The sound of a human voice singing can arouse a wide range of deep emotions. From opera to country, blues to pop, singers find a way to connect and express emotions unlike any other art form.
Few people rarely master one of the most powerful of vocal techniques in the current music industry—Heavy Metal Screaming. Tracing its roots to early Rhythm and Blues, 1970’s Hard Rock, and the Punk era’s revolution, “screaming” has become a popular element across innumerable sub-genres and the progressive, evolving nature of modern Metal music.
Amber Johnson, a Vankoughnet, Bracebridge-based vocal coach, not only performs and writes songs specific to the genre, but also aspires to become one of the top female artists in the predominantly male, internationally celebrated Metal music scene.
Emerging from the late 1960s with bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest, Rush and Humble Pie, et al, who vigorously leaned on their early Chicago blues traditions, Heavy Metal is almost a misnomer in describing the powerful, dramatic, edgy, driving music that is being performed in that categorization in 2026. Currently, the music itself has little to do with its humble roots and has developed into a distinct, organic format that accentuates thunderous, sonic power and raw, almost primordial, feelings being explored and staged.
Describing her introduction to metal screaming, Amber recalls being drawn to these stylized vocals after seeing Architects, an English metalcore band from Brighton, UK, at a festival. “At first, like for people who aren’t used to it, it can be really jarring. But after a couple of minutes, you kind of get used to it. And I thought it was the coolest thing. He (singer Sam Carter) could do different kinds of screams, and he could also sing. And, you know, he was being paid to stand on a stage and yell at people, effectively.” She was inspired. Amber continues, “I don’t know what that is, but I want to do that. At the time, there wasn’t a lot of women doing it, and they certainly weren’t as open about it because of stereotypes (about) women in the music industry.”
Although Amber had already been playing as a soloist and in bands for several years, her conversion to ‘screaming’ took her in a completely new direction. Over her career, Amber has appeared at notable venues and festivals, including Rock the Mill 2012 and 2013 in Cambridge, Vans Warped Tour Toronto 2013, The Underground in Stoke, UK, 2022, and as a Top 10 contender in Huntsville’s Got Talent 2025, at which she demonstrated her skill at “screaming.”
This approach to singing is far more sophisticated than a casual listener might discern. Vocalists in metalcore music are competing with amplified guitars, drums and bass; therefore, singing outside the lyrics, if they exist, often is an attempt to add to the hard-rocking “metal” that the instruments generate. Singers have to possess a repertoire of differing sounds that must fit into the pulsation of the instrumentation, consisting of howls, distortion, tunnel throat scream, growling, and squeals. It is a form of vocalizing bordering on the farthest limitations that humans can extract from their bodies and vocal cords, dependent on preparation, coaching and advanced warm-ups. To the untrained ear, it may sound cacophonic and undisciplined, but Amber points out that it is something richer and more personal.
“For me, it also is a really big emotional and physical cathartic release as well, and helps me regulate feelings I can’t always put into words sometimes. Not always in an angry way, though, just the physicality of it. It increases dopamine levels just like how singing does, and it makes me feel strong and powerful in a way that I don’t feel the same in other everyday aspects of my life, as someone who is neurodivergent. Just like with regular singing, the more relaxed you are when trying to scream, the better the proper technique for it will be easier to access. It’s actually not recommended to come at it from a place of real, true anger at all!”
Recently, Amber was featured as one of the top 5 female vocalists in Scream Dude’s World’s Biggest Metal Vocal Collab, which in 2026 received over 115,000 views on Instagram and over 7,000 on YouTube.
As a certified and accredited vocal coach, Amber teaches privately online and in person at the Muskoka Lumber Arena auditorium in Bracebridge, teaching traditional vocal skills, specializing in beginner singing, vocal health, building confidence, screaming for alternative genres, and speaking/ performance anxiety. Amber can be contacted through her webpage at: https://amberjohnsonvocals.wixsite.com/amberjohnsonvocals
In an exciting turn of events, Amber has embarked on an “incredible opportunity to co-write and perform on her debut 6-song EP” with producer/guitarist Steven Jones from ‘Bleed From Within’ (Scottish) and Stevie Knight (Australia), known for working with female-led bands, such as ‘Stand Atlantic’, ‘Red Hook’, and ‘Yours Truly.’ Amber has established a ‘GoFundMe’ campaign to support production costs. She is deep into the work of co-writing and tracking vocals from her home studio. https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-amber-johnsons-debut-ep
Deeply passionate about the role of and lack of representation of women in the Metal scene, Amber hopes to inspire, through her proposed 2026 recording and subsequent performances, a new generation of musicians in Muskoka to pursue their talents and discover their gifts.
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