Hmm, he did say "hair metal" .. I am never quite sure what that means. Certainly not any accepted definition of metal that I know of. Must be talking aboutt the so-called glam bands. Not much epic quality there, though.

Attila makes just about everything better.

That's the funniest thing I've heard all day.

Note the "epic clean". He seems to be conflating operatic/high-register vocals with cock rock, which is something I will not stand for.

Rob Flynn - Just bugs me, stop trying to sound like such a hardcase.
Timo Kotipelto - Early stuff was alright, now just awful, makes my teeth itch.
Randy Rampage - Great riffage (not from him obviously) but yikes, what sort of band meeting was held to decide "yeah, he is the singer for us!!"
James LaBrie - Studio stuff is alright, but live, shocking
ZP Theart - What the fuck is going on there?

Get Live at the Marquee, Score, and New York City 3/4/93.

Live at the Marquee is good...but every live recording since hasn't impressed, mind you I'm normally just listening to Petrucci & Portnoy...speaking of which Portnoy, terrible backing vocals.

Mike Portnoy has a horrible singing voice, I agree. At least Petrucci knows his limitations and delivers extremely basic backing harmonies, while Portnoy uses girly falsettoes that make James look like Phil Anselmo by comparison or raps (have you heard what he's done to the intro to "Take the Time" on their most recent tour? It's painful) or does some other stupid shit.

no, these are acceptable. they were actually doing something some what innovative, i'm refering to maiden worship bands, and the like.

So in other words you think a singing style should only appear once ever? That's a huge load of horseshit. A singer who sounds a lot like Bruce Dickinson is a plus in my book.

John Tardy. I know many people love his style but I can't stand it. It's just too much "uuuaaaaahhhooo" for me.

While I'll say that Attila is a very talented man with a voice many love (me included), its far too generalizing to say that he just makes everything better. Some people just prefer other vocalists over him. Varg even says he preferred Dead to Attila in an interview if I remember right.

I haven't read every post but has anyone mentioned latter James Hetfield? Jesus, I'd rather cut my dick off with a fork than listen to St. AngerDeath Magnetic because of him only.

LOVE IS A FOUR LETTER WOOOOOORD...AHHHH!

Agreed there. I didn't like him in the earlier stuff either, but it wasn't the same level of kill-me-please! as it is now.

I'm pretty sure that James 'EAAHHH" Hetfield can't say a single phrase without saying 'EAAHHH' at the end. In fact, I think his band was called 'Metallic' in the early days until he decided to say it out loud, 'MetallicEAAHH'. There's not a single post-MoP album in which he doesn't say it at least 150 times.

Hah, I don't really give a toss about whom Varg prefers. Yeah, saying that he makes everything better is somewhat exagerative, but his vocals do improve the experience in every recording i've heard him do. Just really charismatic, versatile and strange...I'm in the camp who can't imagine DMDS sounding better with anybody else at the microphone .. his performance on there is just so possessed.

Quorthon.

I adore Bathory, but his voice is quiet cringe-worthy at times. One example is Dragon's Breath from Nordland 1. He's a legend and deservedly so, but not because of the vocals!

Who the hell is Quarthon?

Sorry, you know what I mean.

I think Quorthon had a great voice.

In his earlier days, his singing wasn't brilliant sounding, but he could put a ton of emotion into it. See: One Rode to Asa Bay.

By the time Nordland rolled around, he had improved extremely, and there was still plenty of emotion in the vocal delivery there. See: Mother Earth, Father Thunder.

What the man lacks in vocal ability he makes up for in passion and soul. He's like the Bob Marley or Bob Dylan of metal.

A perfect analogy, Jackal.

I've never cared that much for King Diamond's "little girl" vocals.

Took me a long time to warm up to the vocals in Suicidal Tendencies.

Oh yeah, I completely agree that Quorthon had passion. Few bands rival Bathory for overall "feeling".

I do not like bands who's voices revolve around pig squeals.

The first time I heard Amorphis I absolutely hated the vocals of the band, but i've warmed up to them as of late and I'm really into Silent Waters.

Preface: I'm totally gay for Warrel Dane, Nattramn and King Diamond. I would have their children if it were possible.

I can stand most vocal styles though (aside from the obvious core-ish ones).

As for my actual thoughts:

The Sodom and Destruction vocalists get on my nerves a little.

Later Chris Barnes' works. Just listening to the song "Amerika the Brutal" makes me laugh out loud.

All the double layering Glen Benton does to get his vocals to sound more "brutal" because he lost the ability to achieve a vocal style that isn't stagnant sometime after Legion.

That guy from The Sword.

Metal vocalists who get old and can't sing anymore. Dickinson sounds like a strangled muppet to me in recent Maiden efforts (ironic coming from someone who likes Nattran, I know). Halford just talks in an "I'm a tough guy" voice now. Tom Arraya's vocals got very core-ish.

Varg's attempt at clean vocals. Recent Damnagoras, honestly didn't mind his nasal wails on Heathenreel, but now he's just cringe worthy. I really miss Jarpen too, sure his vocals were a little generic but he added another dimension to Heathenreel that Damnagoras just can't do on his own, despite how hard he tries.

Zakk Wylde is insufferable, he sounds like Ozzy being raped by a goat. Dave Mustaine sounds like half-man, half-frog.

I would absolutely love Agent Orange if it had someone who could actually sing instead of Tom Angelripper doing half-assed harsh vocals in an ahhh-ccent that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger blush. His vocals always use this very standard verse cadence that you see constantly in harsh thrash and death metal vocals as well (compare "Agent Orange" and "Tired and Red" to "Darkness Descends" by Dark Angel, "Immortal Rites" by Morbid Angel, and "In Hell I Burn" by Deicide--it's the exact same vocal rhythm in the verse, and it's a fucking annoying one. Why is it so goddamn common?)


I would have to disagree with you. Bruce Dickinson still posses incredible vocal dexterity and power, and his performances are much tighter than they were in the '80s and '90s. Bruce really wasn't that great live in Iron Maiden's heyday. His dramatic vocals have less high range but more force behind them, and his mellow vocals are far richer and more mature than the often annoying moans and rasps he did on earlier albums whenever the "Air Raid Siren" proved inappropriate. His voice is certainly smoother and less "mean" than it used to be, but I really like how his voice has aged.


Dave Mustaine sucks 90% of the time on vocals, but I defy anyone else to match his conviction singing "Peace Sells" (the song, not the album).

Whaddya mean I ain't kind?
Just not your kind

Well Varg did say he preferred Dead on "Freezing Moon", but that's because it was really Dead's song. No other vocalist could ever match his delivery, no matter how many damn bands cover that song. But for most other songs on DMDS, I much prefer Attila.

One question, why are Baloff's vocals on "Bonded by Blood" so awful, but the rest of the album is pretty good? Just one that one song, the vocals sound so weak and forced it's almost embarrassing.

I don't think they sound bad. They sound like a guy shouting into a mic with little regard for how he sounds, which is thrash as fuck.

I like Quorthon's voice, too. I know he's not really a great singer, but I think he fits his music perfectly, ironic as his music is great.

[quote="The_Beast_in_Black"]I think Quorthon had a great voice.

In his earlier days, his singing wasn't brilliant sounding, but he could put a ton of emotion into it. See: One Rode to Asa Bay.

Second that !

Rodney Dunsmore's (Devastation) vocals on Violent Termination is simply pathetic.

Any super corny, non-aggressive power metal vocals that have nothing to do with the true heavy-metal vocal style created by legends like Eric Adams, Rob Halford, Paul DiAnno..etc

Any modern american metalcore soulles bullshit mediocre scream type of vocals. All singers get training from some stupid vocal coach, you can instantly recognize the really lame superficial and actually fake sounding scream sound they have.

I love all vocals associated with metal or punk. And sometimes it's great to find a vocalist that makes you cringe, as long as you're cringing for the right reasons.

Pop vocals make me cringe for the wrong reasons though. And anything produced by anyone even remotely affiliated with High School Musical.

UGH!

Anyone mention Wallachia yet? When i first heard the music i was really stoked. Once i heard the vocals, i thought it ruined the whole thing. Great music but just too demonic on the vocals to enjoy.

Why has no one mentioned Hetre from Triste yet? The band itself is alright in most aspects, but dear God. Remember how Varg's vocals sounded? Put them through a night of crying and various depressing songs. 10 hours later, Hetre leaves his home to record the vocals for whatever material he's working on. The man sounds like a crying throat cancer patient, if thats possible.

John Edlund. I love Tiamat's discography, even the pop-goth stuff, but his vocals don't fit the music.

Also, Steve Grimmett. He can wail, but he always hits bad notes, and frequently fails to transition between words - case in point, "CANNAH MAKE YOU AN OFFER YOU CANNAFUUUAAHZE".

The way he delivers that Grim Reaper line is completely retarded.

True, on both counts. THe vocals on "Sumerian Cry" were cool though, perhaps because they were highly reverbed as was the case with most Sunlight Studio bands .. sometimes it sounded a bit weak (Darkthrone) but at other times it worked (Entombed, Tiamat).

I know that "cringe" usually has a negative association, so perhaps it's not exactlyt he right place for this, as I kind of like it in fact .. but I can't listen to King Diamond spell "C.U.N.T!" in "Nuns Have No Fun" without bursting into laughter .. but especially when he ends the chorus with "you c.u.n.t yeah!" It sounds ridiculous, yet I can't imagine the song any other way really. Does anybody know the story behind that? I mean, were they not allowed to say "cunt" on the record and so decided to write a tongue-in-cheek song around that where the spelling figured prominently in the chorus?

The vocalist from Mayhem. I just can't take his voice seriously.

I take it you mean atilla right?