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Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

post #1 of 29
1/9/09 at 12:53pm
Thread Starter 
Here's my problem: I love heavy metal music but I'm kind of out of touch and everytime I check out some new band that's really getting talked up I get hit in the ear with cookie monster vocals (latest culprit: Mastodon). It's frustrating because the music might be okay but I just can't abide all the unintelligible rasping. It's like a really good truffle that has a rabbit pellet in the middle - the outside is good chocolate but nevertheless it's still got a turd in it and I'm not going to eat the damn thing, and that's discouraging for a guy like me that grew up believing guys like Halford and Dickinson were the models for great metal singers. Where are the guys like that for this generation? Which bands kick ass with frontmen that actually have range? I don't even need bands with *great* singers because at this point I'd be happy with people that at least *try* to sing. Any suggestions?
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post #2 of 29
1/9/09 at 2:48pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Sheets
Here's my problem: I love heavy metal music but I'm kind of out of touch and everytime I check out some new band that's really getting talked up I get hit in the ear with cookie monster vocals (latest culprit: Mastodon). It's frustrating because the music might be okay but I just can't abide all the unintelligible rasping. It's like a really good truffle that has a rabbit pellet in the middle - the outside is good chocolate but nevertheless it's still got a turd in it and I'm not going to eat the damn thing, and that's discouraging for a guy like me that grew up believing guys like Halford and Dickinson were the models for great metal singers. Where are the guys like that for this generation? Which bands kick ass with frontmen that actually have range? I don't even need bands with *great* singers because at this point I'd be happy with people that at least *try* to sing. Any suggestions?

Tool?

They are a very well recorded band. And, no cookie monster.

I know what you mean about that, and I really never got the appeal.

Brian
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post #3 of 29
1/9/09 at 3:11pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

How broad is your definition of 'Metal'? I would recommend Dream Theater's "Train of Thought" as a good prog metal offering. It's heavier than most of their other albums (not a lot of cutesy piano). Metalheads who have previously dismissed DT's other albums have liked this one. Definitely check out Awakening the World by Lost Horizon... very Maiden-esque IMO. A few clips are on Youtube so you can listen before buying. The band's next album is also awesome but then the singer left.

IMO, a general trend has been less high vocals (which were big back in the 80s) and more gruff "cookie monster" stuff. Most prog metal avoids the cookie monster and even has some decent vocal work (but may lack the 'edge' that your ears want).
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post #4 of 29
1/10/09 at 4:04pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Soil
Seether
Avenge Sevenfold
Drowning pool
Mudvayne
Godsmack (sort of metalish)
Hellyeah
Iced Earth
Korn
Operator
Machine Head
Opeth (however they do have some cookie monster vocals mixed in)
Sevendust
Anthrax
Black Label Society
Communic
Demons and Wizards
Disturbed
Down
Pantera


If you like female vocalists:
Guano Apes
Luxt


Some of these are more towards hard rock but hey...
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post #5 of 29
1/10/09 at 4:23pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

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post #6 of 29
1/11/09 at 8:05am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy Sheets
Here's my problem: I love heavy metal music but I'm kind of out of touch and everytime I check out some new band that's really getting talked up I get hit in the ear with cookie monster vocals (latest culprit: Mastodon). It's frustrating because the music might be okay but I just can't abide all the unintelligible rasping. It's like a really good truffle that has a rabbit pellet in the middle - the outside is good chocolate but nevertheless it's still got a turd in it and I'm not going to eat the damn thing, and that's discouraging for a guy like me that grew up believing guys like Halford and Dickinson were the models for great metal singers. Where are the guys like that for this generation? Which bands kick ass with frontmen that actually have range? I don't even need bands with *great* singers because at this point I'd be happy with people that at least *try* to sing. Any suggestions?

What type of metal do you like? Straight forward stuff like Metallica, Maiden, AC/DC, etc or are you into things like progressive? Current prog bands like Shadow Gallery, Symphony X, Dream Theater and more the recent Fates Warning albums all have great vocals.

I don't like cookie monster vocals either but I do have a number of Opeth albums. They're so good that I look past the CM vocals. Plus, when they switch to normal vocals the singer's voice shines.
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post #7 of 29
1/11/09 at 8:21am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

If you're into 80's metal (or hard rock), check out Airbourne. They are a hard rocking throwback band. You did say "try to sing"
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post #8 of 29
1/11/09 at 5:30pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

I'll 2nd the Airbourne mention. They have a great party metal feel.

Paul
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post #9 of 29
1/11/09 at 11:05pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

I'll third Airbourne and throw in: Avantasia, Axel Rudi Pell, Iron Savior and Jorn Lande. Alot of really good bands fall under the radar with the steady diet of crap that gets played. For every Airbourne that gets through, "the shit that is current radio", there are 20-30 bands that you may like just as much, but, will never hear. Thankfully there's the internet.
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post #10 of 29
1/12/09 at 2:19pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

I remember hearing a cover of Smashing Pumpkins' "Zero" with the Cookie Monster vocals--I never thought that a song that good could be so atrociously destroyed.

I don't really listen to much metal, but would Alice in Chains' first album, Facelift, qualify? You don't get many vocalists better than Layne Staley. I'll second the Tool recommendation, although I prefer A Perfect Circle but don't know if they would really qualify as metal.

I haven't heard it, but I know there's a Melissa auf der Maur record of Black Sabbath covers called Hand of Doom. She's a terrific vocalist so that may be worth checking out.
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post #11 of 29
1/12/09 at 4:18pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

The new Testament album "Formation of Damnation" is absolutely spectacular. Although, I've loved all of their albums, their past couple have featured much heavier and growling lyrics. This album is more of a return to their late 80s early 90s material. Alex Skolnick is back on lead guitar for the first time since '92.

This is one of my favorite albums of last year and definitely worth checking out. Chuck's vocals are certainly deeper than Maiden or Priest, but I wouldn't qualify them as "Cookie Monster" ala Lamb of God.

They have the whole album streaming on their MySpace page, so you can check it out there.
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post #12 of 29
1/12/09 at 8:25pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Quote:
The new Testament album "Formation of Damnation" is absolutely spectacular.
A lot of 'older' bands are releasing some great albums this year. Night Ranger's Hole in the Sun album has some great hard rock tracks on it. Motley Crue's latest release is another one with some great hooks.
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post #13 of 29
1/12/09 at 9:18pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

I really dig the latest In This Moment disc. (My understanding is that their first album is more screamy in the vox dept.) Female vocals, not as gothy as many others, slightly artsy but not quite prog metal.

Redemption is a great prog metal band with excellent clean vocals.
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post #14 of 29
1/13/09 at 2:27pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Good news about the Testament album. I listened to a few songs from it and it sounds great. I'll surely be getting that one

Thanks for the Airbourne recommendations. They do have a fun sound, very AC/DC.

Quote:
What type of metal do you like? Straight forward stuff like Metallica, Maiden, AC/DC, etc or are you into things like progressive? Current prog bands like Shadow Gallery, Symphony X, Dream Theater and more the recent Fates Warning albums all have great vocals.

I don't like cookie monster vocals either but I do have a number of Opeth albums. They're so good that I look past the CM vocals. Plus, when they switch to normal vocals the singer's voice shines.

Prog stuff is hit or miss with me. I certainly don't begrudge bands that want to mix it up and experiment a little but sometimes the band is obviously going places with their music that isn't quite as appealing to me I've tried Dream Theater a few times but they haven't clicked with me. Opeth sounds interesting, though. I'll need to give more of their stuff a listen.

Somebody I talked to recommended The Sword to me and I've liked what I've heard from them. The singer isn't great but, as I said earlier, at least he sort of tries. Plus, I have to support them because they're from Texas
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post #15 of 29
1/14/09 at 5:32am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Good news about the Testament album. I listened to a few songs from it and it sounds great. I'll surely be getting that one


Glad to hear that you liked my recommendation.

As an aside, I went and saw them last summer in Milwaukee. It was one of only a handful of headline shows that they did while on tour with Priest and "Heaven and Hell". We stayed across the street from the venue at a nice Art Deco hotel. When we arrived, we went downstairs to the bar and Alex Skolnick was eating dinner. We chatted with him for a few minutes before heading across the street. Following the show, we sat in the bar again and chatted with some other concert goers and after about 30 minutes, a huge entourage came across the street and it was Chuck Billy, Alex Skolnick, & Eric Peterson (Yeah same name) and we ended up drinking with the three of them for a couple of hours. I sat right next to Chuck. It was one of the most interesting concert experiences of my life.

......and to think that I passed up seeing Radiohead to go there instead!!!
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post #16 of 29
1/14/09 at 10:45am
Thread Starter 

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Heh.

I was looking into Demons and Wizards (not bad) and that lead me to Blind Guardian's stuff. From what I'm hearing they sound like the love children of Queen and Iron Maiden. Crazy, theatrical stuff. I like it
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post #17 of 29
1/16/09 at 10:36am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

If you like Blind Guardian then check out[list of all 7,000 other Euro Power Metal bands].

Gamma Ray and Helloween are probably the next bands of that genre to listen to after Blind Guardian. There are many, many others. Just go to the BNR Metal Pages and click on the Power Metal genre.
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post #18 of 29
1/16/09 at 6:28pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Blind Guardian's Nightfall in Middle Earth is great for the Tolkien loving metal heads. I haven't gotten into their other albums but I love Nightfall.
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post #19 of 29
1/17/09 at 7:41am
Thread Starter 

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

I briefly listened to Helloween back in the 80s. They were okay but their excessive happiness and that Keeper of the Seven Keys thing eventually lost me. But maybe I should give them (and Gamma Ray) another shot. I'm not as pissed off as I was as a teenager

The Nightfall in Middle Earth album and its many good reviews were part of what caught my eye about Blind Guardian. I do love Tolkien's work and I don't mind bands singing about fantasy as long as it doesn't descend into writing songs based on their latest Warhammer campaign.

And thanks for that link to the BNR site. Stuff like that is very helpful as I continue to educate myself on metal's continued balkanization. It used to be easy to keep track of - you had regular heavy metal, and then thrash/speed and death metal were coming up, but that seemed to cover most of it. All these new subgenres and sub-subgenres and crossovers sometimes make my head spin.
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post #20 of 29
1/19/09 at 11:29am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Sure thing. I've been following the BNR Metal Pages (The guy who writes it is named Brian N. Russ) for as long as I can remember. It's a great site.
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post #21 of 29
1/21/09 at 2:41am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Since this thread seems to have moved more into progressive suggestions, I have only two words...Seventh Wonder. Seventh Wonder on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
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post #22 of 29
1/21/09 at 6:53am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Quote:
Originally Posted by troy evans
I'll third Airbourne and throw in: Avantasia, Axel Rudi Pell, Iron Savior and Jorn Lande. Alot of really good bands fall under the radar with the steady diet of crap that gets played. For every Airbourne that gets through, "the shit that is current radio", there are 20-30 bands that you may like just as much, but, will never hear. Thankfully there's the internet.

Troy,

Thanks for recommending Avantasia. I hadn't listened to them before. I just received "The Scarecrow" and, WOW!. Awesome. I was surprised to hear Alice Cooper doing vocal on "The Toy Master".
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post #23 of 29
1/23/09 at 12:37am

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Willow
Troy,

Thanks for recommending Avantasia. I hadn't listened to them before. I just received "The Scarecrow" and, WOW!. Awesome. I was surprised to hear Alice Cooper doing vocal on "The Toy Master".
Yeah! Man This has been my favorite cd of 2008. I went back and got the 2 previous cds as well. Tobias is the man and the guest list of the "Scarecrow" reads almost like a who's who in rock/metal. One thing that struck me after my first listen was the diversity of music. Whether you like hard rock or heavy metal, and all in between, there's something on this cd for everyone.
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post #24 of 29
1/23/09 at 5:54am
Thread Starter 

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

I'm digging Iron Savior's sound (the internet is truly a godsend for sampling music). They sound like they decided to base their entire career on Iron Man and Painkiller, which is fine with me I'm finding that a lot of these power metal bands, despite some interesting sounds, are just a bit too flowery for me, and while I appreciate singing with range some of the vocalists sound more like eunuchs. Hansi in Blind Guardian hits a solid middle ground in that he can sing but his voice has a bit of an edge to it, and the guy in Iron Savior is similar.

I've also been impressed by Blaze Bayley's solo work. From what I've heard of his Iron Maiden work he didn't seem to fit but on his own he can obviously tailor the music to better suit his voice.
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post #25 of 29
1/23/09 at 1:28pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Just yesterday I discovered a Swedish metal band called Communic. Very heavy and moderately proggy with vocals that aren't too growly or screamy. I dig 'em. Track samples available on Amazon.
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post #26 of 29
1/23/09 at 3:17pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

I have found that "Southern Death Threat" to be a pretty darn good metal band. Some good stuff.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...te=1&p=3497247

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post #27 of 29
1/23/09 at 6:19pm

Re: Good Metal with Clean Vocals?

Drem Evil works into that mould also. Cool stuff. Aaron was right though, there's probably 7000 power metal bands out there. Lots of likeable stuff, but once you start digging into it, you'll find that 6900 of them sound the same.
If you like the prog stuff, try Pagan's Mind and Jag Panzer.
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post #28 of 29
11/24/11 at 4:26pm
I highly recommend Protest the hero. There is also an underground band from Ottawa Canada called Today I caught the Plague. In addition check out bans such as Mastodon, Symphony X, Between the Buried and Me, Last Chance To Reason, Nevermore, TesseracT, Opeth, and Seventh Wonder.
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post #29 of 29
11/30/11 at 12:55pm
Protest the Hero is pretty interesting.
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