My 10 Favorite Death Metal Vocalists 

I know it’s basic but Chuck Schuldiner’s vocals in the later part of his career will always be my favorite. He still has that growly sound, but instead of being just another instrument or just sounding scary, his voice actually communicates human emotions and thoughts and allows him to deliver his lyrics

Non so vile is such an amazing performance. An album made in ‘96 but sounds like it could have been released yesterday.

One of my favorite vocalist of all time has got to be Johnny Paoline of Mortal Decay. I love his mix of Demilich like frog vocals, hardcore shouts, and the occasional shrieks and whispers. (Also, gotta love the Britney Spears record in the background)

Mikael Akerfeldt is my favorite. You can ALWAYS understand what he says, and there's so much raw power and evil in his voice, even bleeding over into black metal territory on some earlier Opeth albums. I am an Opeth fanboy, and I love what he's doing with Opeth now, but it'd be cool to hear him on a death metal record again. Lord Worm is my (very) close second. Phenomenal lyricist, wretched voice, and the lore and stage antics. He's the real deal, and he's pretty much black metal personified (listen to the dude's interviews haha). That and those songs are so damn hard to sing according to everyone that's succeeded him in Cryptopsy. Rage Nucleaire is badass too, super pissed off black metal.

John Tardy and Martin van Drunen are definitely in my list for their uniqueness. Especially John, who still sounds incredibly well, pretty much like in early 90s. As an honourable mention I would add Glen Benton for his vocal performance on Deicide's debut album. He literally sounds like he's possessed. Pure insanity.

Based as fuck Britney Spears in the back

At his peak (Bloodbath), Mikael Akerfeldt was, in my opnion, the best DM vocalist around. Overall, I'd say the most consistent DM vocalist to ever do it has to be John Tardy from Obituary. Dude has been a DM vocalist a bit over 3 decades and his voice is still unreal.

it took a while for extreme growls to grow on me, but once it did i was hooked. people might look at it as unimpressive screaming, but there’s an extreme level of talent with many

Chris Monroy from Skeletal Remains is a great sounding mashup of old school death metal vocalists so naturally I really dig them. One of the best modern death metal vocalists imo

When Steeve Hurdle did vocals in Gorguts it was awesome. He sounded like a terrified screaming grandma, and he still has some of the most unique death metal vocals ever in my opinion.

I’d also mention Jeff Walker from Carcass. His vocals are filled with so character in Necroticism, and fits the crazy vibe of protagonist in the album. In their melodeath albums, his vocals are much more savage. Especially in Surgical Steel, I couldn’t believe how he could do those after so many years. He’s not as good on live shows tho.

Jason Mendonca or however you spell it from Akercocke is probably my favorite death metal vocalist. All the vocals on the Goat of Mendes are phenomenal. Savage, bestial death metal growls, very witchy black metal vocals and haunting cleans.

YES!!! I can't exaggerate how underrated Piotr from Vader is! His vocals are so beastly and brutal that it is honestly one of the key reasons I listen to the band, I think he sounds like David Vincent but if you turned up the raspyness to 100. They're absolutely some of the most monstrous vocals I've heard that honestly when I compare that to a lot of what people consider "Brutal" I.E a lot of modern Deathcore/Slam it just doesn't hold up for me. And then how he manages to be that brutal, while still being super audible in the sense of what lyrics he's singing is so admirable as well and then as well how he manages to make the vocal delivery so god damn catchy as well in songs like "God is Dead" and I would honestly argue "Only Hell Knows" is also really catchy to me because he delivers the vocals so well in that one. They've become one of my absolute favorite bands along pretty household names like: Morbid Angel, Nile, Dying Fetus and Cannibal Corpse. I would honestly put them in my top 5 Death Metal bands among those names.

Great picks! Always like these kind of lists. Love seeing Matt Harvey and Pete Helmkamp on there, a couple of my all time favorites too!

I really like all of your picks. If I had to name a couple of my old favorites they'd be Christian Älvestam in Scar Symmetry and Antti Boman in Demilich. Those two really defined death metal vocals for me as a kid.

I really like Martin van Drunen, ex Pestilence, ex Hail of Bullets and hes still playing with Asphyx.

Love the Britney Spears album in the backround.

The amount of knowledge you share is astounding :) I was able to broad my musical knowledge thanks to your videos

Thanks for the new video as always. It would be interesting to see your favourite black metal vocalist

Although it didn't age well, Joe Duplantier's pitched growls and screams both high and low were the most powerful and angry I have ever heard. (During From Mars To Sirius and TWOAF era)

What I love about Mikael is his not only his voice, but his lyrical talent. He’s an amazing writer. Still Life is my favorite concept album because it tells a beautiful dark love story. I’m a huge fan of his clean vocals as well, but he carried so much emotion in his growls. My favorite death metal vocalist is def David Vincent…before he went satanic cowboy. 🤣 Love Glen Benton too.

For me, Blessed-Covenant era David Vincent can't be beat! Swano, Akerfeldt, Tagtgren, Tardy, Vincent, Mullen, Lemay, Corpsegrinder, Toler-Wade, Walker. Honorable mentions: Jan-Chris De Koeijer - Gorefest Chris Reifert - Autopsy Mike Van Mastrigt - Sinister

Ah yes, another Britney Spears connoisseur

Peak Mikael Akerfeldt and the vocals he dd for Katatonia (alongside Bloodbath/Opeth) belongs on the list, Lord Worm also. Asphyx Martin van Drunen is also up there for me and Craig Pillar's work with Incantation is just outstanding, one of my favourites. I'm also a sucker for the super low growls that Karl Sanders often does on the older Nile albums, he just sounds so good.

Great format keep it up

Great picks, my favs are Frank Mullen (Suffocation) and Chris Reifert (Autopsy)

Awesome video! Here’s some of my 10 favorites: - Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost, Bloodbath) - Jeff Becerra (Possessed) - Chuck Schuldiner (Death) - John McEntee (Incantation) - Dave Davidson (Revocation) - John Gallagher (Dying Fetus) - Francesco Paoli (Fleshgod Apocalypse) - Spiros Antoniou (Septicflesh) - Jeff Walker (Carcass) - Rafał Piotrowski (Decapitated)

No Will Ramos? But MetalInjectionTM told me he was the best.

Mine would have to be Eli from Black Curse / Spectral Voice. Or NSK from Teitanblood EDIT : Peter Tägtgren from Hypocrisy is my GOAT

Peter Wiwckzarek is also one of my fav death metal singers, he arguably has the most recognizable voice in death metal ever

1. Martin Van Drunen (ex Pestilence, Asphyx) 2.Jeff Walker (Carcass) 3.Karl WIllets ( ex Bolt Thrower, Memoriam) 4.Lars Goran Petrov (Entombed) 5.Jan Chris De Koeijer (Gorefest) 6.Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy) 7.Chris Reifert (Autopsy) 8.King Fowley (Deceased) 9.Jeff Becerra (Possessed) 10.Dan Swano (Edge Of Sanity, Pan. Thy. Monium., and his solo projects) Honorable mentions: Matti Karki, Dan Greening (Lord Worm), Muhammed Suicmez, Anssi Kartela (vocalist for Rippikoulu's demo Musta Seremonia)

For me one of my favorites is Nathan Gearheart from Vehemence. Not only his vocals are brutal AF, but also extremely emotional or even emotive ( She Never Noticed Me is the best example)

Love your top picks and you had very valid reasons to choosing all of them in my opinion. I have to say though that I can’t believe no one’s acknowledged the Britney Spears vinyl next to the turn table. We’ll payed.

I've always thought Peter Tagtgren from Hypocrisy and Bloodbath is an absolute beast. Pure technical perfection with super crisp control between vast ranges. His vocal tone is really refined

Some of my favourites would be Jonny Davy from JFAC, John from Dying Fetus, Alex Paul from Organectomy and Rendered Helpless, Travis Ryan from Cattle Decap, and Trevor Strnad (RIP).

Brett Hoffman is up there for me. First three Malevolent albums are so aggressive with his pissed off voice

Just watched Opeth live a few days ago and Mikael is just a beast

I agree with your analysis of The Curator. There's a solemnity in his style, and I think he and Portal have really managed to blend extreme heaviness with a certain elegance, if this statement makes sense.

Dallas Toler-Wade is definitely most memorable for me since Nile was my first death metal band i found by myself , amazing vocalist/guitarist

Antimo Buonanno from Disgorge (Mexico) is up there. Sickening vocals.

Karki,Corchado,Beccera,Schuldiner are among some of my favorites along with Corparate Death and Nefarious of Macabre. I hope you do a vid on black metal vocals. Aldrahn,Garm,Vintersorg, Vortex are what I like there. The vocalist and guitarist for Lord Belial is good too. I'm in agreement with you about Peter of Vader,though I'm only really familiar with the Black To The Blind album. They are one band of many I need to get more stuff from.

So far I've haven't seen Brutality's Scott Riegel (When Sky Turns Black), Jeff Gruslin in Vital Remains (Let Us Pray), Josh Pratt of Evilution (Shrine of Desecration), and Herb Burke of Drawn and Quartered in the comments. If you haven't heard them, seek 'em out. Nice you mentioned Pete Helmkamp.

Do a video on your favorite rock and metal lyricists... and favorite death metal lyricists...

I’m lucky enough to have seen Devourment with Mike, Ruben and Wayne (RIP) on vocals, and I also like Ruben the best of the three🤘

They weren't around for very long at all but Renato Gallina from diSEMBOWELMENT has always had a place up there for me.

I'd definitely have Travis Ryan in there, but excellent to see you include The Curator.

Mikael's growls are fantastic, my fav would be Travis Ryan or Steve Tucker

Dave Ingram (Benediction), Karl Willets (Bolt Thrower/Memoriam), LG Petrov RIP (Entombed), Matti Karki (Dismember) and last but not least, Jeff Becerra (Possessed). 🤘

Matthew Chalk on psycroptic’s scepter of the ancients is by far my fav death metal vocalist. He does like vocal gymnastics 🤯🤯 Dani filth screeching highs fallowed by like dry damn near “hardcore” style barks with everything else in between, that album musically is like a masterpiece too. I know it’s technical death metal but it still counts 🤷‍♂️🤘 great vids Wyatt. -honorable mention has to be Sauron from first 3 decapitated albums. Them polish lows are like a standard now lol 🤘 so damn relentless. Cheers everyone

The gnarliest vocals I've heard recently have to be on Dominus' View to the Dim. Fucking hilarious that the dude who sings for Volbeat used to death growl like that.

A band that really stands out to me is Our Place Of Worship Is Silence. Their vocals absolutely murder and they usually have them very loud in the mix.

yes!! ruben is ridiculously underrated, hes my all time fav

The curator kinda reminds me of the vocalist in the band fester, both sorta do whisper vocals.

Jason Oliver's vocals are definitely my all time favorite in deathmetal. It's a shame I've never been able to find anything else like it anywhere, so when developing my growls I've tried my best to sound like his lows. Definitely another awesome mention is Jeff Hayden from Timeghoul. One of the very few old school deathmetal vocalists to utilize CLEAN vocals and it's absolutely beautiful and haunting.

Ross Dolan Scott Riegal Martin Van Drunen Karl Willetts Chuck Schuldiner Chris Reifert John Tardy Corpsegrinder Johan Hegg Jan Chris de Koeijer A few of my favorites here....

what do you think of Per?

For a really special voice: Demilich’s Antti Boman.

My top 10. Frank Mullen (Suffocation) Frank Rini (Internal Bleeding) Jeremiah Blue Jensen (Guttural Secrete) this dude seriously gives me dopamine so good Matt Duncan (Afterbirth) RIP Joe Ptacek (Broken Hope) RIP David Mikkelsen (Undergang) Spiros Antoniou (SepticFlesh) John Paoline (Mortal Decay) Von Young (Deaden) (Lividity) Lord Worm (Cryptopsy) Great list Wyatt.

Spin that britney spears record yet?

Ruben Rosas is an absolute beast of a vocalist!

my favorites are Spiros Antoniou, Joe Duplantier, the guy from Demilich idk his name, Adam Mercer, Akerfeldt as well, Dan Swano, Oli Aleron, Lord Worm, Simon Girard and Ian Bearer

David Vincent from Morbid Angel, Ben Falgoust from Goatwhore, and Dave Herrera from Imprecation are among my favorite Death Metal vocals.

Travis Ryan from Cattle Decap is leading the genre imo

I'm looking for good high pitch death metal vocalists, anyone can help ?

The guy from Demilich is crazy, neSpiThe is absolute insanity

I definitely have to include Kyo in any extreme vocalist list. I know Dir En Grey is all over the place, but Christ, his vocals when he goes full death growl are somehow more insane than his cleans. Also, good call on Akerfeldt. Early Katatonia, Bloodbath and old Opeth's vocals are fucking amazing. And THANK YOU for mentioning Matt Harvey. I wish he would use his higher screams in Exhumed more often.

For me: Mikael Akerfeldt(Opeth,Bloodbath) Dan Swano( Edge of Sanity, Witherscape) Jeff Walker(Carcass) Tomas Lindberg( At The Gates) Mikael Stanne ( Dark Tranquility) Martin Van Drunen(Asphyx) John Tardy(Obituary) Glen Benton (Deicide) John Gallagher(Dying Fetus) Luc Lemay (Gorguts)

My favourite vocal performance alone I think would have to that Golgotha shit u got on in the background /m\

Are there two different bands named Stargazer!?

Love the incantation in the background My top 10 1. John Tardy (cmon man how can you not like him) 2. Miika Tenkula (Sentenced) (Shadows of the past album specifically) 3. L.G Petrov (Entombed) 4. Kam Lee (Massacre) 5. Matti Karki (Dismember) 6. Mikael Akerfeldt 7. Johnny Paoline (Mortal Decay) 8. Chris Reifert (Autopsy) 9. Frank Mullen (Suffocation) 10. John Gallagher (Dying Fetus)

Disgorged(NY) has the most evil and insane vocals on Thy Hideous Wake There’s a break down where after the gang vocals say “droooling” both vocals do a snarl like a dog and it’s just sick

Sylvain houde was a monster

Chris from Autopsy rules!

What band is playing in the background I like :)

I think that Orion from Behemoth (and Vesania) is a bit underrated . Especially nowadays he sings live almost as much as Nergal .

I got to see Vader live, super lucky. He was very cool

Karl from Bolt Thrower is definitely in my top 3, alongside Sauron from Decapitated and Dan Swano from Edge of Sanity. Great list though

A quick Polish lesson to pronounce Piotr Wiwczarek's last name. It's Veevcharek with "a" like "Adam" and last "e" like "Emily" :)

Mikael Akerfeldt, Chuck Schuldiner, and Martin Van Drunen are my top three. Mikael is my favorite vocalist ever and I don’t even really care for the prog rock stuff.

*LOOKS AT THE BACKGROUND* Nothing says death metal like Britney Spears. 😂🤘

10. John Tardy 9. Corpsegrinder 8. Glen Benton 7. Craig Pilliard 6. Frank Mullen 5. Steve Tucker 4. Lord Worm 3. Martin van Drunen 2. John McEntee 1. Dallas Toler Wade

I'm new to extreme metal (actually only death metal bcoz i dont really like black metal because it's truly evil and disturbs me so i don't wanna listen to it) and i only listen to cannibal corpse by this point. Is corpsegrinder not one of the best death metal vocalists? I literally see him nowhere in the video nor in the comments. I mean even cannibal corpse in general is nowhere to be seen? Sry but is this like an elitist thing that one should not listen to cannibal corpse because they're big? If there are better bands then please suggest

Surprised you didn’t add in the vocalist from Dragged into Sunlight, good vid!

In no specific ranking: Mikael Akerfelt (Opeth/Bloodbath/Katatonia) The Curator (Portal) - (Grave Upheaval) John Mc Entee (Incantation) Martin Drunen (Asphyx) The dude from Décembre Noir Jonas Renkse (Katatonia/October Tide) The dude from Spectral Voice Jonathan Théry (Funeralium/Ataraxie) Encoffination's Axeman.

Where is current day Chris Barnes in the list?! 🤔 Good list anyways :D

Bloodbath is the perfect entry level death metal band

Some favorite death metal vocalists from different time periods Glen Benton (1990-2) John Tardy (1989-92) Mark Barney Greenway (2006-now) Pazi (1994) Chris Reifert (anytime)

Nothing scratches my that itch in my brain quite like Lord Worm's vocals. Not trying to beat a dead horse, but None So Vile to me is the single best death metal release of all time

Hands down, John Tardy and Glen Benton have the best, most unique death metal vocal styles that often immigrated but never surpasses in intensity.

Jeff Walker from Carcass on Descanting

Best DM vocals for me are Akercocke and early Septic Flesh.

For extreme metal #1 dax riggs #2 dax riggs #3 dax riggs #4 dax riggs #5 dax riggs . Lol

Joe Horvath of Circle of Dead Children is probably the best vocalist I've seen in person.

Peter Tägtgren is my normie choice. He has great range and is very dynamic in his performance. My other fave is Taneli Jarva from Sentenced (North from here era) he just sounds very different to me. I gotta say I have the same issue with modern metal in general. They're very talented and their technique is the best to date... but I just can't seem to care, everything sounds the same and there's no emotion nor attitude anymore. I know there are exceptions but I'm just tired of hearing the new deathcore band that plays the same sweep pickings and non stop blastbeats

Wayne Knupp of Devourment is my fav RIP

David Graf of Psychonaut 4 is probably my favorite metal vocalist (I know it’s not death metal, I just said it because we’re on the topic)

Akerfeldt on the list but no Matti Way or John Paoline?

When it comes to death metal, vocals have never been my favourite part of this style, I'm more into alt.metal, groove, grunge voices kidna thing, but I can select some of my near favourites of death metal vocalists. 1.Dan Swano (Edge of Sanity) 2.Michael Akerfeldt (Opeth) 3.Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates) 4.Peter Tagtgren (Hypocrisy) 5.John Gallagher (Dying Fetus) 6.John Tardy (Obituary) 7.Barney Greenway (Napalm Death), I know that it's complicated pick, 'cause the band is grindcore. 8.Generic, but honest, Chuck Schuldiner (Death).

Tom Araya (Slayer), Kam Lee (Massacre), Frank Mullen (Suffocation), Glen Benton (Deicide) and Gunther Theys (Ancient Rites) are my favorites.

I'm sad that Akerfeldt no longer does harsh vocals. The contrast between his vocal styles was what drew me to Opeth in the first place. At least they put out a good back catalog before he decided to make a bunch of mediocre 70's prog.