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Saturday, February 04, 2006

Cookie Monster Vomiting

I recently described the singing style of my friend Seth's favorite bands as the Cookie Monster vomiting. Well, it seems the Cookie Monster thing is old hat. Here's some metal-speak that flew over my head at the speed of "wha?":

Before going further, it's important to clarify exactly what constitutes genuine Cookie Monster vocals. Really, the only genres in which vocalists use that particular style are death metal and its close cousin, grindcore – bands such as Napalm Death, Carcass, Obituary, and Suffocation, whose focus is, or was, death, decay, and other such existential dilemmas. This vocal style is not to be confused with the rasping, higher-pitched shriek of Norwegian black metal bands such as Darkthrone, the thick-necked barking of weight-lifter metal bands like Pantera, or the anxious roar of current Headbanger's Ball favorites like Shadows Fall.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

All of these effects and many more can be achieved by a guy (or gal) with a vocal effects box like the Digitech VocalPro. Did you think those singers REALLY had voices like that? They are all using effects. My friends and I got ahold of a vocalpro once. I - who have a baritone voice switched on "The Alvin" which makes you sound like Alvin of Alvin and the Chipmunks and sang "I did it my way" - we were rolling on the floor. A gal hit the ultra-bass and did an exact version of "I'm too sexy for my clothes". As for the helmet/dead guy belt buckle - gosh, like, that is just sooo punk! Wish I had one back in '77.

8:01 AM

 
Blogger camojack said...

Actually, the sound of Cookie Monster vomiting is a quite apt description of "Death Metal" vocals and their ilk...

11:42 AM

 
Blogger emerson said...

Camo! Thanks for visiting. I may not have a gnarly Harley like you but I commute on a bike 50 miles a day in Los Angeles traffic. I'm no weekend warrior!!!!!!!

1:10 PM

 

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