Being able to switch from singing to screaming is a pretty impressive skill for a metal vocalist to have, but it’s something that… when looking at the spectrum of artists… few can master.
I can think of like four vocalists, off the top of my head, that do both, but are really only good at one of them (or neither), but I’m not looking to get into a Twitter fight with a butthurt rock singer, so we’re gonna leave that negativity out.
Instead, let’s talk about a few who absolutely kick ass at both…
Howard Jones / Killswitch Engage, Light The Torch, Devil You Know, Blood Has Been Shed
Howard Jones is almost an anomaly. Like, the way his singing voice is so clean and powerful, and then his scream is just incredibly piercing… It’s actually fucking crazy.
Jones’ talent for screaming goes back to his days in Connecticut metalcore band Blood Has Been Shed, though he didn’t do a ton of clean singing with the band. It was when he joined Killswitch Engage in the early 2000s that Jones really began to utilize his range, which can be heard fully on display in the band’s biggest song, “The End of Heartache.”
Corey Taylor / Slipknot, Stone Sour
Maybe Corey Taylor feels like a safe choice on this list because he’s so obvious, but that’s exactly what makes him a notable vocalist: his ability to switch from growls to melodies is so superior that it’s widely recognizable.
I feel that the song “Psychosocial” — from Slipknot’s fourth album, All Hope is Gone — is a great example of what Taylor does well. He’s got this gritty, almost guttural, sing-scream through the verses, and then drops the gruffness at the chorus to let his voice shine.
You should also re-listen to the song “Through Glass,” by Taylor’s band Stone Sour, for a great example of how good his singing voice is by itself.
Courtney LaPlante / Spiritbox
I think that Courtney LaPlante’s skill set is so elite that I will go so far as to say… and I’m dying on this hill… she is unrivaled as a vocalist who can both sing and scream. Her singing voice and her scream abilities are leaps and bounds better than those of any of her peers.
I would say, much like Howard Jones with BHBS, you can go back and listen to LaPlante’s work on the last two Iwrestledabearonce albums to hear how far she’s come as a frontwoman to performing the way she does in Spiritbox.
Chester Bennington / Linkin Park
Chester Bennington is essentially the archetype for this list. In terms of a vocalist taking on the responsibility of singing and screaming, Bennington is one of the best first examples of this at any level. It just so happens that Linkin Park were nu-metal and in the mainstream.
I’m giving you two examples here because I feel it’s necessary to really understand the divide between how effective both his scream and his singing voice were, and how much of an absolute tragedy it is that the world lost this amazing talent and spirit.
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