Vocal style and lyrics in death industrial/power electronics

[Brad]

Does anyone else find the harsher vocals in this genre to be often almost completely incomprehensible?  Does it hinder your appreciation of the music to have no idea what the lyrics are, when the vocals are the prominent feature of the track?  Do I just need to listen to a lot more of it for it to click?

[hsv]

Yeah more often than not I find the lyrics are almost totally incomprehensible due to heavy distortion and delay and such. I've gotten so used to it I don't really care, I just see the voice as another layer of sound, but it's nice with the exceptions when you can actually hear something, or decipher it with a lyrics sheet or something.

[Half Aborted]

Unless the lyrics are exceptionally good, I generally prefer them to be incomprehensible. Including lyrics in an insert is a good compromise though I think.

[SNR]

Depends on which artist, the vocal style, and the language. Sometimes I don't care about the lyrics, If I understand 1-2 words, and there aren't much lyrics, I think I've get the point of the actual track. But when there is a lot of lyrics, and I don't understand a single word, and there are no lyrics anywhere, it's a little bit frustrating. My suggestion is when there are a lots of lyrics, with non-stop talking/vocals, I think it's better when it's clear, and understandable. When there are two-three words, and I know the title of the track, and the aesthetics of the artists, it's not problem it's distorted/delayed/reverbed/modulated to the extreme level. Also, If it's not talking, but screaming/deathgrunt/anything harsher vocal, it's hard to make lyrics comprehensible, due it's mouth position of these technics.. and when it's also distorted, nobody will understand a single word. Even the artist after the recording.

[FreakAnimalFinland]

If vocals create good atmosphere, to me it's not necessary to understand words. I listen plenty of music in languages where I simply can't understand what they are saying, so it's most of all about quality of vocals.

Nowadays I'm getting little over exposed to typical PE vocals. So much involves distortion, delay and very limited range of style. Sometimes albums may have the same pace, same tone, same tempo, through entire album. If you can't understand any words, then question rises would you like if full albums have some other sounds that repeat identically through entire duration?

Every vocal effect could be modulated and changed during the track. Depending on atmosphere of track, one can change vocal styles from whisper to talk, to shout, yell, scream, growl whatever.  I think "as aggro as possible" vocals is probably quality that has ruined a lot of modern pe...

[Black_Angkar]

Yeah, suppose I agree with several comments. It's the same as with lyrics really. The vocals must fit the style (duh), but for me I prefer it to be very distinct, have a personal approach which makes the artist easily recognisable. Not necessarily clean or unprocessed, but with some distinctive kind of delivery. I mostly prefer vocals with as little processing as possible. Language doesn't need to be understandable though, and some kinds of growling/screaming work perfectly fine. Some of the best artists of the genre however are still distinct despite (or due to) having vocals totally undecipherable. Sometimes you get the feeling that the effects are just there to carry a thin or weak voice, and that I have a hard time with.

[Black_Angkar]

 Also, as mentioned earlier - varied vocal styles instead of the "as aggressive as possible" approach. Taking inspiration from industrial, I like a mix - like the spoken word-styles of various TG/PTV tracks, or the clean vocals of Neubauten, but perhaps with some slight distortion or modulation added. And lastly, when someone manages to conjure sounds of utter desperation and disgust rather than obnoxiousness and aggression. Depends, of course, on subject matter.