Desperate to master “the art of growling”? This Dutch university offers degrees in heavy metal music. Seriously.

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

‘The Metal Factory’ at Summa College in Eindhoven lets pupils study heavy metal vocals, as well as the guitar, bass, drums and keyboard

Audience raising the sign of the horns at Download Festival in 2016
(Image credit: Ollie Millington/Redferns)

A Dutch university is offering degrees in heavy metal.

Summa College in Eindhoven is making headlines with its faculty ‘The Metal Factory’, which lets students study singing – as well as guitar, bass, drum and keyboard performance – in ways specifically tailored for making metal music.

A journalist for Australia’s 7 News recently visited the college and reported that their three-year singing course teaches pupils to “master the art of growling”.

“According to instructors, the key to an effective heavy metal growl is simple,” she says. “You start with a sigh or a groan and you use your vocal cords to gradually transform it into a primal scream.”

Watch the full report in the video embedded below.

According to The Metal Factory’s official website, the curriculum “train[s] you to become an independent artist/entrepreneur in the music industry”.

It adds that career opportunities after graduation include composing and producing music on commission as well as “teaching and coaching”. Graduates have also gone on to further study at such prestigious music schools as the Conservatory Of Amsterdam.

“We also have alumni who eventually graduated in copyright, management, music therapy or speech therapy,” it continues. “Metal Factory offers everyone who wants to be professionally involved in music a broad foundation for the future.”

There are 14 named teachers among the faculty, including former Cynic bassist Robin Zielhorst, Textures members Bart Hennephof (guitars) and Stef Broks (drums), ex-Delain guitarist Merel Bexhtold and sound engineer Jacques De Haard.

“Our teachers are all active in the music industry, on stage and behind the scenes,” says The Metal Factory. “We try to keep our education up-to-date and relevant to the current industry. We feel it’s important to have our teaching staff reflect this philosophy.

“Many of our teachers have toured the world and [are] thus capable of sharing realistic experiences and knowledge with our students.”

If you want to earn a degree that proves how hard you rock, then The Metal Factory is hosting an open day at Dynamo Eindhoven on January 26. Get details here.

Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Online Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.