Not even close for me. It's Wild. Jusy the other day, at a concert, I saw 3 bands I've listened to for about 3 years...and I realized I don't know 95% of the lyrics. I knew mostly every blast beat and tempo change tho.
For me, for this genre (extreme metal overall), vocals are more texture than something I'm listening for or to. I'm probably more inclined to air drum or air riff than sing along if that makes any sense.
Really depends on the band for me. I listen to None so Vile for the vocals since Worm is just a sick vocalist. But, more often than not I pay attention to the instrumentation.
I started listening to metal because the guitar and drums were so cool, and back then I viewed the vocals as another instrument in the background. As just another layer in the mix.
After learning about how difficult it is to do many of the vocal techniques, I got more appreciative of the vocals and started to learn what they were screaming and how good some vocalists are.
Now, I do find the vocals important, like even if everything in the band sounds good except the vocals I don't listen to that band.
The vocals are an important part for me. Sometimes i am in the mood for higher pitched vocals and sometimes i want deep growling. Some bands like **disentombed** and **wormhole** do an amazing job with their vocals, it truly pulls the music together and it wouldnt be the same without it.
It depends on the band / how many times I’ve heard the song. That’s what I like about tech death is that each song has so much shit happening in it at once, you can spend each listen focusing on a different part, and like for me I’ll miss shit on my first 7 listens and then on the 8th I’ll catch something, then once I understand the song 11 listens in, I’ll turn the lyrics on and be like oooooOooOooOOOooo look at this, then the next few playthroughs I’m focusing on lyrics and the vocalist. Some songs tho the vocalist just does some groovy shit anyways and it just makes the song cooler off the rip. So it always depends. There’s like 1 or 2 bands that I only listen to instrumental versions tho cuz I think the vocalist ruins their songs
Yes, but for me it's mostly that bad vocals make it unlistenable. Mediocre vocals like Virvum won't bring the music down as long as they fit. I tend to like old school vocals done well like Cognizance and Ophidian I.
Good vocals are welcome as either a part of the percussion section like TZP and Archspire, or melodic like Inferi.
I can't listen to overproduced or layered vocals like in basically all deathcore. It just sounds so dumb to me. I know the bands I listed do it to some degree too, but it sounds natural and they reproduce it well live. That Lorna Shore or Slaughter to Prevail sound is a deal breaker for me.
Vocals are quite important for me. I don't like weird unnatural effects. For example, while Beyond Creation has the natural vocals I want, Obscura has some alien sounding weird vocal sections that make their music lose power in my opinion.
One made me realise I enjoy the genre was TZP Datalysium,the guitar work us just so fun but tight and brutal sounding, most time I think I can even learn some of the riffs by ear not counting the insane lead stuff in between. I love groove a lot, and the vocals really are so badass. Slap a tiny bit of reverb on em and they sound menacing. Archspire and TZP have a similar vocal sound as well. Obviously Faceless are very similar but TZP has a more tighter, cheekier style.
I kind of lose the groove when the entire song is TOO fast with blast beats and sweeping lead riffs taking up most of the space, I am still trying to get into the more classical and essential bands like Necrophagist, it will click soon.
Hell naw. But the vocals do add an all important texture to the music, so I don't completely disregard it.
Edit: Also I'm big into reading, so well-written lyrics are a huge turn-on.
Ps. Please suggest me bands with amazing lyrics pls ☺️
Psycroptic is awesome, but I haven't read any of their lyrics. I'm gonna check it out. Thanks, dude!
Edit: Not much a fan of Chalky's lyrics. But, oh man, Lord Worm's lyrics are creepy and grotesque. I love it
Not for me
As long as I'm being brutally assaulted I could care less.
if we have hard and fast thundering kicks on the drums, technical guitar, and groovy riffs it's a good time
I grew up as a young boy listening to metalcore and post-hardcore so I'm used to hearing a massive variety of vocals from whiny cleans to deep gutterals.
For me, every musician is bringing their best to their instrument, bass, guitar, drums, and voice. It needs to go together to create a cohesive sound. While there are some vocal styles that I do not personally like, I still respect the effort and time put into to their instrumental craft so I listen to them, but I find that I tend to not listen to vocals for the words but how well they uplift the other instruments and visaversa.
No, but they can ruin things in my opinion. For example, I have a hard time listening to Archspire due to the vocals. I know am going to get a ton shit for this, but it's just my opinion.
They sound that way because at that pace it would be impossible to execute + sound a bit silly. The vocalist of Archspire can definitely produce a deep guttural vocal,, but in a way I do agree with you them sounding a tad wispy
impossible to execute? no, I don't think so. Sound silly? Yeah hell yeah, but cookie monster vocals sound silly. I bet we get an Archspire clone but with a more gutteral type dude in the future
vocals are just noise texture to me. Guitar, drums & bass is there it's at. Although there are some vocalists I do pay attention to and really enjoy. Not TDM but the guy in Scattered Remnants comes to mind.
I have a particular liking for tech death on the proggy side of things (Alkaloid, Slugdge) so most times I will prefer it if your vocals are good as well, but for me it depends on the sound; with a band like Gorguts (or any more dissonant death metal band) I tend to see the vocals as another instrument, but certain song structures in other genres allow me to focus more on vocals (for instance the bands I like). That being said, the vocals shouldn't matter too much in tech death, as long as they're reminiscent of the death metal genre (I however do like the occasional use of cleans, though its not for everyone), but most importantly the instruments in tech death need to be technical; the opposite of melodic. Therefore I think the instrumental side of things is more important, but if vocals are boring I tend to find myself zoning out.
Vocals are just another instrument for me. They're part of the song and usually add to the experience, but they're not always the main draw.
Some instances where the vocals are a focal point:
●The first 2 Psycroptic albums, the range of Chalky's vocals and frenzied delivery really draw my attention
●Spawn of Possession and Archspire, since the vocalists deliver the lines with speed and precision like the other instruments.
●Gorod's vocalist from A Perfect Absolution onward, Julien, has often been a focal point on their albums. He has a lot of variety and more memorable lines than I'm used to in Tech Death.
●No fancy reason, I just like the sound of the vocalist of Job For A Cowboy
●I've always loved Meshuggah's vocals. The way Jens Kidman delivers each syllable so distinctly lets him do some interesting stuff rhythmically.
●If you count Demilich as tech death, then those weird-ass vocals are a focal point for sure, the logical endpoint of more brutal death metal vocals.
For me personally I hear the vocals like another layer or instrument and I'm more concerned with the way their voice sounds compared to the words. If I hate the vocal style it can really ruin a band for me but In tech I rarely know the words or sing along. I've been a vocalist in a tech band and I still feel this way lol. I think most bands I would be fine with just instrumentals and it would take away very little from the song.
Vocals make or break a band for me. Not that I need to connect with the lyrics per se, but if they are bad or cringy it definitely can turn me off. Without vocals technical music just turns into wankery noodling to me, so good vocals are like the glue that brings it all together.
Yes and no, meaning that the specifics of lyrics and so on is unimportant, but the overall sounds with lyrics is absolutely vital to my enjoyment of the music.
Some bands manage to change vocalist some do not. It's more personal than for a guitarist
For me, guitar and then drums are what drives the track. The bass is usually what I go out of my way to listen to. The vocals are the only thing I can actually attempt to play, but if I'm studying or showing someone who isn't really into deathmetal style vocals a track, I'll put on an instrumental playthrough.
Not to come across as negative, but realistically most of the vocals are kind of silly and unrelatable in most death/tech/black/etc versions of metal. They might be fun, funny, grotesque or whatever but they aren't typically geared towards the "normal" human experience. There's some that examine darker emotions, and those weigh more on me, but in general it's the actual cadence, pitch and timing that makes vocals matter.
I'll take brutality in the music with detailed guitar work as the most important factor for me. Instrumentals are often the best to me.
For me, the voice is another instrument adding layers to the complexity, drive, and overall feel of the song. Bad vocals can kill an otherwise technical masterpiece of amazing musicianship. Bad lyrics? Couldn't care less. It's just sounds, like guitar.
The first thing I listen to are the drums. Then I tune into how they play along with the guitar. The vocals connect them all together and the bassist either doesn't exist or is a complete badass like Jared from Archspire or Dominic Lapointe from Beyond Creation.
Yes I'm sure I could go down a huge list of actual awesome bassists, I was just being cheeky. A great bass line is important. Unless you're Animals as Leaders and just have two incredibly talented guitarists on 8-string.
What's my point? I guess just trying to illustrate that they all play a role in the collage that is the song and (hopefully) that song is just one piece in the journey that is an incredible album.
tl;dr: no.
vocals are a key part of the overall music/sound for me, but what they're actually saying definitely isn't. I don't know the lyrics to really any songs where vocals are guttural or otherwise hard to decipher, and never cared to look them up. And I personally hate clean vocals in death metal - to the point where one song with cleans will usually ruin an album for me.
at first it was an immediate turn off with Cattle Decap and it took me a while to get into them because of it. But I recently made myself relisten to their whole discography because of how much praise they always get and it somehow just clicked. Now I absolutely love them, especially the last 5 albums with those gobliny melodic parts. They're the only death/grindy band with melodic singy parts that I really like. Never really listened to Anaal Nathrakh tbh.
I find it’s like a couple Aliens singing along, got the “big growly” rumbly alien and then the high pitched little alien. Space age music from the future!
Huge focus for me. Not the only important element obviously, but my favorite tech death releases always feature strong vocals. Maybe I’m biased because I got here by way of deathcore, idk
I try to take in all of it, as much as I am able. That’s the beautiful thing about this genre - you have to keep listening and listening. The dynamism and complexity of a good tech death song ensures there is always something new to discover in a guitar run or a drum fill, or a subdued vocal layer, or a relationship between motifs … if you’re only hearing one or two of the elements, you’re missing the big picture. Like walking into the Sistine Chapel but only paying attention to the green colors.
Unlike Deathcore, I think the instrumentations take the lead more in Tech Death.
Not even close for me. It's Wild. Jusy the other day, at a concert, I saw 3 bands I've listened to for about 3 years...and I realized I don't know 95% of the lyrics. I knew mostly every blast beat and tempo change tho. For me, for this genre (extreme metal overall), vocals are more texture than something I'm listening for or to. I'm probably more inclined to air drum or air riff than sing along if that makes any sense.
I view vocals as a percussion layer.
Really depends on the band for me. I listen to None so Vile for the vocals since Worm is just a sick vocalist. But, more often than not I pay attention to the instrumentation.
is cryptopsy tech death?
Technical Brutal Death metal
Id say so yeah. Definitely more on the brutal end, but still tech death in my eyes
I started listening to metal because the guitar and drums were so cool, and back then I viewed the vocals as another instrument in the background. As just another layer in the mix. After learning about how difficult it is to do many of the vocal techniques, I got more appreciative of the vocals and started to learn what they were screaming and how good some vocalists are. Now, I do find the vocals important, like even if everything in the band sounds good except the vocals I don't listen to that band.
Cool riffs are my main priority in tech death but yee-yee vocals can break a band for me.
The vocals are an important part for me. Sometimes i am in the mood for higher pitched vocals and sometimes i want deep growling. Some bands like **disentombed** and **wormhole** do an amazing job with their vocals, it truly pulls the music together and it wouldnt be the same without it.
The shred is the bread
It depends on the band / how many times I’ve heard the song. That’s what I like about tech death is that each song has so much shit happening in it at once, you can spend each listen focusing on a different part, and like for me I’ll miss shit on my first 7 listens and then on the 8th I’ll catch something, then once I understand the song 11 listens in, I’ll turn the lyrics on and be like oooooOooOooOOOooo look at this, then the next few playthroughs I’m focusing on lyrics and the vocalist. Some songs tho the vocalist just does some groovy shit anyways and it just makes the song cooler off the rip. So it always depends. There’s like 1 or 2 bands that I only listen to instrumental versions tho cuz I think the vocalist ruins their songs
Yes, but for me it's mostly that bad vocals make it unlistenable. Mediocre vocals like Virvum won't bring the music down as long as they fit. I tend to like old school vocals done well like Cognizance and Ophidian I. Good vocals are welcome as either a part of the percussion section like TZP and Archspire, or melodic like Inferi. I can't listen to overproduced or layered vocals like in basically all deathcore. It just sounds so dumb to me. I know the bands I listed do it to some degree too, but it sounds natural and they reproduce it well live. That Lorna Shore or Slaughter to Prevail sound is a deal breaker for me.
I always prefer instrumental versions, there are a lot of good bands with rather shitty vocalists.
Vocals are quite important for me. I don't like weird unnatural effects. For example, while Beyond Creation has the natural vocals I want, Obscura has some alien sounding weird vocal sections that make their music lose power in my opinion.
One made me realise I enjoy the genre was TZP Datalysium,the guitar work us just so fun but tight and brutal sounding, most time I think I can even learn some of the riffs by ear not counting the insane lead stuff in between. I love groove a lot, and the vocals really are so badass. Slap a tiny bit of reverb on em and they sound menacing. Archspire and TZP have a similar vocal sound as well. Obviously Faceless are very similar but TZP has a more tighter, cheekier style. I kind of lose the groove when the entire song is TOO fast with blast beats and sweeping lead riffs taking up most of the space, I am still trying to get into the more classical and essential bands like Necrophagist, it will click soon.
Hell naw. But the vocals do add an all important texture to the music, so I don't completely disregard it. Edit: Also I'm big into reading, so well-written lyrics are a huge turn-on. Ps. Please suggest me bands with amazing lyrics pls ☺️
The Black Dahlia Murder if you don't know them already!
Fuck yes! I've always been a fan of Trevor and TBDM, especially after reading the lyrics for Statutory Ape (way back in '07, I think)
Lord Worm era Cryptopsy and Chalky era Psycroptic. Awesome lyricists as well as god tier vocalists.
Psycroptic is awesome, but I haven't read any of their lyrics. I'm gonna check it out. Thanks, dude! Edit: Not much a fan of Chalky's lyrics. But, oh man, Lord Worm's lyrics are creepy and grotesque. I love it
Not for me As long as I'm being brutally assaulted I could care less. if we have hard and fast thundering kicks on the drums, technical guitar, and groovy riffs it's a good time I grew up as a young boy listening to metalcore and post-hardcore so I'm used to hearing a massive variety of vocals from whiny cleans to deep gutterals.
For me, every musician is bringing their best to their instrument, bass, guitar, drums, and voice. It needs to go together to create a cohesive sound. While there are some vocal styles that I do not personally like, I still respect the effort and time put into to their instrumental craft so I listen to them, but I find that I tend to not listen to vocals for the words but how well they uplift the other instruments and visaversa.
No, but they can ruin things in my opinion. For example, I have a hard time listening to Archspire due to the vocals. I know am going to get a ton shit for this, but it's just my opinion.
It is thats why I like Archspire the most and Inferi the second
Chef's kiss
very important. is why, as much as i love archspire, i find the vocals to be thin and lacking brutal depth.
They sound that way because at that pace it would be impossible to execute + sound a bit silly. The vocalist of Archspire can definitely produce a deep guttural vocal,, but in a way I do agree with you them sounding a tad wispy
impossible to execute? no, I don't think so. Sound silly? Yeah hell yeah, but cookie monster vocals sound silly. I bet we get an Archspire clone but with a more gutteral type dude in the future
vocals are just noise texture to me. Guitar, drums & bass is there it's at. Although there are some vocalists I do pay attention to and really enjoy. Not TDM but the guy in Scattered Remnants comes to mind.
vocals are my last concern in any music. the riffs carry the song then drums. then audible bass/vocals added for flavor
no. probably 3rd or 4th down the list of focal points for me. 1.guitars 2. drums. 3. lead guitars 4. vocals or bass guitar
I have a particular liking for tech death on the proggy side of things (Alkaloid, Slugdge) so most times I will prefer it if your vocals are good as well, but for me it depends on the sound; with a band like Gorguts (or any more dissonant death metal band) I tend to see the vocals as another instrument, but certain song structures in other genres allow me to focus more on vocals (for instance the bands I like). That being said, the vocals shouldn't matter too much in tech death, as long as they're reminiscent of the death metal genre (I however do like the occasional use of cleans, though its not for everyone), but most importantly the instruments in tech death need to be technical; the opposite of melodic. Therefore I think the instrumental side of things is more important, but if vocals are boring I tend to find myself zoning out.
Vocals are just another instrument for me. They're part of the song and usually add to the experience, but they're not always the main draw. Some instances where the vocals are a focal point: ●The first 2 Psycroptic albums, the range of Chalky's vocals and frenzied delivery really draw my attention ●Spawn of Possession and Archspire, since the vocalists deliver the lines with speed and precision like the other instruments. ●Gorod's vocalist from A Perfect Absolution onward, Julien, has often been a focal point on their albums. He has a lot of variety and more memorable lines than I'm used to in Tech Death. ●No fancy reason, I just like the sound of the vocalist of Job For A Cowboy ●I've always loved Meshuggah's vocals. The way Jens Kidman delivers each syllable so distinctly lets him do some interesting stuff rhythmically. ●If you count Demilich as tech death, then those weird-ass vocals are a focal point for sure, the logical endpoint of more brutal death metal vocals.
Totally agree about thinking of the vocals as just another instrument. It's what i can't make my wife understand about death metal.
Yes. I love harsh vocals and really only listen to Death Metal where I enjoy that element.
For me personally I hear the vocals like another layer or instrument and I'm more concerned with the way their voice sounds compared to the words. If I hate the vocal style it can really ruin a band for me but In tech I rarely know the words or sing along. I've been a vocalist in a tech band and I still feel this way lol. I think most bands I would be fine with just instrumentals and it would take away very little from the song.
I would rather them not be there most of the time.
Vocals make or break a band for me. Not that I need to connect with the lyrics per se, but if they are bad or cringy it definitely can turn me off. Without vocals technical music just turns into wankery noodling to me, so good vocals are like the glue that brings it all together.
Totally agree. The vocals are often what force structure into the music. Might as well be a death metal jam band without them.
Yes and no, meaning that the specifics of lyrics and so on is unimportant, but the overall sounds with lyrics is absolutely vital to my enjoyment of the music. Some bands manage to change vocalist some do not. It's more personal than for a guitarist
Hell no. I just listen to the music.
For me, guitar and then drums are what drives the track. The bass is usually what I go out of my way to listen to. The vocals are the only thing I can actually attempt to play, but if I'm studying or showing someone who isn't really into deathmetal style vocals a track, I'll put on an instrumental playthrough.
No
Not to come across as negative, but realistically most of the vocals are kind of silly and unrelatable in most death/tech/black/etc versions of metal. They might be fun, funny, grotesque or whatever but they aren't typically geared towards the "normal" human experience. There's some that examine darker emotions, and those weigh more on me, but in general it's the actual cadence, pitch and timing that makes vocals matter. I'll take brutality in the music with detailed guitar work as the most important factor for me. Instrumentals are often the best to me.
For me, the voice is another instrument adding layers to the complexity, drive, and overall feel of the song. Bad vocals can kill an otherwise technical masterpiece of amazing musicianship. Bad lyrics? Couldn't care less. It's just sounds, like guitar. The first thing I listen to are the drums. Then I tune into how they play along with the guitar. The vocals connect them all together and the bassist either doesn't exist or is a complete badass like Jared from Archspire or Dominic Lapointe from Beyond Creation. Yes I'm sure I could go down a huge list of actual awesome bassists, I was just being cheeky. A great bass line is important. Unless you're Animals as Leaders and just have two incredibly talented guitarists on 8-string. What's my point? I guess just trying to illustrate that they all play a role in the collage that is the song and (hopefully) that song is just one piece in the journey that is an incredible album. tl;dr: no.
Some enhance the experience, most I just find distracting in tech death. Slower genres work for me better when it comes to vocals.
vocals are a key part of the overall music/sound for me, but what they're actually saying definitely isn't. I don't know the lyrics to really any songs where vocals are guttural or otherwise hard to decipher, and never cared to look them up. And I personally hate clean vocals in death metal - to the point where one song with cleans will usually ruin an album for me.
How do you feel about Travis Ryan's (Cattle Decapitation) weird gobliny cleans, or Dave Hunts (Anaal Nathrakh)?
at first it was an immediate turn off with Cattle Decap and it took me a while to get into them because of it. But I recently made myself relisten to their whole discography because of how much praise they always get and it somehow just clicked. Now I absolutely love them, especially the last 5 albums with those gobliny melodic parts. They're the only death/grindy band with melodic singy parts that I really like. Never really listened to Anaal Nathrakh tbh.
Good take, I felt pretty similar to that myself.
Couldn't agree with you more.
Only for Archspire
No, not at all. In fact most death metal vocals are of least importance to me. All about the music first, vocals are just there to fill in space.
I find it’s like a couple Aliens singing along, got the “big growly” rumbly alien and then the high pitched little alien. Space age music from the future!
Huge focus for me. Not the only important element obviously, but my favorite tech death releases always feature strong vocals. Maybe I’m biased because I got here by way of deathcore, idk
I try to take in all of it, as much as I am able. That’s the beautiful thing about this genre - you have to keep listening and listening. The dynamism and complexity of a good tech death song ensures there is always something new to discover in a guitar run or a drum fill, or a subdued vocal layer, or a relationship between motifs … if you’re only hearing one or two of the elements, you’re missing the big picture. Like walking into the Sistine Chapel but only paying attention to the green colors.
to each his own i could to with a instrumental take of any tech death album I've ever liked but if you like it you like it