Metal Reviews

I guess I'm a glass is half full kind of guy, and I prefer my music over any vocals regardless of genre. I tend to steer clear of the atypical song structures and bands that write their songs around the vocals. I have never been moved by a catchy sung chorus the way a musician could play it with great riffs and melodies. Just me. I wouldn't bother igniting a flame war over who I think is overrated either, cause its bound to rub somebody the wrong way. I mean I just got reading people bash one of my favorite vocalists(Lord Worm), but am I gonna get my panties in a bunch? Nah. I'd say I am a true fan in that sense, I love Cryptopsy even with the new guy, and in every band I like its for the tunes first, the vox only add to the music and one of the reasons I love extreme metal is because the vox can be tuned out quite easily.

So in the spirit of optimism I'd list a couple vocalists I think not only are quite capable but have influenced a great deal of bands. Dan Swano is one of the best imho, with both meaningful and playful lyrics both growled and clean sung. I also did bands who know when to shut up and let the instruments do the talking like Gorod and Anata, whose growls have a soft and warm sense while retaining that awesome groove. Covan is another favorite with his diverse abilities, his work in Atrophia Red Sun is great while I love that Organic Hallucinosis is quite intelligible, same with Dim Mak's Knives of Ice and its AWESOME lyrics. Damn I love metal!

Totally agreed; Mustaine and Hetfield both fit the bands well but are they good singers? No. C'mon sneery doesn't exactly have a positive connotation now does it?

Fucking Barlow. I know he doesn't fit in the death/thrash/black category, but it seems like this is more of a general vocalist discussion, so yeah... Barlow is so fucking overrated.

But great riffs or melodies are usually what makes a chorus catchy.

I agree but the average joe & jane looks for the sing-along chorus oh so prevelent in radio. I've been falling in love with good verse riffs lately though, the new Hypocrisy is filled with amazing moments.

True. I've started appreciating vocals and poppier song structures over the last year or two though. To paraphrase someone: "most songs use verse/chorus because it works, and the fun part is trying to alter it enough to make it interesting." It's made listening to popular music more interesting because I like listening for the hook and even if it's not very good, just being able to pick it out is pretty fun. I do think that almost all albums from brootal death metal to pop have a lot of effort put into them, and it's nice listening to them just to appreciate where that effort went. And I like sing a long stuff a lot more since I started singing. Most metal isn't very good at that because the good singers are usually pushing themselves to the extremes 95% of the time and doing that when you suck sounds really bad.

I'm glad nobody has mentioned Dio yet in this thread because that would've been tragic.

I think Tim Owens is a really underrated vocalist and should get on in more projects.

Yeah, he must sing at least once in every metal band.

They are both good vocalists because their voices fit and define what their bands are trying to do. The voices in both bands are also (in part) what keeps them apart from anonymous thrash band #90995.

Not good "singers", because to me that implies some semi-objective criteria of skill and accomplishment. But both are good vocalists in that they are effective at providing vox for their bands.

Martin Walkyier is probably one of the best thrash metal vocalists. I forget who said he sucked, not that it matters, but this person probably has only heard Sabbat once....and a long time ago. I find it very hard to believe that a fan of thrash metal would listen to Martin's vocals and not be impressed by the excellent lyrics and venomous rapid fire delivery. They are, simply put, amongst the best thrash metal/extreme metal vocals ever. The man is a genius.

Also, if we're on the topic of overrated vocalists, lets talk about underrated vocalists. Jon fucking Arch. Hard to match that man in any category.

Yeah Jon Arch is a good vocalist.

I think Maniac from Mayhem is underrated, I love the sound of his vocals on Chimera. They represent black metal and that's the only way to describe them.

Well, I'm not a fan of thrash metal, Mr. Fails-At-Being-Subtle, so one with broader horizons could comprehend my indifference towards this 'genius'.



Yeah, except Ray Alder beats him around like Vince Offer did to that prostitute.

I love it when metalheads sling around words like 'represent' -- especially in a black metal-related discussion. Reminds me of rappers.

Can you imagine Owens in Guttural Secrete?

Of course... wait a minute... (trying to imagine...) NO.

Uh I see where you're coming from but the context of how I used the word represent has nothing to do with a rapper shouting "represent represent".

To be honest statements like that are one of the reasons metal can be pretty fucking gay sometimes.

I never really had a whole "hip hop is talentless niggers talking overa simple beat" mentality even as a teenage metalhead, but grow up or some shit.

Two Things:

1.) If you're not a thrash metal fan (and though you didnt say it, I think its fair to say you're not a fan of any of the genres spawned by the thrash metal movement) then why are you commenting on this thread. It's in the Black/Thrash/Death section, about vocalists within those genres. True the discussion has strayed a bit, but I have to ask, if you don't like the genre that is the topic of the discussion, why the fuck are you here?

2.) Ray Adler is a Geoff Tate wannabe. His vocals are unoriginal and uninspired. Jon Arch has produced some of the most unique and inspired vocals in metal history. The fact that you like Adler better, and then don't like Martin Walkyier (which in my opinion is based on little to no knowledge on the music) makes me question how much you actually know? It seems like you're just here to disagree with people and offer no real meaningful discussion.

So I have to be a fan of thrash to like the superior genres spawned by it, eh?

First off, I don't disagree with people without backing myself up. You on the other hand, seem to disagree with people out of sheer ignorance, due to the fact that you're stuck in an era you never even experienced firsthand. Oh sure, one might say that you provide your arguments, but the majority of which makes anyone with half a brain want to gouge their eyes out, seeing how unquestionably (and irritably) narrow-minded you are.

Fine. Ray Alder is a Geoff Tate wannabe. But if I do recall, early Fates Warning in itself was a Queensryche wannabe. Furthermore, if John Arch was involved in a band, say, conceived in 2005, you probably wouldn't give them a chance, and Arch would be a nobody to you. The only reason why Arch means anything to you is because of an era, not because of his achievements (or lack thereof).

It's not the question of how much I know, but how much I care. The thrash movement only provided three things that I actually give a shit about: death metal, black metal, and a select few thrash bands who actually progressed beyond the usual, mindless thrashing. That's it.

The music of the 80's is overrated, and so are its vocalists.

I didnt read any of your reponse because I honestly don't care about what you have to say.

Let's not turn a shit thread into a flamewar, ladies.