# Classical trained singers in Metal



## NM 156 (Dec 16, 2020)

here are some singers who have had training and sing metal, feel free to share any here that come to mind!

Queensryche - Take Hold of the Flame (Geoff Tate)





Queensryche - Roads To Madness (Geoff Tate)





Screamer - Visionary (Bill Carter)





Candlemass - At The Gallows End (Messiah Marcolin)





Candlemass - Samarithan (Messiah Marcolin)





Sanctuary - Veil Of Disguise (Warrel Dane)





Crimson Glory - Painted Skies (Midnight)





Crimson Glory - Valhalla (Midnight)





Iced Earth - Dracula (Matt Barlow)





Blind Guardian - Age Of False Innocence (Hansi Kürsch)





Blind Guardian - Mirror Mirror (Hansi Kürsch)


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Thanks for sharing


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

NM156, I am not the audience for whom Metal is best attuned, but your selections certainly hit my sweet spot! Very tasty indeed!


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## Aerobat (Dec 31, 2018)

Also have a look at the early recordings by Nightwish. They've been through three singers but Tarja Turunen, the original, was really quite special. I have to be in the mood for Metal (I was a total metalhead in my teens), and these guys are one of the bands I enjoy the most.


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## NM 156 (Dec 16, 2020)

glad everyone is enjoying it! Metal is a vast genre, I think there is something for everyone!

I forgot about Nightwish, Tarja is a great singer, you have alot of trained singers in the symphonic metal sub-genre.

here is another trained singer I forgot about, a sort of romantic baritone

Kamelot - A Sailorman's Hymn (Roy Khan)





Conception - Roll The Fire (Roy Khan)





Conception - A Million Gods (Roy Khan)





this next singer did not have training but grew up playing horn instruments and listening to mario lanza, franco corelli and mario del monaco. so that is where his singing techniques are based, He is regarded as one of the best in metal.

Rainbow - Stargazer (Ronnie James Dio)





Rainbow - Man On The Silver Mountain (From "Live In Munich 1977)





Elf - Wonderworld (Ronnie James Dio)





Black Sabbath - Heaven and Hell (Ronnie James Dio)





Black Sabbath - Over and Over (Ronnie James Dio)


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## GucciManeIsTheNewWebern (Jul 29, 2020)

Rob Halford from Judas Priest needs a mention here. He spanned 6 full octaves in his prime, I'm pretty sure. Don't know if he was ever formally trained though.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

No Halford wasn't formally trained but his voice on many of the 70s Priest albums is phenomenal. Check out the studio version of Victim of Changes if you don't believe me. Sharon den Adel, of Within Temptation, never underwent any classical training but she stated in an interview, "I sung a short while in a choir but I'm mostly self-taught. I used to practice alone three or four hours per day." She's a natural mezzo-soprano with a vocal range of 2.8 octaves with her lowest note being a Eb3 to a soprano C6. She has quite a light voice for mezzo soprano but I've seen her live and she was note-perfect. She was so good I thought she was using a backing tape but she sang two songs acapello and they were absolutely stunning and pitch-perfect too. Agree about Tarja of Nightwish. Some of her vocals on the later Nightwish tracks are just stunning.

By the way, check out the video of Tommy Johannson (now of Sabaton) performing a cover of 'Money Money Money' by ABBA. He has some set of pipes and was originally a choirboy but I don't think he had any formal training otherwise . He's a tenor with a vocal range of A2-C6 (3 octaves 3 semitones). Quite a stunning vocal performance on this one. To me the number of octaves they can 'sing' means nothing (as these figures are clouded by the inclusion of screaming). It's the quality of the voice.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

AnnLouice Lögdlund from the avant-metal band, Diablo Swing Orchestra. She consistently performs with major opera companies in Sweden.






Kari Rueslåtten from Norway, and one time lead vocalist for groundbreaking metal band, The Third and the Mortal was classically trained.

Kari's replacement after she left, Ann-Mari Edvardsen, was also classically trained.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

Actually, the metal subgenres of symphonic metal, and to a lesser extent, progressive metal, are loaded with classically trained female vocalists. 

Simon Simmons (Dutch) - lead vocalist for: Epica, and has also collaborated with bands such as Kamelot, Leaves' Eyes, Primal Fear, Ayreon, and Angra.

Liv Kristine (Norwegian) - vocalist for: Theatre of Tragedy, Cradle Of Filth, Delain, Leaves' Eyes, Atrocity, Eluveitie, Midnattsol

Clementine Delauney (French) - Serenity, Visions of Atlantis, Exit Eden

Charlotte Wessels (Dutch) - Delain, To Elysium, Infernorama

Heidi Parviainen (Finnish) - Amberian Dawn, trained lyric soprano

Marcela Bovio (Mexican) - Ayreon, Elfonia, The Gentle Storm, Stream of Passion. Also an excellent violinist.

There are quite a few more.


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