Top 20 Rated Male Metal Singers
Born from the fusion of rock, blues, and other eclectic influences in the late 1960s, heavy metal became a multiheaded monster of a genre, with its international set of followers. Its sound is always at least partly characterized by the broad range of its male vocals, which have gone from melodic flights to guttural growls.
Heavy metal was born out of bands such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Led Zeppelin, with their pathfinding heavy, distorted sound. Through the years, many subgenres have branched out from it, each with their unique voice pattern.
On one extreme is the operatic vocals of Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden. Multi-octave range and theater-like delivery create a near-operatic level, commanding attention due to their virtuosity.
On the other end of the spectrum are vocalists like Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead, whose raw, gravelly vocals exude a primal energy. These singers often forgo technicality in favor of pure intensity, embracing the genre’s attitude of rebellion.
grunting, growling, and shrieking characterize a performer’s vocals in such categories as death metal and black metal. For example, Jeff Becerra from Possessed made the guttural “grunt” popular; black metal vocalists use raspy, atmospheric vocals to bring the music into a realm of darkness and mystique.
By the mid-1990s, nu metal-similar bands began to pop up, such as Korn and Slipknot. Other well-known examples can be made with Jonathan Davis and Corey Taylor. Their technique combines melodic vocals with full screaming. That gives a contrasting effect and underlines the dynamic impact in expressing depth and emotion of the moment-angst, frustration, etc.
Similarly, bands like Linkin Park, fronted by the late Chester Bennington, pushed the boundaries of both metal and mainstream rock, merging rap and alternative into their respective sounds. The vocals of Bennington spoke to many; his voice was the emotional voice of many as he broke barriers between underground metal and popular culture.
Ultimately, male metal vocalists’ sonic spread is as variant and fluid as the genre in which they specialize. From an operatic maestro to those screaming from raw, untutored instincts, metal vocalists have been there, done it, and done it differently generation after generation. The bottom line is, in heavy metal-where changes and permutations seem infinite-the only aspect that stays guaranteed is the prowess of the human voice in entertaining, enlivening, and sending the audiences into ecstasies all over the world.
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