What metal vocalists have the best high screams? That’s a question fans on Reddit have answered, shouting out their favorites and revealing what makes them so great at it.
Of course, bowel-rattling guttural roars are one of the defining characteristics of deathcore vocals, but it’s only about 75 percent of the equation. Contrasting those insanely deep bellows are shrieking, throat-shredding highs that create a dual-threat vocal attack.
Since the discussion took place on the r/Deathcore Reddit thread, answers gravitate toward that subgenre, with some others in the mix as well.
The Metal Vocalists Reddit Users Think Have the Best High Screams
The original post: I personally think that vocalist[s] from 2016 and earlier have much cooler sounding highs. Of course you have Mitch Lucker, Scott Lewis, and Alex Koehler, but who are some other vocalists with great fucking highs?
One of those three are also highlighted below. However, you will not see Lucker (Suicide Silence) or Lewis (Carnifex) shouted out despite them being among the very best at this vocal style.
Commenters mostly replied with vocalists not already mentioned in the conversation-starter.
Responses:
The Black Dahlia Murder have been improperly categorized pretty much since the beginning. They’ve been lumped into the deathcore and metalcore scenes despite being a melodic death metal band. Part of that reason is the late Trevor Strnad’s menacing highs.
The original comment: I know that the ‘they aren’t deathcore’ thing comes up a lot. But I still feel very strongly that Trevor Strnad has the most impressive highs around.
There wasn’t much debate about this at all. Just nearly four dozen upvotes, showing that others clearly agree.
The Black Dahlia Murder, “What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse”
Mike Greenwood (Angelmaker) — 21 upvotes + 10 upvotes (two comment threads, 31 upvotes total)
Canadian deathcore band Angelmaker features co-vocalists Mike Greenwood (highs) and Casey Tyson-Pearce (lows). Formed in 2011, the band dropped their first album, Dissentient in 2015, with the latest being 2022’s Sanctum.
The original comments: The guys in Angelmaker. (21 upvotes) / I’ve been wanting to talk about this for a long while. Mike Greenwood from Angelmaker has the most insane highs. They are so high pitched, so consistent, so controlled. They are piercing. Dude can also get wicked low, which makes his highs even better just by contrast. I listen to an insane amount of deathcore every day, and it’s not even a debate for me. (10 upvotes)
“Agree, some of them literally sound like a child but in a good way,” one commenter laughs. Comparing the physique of the frontmen, the person continues, “It’s funny because it looks like Casey would have the highs and Mike the lows but it’s the opposite.”
Angelmaker, “Gutless”
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Utah’s Chelsea Grin came up on the heels of the birth of deathcore, releasing their debut album in 2010. Until 2018, the band was fronted by Alex Koehler, who is featured on their first four records, his last being 2016’s Self-Inflicted.
The original comment: ‘My Damnation’ era Alex Kohler [sic] is my pick. Sounds like a with being burned.
My Damnation is Chelsea Grin’s 2011 sophomore album, which also features guest appearances by vocalists for deathcore peers Fit for an Autopsy and Whitechapel.
One person commented saying that they “disliked” that album for a long time, but it finally clicked one day when a friend was playing it. “How the fuck did he do that?” asks another, referencing Koehler’s burning-witch-like vocal quality.
Chelsea Grin, “My Damnation”
From the band’s formation in 2014 through their 2022 album The Chosen Dan Watson fronted Spokane, Washington’s Enterprise Earth. With his departure, no original members of the group remain.
Over the last decade, the band has continued to grow, and their latest album, Death: An Anthology, was released earlier this year, featuring vocalist Travis Worland.
The original comment: Dan Watson has great highs imo [in my opinion].
Fans are split on the best representation of Watson’s high screams, citing the XXIII EP, Enterprise Earth’s 2015 debut Patient 0 and the 2019 effort Luciferous.
Enterprise Earth, “The Failsafe Fallacy”
Travis Ryan has been a longtime extreme vocal pioneer. His evolution over the last decade has been particularly noteworthy.
The original comment: Travis Ryan.
Just two words, but that comment says all it needs to. Another Reddit user responds, “Came here to say Travis Ryan too. I just recently discovered Cattle Decap and I can’t stop listening to the Death Atlas and Terrasite albums long enough to listen to my favorite deathcore.”
Those two albums are the band’s most recent recordings.
Cattle Decapitation, “Bring Back the Plague”
Other Vocalists Mentioned
View the entire discussion on the r/Deathcore Reddit thread.
10 Best Deathcore Albums of the Last 10 Years (2013-2022), by Lorna Shore’s Will Ramos
Newcomers and veterans populate this list of a decade’s worth of the best deathcore albums.
Gallery Credit: Will Ramos (Lorna Shore)
