AI For Heavy Metal Vocalists Has Arrived With HXVOC - A Vocalist's Perspective With SEANN NICOLS

Interview by Kris Peters
With the modern world embracing technology like never before, it
was only a matter of time before the metal scene and metal music
became caught up in its web. Don't get me wrong, technology and the
wonders of modern advancement have long been a part of the music
industry - everywhere from live sound to studio tricks to
programmed drums - but it is the concept of AI that has been more
divisive and controversial than anything else.
But it has always been inevitable. Like it or loathe it, AI is not
only here, it is also integrating into more of life and music than
some of us care to admit.
Until now, heavy metal has been unchartered territory for anything
AI-generated. Musically there have been many advancements but when
it came time to replicating hard rock/metal vocals the challenge
seemed to always be insurmountable. But not any more.
In conjunction with AI vocal synthesis company Eclipsed Sounds,
Seann Nicols (Westfield Massacre, Adler's Appetite, Quiet Riot) has
been working on something new and exciting called HXVOC, the
first-ever AI rock/metal vocalist for Synthesizer V Studio 2. This
is an entirely new technology that allows producers to generate
fully realistic rock and metal vocals, complete with rasp, grit,
and even full-on screams.
HXVOC is a first-of-its-kind AI vocal instrument that gives
musicians and producers unprecedented access to a professional
rock/metal vocalist without needing a real singer. It’s powered by
Synthesizer V Studio 2, the most advanced vocal synthesis engine
available today. The key breakthrough is that HXVOC can accurately
perform aggressive rock and metal vocal techniques, including rasp,
grit, belting, growls, and screams—which have never been done at
this level in a vocal synth before.
Rather than replacing singers, HXVOC is an instrument for musicians
- just like drum machines and amp sims. It empowers producers,
bands, and solo artists by letting them create fully produced songs
with high-quality rock vocals. This is a major first for the vocal
synthesis world, and it’s already making waves. Two official
showcase videos have been released, original songs demonstrating
HXVOC’s capabilities in both a Sleep Token - style track and a
modern rock song created specifically to highlight its vocal
modes.
This technology is about to change music production in a big way,
especially for rock and metal. Now, any producer in the world can
access a professional-quality rock vocal without needing to record
a singer. With AI-powered vocals becoming more advanced, this could
be a turning point for the industry.
A known and respected hard rock/metal vocalist, Nicols has
approached things from the perspective of a working musician and is
adamant HXVOC will only benefit the music industry, not destroy it.
HEAVY sat down with him for a chat to find out more about HXVOC and
ask a few questions that we think may pose a concern.
"It's got a lot of moving parts," he began. "And I'm new to the
space, so I'm by no means an expert. But I'll give you the best to
my knowledge. Basically, AI vocal synths have existed for a long
time. Apparently this has been like 25 years in the making. I guess
it started with a thing called Vocaloid, which is a company that
Yamaha founded. And it started out as a Japanese-based company, and
they did like a lot of anime, and it went into pop and
electronic.
And that's mainly where the AI voices have found most of their
traction. But to get a voice that worked for rock was really hard
and challenging. Because they couldn't get the grit, they couldn't
get the… they couldn't get the aggression to come out of the voice.
It just sounded very robotic, and they could produce clean tones,
but they couldn't produce that like guttural, like raw that you
need for rock, right?
So basically this is the first time that we've had those intense
techniques captured and reproduced with an AI. And it took us
about, well, two years in development. And it was actually just a
meeting of technology and the engineering behind it and the team
and the training and special techniques that all had to go into
capturing and being able to create this voice that people can get
like a real rock metal vocalist right out of the computer with the
AI."
We hit him with the question many are wanting to know: Is HXVOC
designed to actually replace a vocalist in a band?
"Not at all," he stressed. "No. It's an instrument. It's not a
replacement. And I realize that's a concern, but, you know, I was
toying around with this technology for a long time. I mean, it
started with drums, and then it turned out you could do your drums
and program your bass, and then they created guitars and
synthesizers, and there's orchestral libraries and everything. And
this is just an extension of that, but now for the human voice. And
now when we listen to demos that are made by musicians on their
computers, the drums sound pretty killer. And it's because of guys
like Stephen Slate that made the really complicated process of
recording drums in a big studio, and you need all these microphones
and these crazy consoles and engineers. I mean, it's super
complicated to get a good drum sound, but he just made it so it was
really easy so you could just load it up on your computer put your
beats in and voila it's like sounds like it was recorded in a
million dollar studio and uh that's what we've done essentially
with a rock voice now."
In the full interview, we engaged in a detailed discussion about
the evolving role of technology in the music industry, particularly
focusing on Seann's collaboration with Eclipse Sounds and the
introduction of their AI vocal instrument, HXVOC. Seann emphasized
the potential of AI vocal technology to enhance songwriting and
studio work, viewing it as a valuable tool rather than a threat to
jobs in the industry.
Seann elaborated on the capabilities of HXVOC, highlighting its
ability to capture the nuances of rock and metal vocal techniques,
which have historically been challenging to record. He reassured
that the software is intended as an instrument to empower musicians
rather than replace live vocalists. We addressed some of the
concerns that invariably come with new innovations, his role in
HXVOC, how it will benefit the heavy metal industry and plenty
more.

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