocalists that I can hone in on and listen to as a standout performer among the other excellent musicians currently in Katalepsy.

Let's see... probably Dan Swano from Edge of Sanity. Both his clean and extreme vocals are deep and godly.

Chad from Garden of Shadows probably has the best comprehensible low growls that I've ever heard. They are incredibly deep, yet surprisingly easy to understand.

Mikael Stanne from Dark Tranquillity has instantly recognizable harsh vocals, and his clean vocals have always impressed me as well. Solid baritone. His voice is a little lighter than Swano's, but still great.

Tomas Lindberg probably has the best and most memorable melodeath screams that I've ever heard. He blows on TRITSIO, but is superb on everything after that. And yes, I do enjoy his "GO!" on SOTS.

really? I like GoS, but I always found the vocals a bit incomprehensible. But to each is his own xD

Kriegtalith - Darkestrah, the best female BM vocalist there is, only if she could find the way to improve her English...

Dolk - Kampfar, very passionate and expressive, a perfect vocalist for a raw black viking band

Johan Hegg - although I generally don't like DM vocals, he is very intelligible, powerful and convincing, very impressive...

Matti Way, Jens Kidman, Joe Duplantier, Devin Townsend, Phlegeton, Danny Nelson, Jason Keyser, James Lee, Barney Greenway, Don Doty, Devon Wedge, Ramon Mercado, Joe Ptacek (R.I.P.), Ruben Rosas, Travis Ryan, Antti Boman, Joe Riojas, Blue Jensen, Frank Mullen, Frank Rini, Mike Centrone, Lord Worm, Steve Culp, Mike Rawls, A.J. Magana, Tom from Epicardiectomy, Nick Pitaro, Marty from Kraanium, M1asmatic, John Gallagher, Bill Robinson, Tom Leski, Craig Pillard, Haruka Kamiyama, Larry Wang, Ryan Gee, Jordan Philp, Josh Smith and Angel Ochoa.

That's everyone off the top of my head.

Oh, I cant believe I have never heard of Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu before. So good! That vocals, that bass!

For black metal I would say either Kristoffer Rygg on Aspera Hiems Symfonia or Kaldrad Branislav on any Branikald-album. Even though his cleans are horrible he's got some amazing black metal-howls! Kristoffer Rygg nails both styles though. I also love Vindsval's style on The Work Which Transforms God. It sounds so filthy and alien.

For death metal it will be Ross Dolan of Immolation all the way! He sounds like a monster on Close to a World Below. You can say what you want about Opeth's music today, but there is no denying that Mikael Åkerfeldt has delivered some brutal death-growls over his career. He is really fantastic on Blackwater Park, especially on the title track.

Christian Alvestam of Solution .45 and Scar Symmetry.

I forgot to add Livio Wellinger and Dani Hasler (additional vocals) from Bodysnatch. The vocals on "Insights Of A Rotten Theatre" are absolutely amazing.

I'll second Garm on Aspera..., and add shrieky Norwegians that I forgot to mention earlyer - Grutle, Ihsahn, Pest...

Mortuus - Such completely depraved vocals shouldn't be legal. I'm convinced he isn't human, he is pure evil. It's a shame I'm not a fan of Marduk (part from enjoying the occasional song) nor Funeral Mist

Attila Csihar - I didn't realize the range of that man's voice until "Ordo ad chao". Sick.

Karl Sanders - The guy sounds like a hissing, grunting crocodile god.

Corpsegrinder - Because.

100% with you on that, i was glad to see Peter get mentioned! Brutal as fuck. Seeing them in about a week!!

Also, as lame as Opeth went, Mikeal is a fucking talented vocalist, especially on the bloodbath albums. I also am really enjoying the vocals from Mikko (i think it is) from Swallow the Sun. & I reckon Legion would be close to making the cut. & A couple of locals, George from Be'lakor is gutteral as fuck and i really like his vocal style, and also Jayme from Okera.

For me, vocals need to have divesity, Highs and lows, can't all be the same.

Seriously Okera?

Will definetely go with Gorgoroth on this one...

Gaahl - strong, powerful voice. His clean parts are as good as screaming. Very agressive, yet can get a little bit philosophical on tracks like Sign of an Open Eye[i] or [i]An Excerpt of X. He's a great guy, has his certain views on society including metalheads. It's a shame he and Infernus don't go along anymore after the name dispute, but I'm very glad he's back in metal with God Seed. Besides his work in Wardruna is also worth mentioning. Anybody who dislikes him just because of sexuality must be a very close-minded person, in fact I respect him more than like majority of heterosexuals.
Trelldom - Til Is Eg Skal Forbli

Pest - I absolutely love his screams. The vocals on Under the Sign of Hell or Destroyer are absolutely outstanding. His clean vocals are not as powerful as Gaahl's yet very atmospheric and still excellent, especially. Heaven's fall is the best proof for that. As for Destroyer's tracks he really shows his agressive side there, actually I'm wondering how has he been able to talk after that record. It's a great shame he and Infernus parted their ways again, I was really looking forward to him doing vocals on Instinctus Bestialis.
Gorgoroth - Om Kristen Og Jødisk Tru

Hat - Gorgoroth is like an ultimate band for me. Favourited for everything, the music, the vocals, the atmosphere so I'll mention Hat. At first when I started listening to this horde, I wasn't keen of Pentagram. Luckily I realised how terribly wrong I was. Hat's performance on Pentagram and during few gigs back in '94 left me speechless. It's about heart he puts in the music. He would have been great frontman for Gorgoroth. Shame that he didn't participate in other bands. Heard some rumours that he's a practicing Christian nowadays.
Gorgoroth - Live in Garage, Bergen 1994

Abbath Doom Occulta - I think he's a very talented one. His vocals are great and fit perfectly in the heavy riffage of Immortal. Besides, I love to listen to two first full-length records Diabolical Full Mystycism and Pure Holocaust. His screams are exactly what I want black metal screams to be, nothing more to add.
Immortal - Cryptic Winterstorms

Satyr - though I don't listen to nowadays Satyricon, I favorise his vocal work on Dark Medieval Times and The King of Shadowthrone. I love those two records, bring me kind of nostalgic feelings. The vocals fill the atmosphere greatly. Those two albums are to me the essence of 90's black metal.
Satyricon - Skyggedans

LG-Petrov - I don't know how much he had drinked in the past, seems like a heavy drinker nowadays. I can't understand how one can go so deeply with his throat. The work on Left Hand Path or Wolverine Blues is something rare and characteristic. I love the thing that his vocal parts don't really sound like growling, but more like regular yet guttural shouting.
Entombed - Hollwoman

Ola Lindgren - I listen mostly to Into the Grave album, but this particular release has changed my opinion about one of my favourite vocalists. I mean he has beaten Chris Barnes in my ranking and now he's the number one of deep, deep growling. Sad thing he's not that extreme nowadays.
Grave - For Your God

Glen Benton - Glen is the man. Glen is death metal. I'm more into satanic themes and Benton's voice appeases my urge. The self-titled album is more of a begining, but Legion or more Once Upon the Cross are the legend and I'm sure vocals have a big role in it. Love how deep and agressive he goes, his random screams are cool too. The one thing I hate is his big love for vocal layering, but well, I think I can handle that. The thing that absolutely blew me away is the recitation part in Trifixion.
Deicide - Trifixion

Also forgot to mention Stanne as well. That dude sings like it's the end of the world on all of his performances with DT and his cleans are pretty remarkable as well to me

http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Truch/33493

I find Julien Truchan from Benighted to be quite the underdog when it comes to extreme metal vocalists. This guy's range is abysmal! Deep growls, high-pitched screams, shrieks, fast-rasping guttural vocals, pig squeals (just a little bit ), etc.

If you guys haven't heard of them before, check out their album Insane Cephalic Production, it's a masterpiece in modern death metal.

Enslaved's Grutle Kjellson
His vocals remains one of the most consistent that I've heard.

Swallow the Sun's Mikko Kotamaki
Very versatile vocalist, who portrayed black metal vocals when he was with Alghazanth

Pest, as we are familiar with his works with Gorgoroth.
Extreme and raw

Considering the vocals alone:

John Tardy, Obituary- distinct almost painful vocals (Cause of Death)
Barney Greenway, Napalm Death- deep and brutal that almost defined an era (Harmony Corruption)
Karl Willets, Bolt Thrower- also deep and brutal, perhaps a bit more pleasant than Greenway's voice (Warmaster)
Bill Steer, Carcass- Who doesn't like some cool harmonized vocals (Symphonies of Sickness), and why the hell doesn't anyone else do them?

Considering their stage presence as frontmen + vocals

Marcus Bischoff, Heaven Shall Burn- I don't like his monotone studio vocals, live it's more natural, but he's got a compelling stage presence
Chrigel Glanzmann, Eluveitie- While I prefer deep vocals over the scratch ones, Chrigel's scratchy vocals are sure vicious and live they're even more brutal.

Joel Grind for sure, mostly because of his vocals on Evil Never Dies and Hell on Earth, where he sounds a lot less refined in his voice, I kind of think it compliments his instrumentals better on those albums too.

Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation because of that screechy raspy voice he does on songs like A Living Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat and Gardeners of Eden. I find it to be something defining Cattle Decapitation from a run of the mill deathgrind band.

bump I meant (wtf did band come from)

Seconded. Slut! for example is an insane showcase of deep lows and high shrieks.

Chris Barnes: I think no need for explanation.
Chuck Schuldiner: Truly emotional, but still terrorizing enough IMO.
Nocturno Culto: Unlike other black metal bands, his shrieked vocals don't even sound quite "forced" to my mind.
Mika Luttinen: Quite emotional, his vocals do really suit in "Suomi Finland Perkele".

Was a big fan of Sylvain Houde and Maurizo Iacono's "duets".. but not so much a fan of Iacono alone.

Glad to see Joe Ptacek being mentioned! His gutturals are unmatched. Aside from all the obvious ones (Benton, Lord Worm, Dave Hunt, Hat etc) I'll go ahead and say Hoest. I'm a black metal vocalist myself and can mimic a lot of the big names, but I cannot get very close to him on Ragnarok's "Blackdoor Miracle". That album is just a masterpiece all around, but the vocals are especially incredible. Super long screams, shrieky & vicious as hell. His vocals in Taake are fantastic as well, but that album stands out a lot more than anything else. There's also Lord Caligula from Dark Funeral, another great.

The dude from M8l8TH is fantastic as well, so frantic and evil but they have a clear human touch to them. Same could be said for the guy in T.O.O.H.

Oh, and Pest of course...But if I'm going to say both Hat and Pest, I might as well mention Gaahl - Gorgoroth has always had amazing vocalists and the same could be said for Ragnarok.

I must add Tommy Dahlström of Aeon. What a pure brutal Low Agressive throat that is.

I do like som of the Marduk stuff that features Legion but I agree that he isn't impressive at all. I and my friend often jokes about him being one of few vocalists who can growl out of tune. Not sure if that makes any sense to anyone else.

I would also list Mortuus as one of the best however. I do agree that he looses a lot of personality once the tempo gets up there but he is amazing in the slower and mid-tempo pieces. Both in Funeral Mist and in Marduk. But you clearly notice, especially live, that he struggles with the older and faster stuff since it often also has a more busy vocal arrangement.

Jon Nödtveidt (Dissection) - Excellent articulation, always able to make out the words and a great overall tone.

Dallas Toler Wade (Nile) - A vocalist that gets alot of slack I find. I do like him for much of the same reason I appreciate Nödtveidt though - crystal clear deliverance. Perhaps even more impressive since the music of Nile is way more chaotic and leaves less space for vocals.

Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity) and Mikael Åkerfelt (Opeth) shares alot of the same qualities I find. Deep and powerful but very clear. Both have amazing clean vocals as well which gives their music much more dimension. Although I have to admit I don't actually listen much to their discography. In EoS's case I find them to uneven and with Opeth there is just something I don't like all that much. Its good but nothing that puts it over the edge.


Up there:

I tend to really enjoy Anaal Nathrakhs and Gojiras vocalists respectively but Im not sure if I enjoy them as much as the above mentioned in and of themselves or if its the whole package that makes it great.

Most overrated:

Lord Worm (Cryptopsy) - I just can't appreciate him. I love the music but I tried to like him but just can't.
Johan Hägg (Amon Amarth) - was exposed on the "fate of norns" album in particular. He's ok for what they are doing but nothing more. Very airy, dry and empty tone I find (usually hidden quite well in good production though).

Chris Weber from Rottrevore is an absolute beast of a vocalist especially on Iniquitous where he sounds like he's singing from the depths of hell.

Other memorable mentions are:

Jan-Chris from Gorefest
Devin Townsend from Strapping Young Lad
Ben Goreskin from Gorerotted
Corporate Death from Macabre
Matt Harvey/Ross Sewage from Exhumed
Sylvain Houde from Kataklysm
Mike Majewski from Devourement
Dan Swanö on pretty fucking much anything

I could list these all day.

Surprised Dave Ingram from Benediction hasn't been mentioned.

I think Mortuus' vocals on Wormwood are exceptional. The same are Frank Mullens on Suffocation's self-titled... The lyrics really contribute to his frantic portrayal of death metal vocal superiority as well, though, on the latter.

Also, Simon Petersen:

Same here. These and Dead's on Live in Leipzig (especially on the first song - Deathcrush - for me it's the definition of BM vocals) and perhaps Luctus's vocal work on Celestial Bloodshed's Ω LP as well.

Travis Ryan from Cattle Decapitation, definitely. He sounds incredible on their albums, but he's absolutely insane live. I saw them a few days ago, and he did some things that I didn't even know the human voice was capable of doing.