Can Deathcore Include Clean Singing?

Kyle Anderson aka The Demon King joins me on episode 5 of The METALBIRB Podcast to speak on the history and future of Brand Of Sacrifice, cleans in deathcore and the new wave of heavy metal, his influences, anime like Berserk, Shibori Threads, Japan, The Afterimage, the Toronto metal scene and much more.
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[@Dugrath]

I love cleans in metal core and death core when it's mixed in right. It's nice to hear a different sound except gutturals the entire time.

[@WTFCartoonStudios]

im not saying I disagree with you, which I do not.. but iI think youre listening to the wrong genre if you dont want gross guttural vocals the entire time

[@Dugrath]

@@WTFCartoonStudios I will retort with, I do like songs with full gutturals though as well. I think it's just a nice change to have say an album show some variety. I mean would deathcore and cleans be considered a new subgenre then? Cause I like metal core and deathcore individually but also want them sorta mixed together.

[@Kekistani_Insurgent]

The first song I ever heard like this was Cross-Eyed Catastrophe by Suicide Silence

[@avihs92]

The gatekeeping and elitism within the metal and rock genres is so pitiful.

I couldn't agree more, but admittedly I really don't understand all these little techincal differences between the subgenres... to me a good song is a good song.. just annoying to see people whining on all the comment sections of bands I like saying shit like "I was here when they were hardcore... now they've sold out!" because the band decided to add some singing lmao

[@medusa6491]

Deathcore don't have cleans, otherwise it's a Metalcore songs with Deathcore vocals. It's not that hard to understand.

[@avihs92]

@@medusa6491 I had no problem understanding that concept, in fact, it has nothing to do with my statement. Thanks for the redundant response.

[@ryanbollinger1759]

@@medusa6491 You don’t understand what defines Deathcore in that case. Deathcore with cleans doesn’t automatically make it Metalcore

[@mpls1982]

​@@medusa6491 who made that rule

[@wesleykorisky8600]

Kyle is THE man.

[@darkfangedsword8875]

Dude Brand Of Sacrifice is one of best doing it right now! Also really love Shadow Of Intent.

[@Aric--]

I got to see brand of sacrifice, Shadow of intent and Lorna shore play the same night and it was f****** amazing

[@NympoGaming]

Of course, there are so many death metal bands who have clean singing in their songs and it works why can't deathcore have cleans.

[@MarkyPaligs]

because gatekeepers and elitists

[@tristan702]

Whitechapel has very much made cleans work

[@the_furry_inside_your_walls639]

Whitechapel isn't just deathcore anymore. They're kind of their own thing. A better example would be Brand of Sacrifice, Left To Suffer, or Paleface Swiss. Especially Paleface Swiss. Zelli's cleans are absolutely phenomenal, and I wouldn't mind at all if he did more of them. That being said, what Kyle says is true for really any sort of subgenre of extreme metal or core that is predominantly harsh vocals.

[@supershaw09]

@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639I ain’t reading all that

[@christianhackl474]

@supershaw09 wtf? Then why tf u can't just f*ck off here, how can someone be so lazy and not read those lil sentences like oh my god it's not even that much. Too lazy or too dumb to read, hm? Ugh. These younger generations with zero attention span, gosh. Or tiktok monkeys or whatever. Just facepalm

[@redshirt4life9454]

@@the_furry_inside_your_walls639 Are there any bands that are "just" anything? That's a ridiculously tired take.

[@george_denbrough]

Yeah that's why nobody pays them any mind anymore. They went soft because Phil can't adapt to what the genre is now

[@Victorvonbass]

I've really been liking all the new clean singing metalcore bands I've been finding lately. Im not as into Deathcore, but the heavier clean stuff like Spiritbox and Thornhill is what I've really enjoyed discovering the last year or so. And I just love juicy breakdowns.

[@shinokugt]

The fact that Adam DeMicco has said that there are zero intentions to ever have Lorna Shore use clean vocals is massively stupid and self-limiting to me. Especially since Will has clearly shown that he is great at it. Genre be damned.

[@RADIALPUDDLE]

I agree! I’m really hoping they change their minds and start adding some singing

[@Star.Chaser]

Adam is the primary creative director of the band, he and Austin started it; if that’s their decision then will can do his covers and features. Everyone’s minds change and maybe they will but personally don’t see it fitting the style in particular.

[@shinokugt]

@@Star.Chaser Brand of Sacrifice is still incredibly heavy and deathcore and has cleans, just as a counterpoint example to it "not fitting".

[@rooster1610]

If you don't like it then start your own band lmao, Austin and Adam are the creative masterminds behind Lorna Shore, if they don't want to add clean vocals to their music then they won't add them, period. If you don't like it listen to something else that fits your specific tastes instead of wanting to change something where you or me or anyone has no say in it

[@nikoraasu6929]

@@rooster1610 with them being "creative masterminds" they really can't show it by creating the same song 10 times

[@wilsonkeeler5977]

The way cattle decapitation does it is the best

[@DinoNuggets723]

coming from kyle anderson who can do both the afterimage is still on all my playlists him with BOS or the afterimage kyle is a fucking monster

[@KidCrazer14]

I totally agree with him, I think clean vocals in deathcore are like a peaceful surprise attack, it sounds great, and it's not always expected!

[@Zecuu]

One of my favorite deathcore/thall songs is Tide by Humanity's Last Breath.... the ending uses cleans to great effect.

[@CLOSEETV]

the first thing that came to my mind when i heared this was Whitechapel - When a Demon Defiles a Witch. its perfect.

[@Joose]

So a friend of mine is one of those people who just can't help but put his favorite bands "against" other bands and he got legit upset when I showed him this, because Kyle mentioned Lorna and their way of approaching melody. He (my friend) is one of the people going around KZbin, to various deathcore videos and reactions, putting shit like, "so much better than Lorna Shore!" and it's just so cringey. He doesn't hate them, he just hates how much people like myself love them. 😂

[@Vageater]

What’s cringe is you felt the need to even post this.

[@SiN1STeRx187]

@@Vageater your probably the friend he’s referring to lol

[@Joose]

@@Vageater K bb

[@flickzy5327]

@@Vageater that friend hes talking about is you you lil cry baby

[@flickzy5327]

a few of their songs got melody but i dont think all of them do. plus some of them im pretty sure are extremely fucking heavy.

[@dylanlancaster9895]

Damn it now my high ass needs to listen to dancing like flames for like the 3rd time already this morning

[@xjo2hx2442x]

I totally agree with what he’s saying and I honestly love a few soft vocals in metal. Dreaming Desecration by Signs of The Swarm is a perfect example of how soft vocals can be included while also being complemented by growls.

[@sbrosier2383]

Tide - Humanity's Last Breath

[@allcolorsareentombedinblack]

That's more avant-garde death metal than deathcore. Of course it has deathcore influences, but that song, just as Välde as a whole, looks more in the direction of bands like Altarage and Dodecahedron.

[@BrockOfBodom]

Fit For An Autopsy is a perfect example in my opinion of clean singing 100% being a good thing in deathcore

[@drewjackson2025]

And it's still some of the hardest and most brutal shit you've ever heard. It's glorious.

[@Luemm3l]

fit for an autopsy are all around good songwriters imo. what setse them apart for me is that they are pretty diverse, a track like two towers has some deftones vibes, you have the gojira style tappings in other songs, you have fast, short, groovy stuff. a lot of deathcore bands I feel try to write the hardest breakdowns and sickest brees and forget to write good songs IMO. does not matter if it includes clean vocals or not necessarily. they can come in really handy if they have a fitting part inthe song. really liked them in some old All Shall Perish for example.

[@mereskillz7263]

Cleans in Deathcore are goosebump inducing. Take Whitechapel for instance. Nobody thought Phil could do that shit and he blew us away with Hickory Creek and When a Demon Defiles a Witch. Brand of Sacrifice is another insane band, the vocalist is so intuitive with where he places his cleans that it just sounds sick af. I wish that one day Will Ramos will include some sick ass cleans bc the man can sing like an angel.

[@TSGuitar-un1yy]

Worm Shepherd cleans are impeccable especially The Dying Heavens

[@shangri-la7307]

brand of sacrifice are the deathcore we need

[@williamthompson9625]

See Kyle Anderson gets it🤘

[@myotismusic5019]

The new Brand Of Sacrifice, while really good, is very similar to what Enterprise Earth does.

[@andrewknutson91]

Nice hoodie, bro! I bought the same one.

[@lauraharris1359]

Deathcore is like my favourite genre of metal and I get so hyped when the vocals are on point but there's also filthy gutterals and breakdowns. It's like the holy trinity 😍👌🏻

[@h0lyshark508]

Ofc it can, kyle is the best example of a deathcore-song having cleans and still sound brutal as hell.

[@vXIR0NMANXv]

Agree 💯, on some songs it just makes sense

[@dommyboysmith]

Jinjer proved clean and scream mix perfectly.

[@nikoraasu6929]

Yeha but jinjer is hardcore

[@scalderiso]

Love this band . Kyle is a massive weeb and dead give away is the Akuma face tat

[@urallbadkids]

I fucking LOVE Kyle - MONSTER.

[@mitchdavis9155]

A lot of deathcore bands like Brand of Sacrifice (his band] that include a lot orchestral and synth can pull it off MAGNIFICENTLY. Just let em cook, I love hearing brutal vocals with a clean chorus tbh. I enjoy being able to sing along at times ngl

[@logyz450]

Jinjer "Pieces". Perfect example.

[@niksherman5170]

it depends, if kyle does it it gets a place in my rotation

[@Open-6]

Kyle can do whatever he wants!

[@Kengoorooshka]

Of course singing has a place in deathcore, old Chelsea Grin had cleans on their Evolve EP back in 2013. It worked then and it works now with Brand of Sacrifice.

[@GRIMSLIVER.4]

I completely agree!

[@Crispy7861]

The only time cleans don't belong in "deathcore" is when you're looking through the perspective of an individual who never managed to mature beyond a middle school mentality. Kyle is right, if it calls for it & you can do it. Make the song. That's why hes the best in the scene right now.

[@rennyukioni7737]

Brand of sacrifice use to go by the afterimage. They werent deathcore then but kyles cleans were amazing. Would love to hear those cleans from him in their current stuff.

[@Muffinpurplegurk]

In Dying Arms started it in 2006

[@notdavidcastro]

❤

[@empiyrr2133]

Heriot add cleans into their songs and they fit perfectly and make the song heavier and create a certain atmosphere that gives hem such a great and unique sound

[@NeroBaelside13]

I for damn sure support cleans in deathcore. Plenty of bands have done it well and BOS is up there with them. Hell I don't care if there's rap incorporated into deathcore as long as it fits and flows with the song. Put a harmonica in there too, shit.

[@summeronio9751]

Kyle's cleans are pretty sick

[@josh9210]

bro looks like a native american mike tyson

[@darrenhill3514]

I'm still pissed I didn't buy tickets in time to see Brand of Sacrifice when they opened for We Came as Romans here in CO.

[@silvestersourn4125]

alex kohler, chelsea grin. if that aint metal ur twisted

[@shaneaghan7013]

Whitechapel does an amazing job of that.

[@kingvamp6664]

When Lorna Shore drops a song with cleans. People will be butt hurt then there will be people that eat it up.

[@firmangobike1985]

Phil Bozeman is deathcore band Vox with a good clean singer

[@valmaxianelvengod]

So far there’s Lorna Shore, Ov Sulfur and Brand of Sacrifice that I’ve heard cleans in

[@nikoraasu6929]

Lorna has no cleans

[@livingeveryday777]

Tai Lopez’s MeTaL brother 😂

[@TrealFOET]

Yea it depends on when its mixed in like i love the girls singing on neverbloom by make them suffer its like the perfect mix.. also i think if a band starts with singing im more accepting to it.. if they add it later in their career that kinda turns me off from it

[@fyyfj]

whats the song of ending video ?

[@justinyeodrums1946]

What's the song at the end?

[@Kekistani_Insurgent]

based take it can have cleans without being metalcore, especially if the song or band already has a very blackened feel

[@evemy156]

mike tyson

[@turboteabag08]

I need examples of Deathcore bands with clean singers...love the music, but not so much the screaming With the exception of Graystone 😂

[@clipz9585]

I could be wrong but isn’t cleans and Deathcore together just Metalcore

[@Geetarishie]

literally whitechapels new album

[@xsoukiiieee4261]

There’s death metal with clean singing and metalcore has clean singing so why can’t the combination of the two have clean singing

[@TanMann23]

the question then becomes, at what point does it become metal core? i’m all for cleans but if you do it too much in a deathcore song it becomes metal core. to me metal core was always deathcore and hardcore with cleans, idk man this shits getting confusing.

[@BirdOfHermes83]

Any heavy music can have cleans. Who gives a fuck what soneone else says.

[@bamuz]

The only clean signing that gets the approval is in the style of cattle decapitation.

[@jnbovee]

Well of course the answer is yes. Because if we say no then we'll have to create a new sub sub sub sub subgenre.

[@ryandicksen8377]

In terms of standard deathcore formula, no. But Kyle's point stands about being used properly. Despised Icon and Thy Art never used cleans. Also, Pain Remains pt 1 isn't deathcore, it's symphonic death metal.

[@pointlessyoutubeusername]

Uhh whitechapel

[@aaronchapman3]

I'm not gonna say people can't or shouldn't do cleans but they do happen to be the worst part of songs 99% of the time

[@Bromeostasis]

It can include cleans, but then its called metalcore.

[@RADIALPUDDLE]

Singing doesn’t change the genre of a song

[@Vageater]

You’re wrong my boy. That’s okay though. There’s a shit load more to deathcore than low gutturals and pig squeals

[@Bromeostasis]

Cody instrumental and rock are separated by singing // symphony and Chorus are separated by singing so that’s just not true Miles the difference between a deathcore song with cleans vs a heavy metal core song just seems so minimal it’s not even worth separating to me. The point of genres falls apart

[@Vageater]

@@Bromeostasis The death metal riffs, even further down tuning, the pacing of the song, habitual blast beats. I hate to take you but the list goes on and on. I respect your opinion though. Just disagree. As long as we both love the heavy. All is good ❤️

[@Bromeostasis]

Yeah absolutely man. And I’m just some guy on the Internet who threw out a comment after listening to a video as a gut reaction to the question. I do acknowledge the differences Your pointing out. Heavy music for life.

[@matthewboster5506]

Just make good music who cares about the dogma

[@velocityy1]

I must be the only person on the planet that doesn't like Lorna shore.

[@claytonsililo8428]

Not the only one buddy

[@Maar_maarten]

but now my question is... what is the difference between metalcore and deathcore if deathcore has clean singing?

[@m1key0]

The instruments

[@nikoraasu6929]

with that logic, what's the difference between deathcore and metalcore if deathcore has screams?

[@antivist8107]

annoys the shit out of me!

[@bylertrown]

nah. not in deathcore.

[@evdboy2]

Nope

[@saulmilkman]

L

[@thelonewolf7443]

Yup

[@detektion803]

Of course main example whitechapel

[@SawtoothGrin1986]

if it has cleans no thanks