In another thread
http://bassoutpost.com/index.php?topic=9939.0 it was noted that the bass sounds growly. I didn't hear it as especially growly. The main thing I could hear was a lot of strings vibrating against frets due to aggressive pick playing with a bright amp, which is a sound I happen to like, but ... is that "growl"? I never thought of that as "growl" per se. The mids sounded pretty scooped and I couldn't really hear what sort of texture the lows might have with the example played.
To me, "growl" is something that happens when the lows have a sort of purring texture not unlike a big cat rumbling ... I don't know quite what causes this impression, but I think it's happening in the lower overtones more than the fundamental ... but I just intuited that meaning of "growl" from the literal meaning of the word, and since it's not like there's a dictionary we all agree on, maybe it doesn't mean that to other people at all and I'm out on a limb here.
What do you guys think? Sometimes we use these weird metaphorical words and they're hard to pin down...
Don't get me started on "warm", which is probably the least meaningful audio adjective ever.