Abstract: "Metal music vocals are typically characterized by their aggression, which contributes to the overall volume of the music. Nevertheless, with the fracturing of the genre and the formation #of subgenres, vocal expression has developed beyond aggression and loudness. The characteristics of gothic metal result in a gloomy and somber tone that intermingles with its visual theatrics and dark lyrical matter; however, it is the diversity that the subgenre brings to vocal practices which has come to be one of this subgenre’s most substantial contributions to metal.
This chapter unpacks gothic metal’s diverse vocal expressions throughout a timbral analysis grounded in the four vocal timbres identified by Isabella van Elferen—“hollow,” “bombastic,” “tormented,” and “distorted.” Expanding upon this framework for vocal analysis, I replace “bombastic” with “saturated,” and propose a fifth vocal timbre, “ethereal,” in order to address how gothic metal differs from other gothic music styles. A selection of gender-contrasting examples are present to equally recognize male and female vocals.
In using these voice types as a scaffolding for an investigation into diversity in gothic metal vocal expression, this chapter sets apart metal music at large and the gothic style more specifically. This type of interpretive work is essential in order to expand the field of metal music studies, particularly in the area of vocal analysis, which receives limited inquiry, due in part to a greater trend within the field that prioritizes metal’s cultural and social elements."
[SOURCE: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003354451/routledge-handbook-metal-music-composition-lori-burns-ciro-scotto]