M. Shadows - Vocal Style

Vocal Style

Shadows' vocal style has evolved significantly over the years. On the band's first full-length record, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, he features a harsh, metalcore-style scream, with limited instances of clean vocals. The release of Waking the Fallen in 2003 showed his progression towards more melodic vocal lines, but his voice still demonstrated a strong metalcore influence. The most important change, however, came with the release of the bands major label debut, City of Evil, in 2005. The album featured no screaming and much more defined vocal melodies, with an increased emphasis on vocal hooks. This style has remained prevalent on every record the band has released since that time, with the exception of the song "God Hates Us" on their album Nightmare, and newer released song "Not Ready To Die", which both return to the metalcore sound of earlier releases.

Rumors began to spread that Shadows had lost his ability to scream due to throat surgery he had needed after Warped Tour 2003. However, this is not true. Producer Andrew Murdock put down these rumors by saying "When I met the band after Sounding the Seventh Trumpet...Matt handed me the CD, and he said to me, 'This record's screaming. The record we want to make...is going to be half-screaming and half-singing. I don't want to scream anymore...the record after that is going to be all singing.'" Later on the album Nightmare M. Shadows screams on the track "God Hates Us" by returning back to harsh, metalcore-style scream.