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In the Dutch city of Eindhoven, students at the Metal Factory can earn a degree that includes mastering the art of growling. The three-year vocational study program specializes in metal music and, according to 36-year-old coordinator Kevin Quilligan, is unique in Europe.
The Metal Factory is part of the larger Summa College and offers five specializations: vocals, drums, bass guitar, guitar and keys. Growlers gather to show off their skills in the Dynamo building situated in the center of the Netherlands' fifth largest city.
Kevin Schoonhagen shows off his best growl. /Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Nina Grimm, 23, practices growling. /Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Students learn to growl at Summa College. /Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Kevin Schoonhagen shows off his best growl. /Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Nina Grimm, 23, practices growling. /Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters
Marcella Bovio, 45, a seasoned metal singer originally from Mexico and instructor at the Metal Factory since its founding in 2013, explains that learning to growl starts with a simple sigh. This sound, akin to a teenager's frustrated groan, is the foundation upon which students build their growling skills.
Seeing young adults sigh in frustration is a common sight, but watching them use their vocal cords to transform that sigh into a primal scream and adding a melody to it is something else entirely.
Growling "has a rawness to it. I think it's a very nice way to express and that way also release some maybe bottled up anger," Bovio said.
While growling may sound harsh, it doesn't have to damage your voice. "You should be able to speak clearly afterward. If you're hoarse, you've probably overdone it," she said.
For Kevin Schoonhagen, a 22-year old Dutch student and lead singer of a heavy mental band called Crave, growling is one of the purest forms of expressing emotion.
"When you're happy you scream, when you're scared you scream, when you're angry you scream, when you're sad you scream", he said.
Despite misconceptions about metal music, Quilligan challenges the view of growling as dark and brutal. "I think the biggest misconception is the idea that that we're a bunch of cavemen, just doing stuff out of kind of only roughness," he said.
By contrast, "in the professional side and in the industry side, most people are really kind, really warm, really tolerant, very inclusive. But you have to take that first step."