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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