10 Greatest Metal Singers Of All Time

Being a singer in a metal band is a lot harder than it looks on the surface. While there have been tons of people who make fun of metal vocalists for their over-the-top style, a lot of work must be put into singing with the same intensity over long tours and album cycles.

When people think of metal singers, they more often than not think of someone who has a high-pitched scream over fast riffs. In addition to reaching window-shattering volumes, many metal singers have to possess a certain growl to their voice. Otherwise, these vocalists would sound like a whimpering puppies rather than a rabid dog.

Also, stage presence is something that is essential in any metal singer's arsenal. While it's great to be able reach musical peaks with your voice, you've got to prove yourself by delivering that same energy to every crowd you play to. These singers are fine examples of performers who reach for the back of the room and tear every single venue to shreds whenever they turn up to play. Here are the voices who screams still echo through metal's hallowed halls.

One of the key components of metal is the amount of grit and gravel you put into your delivery. Coming out of the psychedelic band Hawkwind, Lemmy formed Motorhead and became the perfect example of the metallic badass.

The way Lemmy would perform was very unusual, with the microphone set up above him, forcing him to look up to sing properly. While other singers might find this technique counterproductive, Lemmy explained many times that his setup was always used to get the most power out of his voice. Across Motorhead's discography, Lemmy's voice doesn't so much croon as it does bark its way through classics like "Ace of Spades." His delivery had so little frills that it went on to inspire not just metal singers, but also the harder genres of rock like punk.

Whenever you put on a Motorhead classic, you can always expect Lemmy voice to sound like a man who just swallowed razorblades in order to deliver vocal venom to your ears. Lemmy used to joke that no one could replace him in Motorhead because no one sings as bad as him. With a wave of growlers in Lem's shadow, most singers wouldn't dare to touch Motorhead's gruff vocal attack.