'I Was a Shower Vocalist' - How PeelingFlesh's Damonteal Harris Learned to Scream

Our guest on this week's episode of How I Learned to Scream is Damonteal Harris of rising slam stars PeelingFlesh.

He takes us back to first hearing aggressive and extreme vocals, how he got started trying to scream and make all sorts of guttural noises, what his family thought of it all and more.

Damonteal Harris' Introduction to Harsh Vocals + Starting on His Own

The PeelingFlesh brutalizer actually credits old Fall Out Boy with being the first sort of aggressive vocal approach he heard. As for a more traditional version of harsh vocals, that'd be Suicide Silence and Mitch Lucker.

"I did not know that humans could do such a thing, but I knew immediately that I wanted, um, try to figure out how to do it," Harris says. "It was, like, middle school, like 14 or 15 [years old] maybe and I was just in my room making weird noises."

"I was a, probably a shower vocalist — a shower, bathroom, closet vocalist or if I had friends who were into it, we'd totally do that goofy thing where we're in the room screaming songs together, but that's what we did."

He goes on, "I was an only child, so I would just, like, come home before everybody else, and that was my chill time to sit there for, like, 30 minutes and just enjoy an album to the fullest and maybe practice vocals to it."

And as soon as he heard Matti Way gurgle on Abominable Putridity's outstanding Anomalies of Artificial Origin, it really changed everything. "I wanna sound like that. Everything I wanna do — I wanna do that."

Abominable Putridity, "Lack of Oxygen"

Cupping the Mic — What Does Damonteal Harris Think?

Harris is a proud mic-cupper and thinks anyone talking down on the practice should just get over it.

"Some might call it the triggers of vocals, but I just like the way it sounds," he says. "I like the way it makes me sound. Don't be afraid to cup. It's 2025, cup that mic. I don't care what kind of mic you got, cup the hell out of it."

How PeelingFlesh's Damonteal Harris Learned to Scream — Watch the Full Episode

Find out what Harris' family thought of him making all these crazy noises in a band, sitting vs. standing while recording and what not to do before going onstage if you don't want to sound like Marge Simpson.

Watch the full How I Learned to Scream episode below and check further down the page for more on what PeelingFlesh have going on this year.

PeelingFlesh in 2025 - New EP, Tour Dates + Where to Follow

PeelingFlesh will release their new EP, PF Radio 2, on Sept. 26 through Unique Leader, following up their debut LP The Go Code, which catapulted them to the front of the pack amid a new generation of death metal groups.

"This release signifies another step for us as a band. We're always evolving our sound and this release shows another level of PeelingFlesh when it comes to everything. Riffs, drums, samples and vocals are all turned to the max and we couldn't be more stoked for the world to hear it," Harris says.

Listen to "Midnight" below.

PeelingFlesh, "Midnight" Music Video

PeelingFlesh, PF Radio 2 Artwork + Track Listing

peelingflesh pf radio 2 art

Unique Leader

1. "Introlude"
2. "Redacted"
3. "Channel Zero"
4. "Holdin" feat. Jason Frazier of Corpse Pile and CC from Algor Mortis
5. "Autistimus Prime" feat. Kiriakos Destounis of Embryectomy
6. "Flesh Cathedral"
7. "Middlelude"
8. "Midnight"
9. "D.V.P.B."
10. "Outerlude"