Most versatile Prog-Metal singer!

Daniel Gildenlow fits.

Whaaaaat? No James Labrie?

jajaja, my vote goes to Gildenlöw!!!

Russell Allen from your list follow closely by Dan Swano.

I also wouldn't call Akerfeldt a versatile singer ... he switches between two distinctly different styles, but Gildenlow uses like half a dozen.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: I also wouldn't call Akerfeldt a versatile singer ... he switches between two distinctly different styles, but Gildenlow uses like half a dozen.

In my opinion, Akerfeldt makes more than switch between growl and mellow singing...

Through the years, his clean vocals have improved very much, giving his singing a lot of textures and changes. This is more evident in "Watershed", where he even "break" his usually cristal clear mellow vocals, in songs like Burden or Hessian Peel. His double vocal harmonies are also very good, specially in the last Opeth release... And in The Lotus Eater, he has some surprising high-pitched voices. This is the reason I included him in this poll! Of course, in the first Opeth releases, his vocals were not so diverse.

Speaking about Gildenlow... I'm agree with you, he is incredibly versatile, and his vocal range is huge. But he sings almost the same in every Pain of Salvation album. Maybe in BE, he experimented with new vocal sounds... But if you hear "Entropia", and "Scarsick" later (apart from the caress of quality the last has...) you will realize he sings not really different.

This is the reason my vote goes clearly to Devin Townsend... His singing is different in every album he has made, and his vocal range in just awesome. He can create every type of growl (from brutal death to black metal...), and his clean vocals have an incredible range, with nothing to envy the Gildenlow's one. In my opinion, Townsend is the most versatile singer in metal today.

Best regards!

I can not believe that Russell Allen is doing so poorly. Have any of you really listened to him sing? This guy has an amazing voice and range. Not that the other guys are bad, but Allen is light years beyond them in ability.

sleeper wrote: birdwithteeth11 wrote: Now that I'm looking at the list more carefully, I'm surprised that Labrie isn't on here I think Labrie is a good singer, but he's not that versatile.

The T wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ He's my favorite metal singer, but not as versatile as Gildenlow. First and foremost he's a "metal shouter", but within that domain he has an amazing bandwidth of expression.   I don't agree Allen is a "shouter". He still manages to sing, though he also shouts at the same time.... For true shouters, I guess we can go to the atrocious "singers" in most metal-tech-whatever-core bands like Dillinger Escape Plan... those people don't sing at all, don't growl, they just shout... IMO

The T wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ He's my favorite metal singer, but not as versatile as Gildenlow. First and foremost he's a "metal shouter", but within that domain he has an amazing bandwidth of expression.   I don't agree Allen is a "shouter". He still manages to sing, though he also shouts at the same time.... For true shouters, I guess we can go to the atrocious "singers" in most metal-tech-whatever-core bands like Dillinger Escape Plan... those people don't sing at all, don't growl, they just shout... IMO

I know what you're trying to say. On my website I introduced two different tags: "shouting" and "screaming". I know this might seem to be an odd distinction, but consider this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screamo

It describes exactly what the Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist is doing. On the other hand, you often hear metal vocalists being described as "shouters". I think the most iconic shouter is Ronnie James Dio. Shouting is very close to (clean) singing - it's still very melodic -  but more pressure is applied and the voice becomes more "sharp" and - depending on the vocalist - a good deal of "grit" is added (for example listen to Russell Allen on The Odyssey).

I should write a wikipedia entry about these vocal styles!


Edited by MikeEnRegalia - June 19 2008 at 03:23

StyLaZyn wrote: The T wrote: MikeEnRegalia wrote: ^ He's my favorite metal singer, but not as versatile as Gildenlow. First and foremost he's a "metal shouter", but within that domain he has an amazing bandwidth of expression.   I don't agree Allen is a "shouter". He still manages to sing, though he also shouts at the same time.... For true shouters, I guess we can go to the atrocious "singers" in most metal-tech-whatever-core bands like Dillinger Escape Plan... those people don't sing at all, don't growl, they just shout... IMO   I have to agree. How one can consider growling singing is something I just can't come to grips with. If someone could burp sing effectively, would that make them a good singer? I've listened to plenty of Riverside, Opeth, and PoS. Still, Allen is eons vocally better to my ears. He exhibits a tremendous range, low to high. Only in the recent SX albums has he given in to the new vocal metal style, which I think does no justice to him. The earlier albums are the best examples.   This isn't about popularity of singers, or is it?

I agree that Allen has a huge range, though I think Gildenlow matches it (certainly he comes close at least) but this poll is about versatility, and you need more than just a an inhuman range. Its why I didnt consider Allen, though I think he's a great singer I dont find him particulalry versatile, while I think growling is the only thing DG hasnt done, and he's come close to that on Beyond the Pale.