How I Prevail's Eric Vanlerberghe Learned to Scream

I Prevail unclean vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe is the latest metal musician to reveal exactly how he learned to scream.

Vanlerberghe’s first encounter with an “extreme” metal vocal happened when he was in eighth grade. “I went from a private Catholic school and moved into a public school… not wearing uniforms, seeing kids wearing metal T-shirts… I remember making friends with this kid and he burned me Metallica’s Ride the Lightning CD. I think it was 'Trapped Under Ice' and going, ‘Holy shit!’”

As for full-on gutturals, Eric discovered bands like Beneath the Massacre, Carnifex and As Blood Runs Black by ninth grade. “Hearing all these guttural pig squeals and the bree bree’s back in 2006 and 2007, [I was like,] ‘How in the fucking world are they doing this?’”

Vanlerberghe began imitating his favorite vocalists while driving to school. “It was probably months of going into school with a hoarse voice,” he recalls. “But one day it just clicked. I figured out how to do it and it didn’t hurt. I didn’t really feel it and it sounded close enough to what [my favorite bands] were doing.”

Not a fan of his vocals from the first I Prevail EP, Vanlerberghe slowly crafted his voice to become what it is today. And as for pre-show rituals, either a shot of Jack Daniels or a beer does the job when it comes to soothing his nerves. No 420 though, as Vanlerberghe would find himself losing track of his crowd banter midway through his sentences.

Find out how Eric Vanlerberghe learned to scream in the video below. To grab a copy of I Prevail’s new album, True Power, click here.