Screaming is a vocal technique that is most popular in subgenres of heavy metal, and also in some genres of punk. While intensity, pitch, and characteristics vary from vocalist to vocalist, screamed vocals generally accompany heavy music, and are associated with more aggressive musical themes or styles.
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The following is a summary of notable genres in which screaming is often used:
Some composers have employed screaming in avant garde works in the twentieth century, typically in the post-World War II era, as composers began to explore more experimental compositional techniques and nonstandard use of musical instruments (including the voice). Composers who have used shouting or screaming in their works include Luciano Berio, George Crumb, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. The use of hoarse vocals in choral and orchestral works continues today in some productions such as film scores; mainstream examples include some works by Don Davis and Wojciech Kilar.
Kansas City blues musicians began shouting in order to be heard over music in the loud dancehalls. The shouted vocals eventually became a characteristic for these bands. Key members of this movement include Big Joe Turner and Howlin' Wolf.[1]
Yelling and shouting vocals are common in punk rock and hardcore punk. Early punk was distinguished by a general tendency to eschew traditional singing techniques in favor of a more direct, harsh style which accentuated meaning rather than beauty.[2] The logical extension of this aesthetic is shouting or screaming, and in hardcore, vocals are usually shouted in a frenetic manner similar to rapping or football chants, often accompanied by "gang vocals"[3][4] in which a group of people shout along with the vocalist (this style is very common in punk rock, most prominently Oi!, streetpunk and hardcore punk).[5]
While occasional screaming has been used for effect in heavy metal since the genre's dawn in the late 1960s (with singers such as Robert Plant, Ian Gillan and Rob Halford employing the technique frequently), screaming as a normal method of lyrical delivery first came to prominence in heavy metal as part of the thrash metal explosion of the 1980s.[6] Thrash metal was influenced both by heavy metal and by hardcore punk, the latter of which often incorporated shouted or screamed vocals. The first instance of screaming used as a constant delivery of lyrics was Chuck Schuldiner of the band Death. Musicologist Robert Walser notes, "The punk influence shows up in the music's fast tempos and frenetic aggressiveness and in critical or sarcastic lyrics delivered in a menacing growl."[6] It should however be noted that the vocal delivery of thrash metal is incredibly diverse; some bands such as Anthrax use much cleaner vocals, early Metallica uses very hardcore punk influenced vocals while other bands such as Slayer use more "evil" shouts and yells, bearing little resemblance to hardcore punk. More recent bands within metal's various subgenres, such as Carnifex, are known for making use of multiple variations of screaming and growling.
Screaming in some subgenres of heavy metal music is typically demanding and guttural. The death growl is common in death metal. Separate forms of extreme metal vocalization can be found in black metal, which has a higher-pitched sound, and deathcore, which uses either a low growl or a high pitched scream.
Death metal, in particular, is associated with growled vocals. Death metal, which tends to be darker and more morbid than thrash metal, features vocals that attempt to evoke chaos and misery by being "usually very deep, guttural, and unintelligible."[7] 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."[8] Music sociologist Deena Weinstein has noted of death metal, "Vocalists in this style have a distinctive sound, growling and snarling rather than singing the words. Making ample use of the voice distortion box, they sound as if they had gargled with hydrochloric acid."[9] Some bands relating to the death metal genre perform what is called "pig squealing", which is a squealing vocal technique resembling the sound of a pig. Early albums by death metal/deathcore bands such as Despised Icon, All Shall Perish, We Butter the Bread with Butter, Salt the Wound and Job for a Cowboy employed the use of pig squeal vocals, but have all since abandoned it on later material.
The progressively more forceful enunciation of metal vocals has been noted, from heavy metal to thrash metal to death metal.
| “ | To appreciate the music, fans first had to accept a merciless sonic signature: guttural vocals that were little more than a menacing, sub-audible growl. James Hetfield's thrash metal rasp was harsh in contrast to Rob Halford's heavy metal high notes, but creatures like Glen Benton of Deicide tore out their larynxes to summon images of decaying corpses and giant catastrophic horrors.[10] | ” |
Black metal music in particular has a definitive "screaming" style which constitutes a vast majority of the genre's vocal work, though this is done in varying degrees. Some black metal acts use this approach as a simple rasping sound, but others use a louder, more "grim" scream to emulate the cold, evil, and frightening atmosphere black metal would portray. Vocalists like Ihsahn of Emperor, Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved and Pest of Gorgoroth utilize loud screaming in their vocal work, while other vocalists take differing approaches; for example: Dani of Cradle of Filth uses a high-pitched screeching style, Shagrath of Dimmu Borgir once used a style on par with loud roaring around the band's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant days, and Pasi of the Finnish band Darkwoods My Betrothed used a style that sounded more like wailing mixed with the genre's present screams.
Post-hardcore music is usually imbued with a vulnerable, emotional vocal tone. Bands such as Silverstein, Sleeping with Sirens and Pierce the Veil use primarily clean vocals and add high pitched screams in the chorus or to start a verse. Early post-hardcore groups (such as Rites of Spring and Embrace) often featured screamed vocals that were more or less similar to that of '80s hardcore punk and anarcho-punk. In contemporary genres, screams are considered by some to be more accessible; one very common technique is that of metalcore. Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage and George Pettit of Alexisonfire are examples of this; the former screaming in a husky tone and the latter using a higher yell. Some bands such as We Came as Romans use a not-as-screeching tone in its screamed vocals, while Jeremy Mckinnon of A Day to Remember goes a step further, employing death growls instead of screams. Davey Havok of AFI employs screaming, with more of a high-pitched scream in earlier albums and a raspy tone in Decemberunderground. Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw uses various types of screams, ranging from highs to midrange.
By the early 2000s, the amount of screaming in any given song or album could vary widely from band to band, with some bands eschewing the technique altogether or using it very infrequently, often at climaxes of songs. Thursday, My Chemical Romance, Thrice, Papa Roach and Story of the Year are examples of bands achieving widespread success who only occasionally made use of screaming, as opposed to bands like Funeral for a Friend, The Used, Escape the Fate, and From Autumn to Ashes, who (in comparison to these bands) use screaming rather frequently. Post-hardcore bands such as Hawthorne Heights and Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows use screaming strictly as backing vocals to compliment the more prominent clean vocals in order for their music to have a more "hardcore" sound.[11]
Nu metal sometimes employs screaming. It also includes shouting and rapping as well as various other styles of vocals. Jonathan Davis screams in most of Korn's earlier songs. Linkin Park's singer, Chester Bennington, also screams in certain Linkin Park songs such as "One Step Closer", "Lying From You", and "Faint". Screaming is used prominently on Limp Bizkit's debut album Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ where Fred Durst can be heard frequently utilizing a high pitch scream. Chino Moreno of Deftones is famed for his high-pitched, aggressive screams.
Many other nu metal bands employ a stronger use of screaming in their music as well as more concrete metal influences (often groove metal and industrial metal) such as Spineshank and Ill Niño.
American nu metal band Otep frontwoman Otep Shamaya is also known for her usage of death growls as well as high pitch screaming - thus being one of the more "heavy" classes of nu metal bands.
In industrial music, some bands like to combine screaming techniques with clean vocals to create a concrete sound with a noticeable change in tone. Examples include Waylon Reavis of Mushroomhead, Edsel Dope of Dope, Burton C. Bell of Fear Factory, Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, and Corey Taylor of Slipknot. This technique is also sometimes vaguely known as "yelling".
Most of the tracks on Nirvana's first album, Bleach feature Kurt Cobain employing intense screams into the melodies. They are also accompanied by vocal cracking in some cases which can either indicate improper technique, stylistic choice, or a combination of both. Cobain later adopted a screaming style which was less raspy and perhaps more representative of the "proper" technique.
Some tracks of the album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by The Smashing Pumpkins such as "Zero", "XYU", "Bullet with Butterfly Wings", "Tales of a Scorched Earth", and "Jellybelly" featured lead singer/guitarist Billy Corgan screaming in a high-pitched vocal tone.
Experimental music genres often feature screamed vocals if vocals are employed in the music, as a form of alternative expression rather than conventional singing. Noise music is notable for screamed vocals, an example being the well-known noise artist Masonna.
Some Folk Noir bands (often ones that have come from the black metal scene originally) use guttural growls and shrieks occasionally, mostly for dramatic effect. Examples include Empyrium and Uaral.
Aggrotech bands such as Aesthetic Perfection, Psyclon Nine, Combichrist, Unter Null, Angelspit, and Amduscia and have used screaming vocals, as well as more mainstream industrial metal groups, such as Skinny Puppy and Ministry.
Some "screaming" vocalists have had problems with their throats, voices, vocal cords, and have even had major migraines from screaming when doing it incorrectly. Some vocalists of metal bands have had to stop screaming, making music altogether, or even undergo surgery due to screaming in harmful ways that damage the vocal cords.[12] One example is Sonny Moore, formerly of the band From First to Last, who had to leave his role as vocalist in the band due to the damage it was causing to his vocal chords, which required surgery to repair.
However, with proper technique, screaming can be done without harm to the vocal cords. Melissa Cross is a vocal teacher who specializes this, and has taught many vocalists such as Randy Blythe and Angela Gossow.[13]