Chords for 11 Greatest Death-Metal Vocalists | Arch Enemy Singer Alissa White-Gluz's Picks

[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
[N] Hey, what's up?
This is Alisa Whiteglass from Arch Enemy and we are currently on tour.
It's been amazing so far, but I want to talk to you about my top 11 favorite death metal vocalists.
So in no particular order, it's really difficult to narrow down my favorite vocalists and especially
my favorite death metal vocalists, so I've allowed myself to expand beyond just purely death metal
bands and [Am] include vocalists that I really love who do a death [Em] style of vocal as well as other
styles.
To start with, I'm going to [Bb] say Angela Gossel.
_ _ The [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [E] texture in her voice and the aggression
in her consonants is so _ unique, it's so distinct.
_ It's a voice that a lot of us really, [A] really love
and she has sang on some of my favorite songs that now I get to sing.
So _ I guess in the first spot,
I say Angela.
So next up, again, no particular order because I can't choose a favorite.
I'm going
to have to say [Gm] Randy from Lime of God.
_ _ [Dm] _ _ He _ _ _ _ _ has a really [A] distinctive _ [E] tone, a really velvety texture
in his growl and he also does something that I love to do, [A] which is to kind of slide up and down
between pitches in a growl.
Randy from Lime of God takes my number two.
So next up for number
three, I gotta say [Em] Trevor from Black Dahlia Murder.
_ [Ebm] _ [Am] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [N] _
Unfortunately, Trevor just recently left us,
which was really devastating to everyone in the metal community, especially like on this tour.
You know, when we heard about it, we were all really shocked.
It's extremely sad, but that's
not why I'm choosing Trevor actually, because I have always thought that Trevor was a great _ [E] vocalist,
super down-to-earth human being.
I love how he incorporates super highs and super lows and
just really gives a sort of diverse range of growling to the songs.
I've had the pleasure of
performing with him at Metal Allegiance shows and so Trevor from Black Dahlia Murder is also one of
my favorite vocalists.
Next up for my list of favorite death metal vocalists, I'm going to say
Phil from Pantera. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ I know that he's not technically a death metal vocalist, if you want to go into the
purest sense of the word, but he's an amazing vocalist, amazingly [B] versatile, and has a great
natural tone.
So Phil is definitely one of [Em] my favorite vocalists of all time.
For my [A] next
favorite vocalist, I'm going to say Corey Taylor [N] actually.
_ [C] _ _ _
[E] _ [C] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [Gm] _ _
[A] _ _ Amazing vocalist in so many different styles, which he shows with multiple different projects
that he does, but I really like how he has such a [B] fast way of saying each syllable.
He's able to
really spit out syllables really quickly and that's something I do too on, for example,
The Race or As the Pages Burn, those kind of songs, and that's a really, really fun technique.
I think [Am] everybody [E] knows that Corey is a great vocalist, [N] so he definitely makes the cut for my
list.
This is someone that I've shared the stage with many times, both on stage during his gig with
Testament at a festival many years ago and also with Metal Allegiance, and that is Chuck Billy. _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _
He is such an icon, such a great frontman, but also a really great [Em] singer, and I don't know if
everyone is aware of the versatility of his voice.
I got [A] to see them play right before we started
this tour, got to go see their sold [B]-out show in LA, and I could really hear Chuck's voice
super clearly from where I was watching the show, and I was just blown away by the, you know, his
thrash voice, of course, is what he's [A] known best for, but he's got a great low [Eb] death growl, and he
also has a great clean singing voice, so Chuck Billy is definitely on the list for me.
Okay,
so I'm cheating a little bit here, and I apologize if this list [E] is becoming longer than it's supposed
to be, but I can't give a list like this without mentioning the people that I've been listening to
every single night for the past month, [Dbm] and that is Nergal from Behemoth and Barney from Napalm Death. _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Db] _ _
[A] Nergal, _ the nerg as I call him, has a great voice.
He's consistently great every night.
It rumbles through the audience.
It's got great texture, [B] great tone, _ and really fits the music
super well, I think.
[N] I love the sound of his voice, and he has to be on the list because I've been
totally enjoying touring with Behemoth for the past month, and we're gonna do [A] it again in Europe,
[Eb] so that's gonna be just another joy, I'm [F] sure, and Barney from Napalm.
_ [Gb] _ [E] I _ _
_ _ [F] _ _ [Gb] _ [E] love Barney.
I love him as a person.
I love everything he stands for.
We're very similar in
that way, and the way he delivers vocals on stage is just amazing.
I first started [A] digging into
Barney's voice a few years ago because actually Volbeat was touring, and Barney sings a song with
Volbeat, _ [Eb] _ [Am] and [E] Volbeat asked if I wanted to come on stage and sing that song with them at one of the
shows, and so I studied that song, and I practiced that song, and I listened over and over again to
Barney's take on that song to learn the song, and I was like, this is the most angry voice I've ever
heard, and Barney's such a sweet person, and the juxtaposition there is just so cool and so much
fun.
_ That is pure anger and pure dedication to the music, [A] and I absolutely love Napalm Death for it.
Next up on the list is one of my all-time favorite vocalists who [Eb] also does a variety of techniques,
but excels in the death metal style, and that is Devin Townsend.
[Gb] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _
[Gb] _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ [Gb] _ I had the pleasure of singing
with Devin Townsend [A] on a song, which oddly enough is like a [N] small world here, because that song
is a part of Me and That Man, [E] which is Nurgle from Behemoth's other band that he does, so
we sing on a song together called Goodbye, _ and Devin is super diverse.
I've always loved his
voice.
I've always loved what he chooses to do with his voice, and he continues to surprise and
intrigue me [Db] with every new project he puts out, so Devin Townsend is definitely on the list.
Next up
on my list [Eb] is Michael from Opeth.
I [D] _ _ [Bb] _ [Ab] _ _ [Eb] _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [A] absolutely love Michael's voice.
He has such a great natural tone.
[E] The bass in his voice really fits super well with Opeth riffs.
I think [F] it matches the music
[Am] perfectly.
I'm a big fan of his clean singing voice too, _ so again, even though maybe Opeth is
not a death metal band, Michael does use a death metal technique, and I love it.
To finish off the
list, I have to include some more of my friends, and I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of them, and I
apologize for that.
It's super difficult.
[E] Revolver, you are not making this easy, making me choose just
11, but I gotta say Joe from Gojira.
[Ab] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[N] He's a good friend of mine, amazing vocalist, and I love
_ this kind _ of_
the way that he sings, it's a little bit different than a usual death metal
technique.
It's similar [A] to Morbid Angel in a way.
He uses [E] notes in his screams, and I do that too,
[F] for example, on the chorus of As the Pages [Eb] Burn or the chorus [A] of House of Mirrors, so this is just
another technique that I, [Db] you know, heard over the years and decided to add to my [A] arsenal and
worked until I was [N] able to nail it and include it in my arsenal of vocal [E] techniques, but Joe
from [Gb] Gojira, [A] amazing frontman, amazing vocalist.
He could hold a scream forever, and he's just
pitch perfect with those _ [E] harmonics that he includes in his screams, and I think it sets Gojira apart
as an even cooler [A] band, you know?
Their music is so interesting and so cool, and his voice is just
the cherry [E] on top.
That was my list of my top 11 favorite death metal vocalists.
I wasn't able to
include some of my favorites like Isan or Corpse Grinder, and you're making it super [A] tough because
there are so many awesome vocalists out there that are in death metal bands or are in other kinds of
metal bands, but they use that death metal technique, which is what I use as well, and I
absolutely love it.
So, _ thank you, Revolver, for this listicle, and I hope I did it justice.
Next time we have to make it 100 because it was super hard to narrow everyone down. _ _ _ _
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