My favorite "harsh" vocalists:

    

    If you were to ask me the 3 or 4 worst things to happen to metal, one of them would initially be "harsh" vocals in metal.  Yet that makes no sense, because there's plenty of thrash/black/death/doom metal bands that use them and suit the music perfectly.  But that is underground music, not really something that you see in the mainstream.  And while I scoff and spit at the idea of "metal needs to remain underground and never enter the mainstream," I think "Death metal's musical tendencies entering the mainstream through second wave funk metal" is the more accurate description.  Whenever I hear someone talk about how they're putting death growls in their mainstream song I want to pry their head open with a crowbar like Homelander in The Boys.

Harsh vocalists you will NOT see here:

Randy Blythe: He ruined everything.

Howard Jones: He also ruined everything.

Jesse Leach:  Lest you think I'm any kind of Killswitch Engage fan, and whats with that Parkway Drive logo?  I would say I like him in Outside Providence, if I could remember whatever scene he's in.

Chris Barnes (now):  I mean I kinda have to include him here.

Corey Taylor: 

Super for-real for-real ruined everything.

Federico Mondelli:

But Kai, you think Federico is the best thing to come out of Italy after Bulldozer!  Yes, yes I do, but it doesn't change the fact that I HATE harsh vocals in power metal.  Not to mention his tone is pretty mallcore-generic so it's nothing interesting anyway.  We got two albums harsh vocal free, and they were better off for it. Can't wait to not listen to the songs that have them. (addendum: I took a peak, they're less generic and more intense and "black metal" but again, not in my power metal dammit!)

Lord Worm:  

This is actually more a placeholder for "Every single vocalist who's lyrics I can't understand."  The whole "you have to read the lyrics to be offended" mentality is just as stupid as the unreadable logo.  But yeah, this is more of a fuck you to the asshats who think Chris Barnes is LESS offensive and less effective of a vocalist Danny Boy is.

Harsh vocalists I do like:

Paul Baloff:

It is solely because of this man that I understood the purpose of the "harsh vocal."  The purpose of the harsh vocal is to be the center of a thrash riff storm.  Core and nu metal do NOT have these functions. Therefore, they fail miserably.  He does not sound like some teen pussy feltching about his emotions, he sounds like a psychotic killer that's going to kick in your face, and.....well you know the rest.

Glen Benton:

Hot take-  Glen Benton was the Freddy Mercury of death metal.....in the studio.  When you think of Freddy Mercury in the studio, you think of thousands of vocal tracks harmonizing with each other to create an ethereal effect.  The first 3 or so Deicide albums operate in a similar function, layering black metal screams along with the lowest of growls that makes it feel like all the zombies from Evil Dead are chewing you alive.

Abbath Doom Occulta:

Black Metal's David Lee Roth.  This man's brilliant midrange screechiness is a key factor in Immortal's sound (well, GOOD Immortal).  His menacing croak is the eye of the cryptic tremolo-picked winterstorm.

Martin Van Drunen:

Arguably death metal's greatest vocalist.  With a perfect amount of diction and brutality.  A man who will put any band he front on the map, whether it's Hail of Bullets, Pestilence or Asphyx.  And when he leaves/is fired from those bands, he makes you go "fuck that band!"  He's kinda like death metal's David Lee Roth in that regard.

Mille Petrozza:

The German version of Paul Baloff.  An absolutely menacing force.  Had enough bottom end in his early days to enter him into a death metal discussion.  Yeah, over time it smoothed out and became more streamlined and almost generic, but his work on those first three Kreator albums and EP was highly influential to death metal vocalists.

Matt Pike:

Hands down the greatest 20th century "harsh vocalist."  Mainly because he DOESN'T sound like a mallcore emo shithead.  At times it feels like he's yelling in key.  They said that about James Hetfield in his early years but that's silly.  He always sang, even if the notes didn't have the best clarity.  Matt yells in key, yelody it's called.

Honorary mentions-

Phil Anselmo:

I hate to admit it but this possibly racist, band integrity violating weirdo makes a transition from singing to growling so smooth its hard to tell whats what.  He might very well have been the best to ever do it. The reason he's not in the favorites is because it seems like the Phil Anselmo from 1992 onward and the one from Cowboys From Hell are two different people.  There's harsh vocals sprinkled on Cowboys if you know where to look.  At least he's got (or well, had) a solid baritone range, which if anything, THATs what aspiring vocalists should take influence from.

Chris Barnes (early):  For the sake of the setup of the punchline, I guess.  But still, when you listen to THOSE songs on The Bleeding, you understand every sick depraved word he says.  Which is slightly odd because the songs on Butchered At Birth and Tomb Of the Mutilated are way more heinous, yet it suffers from the same anti-diction.  You know guys, part of the reason "Kim" freaked everybody out is because you could hear "THERES A FOUR YEAR OLD WITH A SLIT THROAT IN YOUR BED ROOM."  Well, if you sought that version out.

King Diamond:  This one is kind of cheating because King Diamond is a proper singer, but throughout his career he's thrown in lower ranged sounds that some kids today might be willing to identify as "gutturals" (WITH BLOODSTAINED WIIIIIINGS).  But he uses them as punctuation, rather than sentence content.  That's the key for all these trad/power metal bands that wish to incorporate so called "harsh vocals."  Use them as punctuation, not the sentence.

Chris Boltenthal:  This one doesn't count either because Grave Digger is a proper singing band.  But harsh vocals frequently are referred to as "Cookie Monster" vocals.   But if you ever wondered what Cookie Monster would sound like singing, listen to 90/00s Grave Digger.

Yes, that does include I Am the Tyrant, Crowned In Frost, The Shieldmaiden and ESPECIALLY Netherstorm. Winterfall is ai-ight