Does death metal screaming/ distortion singing damage vocal cords?

Hello fellow singer!

First wanted to say that I'm glad you care about safe singing technique. Way too many singers I run into don't have the patience for it, but it is incredibly important to have classical training if you want to sing belt/rock styles, and in general if you want to be singing well for years to come.
The short answer is yes, screamo will damage your voice. The "growling" sound would be your vocal cords rubbing together, which causes hoarseness and ultimately blisters (nodules) on your vocal cords. These have to be surgically removed. The singers of bands like ACDC and Nirvana, as well as musical-theater singers like Julie Andrews who didn't do enough classical training, have lost their voices because of this.

My advice would be that you learn to belt safely- your teacher would most likely be willing to teach you this. That would be a good foundation for your goals, and you'd be able to learn most rock music. Do not practice it on a regular basis, but do quietly practice the kind of distorted singing you'd like to do, and save the sound for recording or performing. The saddest thing would be for you to rush it at your age- your voice is still aging, and you don't want to damage it before it even matures. Most of all, keep listening to the screamo singers you mentioned!

Good luck!

 

this, haha. don't ever listen to anyone when they say coffee, smoking, honey, or peanut butter makes your growls much better. they don't, it makes it a lot worst on your voice to have a performance in general. you might want to look into mongolian singing, it might have a few tips or idea on how you can growl.

 

I am a wannabe singer, too. I would like to receive feedback from you about my vocal abbilities (or lack of) :lol:

 

There's a great video called the Zen of Screaming. I've been using it for like 10 years. The woman in the video explains how to sing without getting fatigued and being able to do that night after night.

I don't sing in a death metal style, I'm trained in the classical / operatic approach like yourself, but I do sing with grit every now and again. It's important to do that properly or you can blow your voice out after 3 songs.

 

Google "Zen of Screaming." I bought the DVD about 10 years ago for $10 from.a music store. Worth every penny. I don't know if you've ever heard of Glenn Fricker (he has a YouTube channel called SpectreSoundStudios all about metal and recording) and he swears by ZoS.

 

I'd say that screaming in general will cause some wear and tear on your vocal chords eventually. Growing up attending many football games, I did my fair share of screaming as a child, and today I can scream at the top of my lungs once and I start losing my voice.