Metal music is one of the most divisive genres out there. With its down-tuned guitars, thunderous drums, and intense instrumentation, it can be a lot to take in. But for many, the biggest hurdle is the screaming and harsh vocals that often define the genre. I used to be one of those people who couldn’t stand the growls and roars. I never imagined that one day I’d not only come to enjoy them but also embrace metal as my favorite genre. It wasn’t an overnight transformation—it took time for me to fully appreciate the raw power of both the music and the vocals. If you’re in a similar boat, here are some songs, bands, and albums that helped me ease into the world of metal.
Listen to all of these songs and more like them on Spotify HERE.
MAKE TOTAL DESTROY – Periphery
Djent, Progressive Metal (2012)
This was the band and specifically the song that took me from liking hard rock to metal. This was one of the first songs I listened to with harsh vocals in the verses. The hardest I went before this were bands like Linkin Park, Disturbed, and Breaking Benjamin. This was the jump into the metal world for me.
Spencer Sotelo’s vocals are amazing from the cleans to the screams. He has a very powerful chorus with a lot of soaring highs and a great melody. However, the guitars, the djent sound and the harsh vocals in this track are the highlight of this song. The blend of heavy and melodic music makes it easy for listeners that love the heavy instruments but aren’t fully sold on screams. Sotelo has a very “easy listening” scream and it isn’t too inhuman or heavy. There are more melodic songs in the bands discography with less screaming like Heavy Heart, Erised, and Scarlet to name a few. However, this was the track that I remember specifically getting me into metal and the band Periphery. This is a great band to explore if you like chunky guitar riffs and are just getting into harsh vocals or metal for the first time.
Hearts Burst Into Fire – Bullet For My Valentine
Metalcore (2008)
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. The opening guitar is iconic and catchy, the soaring melodies of the chorus and the faced-paced tempo of the entire song create a great entry-level metal track. The only screaming is at the end when Matthew Tuck screams the title. The guitars and the pace help ease new metal listeners into a heavier tuning and sound while still being insanely catchy like many rock songs. I love the emotion throughout, especially the guitar chords leading up to the chorus that fill in between lyrics. It’s a great song, but I find a lot of people that won’t listen to metal because of the screaming will still listen to this song.
Forever – In This Moment
Alternative Metal (2008)
This song shares some similarities to the last song. It’s fast paced, it has great guitar bridges, it’s fun and exciting, packed with emotion and one of my favorite songs. Maria Brink’s vocals are soaring and amazing. She doesn’t scream in this track but like the previous song, I know people that won’t listen to metal will listen to and enjoy this song. These first three songs and bands were huge in my early metal journey. I listened to them often and still do, but they helped bridge rock into metal for me. This album is a great first metal album as the screaming doesn’t appear as often as other albums by this band and the sound is lighter and has a fantasy vibe rather than a darker, more gloomy sound.
a bulleT w/ my namE On (feat. Underoath) – Bring Me The Horizon
Metalcore (2024)
Both Bring Me The Horizon and Underoath were big influences into my current metal taste. They both have soaring melodies while still having heavy sounds and screams. Instead of picking a song by each band, I decided to choose one that they both had a hand in. This track is a pop metal song that is extremely catchy but has some super heavy parts. When Spencer Chamberlain of Underoath comes in, his vocals are deep and heavy, and the instruments follow suit. The back and forth of heavy screams and catchy singing is fantastic. The drums are quick and have a metal sound to them with many fills and quicker blast beats. This is my favorite song off this album and is catchy as it is heavy. Even if you don’t like screaming, this song could change your mind.
Stinkfist – TOOL
Progressive Metal (1996)
This TOOL song isn’t as long as many of their other tracks and is easier to listen to casual rock and metal fans. Instead of screaming, the harsh vocals come off as more aggressive singing than full on screaming. Paired with complex drums and down-tuned guitars, this is a great entry level metal song. This song is nothing overly complex like many other TOOL songs but still has a lot of elements that can help a listener bridge the gap from rock to metal. Many people that I’ve talked to don’t like metal because of the screaming but enjoy the instruments. This is a perfect song if you fall into that category as the vocals lean more towards rock sounding and play as another instrument rather than being front and center. It’s the instrumentals that really carry this track.
The Raging Sea – Broadside
Emo (2020)
This song is about a very familiar topic across any genre; love. It’s on the sad side and is about a former lover questioning their current state after the relationship. Lyrically, it’s about someone who is lost, and this relationship that is no longer a thing seems to be the last nail in the coffin. I love one of the lyrics “36 minutes to change your mind, please just let me change your mind. If I sang the right words, would you decide to stay?” This is the first song off the album, and the album is exactly 36 minutes long. I love that lyrically. This foreshadows what the whole album will be.
This song starts more docilely but gets aggressive and leads into heavier instruments and especially vocals. Dark emotions come up and the question of “what is the point.” Instead of just dealing with a breakup, the question of what is the point of life now that one is alone. This not only sounds more metal as the track gets heavier but also deals with darker lyrical themes that many metal songs have.
Forsaken – Skillet
Alternative Metal (2003)
Early Skillet was one of my favorite music to listen to when I was bridging the gap into metal. It has a lot of rock elements, but their early stuff had some heavy aspects. The screaming wasn’t constant but added such a nice touch. Furthermore, John Cooper’s voice is raspy, singing or screaming and that helps listeners get used to screams. This song has build-ups and a more aggressive sounding chorus. It walks the fine line of screaming and singing and falls right in the middle. The guitars in this song are down tuned and heavier than a typical hard rock sound. The end of the song has screams and is as heavy as you can get before listening to an outright metal song.
This album, Collide has a great early 2000’s hard rock/metal sound. Songs like Fingernails and My Obsession are very similar to this track. Three years later, their album Comatose was released and is a bit lighter but still has a lot of good hard rock songs as well.
Tourniquet – Evanescence
Gothic Alternative Metal (2003)
This is an iconic album for many hard rock/alternative metal listeners. It has a darker, gothic sound but still holds a place in the mianstream radio, especially at the time of release. Bring Me To Life has over a billion streams on Spotify, and that track is off the same album. This song shares a similar sound but I like this track much more. It’s heavier, the guitars are catchy and heavy, and Amy Lee has one of the most angelic voices I have ever heard. She even screams a lyric “I want to die” that gives me goosebumps whenever I listen to it. A great starter album for new metal fans that I find myself listening to often.
Miracle – A Day To Remember
Post Hardcore (2022)
A Day To Remember is a great band for fans of pop punk or emo music with a bit of a heavier sound. This song especially is a jump into the more modern metal scene than a lot of their earlier music. The upbeat punk songs had a lot harsher vocals incorporated than many of other bands in the same genre. They include breakdowns that aren’t filled with screams and is a good introduction to that element of metal music. It’s heavy without having a demonic sounding scream. Aggressive without losing melodies. This song especially has just enough of a popular, radio friendly sound without losing its heaviness. A great formula for listeners trying to get into metal.
My Apocalypse – Escape The Fate
Alternative Metal, Screamo (2006)
Like the previous song, this album especially blends punk and emo music but is on the heavier side of that genre. This song opens with a great catchy guitar riff. It’s catchy enough to draw in listeners but then the choruses mix screams and singing so well. The heavy and melodic complements each other in the back and forth. There isn’t too much screaming to turn off listeners that are new to this style of music, but enough to be heavy.
Ronnie Radke is extremely polarizing as a person and an artist, but his talent is undeniable. His vocals are extremely impressive and even in his early career, i.e. this album, that talent shows. His vocals are great in this song, both singing and screaming. But also, the guitar in this song is impressive, catchy and easy to focus on if screaming isn’t your thing. This whole album is a great start of you want to get into heavier music as it blends pop punk with touches of metal. To this day I replay this album often, and this is my favorite song from it.
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