Who's got the greatest vocal range in metal?

[scanner313]

That dude from Nitro was just ridiculous, not only he could hit a high B, but also could go really low too, from memory he said he had a 6 octave range at his peak! insane, but so was the whole Nitro band. A joke. The higest singer and the fastest guitarist of that time (Mike Angelo, another freek like the singer) and the most ridiculous 80's fasion. Pity that they couldn't make good music together lol.

My friend had a vocal training tape from Jim Gillette (Nitro singer) and I remember my buddy trying to sing to it. I still laugh when I think of that. The guy did have a good range, but his overall talent was a joke, as was Michael Angelo's. The guy is ridiculously fast, but that's all there is to him. I absolutely hate his playing and think he was one of the worst guitar players of the 80's!

 

[Yngvai X]

Oops, wrong clip.
I meant this clip here: http://www.home.no/dreamspace/Music/Silly shred.mp3
It may not be faster, but it sure is close.

That was fast, but at the same time, and I mean this as constructive criticism, it sounds like your left hand was way outta synch with your right. Like it sounds like you have a fast right hand but your left can't keep up. Angelo, on the other hand, is in synch all the time, he's rediculously clean. Keep working on it tho dude, once your left catches up you'll have killer shred chops.

 

[Hellholming]

I don't remember his name, but I've heard that that guy from Steelheart has some unhuman range..

 

[Yngtchie Blacksteen]

That was fast, but at the same time, and I mean this as constructive criticism, it sounds like your left hand was way outta synch with your right. Like it sounds like you have a fast right hand but your left can't keep up. Angelo, on the other hand, is in synch all the time, he's rediculously clean. Keep working on it tho dude, once your left catches up you'll have killer shred chops.

You're quite right about the left hand/right hand thing, it's kinda irritating not to be able to play equally fast with both hands. What I meant was that my right hand is probably faster than Angelo, but like Mr. Owens said, there's a long way to go...

 

[DoktorShred]

Theres a clip you can download from their website of this song called Highlander where he hits a high Bb :zombie:

Bah, bruce dickenson hits a high Bb on 'where eagles dare' and thats far from his highest scream (see: aces high, the number of the beast)

 

[Yngvai X]

Bah, bruce dickenson hits a high Bb on 'where eagles dare' and thats far from his highest scream (see: aces high, the number of the beast)

uuuuuhhhhh, tell me WHERE in those songs is he hitting a high Bb. The note he hits in Aces High is either a G or an A (I forget, but either way, Bb is still higher).

 

[Yngtchie Blacksteen]

Bah, bruce dickenson hits a high Bb on 'where eagles dare' and thats far from his highest scream (see: aces high, the number of the beast)

*cough*Rob Halford*cough*

 

[adam123]

mark boals

 

[Yngtchie Blacksteen]

mark boals

Yeah, now you're talkin'! Mark Boals has got to be one of my favorite metal singers ever, I simply love his voice. Even though he hasn't got the greatest vocal range, he can sing pretty much anything, including opera.

 

[Airgeetar_freak]

I can't believe that nobody has mentioned Russell in this thread yet! He may not have the widest overall range, but he's got to be close. His lowest would be probably be the second verse in "The Turning" and I would say his highest would probably be the last line of the up-pitched verse in "Through the Looking Glass" (you know, the part where he screams right before the pre-chorus).

I like Midnight's voice, but his is not nearly as diverse and strong as Russells', so I can't give him the nod. King Diamond's voive is unique but all of his high pitch stuff is falsetto, so I don't really consider that to be an extension of his range. I'm not entirely familiar with some of these other guys, but the guy from Lost Horizon loses to Russell simply because of the cheese factor. My apologies to any Lost Horizon fans.

Anyway, maybe I'm off the topic, but I think Russell has an amazing range. Maybe not the widest in music, but close enough to where the strength and versatility of his voice win out over all the others listed. Of course, this is all my opinion.

I love Russell Allen's voice. His tone is very pure and open. As much as I like guys like Labrie, Geoff Tate, and Ray Alder, overall I will take Russell.

P.S. - In defense of James Labrie, I love his stuff on "Innocence Faded". Damn, he sings high on that one!

 

[Anacrusis]

I have to agree with Yngtchie Blacksteen, Midnight has no equal as far as range and emotion are concerned. Only Warrel Dane and Geoff Tate in their early days came somewhat close. Actually Tate and Midnight were trained by the same vocal teacher.

If you wonder who's this Midnight guy check out these tunes:
http://hydeo.narod.ru/Crimson_Glory_-_In_Dark_Places.ogg
http://hydeo.narod.ru/Crimson_Glory_-_Lost_Reflection.mp3

 

[Yngtchie Blacksteen]

Actually Tate and Midnight were trained by the same vocal teacher.

That's interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Who is he, has he trained other famous singers?

 

[korruption]

For Lost Horizon download the song 'Cry of a restless soul', great vocals.

I was going to suggest that too. Godly song indeed!

 

[Anacrusis]

That's interesting, I wasn't aware of that. Who is he, has he trained other famous singers?

I think his name is Al Cohen and I read somewhere he was also a teacher of the guy from Heir Apparent.

 

[theodyssey]

hah... my friend knows the dude from heir apparent... they live up in seattle...

 

[joeshabadoo]

I agree, beautiful voice, but his range lies more in the lower territory. He's got one of the most versatile voices in metal, but his range ain't the greatest, so I'm gonna stick with Midnight. Still love his voice more than anything, though.

He hits some pretty beautiful high notes (toward end of DWOT, the quiet part). I'd say he has one of the best range's in metal. ("he" is Russell Allen)

 

[ProgMetalFan]

Ken Nardi (Anacrusis)

 

[Dustro25]

Daniel Gildenlow By far.... unreal live....

 

[arglebargle]

Yeah, Gildenlow is the Mike Patton of the prog metal world.

 

[Cruithne]

Rather typically most people are concentrating on the high notes.

Let me remind those people that range means RANGE, not how high a singer can go. Singing a high Bb means NOTHING in range terms if that singer can't go further than an octave below middle C...

I'm willing to bet that not a single singer mentioned in this thread can even sing the low B in Type O Negative's Nettie with a really bad hangover! Given how low a voice Pete Steele has, he could cover the same number of notes as the aforementioned high Bb singer without getting close to that high a note.

You have to be able to sing low as well as high to qualify as having a good range, and by that token I would say that Daniel Gildenlow has the widest range I've heard in metal (I've heard a male opera singer cover a genuine 4 octave range, but I can't remember his name). IIRC he covers just over 3.5 octaves during the course of TPE.