The ancient art of human singing is one of the most remarkable aspects of our otherwise somewhat troubled human nature; the act of producing musical tones with our voice serves a multitude of purposes, from expressing emotions and telling stories to fostering social bonding and spiritual connection. Singing represents a fundamental way for us to internalize and process, express and share emotions, forge community, and connect with the divine within us.
There are four distinct locations through which you can produce sound: the nasal cavity, the lips when pursed, the vocal fold in the larynx, and the false vocal fold also in the larynx. It should be quite easy to come up with examples of the nasal sound – Billy Corgan‘s signature vocals come to mind almost immediately, although his trademark sound isn’t even that nasal compared to, say, the Finnish pop duo, NYLON BEAT. The lips are used to produce a whistling sound, and I guess the ultimate pinnacle in this respect, whether you actually like it or not, is the song, “Finnish Whistler,” by Roger Whittaker, a song which my generation sucked in the mother’s milk as the theme song for that legendary TV cooking show, Patakakkonen, in the 1970s. The focal fold is used for speech and singing, of course, whereas the false focal fold is employed when we grunt. Outside Western cultures, myriad languages employ more than one of these for speaking, sometimes all of them. A language of this type is called a tonal language, and the language of Tibet falls into this category. This brings us to the landmark Tibetan singing style – the throat singing, which can roughly be divided into two main styles, the kargyra and khoomei. (There are actually a few more nuanced styles that complement these two, but let’s not go there, because for the topic of this post, these two will do…) Now, all this bears some relevance concerning death-metal singing styles – some contemporary deathcore vocalists, such as Will Ramos of LORNA SHORE and Alex Terrible of SLAUGHTER TO PREVAIL, use techniques that use all of these four “vocalization zones” simultaneously to produce those almost inhuman-sounding gutturals. In fact, the slightly more resonating Tuvan throat singing style, kargyra, sounds pretty bad-ass in and of itself, as you can hear for yourself in some of these song examples that I picked in order to toot the horn for the 10 most delicious throat-singing bangers. Originally, I was planning to stay exclusively in the realm of metal, but as I was quite sure that some readers might object to calling some of these Mongolian folk-metal acts metal per se, I added a couple of bonus songs that step outside the metal framework altogether. I shall elaborate as to why soon enough. So, let’s go:
The HU: Yuve Yuve Yu
While the Tuvan throat-singing style had not exactly been a heavily guarded secret in the music world – in the folk-music scene as well as the psy-trance community, various throat-singing styles had been employed for decades already – it was the Mongolian warrior-metal act, THE HU, that broke into the mainstream consciousness by storm with their international debut album “The Gereg” in 2020. It was no small feat, considering the band uses mostly traditional Mongolian instruments, such as morin khuur, the two-stringed, horse-headed fiddle (which is, by the way, diabolically difficult to play; I once had the privilege to try one out), and sings mostly in Mongolian. Their breakthrough banger “Yuve Yuve Yu” showcases rather brilliantly how the khoomei throat-singing style blends right in with the somewhat 1980s-tinted heavy-metal riffs played with those ancient instruments. The band played at the Tuska Festival 2023, and they really kicked ass. I spotted three different throat-singing techniques in this song, but most of the vocals adhere to the khoomei sound.
Tengger Cavalry: Lone Wolf
TENGGER CAVALRY was another band that used Mongolian throat singing along with a good range of traditional Central Asian instruments. This song incorporates clean vocals, too, and the throat-singing resonates with an almost death-metal-esque air, which works rather nicely with the song’s thick “Black Album”-era METALLICA feel. Had James Hetfield been born in Mongolia, I guess this is what METALLICA would sound like today – or, maybe not today, since this band has not been in existence since their lead vocalist and founder, Nature Ganganbaigal, passed away in 2019.
3. SunnO))): Decay2 [Nihil’s Maw]
This song is perhaps a little bit of a borderline case; the throat-singing is barely distinguishable from the band’s trademark drone, but it’s there. These vocal passages also sound an awful lot like that haunting art of overtone singing – throat-singing style, which creates the auditory impression of polyphony by filtering individual overtones from the sound spectrum of the human voice by controlling the resonances in the vocal tract. These overtones are perceived as separate tones, which has given overtone singing a reputation of being an art of singing two notes simultaneously. It sounds pretty mesmerizing live, in particular, and it has also been used rather prominently in psy-trance music and its derivative sub-genres, such as psybient (psychedelic ambient). Then again, to get to the bottom of it all, nothing beats the real thing – the shamanic Tuvan music.
Niburta: Two Faced (feat. Klaartje Julia)
These rogues came from Hungary, mixing technical metalcore and old, Hungarian, Moldavian, and Mongolian folk music. Throat-singing of the Tuvan variety is not so prominently present, but there is some, and it works rather nicely with the metalcore framework. Alas, it seems that this is yet another band that I found long after they had called it quits, or at least, they seem to be inactive at the moment. What a shame! This banger is from the band’s 2015 EP. The older stuff leans more heavily toward folk music, at least judging by a few taste-bites into their music.
Kryn: Risset
These crazy Croatians are responsible for one of the absolute best metal bangers with throat-singing! When I first heard their music, I thought they came from the Australian prog-metal scene, because they sure have that KARNIVOOL–DEAD LETTER CIRCUS–BUTTERFLY EFFECT–TWELVE FOOT NINJA–CHAOS DIVINE vibe about them – that is, they kick ass with an iron boot! Here, the kargyra-styled throat-sung lines, “Om gam ganapataye namah,” elevate the song’s atmospheric mid-section to a class of its own. It seems that this band is stupidly underrated, for no reason whatsoever! If a festival promoter brought this band to Finland, I would definitely wanna see them in action! As luck would have it, KRYN seems to be very much active – they opened for PAPA ROACH just recently in Croatia.
Gojira: Amazonia
Well, this is a no-brainer, of course. Not only does the song feature nice throat-singing passages by vocalist Joe Duplantier, but there is also a fair bit of jew harp, the instrument that is quite prominently used in traditional folk music all over the world. If I recall correctly, this single release was not only a homage to one of the inspirations behind GOJIRA‘s music – SEPULTURA – but also a charity project: the band donated the proceeds of the song to the indigenous people of the Amazon. I had the privilege of seeing GOJIRA play this banger at the Tuska Festival 2023 and – damn! Those kargyra lines sounded really awesome live.
Jason Bieler and the Baron Von Bielski Orchestra: I’ll Light the Flame and You Be the Shadow
Jason Bieler calls himself a post-apocalyptic troubadour with a penchant for the sonically grotesque. Maybe that’s why he and his band opt for a little bit of throat-singing in the opener of their latest EP, released about a week ago as of writing this post. Not that I find the kargyra drone in any way grotesque. It is used here and there in the song’s verses – to a resonant (sic!) effect, too. This song is quite a banger, overall. On Bandcamp, the new EP is said to gather six tracks from Bieler‘s ongoing sonic adventures, plus a few choice cuts for those who like their music unpredictable. Using throat-singing of this kind is rather unpredictable, so the maestro wasn’t lying. Not at all. Perhaps I should bookend their Bandcamp page or put a post-it note on my fridge so that I remember to check out that EP in full, later.
Wardruna: Kvitravn (White Raven)
I’m pretty sure that most Nordic Noir acts employ throat-singing in one way or another, so I could have opted for a song by, say, HEILUNG, just as well. WARDRUNA uses the kargyra-style drone to such a magnificent effect on this mesmerizing song that I decided to pick this one instead. Of course, after a while, it becomes almost impossible to say where the human drone ends and the wall of synths begins, but I don’t care. Kargyra-style throat-singing tickles the ear a little bit more deliciously, usually, than khoomei, but they both have their moments. Maybe I’m more drawn to the kargyra sound because it is the only type of throat-singing sound that I have managed to produce myself – it’s not very hard when you get the hang of the technique, whereas khoomei is really difficult for me, let alone the more nuanced styles. I’m not sure whether I’m ever going to need that skill – it’s not exactly something to put on your résumé when you’re applying for a white-collar job – but you never know; maybe it could be a unique way to ask for a raise by uttering the plea in that particular throat-singing style?
Nine Treasures: Tes River’s Hymn
NINE TREASURES is yet another band aiming for a Mongolian metal revolution: they use traditional Mongolian instrumentation as well as the standard-issue heavy-metal instruments. Last year, the band was signed to Metal Blade, so it seems that these Mongolian warrior-metal bands are going to continue taking the world by storm. The difference between, say, THE HU and NINE TREASURES is very subtle, but there are some key differences, although the thing that both acts have in common is one of their undeniable fortes – groovy riffs. The songs are pretty old-school, yes, but they sure are groovy as hell.
Deloraine: Arkona
This bunch is a pagan fantasy-folk band from the Czech Republic, so I guess I cannot put it in the Nordic Noir basket. There are quite a few similar elements in the music, though, of which the use of throat-singing is obviously one of the most thrilling. Here, it is used predominantly to provide that ear-tickling drone in the background until, halfway into the song, it becomes a tad more varied. I don’t understand a word the band is singing as the lyrics are in Czech, but it doesn’t really matter – the music is a language in itself, and it speaks volumes.
IA: initIAtion
One more for the road, eh? One of the best Finnish metal albums released in 2020 was the debut full-length, “initIAtion,” by the shaman-metal bunch, IA. The band’s namesake song, “IA,” features a brief vocal passage in Finnish, half-spoken in the Tuvan throat-singing style. One of my old bands had the privilege of warming up for these crazy proggers in 2011, and their vocalist Kirill Shevchenko demonstrated his kargyra skills in situ at the venue during the soundcheck – they should have put those skills is more prominent use on their debut as well! Speaking of which, the debut remains one of the most amazing progressive metal banquets of the 2020s, and it makes you wish that they were planning to continue that saga soon enough. It’s been five years already, dudes… (Alas, there’s no YouTube video of the song in question)
Ummet Ozcan: Totem
Ummet Ozcan is a Dutch DJ and a producer of Turkish origin. His choice of genre falls in the realm of techno and trance, but what really makes him stand out is the way he uses throat-singing, usually kargyra, to spice up his techno bangers – and it would be a drastic understatement to say that his voice is unique. His throat-singing technique is almost beyond compare. In this song, it may not become so obvious, but I chose this one because it has a really nice groove, a delicious Middle-Eastern feel, and subtle kargyra passages that go beyond the usual one-note drone. This banger could serve as a better calling card for his throat-singing prowess, perhaps, but there is something irresistible in “Totem.”
Animato: Tuvan
Like I said, psy-trance has never been a stranger to using throat-singing to spice up those oriental synth riffs. I chose this banger from 2016 simply because it nicely pays homage to the vintage psy-trance sound of legends such as HALLUCINOGEN, SHPONGLE, and INFECTED MUSHROOM. The throat-singing passages soon get bulldozed over by myriad studio gimmicks, but they do brush the song with a unique air of their own.
Well, it seems that I got carried away with the topic, once again. It’s just that throat-singing sounds pretty amazing in just about whatever context, but especially so in the metal framework. I’m pretty sure that there are a bunch of great songs that I overlooked or forgot, so if you have some bangers on your mind, feel free to drop a comment!
Written by Jani Lehtinen
