Will Metal Ever Again Have Amazing Vocalists Such As Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Or Bruce Dickinson?

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

Somebody has to emerge but where are the great Metal singers that are under 30 or even 40? There are a few with good voices but lack atmosphere and stage presence.

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

Dino Jelusick is from Croatia. Some good Karaoke. More 1980s standard Heavy Metal with heavy Dio/Coverdale influence.

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

Ronnie Romero qualifies as a 39 year old. He is from Chile. Another student from the RJD Vocal School. Now propping up Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow. Ronnie has good melody but sounds a bit like screechy cat when he goes for the savage power. Still one of the better younger vocalists.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

We won't know until another great metal band forms.

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

We won't know until another great metal band forms.

Kids used to form bands in high school, practice and play in the garage, get hired for parties, get hired to play decent live venues, and so on. I realize the state of today's affairs prevents that but I hope we eventually get back to the way things once were.

 

[Pornfan99]

Interesting thread. I forget what I was watching - a Youtube video? - but several comments about how good the 1980s were, for rock and ORIGINAL music. Also, other commenters about the lack of musicians doing "rock.."

 

[Harpsman]

Interesting thread. I forget what I was watching - a Youtube video? - but several comments about how good the 1980s were, for rock and ORIGINAL music. Also, other commenters about the lack of musicians doing "rock.."

Yeah, it is an interesting thread👍

Is the Metal music Dino refers to still being made? Of course, but bands playing it aren't mainstream any more. The genre has been consumed into the super-genre Classic Rock.

It's not mainstream anymore ergo popularity for Metal comes from an older fanbase. When they try and make the genre progressive we get Nu-Metal and other mish mashes that dont sound good.

For a current 'Metal' voice, the guy out of Rival Sons is about as close as it comes to the sound.

 

[maildude]

Get rid of the Tazmanian Devil growling and get some real voices, then maybe you'll see a comeback.

 

[Mr. Daystar]

Get rid of the Tazmanian Devil growling and get some real voices, then maybe you'll see a comeback.

And that's the whole thing in a nut shell. The good old days required the talent you speak of. The music of today requires someone that can growl. I doubt it will come back, simply because it never does. As much as some of it really sucks, at least kids coming up are trying to be original, or carve out their own sound....even if sometimes it hurts our ears.

 

[Prod3]

Unfortunately, these days the music industry is a lot tougher to get into because of the internet....there are so many rock and metal bands vying for a place at the forefront, you rarely see the really good ones with great singers with good stage presence. It is just a case of finding what you like in the giant haystacks of YouTube, Soundcloud, Deezer, Spotify and more.

For me the great singers that stand out and are well known at the moment are Devin Townsend, Marco Hietala (Ex-Nightwish, Tarot, Solo) and Russell Allen (Symphony X)...all in their 40s and 50s

I might suggest looking towards Avantasia (Tobias Sammet) if you're after new music with the legendary singers (Jorne Lande, Michale Kiske, Geoff Tate, Dee Snider)

However, when I went to see Nightwish a couple of years ago, Beast in Black supported them and I was very impressed by their music (although a bit pop-orientated), and singer Yannis Papadopoulos in particular. He is a lot like Tim "Ripper" Owens in some respects, which was really good to hear

 

[Mr. Daystar]

I'm not looking at any of the bands Dino mentioned as metal anyhow. As it stands today, they've whittled it down to so many sub-genres, it's hard to tell what's what, but things like black metal, and some of the harder edged music just doesn't work for me, because it does typically involve more growling, screaming, and yelling, although I've heard that is a talent in it's own right. I can't really speak knowledgably about them, but I doubt they do ballads like Judas Priest, or The Scorpions did. Now you don't even have to be able to sing....you just need to know how to program AutoTune.

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

I think a lot of the European Power Metal Bands and Progressive Metal Bands are very talented but much of their music lacks grit and aggression. I can see its connection to the more traditional NWOBHM.

Europe has still brought some great Doom Metal with Candlemass, Cathedral, and Electric Wizard. The last Celtic Frost album, Monotheist, is more of a Doom album and it is outstanding.

I like Death Metal and Black Metal but I can understand why many people don't. Even for me a lot of it was an acquired taste. In the 1990s Metal was dying and Grunge was rising so I looked for something new to get into which was Death and Black Metal.

 

[maildude]

but much of their music lacks grit and aggression.

And there is your litmus paper.

 

[Johan]

IMHO, the greatest vocalist in Metal right is a 39 years old woman : Floor Jansen 🇱🇺 (from Nightwish 🇫🇮 ).

I would understand if you tell me that this sub-genre is not the kind f Metal you like but you can't deny she's an absolute beast

 

[Prod3]

IMHO, the greatest vocalist in Metal right is a 39 years old woman : Floor Jansen 🇱🇺 (from Nightwish 🇫🇮 ).

Yes, Floor is an amazing vocalist with great range and style, and is up there with my fav female metal singers as well!....

However, I am seriously going to miss Marco Hietala now he has left the band. Yes, Nightwish can find another bass player (An entry for Sami Vanska to come back maybe? 😆), but Marco's vocals in the band were second to none and there is going to be a big void in that area now as his voice fitted so well in so many of their songs. It will be interesting to find out who will replace his vocal talents, as I think they need to.

I think Nightwish will find a good replacement, but the replacement will probably not be quite on the level that Marco provided.

Nightwish will also be on Tour in the next few months as well if the COVID situation starts to get better. It will be interesting to see if they just play songs that didn't have his vocals, include his vocals as a pre-recorded backing track like they do with some of their orchestrations, or actually get another singer in to provide the vocals on the relevant tracks.
I would be surprised if Floor took on Marco's vocals as well, not that she couldn't perform them, but more for conserving herself for the vocals she does do and not overdoing herself!

 

[Johan]

I agree, Marco's gonna be missed, a lot.

But, in the announcement, he did not clearly said he was leaving definitely :

I have some reinventing to do. I hope to tell you about it on 2022. It’s not a promise though.

2020's been a tough year, for all of us. I am not saying what he worte are lies but, just like us all, he was, for a large part of the year, stuck home with his family. Maybe he enjoyed this, maybe he thought "I could live like this", maybe in a few monthes, when the band's gonna hit the road again he'll miss that.

In 2011, Floor had a burn-out that forced her to step-back from music for almost an entire year. When she came back, she was stronger than ever, happier than ever. Maybe that's what Marco needs too : a long break, just to come back strong later

 

[Little Red Wagon Repairman]

Thanks for stopping by, Johan. I look at you as a European correspondent for Metal and Pro Wrestling. Thanks for your contribution and let's enjoy the Royal Rumble on the 31st. Any predictions on the winner? I have no idea.

 

[D-rock]

At this point I'm just hoping metal in general gets more popular again. It is the best music. There were people that complained about it when it first came out, but when you think about it there is a lot to appreciate about groups that could write their own lyrics, write their own notes for the instrumentals, and play their own instruments and often do those better than anybody else. Think about it how many of the best riffs and licks ever are from metal music. It's a gigantic percentage.

Also, getting people that good at singing is just hard in general. Dio wasn't just the best metal vocalist. A good argument could be made he was one of best all around singers of his generation. Combine that with good metal being more rare it will be more luck than anything if we get talent like that again in the genre. Frankly metal was lucky to get people like Dio and Dickinson in the first place.