These days I find that a unique vocalist does a lot for me, even though the music may not be that interesting. I'm looking to find some of the most unique vocalists in metal but also music in general. What makes the vocalist unique can be the style, the tone of his/her voice and how they use it etc.

A few favourites of mine is Tom Waits and Peter Steele. Everybody knows Peter Steel for his deep, baritone voice and it's probably one of the most easily recognisable features in Type O's music.

Waits is my all time favourite artist and I love almost everything he's ever done. His voice has changed dramatically from the early years of his career, from a soothing voice to a raspy growl, yet he still knows how to bring it to use perfectly and manipulate it masterfully.

Another mention is CORPSE, fairly unknown Spanish powerviolence. The vocals aren't really that impressive or unique, I just love his "constantly spit words" style and the Spanish helps it sound really cool too: [youtube]https://youtu.be/bGqaKEGGS5Q[/youtube]

What's your examples, favourites, least favourite etc. Let me see what you got!

Seuche from the band Fäulnis with his punkish guttural vocal style that's pretty unique.

Hatebeak uses a bird as vocalist and Cernunos 2 pitbulls.

Vidonne, the late vocalist of Lordian Guard, is one of the most unique voices I've heard in metal or any genre. She and her then-husband, Warlord guitarist Bill Tsamis, made up the duo of this project from the 90s that was incredibly unique musically, and vocally. It is metal, but it's not that heavy. But even though it's not that heavy, it's not at all poppy either. It's very majestic and epic sounding, with the help of prominent keyboards, played by Tsamis, and the occasional spoken word passage. Even for the 90s, the keyboards used are very cheesy and outdated, but in Bill's hands they sound fantastic for the music.

Lordian Guard - War in Heaven

Oh btw, both of Lordian Guard's albums along with some bonus demo tracks are being reissued by High Roller records. The first album, known to me as Lordian Guard, is being reissued under the name Woe to the Inhabitants of the Earth, release date July 27th, 2018. Their Second album, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, is to be released on July 20th, 2018. Both of these are currently up for pre-order in DCD and LP+7" format. Make note the vinyl versions omit most of the bonus tracks available on the CD versions.

A pretty obvious pick, but Attila Csihar from Mayhem was the first to cross my mind. Maybe his style is a bit outdated nowadays, but back in the DMDS days I reckon it was pretty notorious for its experimental nature. He didn't just scream relentlessly as Maniac did on Deathcrush, he played with dynamics and volume of his voice. Just on DMDS you get both Gregorianesque vocals (the title track) and raspy and throaty vocals ("Funeral Fog"). Dead may be regarded as one of the legendary vocalists (even though his style isn't that impressive to me save for the fact that he inspired countless others to the point the vocal style seems so commonplace within bm), but Attila is a true artist, experimenting and doing his own thing, not giving a fuck.

Piotr Paweł Wiwczarek aka Peter from Vader has a very unique and long going voice for me, you instantly know that it is him whether it is on De Profundis or The Empire 21 years later, really like it.

The Curator from Portal, dry, gravelly and creepy.

Glenn Benton's novel idea of double tracked vocals makes him sound "demonic" in a way that separates him from some contempories.

Thought of another one... Magnus Pelander of Swedish doom/stoner/rock band Witchcraft has an incredibly unique voice, that I think is one of the best selling points of the band. His voice can sound very fragile at times, and that's when it's at its most unique. But it fits the music very well.

The late Keith Deen, of Holy Terror. Sure, he had a lot of influence from 60s/70s rock (he wasn't really a 'metal' guy as such, apparently) but he was able to combine those influences with a fairly unique range, to create something unique.

Atilla Csihar when he's doing the more "trying to sing opera whilst throwing up" parts has always stood out to me.

Walker from Warning/40 Watt Sun. I can see how it would grate on peoples nerves (though nothing compared to my next one) sounds wonderfully haunted and powerful.

Larry Lifeless from Upsidedown Cross is so obnoxiously nasal and tone deaf that at first I thought I was hearing the exploitation of a mentally disabled person. But the geezer makes it work.

Rok from Sadistik Exekution.

I've always found Lars from Manticora's voice very unique.

Kenn Nardi from ANACRUSIS is pretty amazing for the mix of screams and melodic singing. And not in a lame modern metal way.

Not metal, but Sainkho Namtchylak's voice sounds very unique to me. And I second Attila.

Sakevi from G.I.S.M.
Brian Ross from Satan/Blitzkrieg
Kiba from Gargoyle
Kärtsy Hatakka from Watari
Juan Brujo from Brujeria

Alexander Nordgaren of Fleurety, he could provide National Geographic the endangered hawk/eagle soundtrack to their nature shows.

Thirteen posts in and no one has mentioned Mark "The Shark" Shelton. For shame. He gives Manilla Road that something extra.

Dave Hunt - Anaal Nathrakh

Jacob Bannon - Converge

Justin Broadrick - Godflesh / Jesu

Travis Ryan - Cattle Decapitation, particularly the newer stuff

My top two favorites as far as unique sounding vocalists go are Dirk Schroder ( Iron Angel ) and Armin Weber ( Poison ) . Bobby Blitz and Sheepdog are pretty unique vocalists as well IMO , so I guess their number 3 and 4 on my favorites list .

As far as least favorites go , the vocalist of SDI ( don't know his name ) sounds pretty unique to my ears in a rather bad way ...

Oh and Mustaine definitely fits the bill as well to use a better known example .

Well for me King Diamond is most obvious. I really like Urban Breed from Serious Black, fucking great power metal that doesn’t get enough exposure! Also, always like Fernando from Moonspell, and Toumi from Amorphis.

Seconding Piotr (Vader) and Travis Ryan (Cattle Decapitation).

I have to show some love for Burton C. Belle. From Demanufacture onward he has a perfectly gravelly yet discernible bark, let alone the unique way his clean vocals are processed (...and thankfully so, he can barely keep a tune).

Dave Brockie always had that drunken swagger to his delivery, making even the dumbest of his lyrics shine. Hell, he even had a solid singing voice when he wanted to, as displayed in the DBX tune "Churchmouse in the Snow."

Julien Truchan of BENIGHTED (France)... the "Attila" of brutal death metal? (half-joking w/ the Attila comparison, but still... it fits in a way)

Also, Mortuus of Marduk/Funeral Mist? Just a thought... maybe not "unique" in the broader sense, but in how he puts it all together... Either way, he rips.

I think Udo has a pretty unique voice. He's gotten a lot more snarly in recent years in this odd way.

Also, gotta 2nd/3rd Travis Ryan of Cattle Decapitation, he's absolutely got his own unique thing going. However, I felt they overdid the "clean/high vocals" on the last one (The Anthropocene Extinction) a bit. The novelty & power of those vocals wear off fast if they're overdone, imo, and I kinda felt they were. On "Monolith..." they were used quite sparingly to great effect.

The last thing you can say about Cattle Decapitation is that they have unique vocals...

So no one has mention the one and only:

JOHN ARCH..... His vocals in Awaken The Guardian are like nothing I have heard before, and I have still to find someone who sounds like him.

Willem from Urfaust always struck me as a very particular vocalist.

Dani from CoF is certainly very unique, for good or ill.



As evidenced by this thread's three Attila mentions, being awful is always in style somewhere.

Rainer Landfermann on Bethlehem's Dictius Te Necare is the obvious choice here. Screaming like that can't be healthy.

I know most of the vocalists mentioned here, apart from Lordian Guard and a few others, will get around to check em out soon, thanks everyone.

Another one I thought of is Larry Lifeless of Upsidedown Cross/Kilslug, he always sounds like he's doped out of his mind.

Matthew "Chalky" Chalk on (2003) Psycroptic - The Scepter of the Ancients.

A few years ago I would've said Floor Jansen, hands down, and I would've based that on her diverse skill-set (pop voice, opera voice, death growls, punk-like shouting), range, and adaptability. And while I'm still a big fan of her work and abilities these days, I'm not sure if her approach is more distinct rather than unique, and-to me-there is a distinction between those two words. Her voice is strong and recognizable as hew own, but is she really doing anything unique compared to other vocalists in the female fronted symphonic metal sub-genre? I'm not entirely sure.

Probably most applicable to this thread that I've heard recently is Laurent Lunoir, aka OxxO XooX. I am only familiar with the two albums by his titular avant-garde doom project and his guest vocal work on a handful of tracks on the new Master Boot Record album. But goddamn, the vocal work on these records is completely over the top, in a very unsubtle and hard-to-describe way. The OxxO XooX records are extremely challenging listens, both instrumentally but especially vocally as well. And while I was hesitant about the addition of vocals over Master Boot Record's bombastic instrumental synthwave style, Lunoir's absurd vocal approach completely works in this context for the four songs he guests on. That said, I am glad it only ended up being four out of the eight songs on that album, because I'm not sure if I would be able to enjoy a full MBR album with these vocals and not feel completely exhausted afterward.

Cirith Ungol's Tim Baker, Chastain's Leather Leone and Ville Valo... Moonspell's Fernando for probably being the most well-known singer with a mediterranean accent.

I wouldn't call him awful, I've liked his style since day one, and I really had to make an effort to appreciate Maniac's vocals, which at first reminded me of the sound that's made when you drag your nails across the blackboard.

But to each their own, different strokes for different folks. I second your Dani mention though.

RE: Attilla Csihar; "uniqueness" and "good" do not necessarily have to be synonymous for the purpose of this thread, I would think.

Although I personally think Attila is excellent.

Ekaluxx, Surrender of Divinity's vocalist on Oriental Hell Rhythmics, sounds like a tortured cat.

Mauro Codeluppi of Raw Power has a pretty normal hardcore shout, but his screams sound insane.

Lemmy
Jon Oliva
Blackie Lawless
Ozzy

I fail to see the connection between people saying he has unique vocals and liking them. On that note, Attila is awesome.
Also second Mortuus - he's one of my favorites right now.

Not on the archives, but Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4wdbibV3IM

"Tuneful death growls" is how I'd put it. He has a lot of control over his harsh vocals, and can carry melodies with it.



She sounded great with Nightwish live, but when I heard the album she was a flat line. No power whatsoever. Maybe she'll be better on the next one.

Doesn't seem like Aldrahn (Urarv, The Deathrip, formerly Dødheimsgard etc.) is mentioned here.
I like him. He's unpredictable, but uses his voice in tons of ways. He features mostly in avant-garde metal, so beware that the music itself might not be up your alley.

Examples:
The Deathtrip - Making Me (Standard BM vocals from him, including some mighty clean vocals from 04:19 and onwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ijl7crxqkg

Dødheimsgard - God Protocol Axiom (Voice used in all kinds of ways - beware that this track may be a bit "heavy" to digest if you're looking for more straightforward metal. Oh, he's got a really nice point vocally from 11:10 and onwards.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCPF-L5qA_o

Urarv - Aurum (Same here, vocals all over the place, but for me in a good way. Music is avant-garde black-ish metal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBBxIi0YvLc

Enjoy! (?)

Sean Killian's vocals were one of the more controversial aspects of Vio-Lence (as discussed in one other recent thread.) I like the music, and his vocals certainly don't ruin the music at all, but lets face it- if you have heard them, then you know what I am talking about.
People who mention guys like Ozzy, Lemmy, etc- yeah they are distinctive, or were at least for their time, but not THAT distinctive. I've heard a ton of vocalists over the years who have tried to imitate Ozzy, sometimes quite deliberatly. King Diamond and the guy from Mayhem are definitely more distinctive and unique.

I can't say I disagree with you. But I did mention "adaptability" as a skill, and this is exactly what I was alluding to (perhaps I should've been a bit clearer). She's adaptable enough to fully bring someone else's vision to life, which-as ailly as this might sound-is a special skill in of itself.

Whether Holopainen's vision is right for her overall skill set? To my ears, in some ways yes, in some ways no. I wasn't dissatisfied with Endless Forms overall, but do hope he writes to her full potential on the next record.

But ReVamp? That's where she really lets loose and Wild Card is a vocal masterclass.

Antti Boman from Demilich. Sounds like my stomach when deprived of beef.