Death grunt
This article is about a style of singing. For other uses of Grunt, see Grunt (disambiguation).The
death grunt (also referred to as
death growl,
death vocal,
vokills or, derisively,
Cookie Monster vocals) is a singing style usually employed by vocalists of the
death metal musical genres, but also can be heard in a variety of other
heavy metal subgenres. Stylistic similarities in vocals can be heard in
grindcore and
hardcore punk bands, among others.
Melodic death metal,
doom metal and
gothic metal bands tend to modify the technique substantially.
Death grunts are
guttural and often difficult to decipher, particularly to listeners unfamiliar with the style. Most vocalists who employ the technique choose to sing indecipherably, such as
Sylvain Houde from
Kataklysm or
Lord Worm from
Cryptopsy. However, some vocalists sing such that their lyrics remain intelligible;
Karl Willetts from
Bolt Thrower being an example. Few female singers make use of the technique,
Lori Bravo (
Nuclear Death), and
Angela Gossow (
Arch Enemy) being two examples.
Death grunts can be obtained with various voice effects. However, many singers are able to produce them with their bare voice. Proper training does not exist, as it harms the
vocal cords. Voice teachers teach different techniques, but long-term use eventually wears the voice out, so any technique is actually for "less harm", not for harmless singing. There aren't official studies on this subject, but the comparison of singers' voices over a period of time is obvious (even though not actual death grunt singers, cfr. blues singers, rock singers as Bono, Peter Gabriel, James Brown, Robert Plant, and others). Most "correct" death grunts use the
false vocal cords instead.
It is difficult to pinpoint a specific individual as the inventor of the technique; the assumption that different musicians developed it gradually over time is, in a general manner, considered more plausible. The band
Death (and its precursor Mantas) with its two vocalists â€" initially
Kam Lee and subsequently
Chuck Schuldiner â€" have been cited as influential (although Schuldiner would eventually switch to a more high pitched screeching style).
Possessed is considered by some to be one of the earliest bands to employ death growls, as are
Necrophagia and
Master.
The vocalists from the British
grindcore band
Napalm Death â€" consecutively
Nic Bullen,
Lee Dorrian and
Mark "Barney" Greenway â€" further developed the style in the late
1980s, 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 grunts. Also,
Chris Barnes (from
Cannibal Corpse) is notable for having deepened his grunts to tones lower than those which had been recorded at the time. Some death metal bands such as
Carcass,
Dying Fetus, and
Gorerotted have experimented using two vocalists, alternating singing duties between lighter and heavier death growls on their songs. The now-defunct Swedish grindcore band
Nasum also utilised a similar arrangement, with 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 death grunts.
Nick Holmes (from
Paradise Lost),
Darren White (from
Anathema) and
Aaron Stainthorpe (from
My Dying Bride) were the main developers of grunts within this context, in the early 1990s. Stainthorpe was one of the first to combine grunts and clean singing, a technique which was developed further in large part by
Opeth's
Mikael Ã…kerfeldt. In gothic metal, the death grunts are typically contrasted by female
operatic vocals.
Funeral doom metal bands have taken a different approach to death grunts. Deep guttural vocals are often replaced by hoarser, almost whispered grunts. Examples of vocalists which make use of the technique are "Matti" (from
Skepticism) and
John Paradiso (from
Evoken).
Vocalists essential to the development of the death grunt and the bands they represent are:
*
Chris Barnes (
Cannibal Corpse,
Six Feet Under,
Torture Killer)
*
Nic Bullen (
Napalm Death)
*
Lee Dorrian (
Napalm Death)
*
Martin van Drunen (
Pestilence,
Asphyx)
*
Tom G. Warrior (
Hellhammer,
Celtic Frost)
*
Mark "Barney" Greenway (
Benediction,
Napalm Death)
*
Nick Holmes (pre-1995
Paradise Lost)
*
Sylvain Houde (
Kataklysm)
*
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)
*
Bill Steer (
Carcass)
*
John Tardy (
Obituary)
*
Jeff Walker (
Carcass)
*
Darren White (
Anathema)
*
Karl Willetts (
Bolt Thrower)
*
Lord Worm (
Cryptopsy)
*
Mikael Ã…kerfeldt (
Opeth,
Bloodbath)
*
That's Good Enough for Me: Cookie Monsters of death-metal music from
The Wall Street Journal OpinionJournal
February 1,
2006*
Learn to do Death Metal Vocals from
www.wikihow.com 
