PLAYLIST: James' Vocal Influences

Hey everyone! Continuing on with our Ne Obluminati music club, we have the next addition of our playlist of influences.

After previously showcasing a playlist filled with some of Benji's many influences as a musician, this month we asked the same of James. In addition he has written a bit about each artist chosen and why they have been an important part of his journey as an artist and more specifically as a vocalist.

"Hey guys, below is a list of some of my greatest and/or most unique/interesting vocal influences. I have many influences that could’ve been on this list that are no less important to be development, but chose these for their uniqueness in how they affected me. Enjoy, cheers!"

LISTEN HERE:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Ic1kqH9jKb6kS9Fswm0mB?si=109d10376d2a4890

Extol - The Prodigal Son

• When I was still very young, living in rural Oklahoma and still discovering what I liked musically, I was fortunate enough to discover Extol. My dad, who’s now a pastor, was happy enough to buy metal CD’s for me, provided they were Christian. To this day, some of the bands I discovered during that time remain my favorite. Extol was one of the first bands I had ever heard that used death growls, so they inevitably influenced how I turned out as a vocalist.

Bloodbath - Blasting the Virginborn

• When I heard this record, I was already influenced by Mikael Akerfeldt’s voice in the Opeth context, but I felt like there was something extra potent in his delivery with Bloodbath. I’ve always been attracted to bigger, grander sounding lion roars, and I think it started with him. His vocals in this track punched so timely and tastefully, which most assuredly affected my perspective on how to deliver my own.

Belphegor - The Succubus Lustrate

• Helmuth was another big one for me. His vocals were ugly on this record in ways I’ve still yet to hear with other vocalists, and I sense it’s his attitude shining through. Stuff like this opened little doors in my head and led to a lot of experimentation, which helped to unlock new areas of my voice and hear it in ways I might not have. I love vocalists from this era, because metal was much more developed than it was in the 90’s, yet it was still a wild west. Voices were more unique then, in my opinion.

Hate - Threnody

• I never listened to this band a lot, but there was something about the singer’s delivery that really impacted me with this song in particular. If you check it out, it’s likely you’ll be able to tell in what ways he influenced me.

Dimmu Borgir - Kings of the Carnival Creation

• When I first heard this record, my whole world changed. The music itself cultivated an atmosphere unlike I’d never heard. I used to love listening to it on dark days. I was never much for American metal - so I didn’t really begin to become a metal guy until I heard more European bands, and this was one of the first. Shagrath’s voice is another one that might be more of an obvious influence. I love his enunciation, use of headvoice and his rather daring prolonged use of nasal N’s and M’s.

Cult of Luna - The Weapon

• This was a band that took some time for me to get into, but once I understood it, they hit me very hard. It was a challenge for me to replicate a voice like this, and I wanted to be able to hear what I could do with a style of vocal completely out of the range of something I’d ever done. The size and scope of this type of sound is unmatched, IMO. If you check out Black Crown Initiate’s “The Wreckage of Stars” title track, you can hear what I did there.

A Perfect Circle - 3 Libras

• Before I was ever a metal dude, I loved bands like this, Nine Inch Nails, The Cure, and Depeche Mode. Rammstein was ultimately my metal gateway. Maynard is still one of my favorite vocalists to this day, one that I find myself greatly influenced by in instances where I do clean vocals. 

Cradle of Filth - Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids

• I discovered Cradle shortly before Dimmu, and discovering these back to back was like a one-two punch. I was constantly enthralled as I alternated listened to these two records (and Midian), likewise with the two vocalists of these bands. Still some of the best ever. Few can touch Dani. No one had ever done anything vocally like that before, I’m sure. There’s one low vocal on this song that stuck out so hard that it influenced me in a big way. Perhaps you can spot it.

Marduk - Imago Mortis

• Like Helmuth, Mortuus is a vocalist unlike any I’d ever heard to this day - perhaps even more so. This was another one that just made me rethink how to go about even uttering harsh vocals, and unlocked parts of my voice that helped me innovate on my own later on.

Hypocrisy - End of Disclosure

• Peter Tagtren is a vocalist that, to me, screams “master.” He moves effortlessly across a spectrum of highs and lows, with all the elegance of a well-wielded sword, and equally as deadly. It is conceptually how I aim to be, even if we are quite different vocally in many ways.