Photo of vocal coach Claudia Friedlander by Kristin HoebermannSince I spent yesterday writing about the self-sabotaging ways of Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine and getting my feathers spiked over a well-meaning South By Southwest panel proposal unfortunately entitled “Are Metalheads Smart Enough to Be on the Web?,” it was a grand relief to come across this intelligent post on cerebral metal blog Invisible Oranges. Site editor Cosmo Lee sent New York-based voice teacher Claudia Friedlander five completely unidentified metal performances and asked for her feedback. Since Friedlander is in the unique position of having never heard these iconic artists, her observations are both refreshing and uniquely insightful. While it didn’t surprise me that she instantly recognized Bruce Dickinson and Ronnie James Dio as a particularly gifted vocalists, I really loved her analysis of the lack of focus of King Diamond (a cartoonish singer who’s made me alternately cringe and laugh over the years) and Ozzy’s technical blunders. Props to Carly Henry of Starbird Promotions for sending this my way.