I used to hate growled vocals, now I love them.

[Just Eric]

Jed said:
So Just Eric, do you like Genesis now, too?

Nope. I am PROgressing not regressing.

This may or may not be a good comparison, but maybe it's like the metal version of turntabling - easy to dismiss if you don't understand it, but an art form nonetheless.

Another art form I am beginning to explore by dabbling in Trip Hop.

Sonic said:
The couldn't have done better if they had dressed in colorful clothing and painted their noses red.

or better even yet in a big flower costume.

[zombywoof]

For the most part growl vocals are pure comedy. The couldn't have done better if they had dressed in colorful clothing and painted their noses red. Taking comedy music to the next level. Frank Zappa would have been proud.

I would have LOVED to hear Ike or Napoleon do growl vocals over top of some wild marimba solos and distorted SG improvs...

[spacefreak]

Been a fan of Venom, Amebix, Chaotic Dischord and Hellhammer since day #1 (when even metalheads refused to listen to...). So it was a natural progression for me to follow the start of the death metal genre at a time most metalheads run amok from it. Nowadays I still appreciate the most raw version of them (like in early Death, Nihilist, Benediction, Obituary, Extreme Noise Terror, Carcass or Rotting Christ).

[Rand Kelly]

Because of all the Opeth hype a few years ago,2005? I bought the 2.0/5.1 Ghost Reveries and when I heard the growling in surround sound I decided to never play the thing again. Been thinking of just giving it away to someone who can tolerate vocals like this. PM me if interested.

[The Silent Man]

No, I've tried and I just can't get it. It's like nails down a blackboard (or a chalkboard for the colonials among us) to my ears. I've read and heard all the theory about why it fits the music, and how it's a technically valid way of singing etc, but at the end of the day it just sounds like a kid trying to put on a scary voice. Ozzy's vocal in the song Black Sabbath is 1000 times more menacing than any death metal growling could ever be.

Sorry, but it's just the way I'm wired, I guess...

[Progtopia]

For the most part growl vocals are pure comedy. The couldn't have done better if they had dressed in colorful clothing and painted their noses red. Taking comedy music to the next level. Frank Zappa would have been proud.

When I got in on the formation of a local sketch comedy group, the first skit I wrote was called "Name That Death Metal Tune." The premise was that contestants had to listen to a track by the likes of Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, etc. and be the first to buzz in with the correct lyrics. The audience seemed to get a kick out of the fact that the contestants (one of whom was a stereotypical-looking nerd who aced it) could rattle off the right words to what in the audience's ears sounded like arrroorrawrreerooooooooooowr! I've always been proud of that one.

As for the question at hand, I treat them like cheesecake. Fine and even enjoyable in small doses, but not as a steady diet. And speaking more of comedy on this topic:

[Dean Watson]

If the music is good, I don't mind the growling vocals. I love Messuggah, that band has some of the best 'grooves' - I look right past the vocals when I listen.

[Zeuhlmate]

Try this!

http://phurpa.bandcamp.com/releases

[Prehensile Pencil]

Oh, it's YOU, Erk_Buh ! For a moment I was fooled by the Blue Vino thumbnail.

Well, things here don't ever change much, do they ? Despite the nomenclature, it's still Big P vs. pee wee P, ad infinitum, and the average Prog fan is just not interested in getting their artistic limits pushed, or having their aesthetic ceilings raised. If I may be so bold, you might want to check out the open FB group, GRINDERS UNITE, if you haven't already. It's not terribly active, but there are quite a few clips posted, which have brought to my attention some pretty cool stuff. Hope to see you there.....

Peace

[Just Eric]

Oh, it's YOU, Erk_Buh ! For a moment I was fooled by the Blue Vino thumbnail.



Peace

PP! So nice to see you here. Is that BIG PP or small pp? :-)

I'll certainly check out the Group.

If you read this thread you'll notice that each time we post about Growls/Screams/Screeches and the like, more and more PE'ers have jumped on the bandwagon. I appreciate all those that do, applaud those that try and don't make it, and am sorry for those who won't try. For those who continue to belittle, well I guess it must be in the nature of being a Prog fan and suffering the belittlings of those in the mainstream.

[walt]

Over the last two or three years I've heard perhaps a dozen tracks of music with growled vox,some of them had quite striking music.....until the vocals come in.I just can't seem to get beyond those vocals.It's a threshold issue, for me.

I'm told that there is quite a variety of extreme,growled vocal techniques,and I understand that there may be stuff I dig in this genre(sub-genre?) of rock.But what few things I've heard so far just don't ring my bell.I'm not highly motivated to check out other growled vox music in the hopes of discovering stuff I may like.I have too much other music that occupies my time and limited brain power.

My loss.

[Progtopia]

Sung or growled, you still gotta warm up...

[No Pride]

In the words of Mr. Horse (from Ren and Stimpy), "no sir, I don't like it." I've got nothing against those who do like it, unless they get rude to those of us who don't. We all have our own tastes and there's no logical reason to get offended if someone else's tastes don't jive with your own. Sure, we'd all love it if people at least appreciated the things we're passionate about and could hear the music we love through our ears, but it doesn't work that way. There are some types of music I'm into that aren't widely popular here; straight-ahead jazz, Brazilian music, gospel/melisma-style vocals, even some country music. Do I wish more people liked it? Sure. Am I offended that they don't. Not even slightly.

I won't bother going into what I don't like about death growl vocals, or whatever you want to call it; that would be futile. I acknowledge that there's often some great music and musicianship going on behind the growling, but I can't get past the vocals long enough to enjoy it. It's not just death growl vocals either; I have a similar problem with the operatic singing in some of the Italian prog bands; Deus ex Machina is a perfect example; awesome band playing really neat music, but I can't get past the vocals. It's a matter of taste, what can you do?! If you hate to eat liver, chances are that you're not going to eventually like it if you keep trying it. And so it goes...

[fictionmusic]

I wouldn't mind them if they didn't make me giggle. They all sound like little kids trying to sound scary. I certainly like some of the the drumming of the genre insofar as it pushes the boundary of technique but I can never take the vocalists seriously. They are like bad cartoons.

[Just Eric]

Walt from NYC said:
I'm not highly motivated to check out other growled vox music in the hopes of discovering stuff I may like.I have too much other music that occupies my time and limited brain power.

My loss.

Dude, not your loss at all. Glad you tried and if "meh" than that's ok. It would be your loss if you never tried.

[sonic]

Camel also do Death Metal vocals

[sonic]

Death Metal Dog!


Check out the rest here:
http://loudwire.com/funniest-heavy-metal-animal-videos/

[trurl]

Camel also do Death Metal vocals

\m/ \m/

[Just Eric]

There are also numerous female growlers and this site on Youtube captures many of them - http://www.youtube.com/user/womenofe...?feature=watch

Two of my favorites below -

Dominique Persi of Stolen Babies shows just how diverse she is on this video



For pure brutality, you can't beat Laurie Sue Shanaman

[sonic]

There are also numerous female growlers

My favorite kind.

[Progtopia]

Personally, Otep Shamaya fascinates me.

[trurl]

I would think it would make sense that male and female deathgrowlers would make use of the physical differences that tend to exist between the sexes... males can do the low growly ogre register while females could go after the screaming banshee/harpy effect. So far the women I've seen are ignoring their ability to create screeching that would dissolve the testicles or ovaries of anyone that came within a half a mile. Think Yoko Ono (always the trailblazer) but with deathly growl added. Come to think of it, Yoko's really been there, done that, and 30 years earlier ta boot.

[trurl]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFLZ...ailpage#t=374s

These guys get it... can't embed the video and have it jump to the right time.

[sonic]

I rather like Kittie. Girl group that mixes growl and pop vocals.


This tune has growl vocals in the back under the pop vocals.

[mnprogger]

growling, shrieks, and guttural style singing all can be taken as another rhythm part to music. The high-in-the-mix punk screaming are really the only style I can't deal with. Bands like Deftones, The Dillinger Escape Plan Exotic Animal Petting Zoo, or even Circle Takes the Square I would probably love, but the punk screaming ends up killing/overshadowing most of what else is going on with their music.

Then there are singers like Anthony Green (Circa Survive), Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips), Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie/The Postal Service), Kevin Barnes (of Montreal) and Craig Finn (The Hold Steady/Lifter Puller) whose voices are so repulsive they get far too nauseating, I wonder how anyone can even handle hearing them for more than 2 minutes, let alone a whole song or album.

Even to a much lesser extent, singers like Sufjan Stevens (Solo), Emanuel Ayvas (Emanuel & the Fear), and Craig Minowa (Cloud Cult) whose voices are quite good, but they end up swallowing too close to the microphone too often, I get almost grossed out, I always turn the volume down in those isolated parts.