Death grunt

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The death grunt (also referred to as "harsh vocals", death growl, death vocals and [usually derogatorily or humorously] cookie monster vocals^[1]. ) is a growling vocalization style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal musical genre, but also used in a variety of other heavy metal subgenres. Stylistic similarities in vocals can be heard in grindcore and hardcore punk bands, among others. Melodic death metal, doom metal and gothic metal bands tend to use the technique with substantial modification.

Death grunts are guttural and often difficult to decipher, particularly to listeners unfamiliar with the style. Most vocalists who employ the technique choose to vocalize indecipherably, such as Sylvain Houde from Kataklysm or Lord Worm from Cryptopsy. However, some vocalists vocalize such that their lyrics remain intelligible; Karl Willetts from Bolt Thrower being an example. Few female singers make use of the technique, Lori Bravo (Nuclear Death) and Angela Gossow (Arch Enemy) being exceptions.

1 Technique
2 History and variations
3 Key death grunt vocalists
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Technique

Death grunts can be obtained with various voice effects. However, many singers are able to produce them with their bare voice. Voice teachers teach different techniques, but long-term use eventually wears the voice out, so any technique is actually for "less harm", not for harmless vocalization. Most "correct" death grunts use the false vocal cords or "diaphragm" instead.

[edit] History and variations

The use of growling, "monstrous" vocals for ominous effect in rock music can be traced at least as far back as "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins in 1956. Early examples of grunts in the heavy music of the early 1960s/70s can be found in the songs "Boris the Spider" by The Who, "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, and "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd, though these grunted vocal passages were brief and achieved with the help of studio effects (with the exception of Boris the Spider).

The advent of the death grunt as it is used today coincided roughly with the gradual emergence of death metal, and it is thus difficult to pinpoint a specific individual as the inventor of the technique. Different vocalists likely developed the style over time. The band Death (and its precursor Mantas) with its two vocalists — initially Kam Lee and subsequently Chuck Schuldiner — have been cited as influential (although Schuldiner would eventually switch to a more high pitched screeching style). Possessed is considered by some to be one of the earliest bands to employ death growls, as are Necrophagia and Master. Around the same time, bands such as Hellhammer, with Tom G. Warrior on vocals, and seminal act Massacre also employed a variation of the death grunt.

The vocalists from the British grindcore band Napalm Death — consecutively Nic Bullen, Lee Dorrian and Mark "Barney" Greenway — further developed the style in the late 1980s, adding more aggression and deeper guttural elements to it, while also speeding up delivery of the lyrics. Around the same time, in the United States, Chris Reifert (from Autopsy) began combining shrieks with his deep grunts. Also, Chris Barnes (from Cannibal Corpse) is notable for having deepened his grunts to tones lower than those which had been recorded at the time. Some death metal bands such as Carcass, Exhumed, Dying Fetus, and Gorerotted have experimented using two vocalists, alternating vocalization duties between lighter and heavier death growls on their songs. The now-defunct Swedish grindcore band Nasum also utilised a similar arrangement, with two vocalists alternating between deep growls and high screeches. Vocalists of doom metal bands tend to put more emphasis on adding atmospheric and emotional overtones to their death grunts. Nick Holmes (from Paradise Lost), Darren White (from Anathema) and Aaron Stainthorpe (from My Dying Bride) were the main developers of grunts within this context, in the early 1990s. Stainthorpe was one of the first to combine grunts and clean singing, a technique which was developed further in large part by Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt. In gothic metal, the death grunts are typically contrasted by female operatic vocals.

Funeral doom metal bands have taken a different approach to death grunts. Deep guttural vocals are often replaced by hoarser, almost whispered grunts. Examples of vocalists which make use of the technique are "Matti" (from Skepticism) and John Paradiso (from Evoken).

There are other genres which have their own approach to death growls, mainly Deathgrind and Brutal Death Metal. Here, the vocals are often pushed to the extreme, being as deep, guttural and indecipherable as possible without the use of any effects. Examples are Frank Mullen of Suffocation, ex-Disgorge member Matti Way, Joe Horvath of Circle of Dead Children and Ruben Rosas of Devourment. There is also an inhaled death grunt style. This technique is often reffered to as "pig squeals" or (more plainly) inhales. Examples of vocalists using this technique are Phlegeton of Wormed and Jamie Bailey of Brodequin.