MALEVOLENT CREATION Frontman Discusses Vocal Technique

Norway's Eternal Terror recently conducted an interview with MALEVOLENT CREATION frontman Bret Hoffmann. A couple of excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow:

Eternal Terror: When did you start doing extreme vocals (What year and at what age)?

Bret: I was 18 and it was around 1985

Eternal Terror: What made you start to do extreme vocals?

Bret: "Reign in Blood".

Eternal Terror: Can you describe the technique or the techniques you are using?

Bret: I wouldn't really know how to describe it — it's a cross between the old school hardcore shit and Tom Araya with my own approach.

Eternal Terror: Has your technique changed during your career?

Bret: No, but I think my voice has matured over the years and gotten more powerful

Eternal Terror: Have you ever hurt yourself by using a "wrong technique?"

Bret: Yes, usually back in the beginning I would try to scream using more of my throat; you need to come more from your diaphragm. Also, I've hurt my voice and I'm sure other people have too when you have shitty monitors or a very bad monitor mix and you can't hear yourself and so you compensate by getting louder and you don't realize that's what you've been doing until you hurt your voice. So that's why I always tell other singers, if you have bad monitors just try to sing the way it feels right to you when you can hear it.

Eternal Terror: What is most important for you — to make cool sounds and interesting rhythms, or to have a clear diction/pronunciation?

Bret: I do like to have clear diction and pronunciation but I also try to do really long, powerful screams.

Eternal Terror: Do you have any advice to people who wants to start doing extreme vocals?

Bret: Yes, start practicing to Rob Halford, Ripper Owens, Bruce Dickinson and Ian Gillan ("Born Again"). Because when you can master those kind of vocals, then you can move onto pretty much anything else you want. If you cac learn to have that level of power and control, you can translate that into any other vocular approach

Eternal Terror: Mention three extreme vocalists whose style you admire, and explain your choice. What specifically do you like about the styles of those three? Also mention three vocalists (not necessarily extreme vocalists) which you have been influence by, and explain in which way you have been influenced by each of them.

Bret: * Tom Araya - for the screams and the aggression (in the early days).
* John Tardy - because of the uniqueness of the sound of his voice, because he was really a progenitor in this style.
* Kao from ROTTEN SOUND - because he has a more hardcore edge to his vocals.
* Rob Halford - because I started out practicing to his songs and his consistently powerful vocal lines.
* Ian Gillan - same reasons, but also I feel he's very unique even today.
* Roger Miret - because I love hardcore and his vocals are the standard all others in the genre should be held to.

Read the entire interview at www.eternal-terror.com.