The death growl, or simply growl, is an

extended vocal technique Vocalists are capable of producing a variety of extended technique sounds. These alternative singing techniques have been used extensively in the 20th century, especially in art song and opera. Particularly famous examples of extended vocal techniq ...

usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

and other extreme

subgenres Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a Music genre, genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal band ...

. Sometimes death growl vocals are criticized for their "ugliness" and inability to be understood without an accompanying lyric sheet, but the presentation of gruff vocals contributes to death metal's abrasive style and often dark and obscene subject matter.Sharpe-Young, Garry. ''Death Metal'',

Definition

Death metal, in particular, is associated with growled vocals; it tends to be lyrically and thematically darker and more morbid than other forms of metal, and features vocals which attempt to evoke chaos, death, and misery by being "usually very deep, guttural, and unintelligible". Natalie Purcell notes, "Although the vast majority of death metal bands use very low, beast-like, almost indiscernible growls as vocals, many also have high and screechy or operatic vocals, or simply deep and forcefully-sung vocals."Purcell, Natalie J. ''Death Metal Music: The Passion and Politics of a Subculture''. McFarland, 2003, p. 11. Sociologist Deena Weinstein has noted of death metal: "Vocalists in this style have a distinctive sound, growling and snarling rather than singing the words, and making ample use of the voice distortion box."

Terminology and technique

Death growls and their variants are also known as death metal vocals, brutal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, growled vocals, low pitched vocals, low growls, unclean vocals and harsh vocals, and for a different technique,

vocal fry The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production ...

, glottal fry, false cord vocals and death cord vocals. Despite the misconceptions and stereotypes that are associated with them, usually by non-extreme metal fans, death growls require traditional clean/melodic vocal techniques to be done properly. In June 2007,

Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre The Radboud University Medical Center (Dutch: ''Radboudumc''), is the teaching hospital affiliated with the Radboud University, in the city of Nijmegen in the eastern-central part of the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, info ...

in the Netherlands reported that, because of the increased popularity of growling in the region, several patients who had used improper growling techniques were being treated for

edema Edema (American English), also spelled oedema (British English), and also known as fluid retention, swelling, dropsy and hydropsy, is the build-up of fluid in the body's tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. S ...

and

polyps A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are roughly cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the vase-shaped body. In solitary polyps, the aboral (opposite to oral) en ...

on the

vocal folds In humans, the vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through Speech, vocalization. The length of the vocal cords affects the pitch of voice, similar to a violin string. Open when brea ...

. In 2005, professional vocal coach

Melissa Cross Melissa Cross is an American vocal coach known for her technical improvements in screaming. She has worked with actors and musicians across genres, mainly in heavy metal and its subgenres, and also in grunge. Early life and education Cross grew ...

released the instructional DVD The Zen of Screaming, to teach students the proper way to sing in several styles of rock, metal and hardcore. It has since been re-released as a digital download. The low, raspy, aggressive pitch of

Lemmy Kilmister Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1975 by bassist and lead vocalist Lemmy Kilmister, guitarist Larry Wallis and drummer Lucas Fox. Kilmister was the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band a ...

, Conrad "Cronos" Lant of

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

and Tom Warrior of

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

were not unlike the death growl and may be thought of as precursors to the current style.

References

External links

How to Do Harsh Death Metal Vocals,

WikiHow wikiHow is an online wiki-style publication featuring informational articles and quizzes on a variety of topics. Founded in 2005 by Internet entrepreneur Jack Herrick, its aim is to create an extensive database of instructional content, using ...

{{Heavy metal music Heavy metal performance techniques Singing techniques Death metal

Definition

Terminology and technique

See also

References

External links