Random Song: Amon Amarth - ...And Soon The World Will Cease To Be

[Night Prowler]

First of all, this is a melodic death metal song, played by a melodic death metal band, so it has harsh vocals If you don't like them, you should check out this song anyway, since the vocals are easily understandable. It also has no blast beating and isn't really fast. Melodies are very catchy and the whole song is very epic (almost 7 minutes long).

10/10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfW7Ba5JOI

(I'm really interested in opinions of those who avoid music with harsh vocals )

 

[MFC]

EPIC song! 
I really like Amon Amarth! One of the best Death Metal bands IMO 

And this is one of the best songs i have heard of them! 

I give it an 10/10.

Finally i can post a song!

 

[Night Prowler]

Oooops, I forgot the poll, it's here now

 

[DJ James]

It's got some very epic melodies, haunting guitar riffs, and I love the lead singers voice. Amon Amarth might just stick with me..... 9/10

 

[Jupz]

I love Amon Amarth, but I only have two albums. I'll get them all eventually

 

[mckindog]

Like the opening tempo, the guitar melody and the music when it picks up. Instrumental breakdown has a nice feel too.
Might have used more variation for a song of this length, but it does have a nice atmosphere.

Hate the vocals.

I've kind of backed off on commenting on songs with this kind of vocal because I feel like a broken record. (I already know I'm an old man  )
But since you specifically asked NP, there you go.

I gotta ask you, what would you think of this track if Ronnie Dio was singing?

 

[Jupz]

IMO his vocals wouldn't suit Amon Amarth as well as Hegg's.

 

[Taker]

I recently came upon a post (by Perun, I think) that referred to guys that disliked this kind of vocal performance as "snobbish" metalheads. I guess that's what I am, because no matter how good the musical performance is (and this is not bad, musically) that grunting growling shit means that I won't be listening to it twice. I find it not only bad, but laughable.

I gotta ask you, what would you think of this track if Ronnie Dio was singing?

I think it would rate a whole lot higher than the 2 I'm giving it.

Sorry, Night Prowler. I'll say it again... generation gap, man.

 

[Forostar]

I recently came upon a post (by Perun, I think) that referred to guys that disliked this kind of vocal performance as "snobbish" metalheads. I guess that's what I am, because no matter how good the musical performance is (and this is not bad, musically) that grunting growling shit means that I won't be listening to it twice. I find it not only bad, but laughable.  I think it would rate a whole lot higher than the 2 I'm giving it.

Sorry, Night Prowler. I'll say it again... generation gap, man.

Generation gap? I don't find that a good excuse.
There are enough people over forty who like metal with such vocals.

Taste is of importance, but also the will to listen to what's going on beyond the vocals.

Such vocals often fit better to such heavy, aggressive and dark music than clean ones. They integrate better. When riffs are fast and change fast, it's almost impossible to do something nice and original with a clean voice, without sounding off key or ridiculous.

When listening to metal, with me it's all about balance: Music comes always first. If I don't like the music, I won't buy it, even if the singer is the best I've ever heard. If I do like the music very much, then I am more tolerant towards the vocals even if they're not that fantastic. So I don't like all bands with grunts. I am very selective.

Amorphis, Gorefest and My Dying Bride were the first three bands with grunts I appreciated, back in 1994 and 1995.
Drive, melodies and atmosphere grabbed me. In 1996 I discovered various black metal bands in which atmosphere played a big role. The voices of these bands had become part of the music, which was a welcome variation in an era of grunge and old school metal.

Lots of post 1980s metal is with such vocals. If one refuses all metal with such vocals, one will only like a few new bands these days. That's like only enjoying the birds and the monkeys and ignoring all the other animals in the zoo. When there's no will to study the others a bit better, in the end one doesn't know what one misses. There's so much great music out there.

Anyway, that's why I still find it cool that you and mckindog and other grunt-"haters" keep following this.  

I especially like the part from 5.34. Great riff, and the vocals fit perfect. Overall not that impressive.

7

 

[Jupz]

Nice post Foro! The vocals take some time to get used too, I didn't like them at first either. If you can have a distorted guitar and like it, why not a distorted voice? The voice is an instrument too.

 

[Forostar]

Exactly. I am sure that when some people heard Black Sabbath, back in 1970 (or older hard bands in previous years) they thought: WTF!

 

[DJ James]

Now, who gets to post the next song?

 

[Night Prowler]

You do it.

 

[MFC]

Is it any rules on when i can write topic of a band, or can i do it whenever i want?

 

[Forostar]

You can open a topic on a band, in case it isn't already done.

These random song topics are about songs, the 1st who replies can open the next (or if that doesn't happen someone else).

 

[Cornfed Hick]

Like the opening tempo, the guitar melody and the music when it picks up. Instrumental breakdown has a nice feel too.
Might have used more variation for a song of this length, but it does have a nice atmosphere.

Hate the vocals.

What he said.  Held my interest until the singing started.  I never understood the appeal of growling vocals, and I never will.  I read Foro's passionate post about the subject, but I'm not buying.  And as he points out, it's been overdone.  The first bands to employ this style may have been original, creative and shocking.  But now it's not even original anymore, it's a copout.  Why any band that tries to write a haunting melody would then inject a turd into the recipe by using grunts and growls is beyond me.  Fail.

4/10

 

[MFC]

What he said.  Held my interest until the singing started.  I never understood the appeal of growling vocals, and I never will.  I read Foro's passionate post about the subject, but I'm not buying.  And as he points out, it's been overdone.  The first bands to employ this style may have been original, creative and shocking.  But now it's not even original anymore, it's a copout.  Why any band that tries to write a haunting melody would then inject a turd into the recipe by using grunts and growls is beyond me.  Fail.

4/10

So you think this would fit better with clean vocals?
When it's such agressive guitar sounds, i think it would fit better with agressive growling vocals than clean.
And i like much heavier death metal than this so i know what i'm talking about..

 

[Forostar]

What he said.  Held my interest until the singing started.  I never understood the appeal of growling vocals, and I never will.  I read Foro's passionate post about the subject, but I'm not buying.  And as he points out, it's been overdone.  The first bands to employ this style may have been original, creative and shocking.  But now it's not even original anymore, it's a copout.  Why any band that tries to write a haunting melody would then inject a turd into the recipe by using grunts and growls is beyond me.  Fail.

4/10

Many bands are not original in metal, but that also goes for bands with clean vocals.

You might not want to buy this:

Such vocals often fit better to such heavy, aggressive and dark music than clean ones. They integrate better. When riffs are fast and change fast, it's almost impossible to do something nice and original with a clean voice, without sounding off key or ridiculous.

But then you may wonder why there are only a few bands with clean(er) vocals that make comparable music. It wouldn't sound good.

An interesting example might be Iced Earth. The key difference is that this band also has many mellow and calm parts. In the really aggressive parts, the singer gets monotone (puts on a heavy, dark, near grunt voice). Do we mind it? No.
So why mind grunts in the music I have earlier described? There is another difference: IE's aggressive riffs do not change that rapidly, so there is more room for "normal" singing.

There are bad grunters and there are good grunters. It's not just a matter of farting with the mouth.
Good grunters (just like good singers) can bring lots of variation. And to do it well one requires a good technique and dedication (Mark Jansen of Epica drinks chocolate milk in between some songs on the set   ).
Some of them can even articulate very well.

And look at Opeth. They haven't changed their music for nothing (not only on the last album): the clean vocal doesn't fit the same type of death metal riffs they earlier did.

So you think this would fit better with clean vocals?

It would sound too melodramatic in my ears.

 

[Cornfed Hick]

It's not just a matter of farting with the mouth.

Couldn't have said it better myself.  I don't think of Iced Earth the same way, because the growling is used sparingly and is more of a roar, as befits the music.  Even Dio would roar from time to time, but it was always singing, and didn't detract from the melody.  Early Opeth was almost all growling, and I still HATE the growling, but the music is so damn brilliant I kind of trained myself to overlook it.  Glad Opeth/Akerfeldt is moving away from the growls, music is much better with clean, or even no, vocals.

I think the bottom line, for me, is that growling vocals just sound silly and pointless.  They don't make the song more powerful, but more lame, in my view.  They literally make me chuckle and think of Cookie Monster and Dikembe Mutumbo. I don't think that's the desired effect when Amon Amarth is performing a song about the Apocalypse.

 

[Jupz]

I can understand if you don't like them personally, but I hope you can see how they are used to create atmosphere and a sense of power, particularly as a heavy metal fan. It was similar when distorted guitars first came in. The prescence of distortion used to be considered a bad quality - when people started distorting guitars on purpose it was considered primitive and stupid. But that really led to Heavy Metal which is a genre we all love. The distorted guitars in this genre represent power and energy, or can create an atmosphere (eg. Opeth, or an example we all know - Paschendale, or Rime (after RAAIIIIINNN for example)). Its the same thing with voices. I didn't use to like distorted vocals either but I persisted and now I love a lot of them, particularly Opeths and Amon Amarths. For me now they carry a sense of energy similar similar to Halfords screams for example. Its perfectly fine if you don't like the vocals (as a lot of people don't like distorted guitars!) but can you at least understand why they are used?