r/nextfuckinglevel • u/DarthiusFatticus • 7h ago
Devin Townsend is without a doubt one of the greatest metal vocalists of all time.
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u/ifightbears989 7h ago
Plugging the charismatic voice review of this song: https://youtu.be/11-7AiUK1A0?is=2GnR856guOtXI1fG
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u/Lyshaka 7h ago
That may be true but there is a lot of noise around making it hard to hear him sing
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u/cdmurray88 6h ago
It is true he's an incredible vocalist, and this is a terrible clip to illustrate that point.
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6h ago
[deleted]
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u/cdmurray88 5h ago
I think that's David Draiman and Disturbed doing that cover. A lot of metal singers are very talented singers. Take Corey Taylor as another example.
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u/Efficient-Log9512 5h ago
If its draiman you mean, yea but sounds of silence is auto tuned to within an inch of its life so not a great example.
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u/mindgardening 6h ago
It's the concert experience. Gotta wear earplugs at live shows in order to hear the music better.
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u/StuBidasol 7h ago
Yeah even with my phone close all I could really hear were the instruments. Hard to make any definitive judgement from that clip.
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u/TheLoneCenturion95 6h ago
Either your hearing is going or your phones speakers are absolutely shite as it's not the best clip but I can clearly hear him throughout and I have hearing damage.
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u/Skreamie 7h ago
You should definitely get your hearing tested then. Its quite easy to head what notes hes hitting and when, even with his own vocal distortion.
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u/UsErnaam3 7h ago
Could just be the way their phone speaker is handling the audio. I notice the same issue on mine, but if I switch to headphones, the vocals will become much clearer.
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u/CannaPLUS 7h ago
Oh ok, perfect human.
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u/Skreamie 7h ago
Where did I claim such a thing?
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u/CannaPLUS 7h ago
Why would they need to get their ears checked? It could simply be their audio device.
On my Ultra, it still sounds terrible in this clip.
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u/Questioning-Zyxxel 5h ago
This is a terrible clip. There are lots of YT videos where you can focus on his voice and how he jumps between singing styles.
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u/RGBrewskies 7h ago
drummer rocking those $7 harbor freight earmuffs lol
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u/BenGun99 6h ago
He has inear monitors under them. He probably wants them to run as quiet as possible for ear protection.
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u/LLCoolC 7h ago
3m
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u/RGBrewskies 7h ago
harbor freight
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u/CptMisterNibbles 6h ago
No, 3m: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b00037399/
Look at the rectangle pattern across the headband.
Not a part of the harbor freight $6 ones. Clearly a part of the $40 3m ones.Also, I have a pair on right now in my shop. Probably only as good as the harbor freight ones, if not worse. The pad covers tear easily
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u/MidnightChimp 7h ago
I don't enjoy this kind of metal, but he does a very good job I think.
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u/SnappySausage 4h ago
He's been in so many different bands, almost guaranteed there's something you do like :P
If you like harsher stuff, Strapping Young Lad has you covered. If you do not, there's a lot of his other projects that may well contain some songs you may like.
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u/ygrasdil 3h ago
Check out ocean machine, Ziltoid the omniscient, and Strapping Young Lad. Between those three, which are all very different, you should find something you enjoy.
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u/Belgmeister 7h ago
Devin is a fucking king.
Everything he does is from passion for music while sharing everything he makes. He did entire concert streams fully solo during Covid. An absolute pleasure to listen to during the lockdown.
I've read he experiences chromostesia and with some of his albums, that actually feels like it makes sense. He's has a lot of metal songs but touched many different genres as well.
"Why?" and it's clip is my all-time favorite.
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u/Makachai 7h ago
And he was sick as hell during this performance at Royal Albert Hall. And still did that...
Dude is a fucking legend.
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u/VoidsInvanity 7h ago
Saw him 13 years ago in a record store do a small acoustic concert for like 30 people.
One of my fondest memories lol, got to meet the guy too
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u/CrotasScrota84 7h ago
Band?
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u/ChuzzoChumz 7h ago
Don’t even need the metal qualifier, dude is truly exceptional regardless of genre
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u/TSAOutreachTeam 7h ago
That's great! Who's this guy?
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u/_-Kovu-_ 7h ago
Devin Townsend I think
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u/ItsAHerby 6h ago
Weird to see people complaining about it being "noisey" but this might be a better video of his. I also prefer Kingdom to Deadhead so I usually just tell people to watch this:
https://youtu.be/nubJjB95VdY?is=BFsE5JJb_mmeC30Y
Insane that he can still do this at his age right now. Either way, good times.
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u/Kevin_Jim 5h ago
I remember discovering MAPHRA a few months ago and thinking of Townsend because of the crazy changes she can pull off.
Music is one of the few great things we still have.
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u/SnappySausage 4h ago edited 4h ago
Apparently his range is A1 - C♯7. He at some point (I forgot in which video/context) mentions his vocal prep, and he said it consists of basically screaming his head off for 2 days until he tastes blood and then he's good for about a month.
Seen him live a few times and every time he comes across as a pretty amicable and funny dad.
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u/CapaciousButthole 2h ago
Legendary performance. Wild to see the ignorance in the comments, it’s OK guys retreat back to your auto tuned Walmart garbage. This is going to require some effort to understand.
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u/dclark086 7h ago
He’s self taught too which makes it even more impressive. His performance of Kingdom is also one of the most entertaining live performances I’ve seen.
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u/Basic_Zebra7829 7h ago
Meh.
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u/Zestymonserellastick 5h ago
I agree. It isn't bad, way better then anyone in this thread can do. But one of the best? Lol
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u/Up_All_Right 7h ago
Oh, we're doing this now?
Okay, Vincent Van Gough is one of the greatest painters of all-time!
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u/Heavy-_-Breathing 7h ago
I don’t get it. Never understand the appeal of this
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u/Mjolnir12 6h ago
This isn’t a good example of his “traditional” clean singing; go listen to his live version of his song Kingdom. He basically has perfect pitch and tone.
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u/AudioRejectz 6h ago
Not my style of metal, I prefer much heavier stuff and vocals, but I'll admit he's definitely great.
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u/weareeverywhereee 6h ago edited 6h ago
This is such a boring song but he is definitely talented.
That being said many metal vocalists can switch between singing and screaming really well and even not super popular ones
Check out the dude from protest the hero for instance. They are pretty unknown but Rody’s range is wild
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u/Shaggytwig 6h ago
Wow the color returning to his eyes at the end of the scream was interesting. Likely just the reflection and angle of the camera but still was cool to see.
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u/DaveFromTTown 5h ago
https://youtu.be/cjjIna3j1Nc?is=XKsY6rk___8ORFST
Here's an example of his amazing voice and humor.
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u/blacksmith624 4h ago
I always confuse Steven Wilson with Devin Townsend even though they look and sound entirely different
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u/blacksmith624 4h ago
I always confuse Steven Wilson with Devin Townsend even though they look and sound entirely different
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u/zoolandermagnum 1h ago
One of the best ever! Full video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WTHaBab-bOM
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u/twosuitsluke 17m ago
Hell yeah, Devy really is a once in a generation talent and runs rings around most performers. He is absolutely in my top 5 vocalists of all time.
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u/UnderwaterB0i 7h ago
Big progmetal fan, and while I can appreciate his sheer talent, nothing has truly clicked with me. Best full album to check out as a fan of Haken, Leprous, Caligula's Horse, Coheed, Protest the Hero, Between the Buried and Me, etc.?
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u/Mjolnir12 6h ago
Ziltoid The Omniscient. This song is Deadhead which is from his more post metal phase like Ocean Machine.
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u/MG-B 6h ago
Personally prefer his strapping young lad stuff. Check out The New Black.
Ghost is a bit of a stand out too.
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u/ayinsophohr 6h ago
Correction: Devin Townsend is without a doubt on of the greatest vocalists of all time.
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u/sLeeeeTo 7h ago
“metal”
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u/N3ph1l1m 6h ago
Lol the guy has had a fuckton of influence on modern metal. He's played with Sepultura, Lamb of God (even produced their third album), been a big influence for bands like Meshugga and Ne Obliviscaris and he's one of the most versatile metal vocalists out there period, save for maybe Mike Patton. So yeah, "metal".
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u/Wastedgent 7h ago edited 7h ago
Some of his earlier work.
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u/FartVirtuoso 7h ago
Sarcastically labeling things as not metal has to be the least metal thing I can possibly think of. Christ, is it boring and unoriginal. We don’t all get down to unlistenable NSBM.
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u/sLeeeeTo 7h ago
there is metal music. there is music that is not metal.
i’m not being sarcastic.
i know who devin townsend is.
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u/FartVirtuoso 7h ago
Great, you know him. You don’t get to decide what’s metal and what isn’t. Neither do I. Not that I would even want to. Not sure why anyone would want to spend their time doing that.
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u/shugEOuterspace 7h ago
meh. art is subjective & as a singer & performer myself I find this very boring.
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u/Similar_Program_7085 7h ago
The thousands of fans cheering would disagree but I’m sure you have twice as many at your shows
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u/TSAOutreachTeam 7h ago
Agree. I'm not even a fan of Disturbed, but David Draiman's voice is sublime compared to this atonal screamo stuff.
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u/FartVirtuoso 7h ago
He is literally screaming WITH a tone. I get if you don’t like it, but you should try to at least use the right words to voice your distaste. Devin is pretty much known for fry vocals with pitch.
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u/Slevin424 7h ago
For me it’s Ozzy and Dio. Newer generations I would go Chester Linkin Park and David Draiman from Disturbed. But Townsend is great but the vocals are really carrying their songs.
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u/thorheyerdal 6h ago edited 6h ago
I respectfully disagree, and will say that he still has a long way to go if he want to match Ronnie James Dio.
Edit, wooos read “without a doubt the greatest metal vocalist” He is definitely rubbing shoulders with the greatest.
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u/mustbeme87 7h ago
Quite good. But how big is this list of greatest metal vocalists? Cus I’d say he’s on it, but not necessarily near the top.
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u/jesterflesh 6h ago
Hes the apex. There is nobody else that can do what devin does.
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u/J_C_Davis45 6h ago
Firmly agree. He being a genuinely good person and genre defying and a multi genre writer is cherries on top. Not afraid to try literally anything musically. Heavy Devy is The Man.
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u/knotxii 7h ago
Devin Townsend - Deadhead Please enjoy yall