Top 10 Metal Songs with the Best Screams

Screams are different from screamed vocals. There are songs with screamed vocals start to finish (aka screamers, employing screaming technique to sing the words) but some of them have no distinct screams.

On the other hand, there are metal singers who aren't screamers but have awesome individual screams.

This list is about screams and not screamed vocals.

There are different types of screams - raw, brutal, melodic, single, multiple...
Screams in metal are part of the vocal skills and vocal technique.

I took into account the length of the screams, their power and difficulty. Also the singers skills to nail the screams. I'm not impressed by short and/or simple screams everybody can do. Yet, this list is not about the longest screams - some screams are not very long but they are still awesome.

Please don't add screamo bands because screamo is punk and not metal.
The Top Ten
1 Painkiller - Judas Priest

There are 5 well performed screams - 2 are longer, one is in the background.

Yes I agree with this being number 1 The screams are amazing

2 The Number of the Beast - Iron Maiden

I must agree with Painkiller being number 1, but this is a (very) close second.

A very powerful and well performed scream (12-13 seconds long).

Bruce's gull rules over all!

Unleashing the beast.

3 Mysteria - Edguy

Perfection at 0:20 - a powerful, beautiful and long scream (10-11 seconds).
I made a list with more screams by him - Top 10 Tobias Sammet Screams

4 Open Face Surgery - Cryptopsy

28 seconds! A raw and brutal scream by Lord Worm at 3:45.

5 The Great Southern Trendkill - Pantera

I love that scream in the beginning a great start to one of their heaviest songs

How he did this intro scream?

6 Angel of Death - Slayer

A brutal, raw and long scream in the intro.

7 Fiddler on the Green - Demons & Wizards
8 Ten Thousand Strong - Iced Earth

2 remarkable screams by Tim 'Ripper' Owens - an intro scream for about 13 seconds and another one towards the end for about 12 secs.

9 Child in Time - Deep Purple

Ian Gillan was the first metal screamer. He screams for about 2 minutes towards the end of this song (after 8:00).

I'll never get tired of this. Never!

10 Machine Gunn Eddie - Nitro
The Contenders
11 Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Iron Maiden

His scream in this song descends into an evil cackle, coinciding with a burst of thunder... then epic Maiden soloing commences. This one's the best, folks.

A very good one and it's over 10 seconds long (8:53-9:04, right before the guitar solo)

I never expected that scream, but it's cool!

12 Thor - Manowar
13 Queen of the Ryche - Queensryche

Excellent and long intro scream. Reminds me of Gillan's Highway Star scream.

14 Ride the Sky - Helloween

A very good high pitched intro scream by Kai Hansen, 6-7 seconds long.

15 The Piper Never Dies - Edguy

Tobias Sammet is perfect again - you can hear the scream on the song sample. On the song it is at 0:50

16 Shot to Hell - Laaz Rockit

2 amazing intro screams and more screams later. All these screams are perfect. Michael Coons sounds like a combination of Rob Halford, Bobby Blitz and King Diamond.

17 Highway Star - Deep Purple

A great intro scream, legendary for a reason.

18 Laying the Demon to Rest - Theocracy

Matt Smith screams for about 23 seconds.

19 Cowboys from Hell - Pantera

He sounds like a Pteranodon when he did that scream.

20 Framing Armageddon - Iced Earth
21 Towards the Pantheon - Emperor

An impressive scream by Ihsahn - about 23 seconds long.

22 Make Them Suffer - Cannibal Corpse

A good intro scream but compared to the other screams on this list, it's not very long though - 5 seconds

23 Are You Dead Yet - Children of Bodom

Not very long intro scream (5-6 seconds) but deserves an honorable mention.

24 Extreme Aggression - Kreator

Yes, there's an intro scream (about 6 seconds long).

At 28 seconds in Mille does an epic scream.

25 Abigail - King Diamond

The scream after 4:00.

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