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Death grunts, also referred to as death growls, death vocals, harsh vocals^[1], or jokingly Cookie Monster vocals^[2], is a vocalisation style usually employed by vocalists of the death metal musical genre, but is also occasionally used in a variety of other heavy metal sub-genres. Stylistic similarities in both vocal style and technique can be heard in grindcore and hardcore punk bands, among others. Melodic death metal, goregrind, 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. As such, most vocalists who employ the technique choose to vocalise indecipherably, examples being Sylvain Houde from Kataklysm and Lord Worm from Cryptopsy. However, some singers of the style vocalise their lyrics to remain intelligible, such as Karl Willetts from Bolt Thrower. Though currently few female vocalists make use of this technique, Lori Bravo of Nuclear Death and Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy are two examples of active women singers within the scene.

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

Contrary to popular belief, growls cannot be "synthesized" using any type of effect.^{[citation needed]} Effects such as reverb or delay can make growls sound more full, as they can with any other type of singing, but melodious singing cannot be transformed by any means into growling. Vocal teachers will often introduce different techniques within their curriculum, but long-term use eventually wears the voice out, thus any actual technique is intended for "less harm" as opposed to "harmless vocalisation". Most "correct" growls use the false vocal cords or diaphragm instead.

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. Though humorous in intent, the 1966 novelty song "Boris the Spider" by The Who features — by the standards of that of that particular age — rather deep and guttural and gargling growls somewhat similar to those performed by modern death metal vocalists. In the early 1970s, songs such as "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath and "One of These Days" by Pink Floyd both contain brief passages of ominously growled, low-pitched (albeit studio-manipulated) vocals against a heavy background of rock riffs. The "Piltdown Man/Caveman" from Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield may also be considered in a similar vein. Another possible influence on modern growled vocals is Alice Cooper, who often utilized quite harsh bellows and screams in his songs. Cooper started pursuing this vocal direction as early as 1971 and examples include the mid-section of "Ballad Of Dwight Fry" from Love It to Death and the refrain of "You Drive Me Nervous" from Killer, although harsh vocals appear in virtually every one of his songs from the early 70's period; in fact, Alice refers to his screaming style as 'growling' in the documentary video Alice Cooper: Prime Cuts. This expressive style of rock screaming later appeared in many seminal punk bands, such as the Sex Pistols. Since Thrash metal has been influenced by punk, it is quite possible that this scene should also be considered an influence.

The advent of the growl 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 essentially been cited as being influential (although Schuldiner would eventually switch to a more high-pitched screeching). Possessed is considered by some to be one of the earliest bands to employ 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 growl.

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, by 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 vocalistic grunts, while Chris Barnes (from Cannibal Corpse) was noted for having deepened his grunts to tones lower than those which had ever been recorded at that time. Some death metal bands such as Carcass, Exhumed, Dying Fetus, and Gorerotted experimented using two vocalists, alternating vocalization duties between lighter and heavier growls on their songs. The now-defunct Swedish grindcore band Nasum also utilised a similar arrangement, featuring 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 growls. Nick Holmes (from Paradise Lost), Darren White (from Anathema) and Aaron Stainthorpe (from My Dying Bride) were the main developers of growls within this context, circa the early 1990s. Stainthorpe was one of the first to combine growls and clean-singing, a technique which was developed further in large part by Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt. In gothic metal, the growls are typically contrasted by female operatic vocals.

Funeral doom metal bands have taken a different approach to growls; deep guttural vocals are often replaced by hoarser, sometimes practically whispered growls. Examples of such vocalists which make use of this technique are "Matti" of Skepticism and John Paradiso of Evoken.

There are also genres such as deathgrind and brutal death metal which have their own approach to death growls, often pushing the concept to its extreme — attempting to produce a sound as deep, guttural and indecipherable as possible, usually without the use of studio effects. Two examples of singers that employ this mindset are Frank Mullen of Suffocation and John McEntee of Incantation.

Vocalists essential to the development of the growl and the bands they represent are:

• Chris Barnes (Cannibal Corpse, Six Feet Under, Torture Killer)
• Jeff Becerra (Possessed)
• Nic Bullen (Napalm Death)
• Lee Dorrian (Napalm Death)
• Martin van Drunen (Pestilence, Asphyx)
• Mark "Barney" Greenway (Benediction, Napalm Death)
• Nick Holmes (pre-1995 Paradise Lost)
• Dave Ingram (Benediction)
• Kam Lee (Massacre, Mantas/Death)
• Darren Moore (Mourning Beloveth)
• Frank Mullen (Suffocation)
• Chris Reifert (Autopsy, Abscess, The Ravenous)
• Chuck Schuldiner (Death)
• Aaron Stainthorpe (My Dying Bride)
• Chad Gray (Mudvayne)
• Bill Steer (Carcass)
• John Tardy (Obituary)
• Jeff Walker (Carcass)
• Darren White (Anathema)
• Karl Willetts (Bolt Thrower)
• Lord Worm (Cryptopsy)

• Clean vocals

1. ^ The categorisation of death metal. metalstorm.ee. Retrieved on January 21, 2006.
2. ^ That's Good Enough for Me: Cookie Monsters of death-metal music from The Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal February 1, 2006

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