Vocalist Burton C. Bell (Ascension Of The Watchers, ex-Fear Factory) is one of those vocalists who you can identify within seconds of hearing him. In a new livestream Q&A on the Ascension Of The Watchers Facebook page, Bell explained his approach to vocals as "vocalizing" in the style of "a pastor or a preacher" orating loudly and passionately. Bell also clarifies that he doesn't feel like his harsh vocals can really be classified as "screaming."
"For me, it's all about… It's not a preference. It's all about vocalizing for feeling and vocalizing a moment and capturing those harmonies that I hear in the music and trying to emulate them with my voice. Believe it or not, I can hear harmonies in chunky riffs — I can hear harmonies and I hear melodies in my head. Now, for me, when I do the heavy voice, I'm not screaming; I'm vocalizing. Like a pastor or a preacher, he orates loudly and distinctly to his followers that he's trying to convey a message passionately, and that's what I'm doing.
"I'm not screaming — I am orating the message out passionately and as succinctly as possible. And depending on where I am in the song or what the harmony's doing, what the melody is calling to me, that's what I'll do. I love singing — I love harmonies, I love singing, I love the heavy vocal. To me, it's all harmonics, and it just depends on what the song calls for. And I'll be doing both as long as I can."
Bell parted ways with Fear Factory in 2020. His final performance with the band was on their 2021 album Aggression Continuum, released after his departure.
