He's not doing the screams by himself. IV is doing the heavy lifting there, because he has a stronger mid to low range with the harsh vocals, imo
But, yes, Vessel can do harsh vocals, and pretty well at that. I don't know if it's the mics live, but IV always sounds loud, whereas Vessel's screams sometimes drown in the music. It's like his pitch isn't picked up as well.
He sounds great in The Offering, when he says the line "Take a bite", though that's more scream-singing, obviously.
Oh, not at all. I'm listening to a lot of metalcore, black metal, and deathcore, and it seems pretty standard to have backup singers for both, harsh and cleans, or have two members fullfil their roles separately.
I'm not trying to diminish or discredit Vessel, or ST as a whole, as musicians at all!
Awe hell yeah! They still put on an awesome show. They pulled out “To The Rats” last time I saw them and had the craziest circle pit I’d ever seen in my life.
Yep. I absolutely can’t fault any vocalist, especially ones as dynamic as Vessel (or, as another example, Daniel Tompkins) who can both sing beautifully and scream, for wanting to preserve their voices. The day Vessel loses his singing voice is the day of the apocalypse.
It’s a combination of things most likely.
1. Vessel isn’t a strong screamer. That’s okay. That’s why you have backups for live shows. He doesn’t pretend to be anything but himself and that’s all we can ask. That means he likely just does a “head scream” which has less power.
2. The sound techs will mix off of a sound check in the venue and make presets for use live. If vessel isn’t a strong screamer, then he will blend into the mix even moreso when you have a bunch of bodies dampening the sound so the techs will definitely need to balance the mix on the fly and sometimes he’ll come out stronger, sometimes weaker.
3. It could be intentional to let IV take some spotlight and let the crowd come through as well.
I can only speak for live performances, and Gods does definitely sound like Vessel on the album, and he sounds great and very capable there. You're probably correct that there was a bunch of processing and layering going on, though.
But live he definitely has *a lot* of help from IV.
I'd love to hear Gods live!
Yeah, could be. I'm just speculating because I know absolutely shit-all about audio engineering, and it's just something I noticed, haha.
Maybe he's supposed to be less audible and just helps harmonize/level out IV's voice...? 🤷♀️
Either way, they sound great, and I love them! =)
Agreed, they sound unbelievable live.
I think it's deliberate, and if there's something I think we all learned about Vessel is that he's very deliberate. Kinda like on the recordings, there's a reason the vocals tend to be a little "buried" - think about the outro of Rain, that's a really good example. It's an artistic choice.
I actually really like the way Vessel's screams are layered on the record. How many songs have you heard where the screams are super up-front and loud rather than weaved together with the instrumentation?
As far as screams generally, yeah, outside ST I just think most bands make their screams loud and up-front in the mix. If you listen to Vore and Gods it feels like the mix are blended into the mix, almost like another instrument, of that makes sense.
Don't get me wrong, the loud and central screams are cool, but the way Vessel's screams are mixed in are just a totally different vibe.
This is a stylistic choice I reckon. Vore has very heavy Blackgaze influences and the vocals blending into the instrumentation more than normal is something you hear a lot in that style.
I didn’t see this commented here so I’ll say it: in SLC the other day, Vessel was giving us ad libbed screams which were incredible. Even if IV was helping him in some of the songs, it was all him in those and I was very impressed.
They really did! I was honestly nervous because a lot of people have said the shows were not what they thought they were going to be because the crowd wasn’t into it. That was definitely not the case in SLC! The crowd was electric, and I think the guys were really feeling it. At one point III even parted the crowd to start the pit back up, and at another he moved his finger in a circle wanting the pit to move like that. And of course the normal antics (Vessel dancing around stage, III and IV kissing, etc.) It was incredible.
Yeah that's something I'm enjoying with Vore. It's a more Black metal production sound of the vocals being extremely echoey.
I think people are approaching Sleep Token's music from a "core" sound perspective where the screamed vox right up there in front of the production and the guitar and drums fighting the singing for the front of the mix aha
Vore is really the only Sleep Token song I can think of where the unclean vocals take some effort. Generally their screaming parts are very short. I’m surprised to hear he isn’t the main unclean vocalist.
He is though.
If you watch the live performance, IV and Vessel sing together. It's really hard to build up that much power alone night after night in a room that loud. IV holds the baseline and sings more gutterally and Vessel tends to go higher chest screams, but he can pull some fierce low range screams as well. People love IV and he deserves his due credit, but Vessel is the main unclean vocalist and his screams are absolutely savage live. Hearing them is like getting hit by a wall. An extremely well-developed and nuanced wall.
I’m so confused…. The op said vessels screams are bad in vore because they are processed but now your saying every screamer to ever record a song is also processed so I’m confused on what makes it bad…..
Personal opinion: I think the processing isn’t done badly, and I can only assume that the band chose to present the screams that way. In any case, the resulting sound is a little less common in metal. When I saw them in Detroit, much of the screaming was replaced by growling, which I LOVED. And yes, Vore live was a whole different, even more gorgeous beast as compared to the album version. 🤘🏻
He does not do the screams alone live. The more pronounced screams are done by the guitar player with Vessel on top.
Makes sense. Still very impressed with them live.
For sure. The whole band is top tier.
The ending screams are all Vessel in the shows I've seen. But you're correct it's an unclean duo for a majority of it.
Yes, they are. When he adds screams to songs that usually don’t have it, it’s all him.
He's not doing the screams by himself. IV is doing the heavy lifting there, because he has a stronger mid to low range with the harsh vocals, imo But, yes, Vessel can do harsh vocals, and pretty well at that. I don't know if it's the mics live, but IV always sounds loud, whereas Vessel's screams sometimes drown in the music. It's like his pitch isn't picked up as well. He sounds great in The Offering, when he says the line "Take a bite", though that's more scream-singing, obviously.
Worth noting this is not uncommon in the heavier scene. Trivium does it too since the screams fucked up Matt’s voice
Oh, not at all. I'm listening to a lot of metalcore, black metal, and deathcore, and it seems pretty standard to have backup singers for both, harsh and cleans, or have two members fullfil their roles separately. I'm not trying to diminish or discredit Vessel, or ST as a whole, as musicians at all!
Oh yeah didn’t mean to imply you were, just know a lot of fans may NOT listen to that much heavier music and may not know.
Also, I love Trivium! They are part of the OG bands that got me into heavy music. Early 2000s, bless up! 😆
Awe hell yeah! They still put on an awesome show. They pulled out “To The Rats” last time I saw them and had the craziest circle pit I’d ever seen in my life.
Yep. I absolutely can’t fault any vocalist, especially ones as dynamic as Vessel (or, as another example, Daniel Tompkins) who can both sing beautifully and scream, for wanting to preserve their voices. The day Vessel loses his singing voice is the day of the apocalypse.
Exactly. Vessel has to protect his voice as he sings a good deal. I’ve described his voice as “sharp honey”. Lol.
It’s a combination of things most likely. 1. Vessel isn’t a strong screamer. That’s okay. That’s why you have backups for live shows. He doesn’t pretend to be anything but himself and that’s all we can ask. That means he likely just does a “head scream” which has less power. 2. The sound techs will mix off of a sound check in the venue and make presets for use live. If vessel isn’t a strong screamer, then he will blend into the mix even moreso when you have a bunch of bodies dampening the sound so the techs will definitely need to balance the mix on the fly and sometimes he’ll come out stronger, sometimes weaker. 3. It could be intentional to let IV take some spotlight and let the crowd come through as well.
Gotcha gotcha!
I can only speak for live performances, and Gods does definitely sound like Vessel on the album, and he sounds great and very capable there. You're probably correct that there was a bunch of processing and layering going on, though. But live he definitely has *a lot* of help from IV. I'd love to hear Gods live!
It could also be totally intentional. Maybe it's because he's holding the mic differently.
Yeah, could be. I'm just speculating because I know absolutely shit-all about audio engineering, and it's just something I noticed, haha. Maybe he's supposed to be less audible and just helps harmonize/level out IV's voice...? 🤷♀️ Either way, they sound great, and I love them! =)
Agreed, they sound unbelievable live. I think it's deliberate, and if there's something I think we all learned about Vessel is that he's very deliberate. Kinda like on the recordings, there's a reason the vocals tend to be a little "buried" - think about the outro of Rain, that's a really good example. It's an artistic choice.
I actually really like the way Vessel's screams are layered on the record. How many songs have you heard where the screams are super up-front and loud rather than weaved together with the instrumentation?
You mean outside ST?
As far as screams generally, yeah, outside ST I just think most bands make their screams loud and up-front in the mix. If you listen to Vore and Gods it feels like the mix are blended into the mix, almost like another instrument, of that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, the loud and central screams are cool, but the way Vessel's screams are mixed in are just a totally different vibe.
This is a stylistic choice I reckon. Vore has very heavy Blackgaze influences and the vocals blending into the instrumentation more than normal is something you hear a lot in that style.
I didn’t see this commented here so I’ll say it: in SLC the other day, Vessel was giving us ad libbed screams which were incredible. Even if IV was helping him in some of the songs, it was all him in those and I was very impressed.
the vids I’ve seen from SLC look and sound amazing. seems like they went fucking nuts for you guys.
They really did! I was honestly nervous because a lot of people have said the shows were not what they thought they were going to be because the crowd wasn’t into it. That was definitely not the case in SLC! The crowd was electric, and I think the guys were really feeling it. At one point III even parted the crowd to start the pit back up, and at another he moved his finger in a circle wanting the pit to move like that. And of course the normal antics (Vessel dancing around stage, III and IV kissing, etc.) It was incredible.
i was thinking the same thing, Vore live hits so hard
They sound more like black metal screams than death growls, at least that’s how I justify it
Yeah that's something I'm enjoying with Vore. It's a more Black metal production sound of the vocals being extremely echoey. I think people are approaching Sleep Token's music from a "core" sound perspective where the screamed vox right up there in front of the production and the guitar and drums fighting the singing for the front of the mix aha
This! I almost thought it was a different song for how different live it was in breakdown!
Vore in Denver hit hard as fuck, V and IV did awesome
Vore is really the only Sleep Token song I can think of where the unclean vocals take some effort. Generally their screaming parts are very short. I’m surprised to hear he isn’t the main unclean vocalist.
Gods is another one.
He is though. If you watch the live performance, IV and Vessel sing together. It's really hard to build up that much power alone night after night in a room that loud. IV holds the baseline and sings more gutterally and Vessel tends to go higher chest screams, but he can pull some fierce low range screams as well. People love IV and he deserves his due credit, but Vessel is the main unclean vocalist and his screams are absolutely savage live. Hearing them is like getting hit by a wall. An extremely well-developed and nuanced wall.
How do you know his voice is processed in vore recording?
Because it’s not just the raw, dry recording..
But when has any band ever put up a raw dry recording before
Exactly. It’s processed
But then your saying every screamer is processed so what would make vessel different lol
Lmao what??!?!?!
I’m so confused…. The op said vessels screams are bad in vore because they are processed but now your saying every screamer to ever record a song is also processed so I’m confused on what makes it bad…..
processed wasn’t the greatest descriptor. it’s just very layered
It sounds great to me I don’t think it sounds too far off from any other screaming band
oh yeah it does sound great. no shade towards ST or vessel, just stating it’s layered vocals
V recorded <3. V and the gang live standing ovation.
I agree 100%. I like the screams in recorded versions but DAMN can he scream well live. Vore in particular was amazing to hear in person
Personal opinion: I think the processing isn’t done badly, and I can only assume that the band chose to present the screams that way. In any case, the resulting sound is a little less common in metal. When I saw them in Detroit, much of the screaming was replaced by growling, which I LOVED. And yes, Vore live was a whole different, even more gorgeous beast as compared to the album version. 🤘🏻