A unique choir bridging genres that may seem irreconcilable is creating a portal into a strange and fascinating music world.
At the Growlers’ choir practice you can go from hearing operatic sounds to ancient Tibetan throat singing in the span of a few seconds.
“We are interested in the visceral energy of heavy metal and we’re blending it with electronic music, we’re bringing a very metal performance to a very contemporary musical stage,” said Pierre-Luc Senécal, the choir’s founder.
Senécal, who is a musician by study and trade, had the idea to create the Growlers Choir. He says he put a call-out on Facebook and received an overwhelming response of people interested in taking part.
“I felt it was going to be awesome,” said Philippe Langelier, one of the singers. “Everybody was so fun. Working or not, I wanted to be there.”
The Growlers don’t leave anyone indifferent with their metal choir performances.
Not even America’s Got Talent‘s most dreaded judge, Simon Cowell.
The choir was invited to participate in an audition in June.
“It’s like demons in a choir singing the song from the Omen then going into Britney Spears,” Cowell said of the choir’s rendition of Britney Spears’ Toxic.
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“It was so fantastically creepy.”
According to Senécal, Cowell wasn’t the only one providing feedback.
“I got contacted personally by someone who told me, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing, you’ve contacted or summoned demons, there’s still for you to repent and be in touch with Jesus,'” Senécal said, smiling.
But the group of 15 performers — who are also singers in metal bands– is far from being on the dark side.
They describe themselves as a bunch of friends having a great time.
“Oh, we have so much fun,” Langelier said with a wide-brimmed smile.
They’re even welcome in the most holy of venues, having performed in churches.
Their venture has opened the door to many opportunities, including a commercial for throat lozenges, even if they don’t really need them.
“No, it doesn’t damage our voice as it would if we didn’t have a technique,” said Laurent Bellemare.
Bellemare says the technique is a distortion they add to their voice.
“By placing your mouth differently, you create different sounds,” Langelier said.
The Growlers have gone far from only being an idea in Senécal’s mind to a call out on Facebook for metal singers.
They now have a full schedule that includes festivals and television performances.
The end goal?
“I don’t want to speak for Pierre-Luc but I think his short answer would be: world domination,” Bellemare said, laughing.
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