IGN.Com Names The 10 Best Death Metal Singers…Metal Martyr’s $.02

IGN.Com, a video game site recently published a post on the 10 Best Death Metal Singers and I must say that it is a hell of a list. I couldn’t agree more with it. Take a peak at the list below, but visit the site to get their insight on them, essential albums and a song/video from the band. My 10 picks aren’t much different, but when you put together a list like they did, it’s tough not to pick some of the same ones.

• Frank Mullen – Suffocation
• Lars Göran Petrov – Entombed
• Paul Pavlovich – Assük
• David Vincent – Morbid Angel
• Mikael Akerfeldt – Opeth/ Bloodbath
• Antti Boman – Demilich
• John Tardy – Obituary
• Martin Van Duren – Hail Of Bullets
• Chuck Schuldiner – Death
• Thomas Lindburg – At The Gates

Check out my picks after the fold…

• Frank Mullen of Suffocation – Suffocation are one of the earlier pioneers of NYC Death Metal. While I haven’t heard much of the earlier stuff I really dig their last self titled effort on Relapse Records and I think the modern generation would probably dig this one as well. The production is much better and vocals have more clarity to them. This band kills live too!
• Lars Göran Petrov Of Entombed – Another very more clarified death metal voice, I’d have to pick Wolverine Blues as my Favorite, and the Hollowman EP comes in a close second. With all the other “deathcore” and death metal out there these days, this is one of the staple bands out of the overlooked death metal scene.
• David Vincent of Morbid Angel – I was fan as soon as I heard the doom ridden, creepiness of God Of Emptiness. The entire Covenant album is awesome as well as Blessed Are The Sick, Alters Of Madness and Domination. Domination doesn’t get as much credit as it should.
• Mikael Akerfeldt of Opeth/Bloodbath – Even though I have only come to really know Opeth and Bloodbath in the past 6 or 8 months, I can’t get past the sound the Mikael’s voice. First you wouldn’t expect such a vicious sound to come from the same pipes that sing the beautiful melodies that you hear in the softer Opeth songs. I only have 2 Opeth CDs, but Blackwater Park is an amazing album and Bloodbath’s Resurrection Through Carnage and the recent Unblessing The Purity EP are about as brutal as they come. I need to get the new Fathomless Mastery CD. Maybe the merch table at tonight’s Opeth show will have it.
• John Tardy of Obituary – John Tardy had a different sound to his voice than most of the death metal vocalists when they came in to the scene. A unique range with clarity and the more they progressed the better he sounded…to me anyway. It wasn’t a low guttural voice that had to be done with mic directly to mouth in an inaudible tone. He has a voice that stands out and makes it look and sound effortless. Ever tried to imitate his voice? The End Complete is my pick as well but World Demise is a great album too.
• Chuck Schuldiner of Death – Chuck was another unique voice like John Tardy. Not only could Chuck sing with a different range of most Death Metal vocalists, he could rip on guitar as well. My album pick would be Symbolic but if you want a good mix check out Fate: The Best Of Death. Death had a melodic yet brutal sound to them with speed and breakdowns that were hard to top.
• Jeff Walker of Carcass – Once more a unique voice…at the time. Now every other deathcore band tried to sound like Jeff, but they have no friggin’ clue who he is or the legacy of Carcass. As you can see, clarity in vocals is a big thing for me. I like to understand what they are saying. It makes it much easier to sing along when you know the words. Carcass’s Heartwork is a great metal album as well as the slightly slower and often under-rated Swansong.
• Chris Barnes Of Six Feet Under/ ex-Cannibal Corspe – Okay, this is the exception to the clarity thing. Some songs you can catch a lot of the words from Chris Barnes and some not so much. Chris just has that deep guttural voice that sounds grim and evil. Six Feet Under’s Debut album, Haunted is a great example of Chris’s voice as it most Cannibal Corpse’s early albums but mostly The Bleeding in my opinion.
• Maurizio Iacono of Kataklysm – Maurizio has a great death metal voice. Deep, clear and powerful. Their latest release, Prevail, is a great example of Maurizio’s voice. If I said that all the others sounded as good I would be lying because I have yet to explore much more of Kataklysm’s work.

Honorable Mentions

• Jörgen Santöm formerly of Grave
• Tim King Formerly Of Oppressor
• Johnny Hedlund of Unleashed

Check out IGN.Com list here.

Image ©MetalMartyr.Com 2008