About this thread, I'm not so sure... I mean, there are very different subgenres in Metal, and it's really hard to compare many of them.
For example, if on the one hand one would name Bruce Dickinson or Roy Khan of Kamelot as great singers, on the other hand guys like Corey Taylor, Max Cavalera or Alexhi Laiho, who most of the time don't actually "sing" but shout, scream or growl most of the time, I find it really hard to call all of them "singers."
But then again, the thread is about "vocalists" and not "singers", so I suppose this is ok.
Now since I love euro-sounding power metal, with powerful clean vocals above all, I'll name my personal favorites:
1. Russell Allen (Symphony X) - actually an American band, but Russell Allen is the total package - this guy can do it all, from wonderfully emotional clean passages that sound musical-like, to power metal vocals, to raspy growls and screams; to me, this guy is hands down the single best vocalist in metal today. If you don't know this band, get their latest album "Paradise Lost"; it has their best sound so far, and some really killer tracks. You should especially see them live - Allen is just as good, if not even better in the live performance. Just freakin' unbelievable, this guy.
2. Bruce Dickinson: Well the Iron Maiden fronter... much has been said about him, he is just great... Very powerful in VERY high ranges; live he has gotten a little sloppy lately (but then again, his vocals are nigh impossible to sing at the level he does, especially live), and it was his voice that put Maiden on the map - the other vocalists, even if they have their own fans, never got that much out of the Maiden songs as he did.
3. Ronnie James Dio: Need we say anything about him? Small guy, HUGE voice, many many great songs with Sabbath, Rainbow and his own band. A must-know.
4. Jorn Lande (ex-Masterplan): After leaving Masterplan, he's now pursuing his solo album career and also has numerous appearances in various Metal/Rock Operas (such as Arjen Lucassen's Ayreon or Tobias Sammet's Avantasia), and usually does an awesome job... Very raspy voice, a classic hard rock singer reminscent of guys like David Coverdale (who I believe is one of his big idols), and a very charismatic guy. Listen to his performances on the latest Avantasia-release "The Scarecrow" and it's preceding EPs, highly recommendable are the songs "Promised Land", "Another Angel Down" or the title track "The Scarecrow".
5. Roy Khan: Very good singer; actually he is a trained opera singer, and he has a very unique sounding voice that differs from the "regular" power metal vocal sound.
Honorable mentions:
Oliver Hartmann (ex At Vance): A heavily underrated German singer; he has a very versatile voice and can sing pretty much anything from pop to power metal on a very high level - ironically, listen to At Vance's cover version of ABBA's "The Winner Takes It All" with him on vocals - that performance is just stellar.
Further Honorable mentions go to: Daniel Heiman (ex Lost Horizon), Matt Barlow (Iced Earth) - very charismatic voice! ; Michael Kiske (ex Helloween), Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica); Warrell Dane (Nevermore), Pasi Rantanen (ex Thunderstone), Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia), Rob Halford, Tim "Ripper" Owens.
I deliberately didn't name any screamers/shouters/growlers, because to me - it is just not that difficult. Ok, maybe it's hard to continously do this without ruining your vocal cords to such an extent that you start spitting blood - but the very instant that a singer doesn't have to hit the correct notes anymore, I just cannot consider them good singers or good vocalists. But this is definitely a matter of personal taste in music as I don't listen too much to "harder" metal stuff such as Black, Death or all sorts of -core Metal except for a few bands (such as In Flames, Children of Bodom, some Dimmu Borgir and such things), just so you understand where I'm coming from. Besides I'm (lol at least trying to be) a singer myself in my own euro-style power metal band, so I believe that plays a big part as well.
BTW: I found it kinda funny someone named ZP Theart of Dragonforce among the Top 5 vocalists; because honestly, I think his voice is really really thin and has little expression (the fact that Dragonforce play on hyperspeed doesn't help that either), and especially in that particular singing style, I believe there are NUMEROUS guys who are a lot better. I mean, I like Dragonforce, they're pretty fun... but ZP isn't exactly a great vocalist.
ncG1vNJzZmien6fCrr%2BNsKmeq6Shsru7zZ5lnKedZMGpvsSam6xnpKS9boGMppytmZxiw7CvwKWgrKyjY35yfpdwZg%3D%3D