Post by Henny Macc on Apr 24, 2020 4:40:52 GMT
Johannes Michael Gustaf Eckerström (July 2, 1986 - )
Years active: 2002-present
Country of origin: Sweden
Voice type: A barytone or whatever it's called
Recorded vocal range: B1-B♭5 (B1-A♯5) - 3.9 octaves
Band history:
- 2002-present - Avatar (lead vocals)
Recorded high notes:
A♯5/B♭5: "Chimp Mosh Pit" live at The Fillmore San Francisco 2023, "Let It Burn" live at Sticky Fingers 2012, "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" live Berkeley 2018
A5: "Chimp Mosh Pit" live Atlanta 2023, "Legend of the King", "Let It Burn" live at The Fillmore Silver Spring 2023, "Reload" live Norway Rock Festival 2018
G♯5/A♭5: "Chimp Mosh Pit" live Austin 2023, "For the Swarm" live Paris 2018, "King After King", "Let It Burn" live Paris 2018, "On the Other Side of Tonight", "Schlacht", "Smells Like a Freakshow" live Reading 2023, "Strife" live Berkeley 2018, "The Eagle Has Landed" live at The Fillmore Silver Spring 2023, "The End of Our Ride"
G5: "Breaking the Law" live Shiprocked 2017, "Clouds Dipped in Chrome", "Dance Devil Dance", "Die with Me", "I Still Hate You", "Let It Burn", "Make It Rain", "Reload", "Roadkill", "Schlacht", "Wild Flower"
F♯5/G♭5: "All Which Is Black", "Bloody Angel" live Paris 2018, "Clouds Dipped in Chrome", "Deeper Down", "Do You Feel in Control?", "Hazmat Suit", "Letters from Neverend", "Napalm" live from Avatar Ages: Madness 2021, "Slave Hive Meltdown", "Smells Like a Freakshow" live Paris 2018, "The Eagle Has Landed" live Edinburgh 2022, "When All But Force Is Lost"
F5: "All Hail the Queen", "As It Is", "Bound to the Wall", "Clouds Dipped in Chrome", "Dance Devil Dance", "Deeper Down", "Die with Me", "Hail the Apocalypse" live at The Anthem 2023, "I Still Hate You", "Letters from Neverend", "My Lie", "One/One/One/Three", "Pray the Sun Away", "Schlacht", "Slave Hive Meltdown", "Stranger", "The End of Our Ride", "The King Wants You", "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country" live Paris 2018, "The Willy", "War Song", "Wildflower"
E5: "A Statue of the King", "Breaking the Law" live Shiprocked 2017, "Child", "Chimp Mosh Pit", "Do You Feel in Control?", "4 AM Breakdown", "Make It Rain", "On the Other Side of Tonight", "Schlacht", "For the Swarm"
D♯5/E♭5: "All Hail the Queen", "All Which Is Black", "And I Bid You Farewell", "As It Is", "A Statue of the King", "Bound to the Wall", "Clouds Dipped in Chrome", "Die with Me", "4 AM Breakdown", "I Still Hate You", "Letters from Neverend", "My Shining Star", "One/One/One/Three", "Pray the Sun Away", "Queen of Blades", "Reload", "Roadkill", "Schlacht", "Slave Hive Meltdown", "Stranger", "The End of Our Ride", "The Great Pretender", "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country", "The Skinner", "The Willy", "Use and Abuse", "War Song", "When Your Darkest Hour Comes", "Wild Flower"
D5: "And I Bid You Farewell", "As It Is", "Dance Devil Dance", "Do You Feel in Control?", "Gotta Wanna Riot", "Hazmat Suit", "Justice", "Make It Rain", "On the Other Side of Tonight", "Silence in the Age of Apes", "The King Wants You", "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country", "One More Hill", "The Willy"
C♯5/D♭5: "All Hail the Queen", "A Statue of the King", "Bound to the Wall", "Chimp Mosh Pit", "Colossus", "Cruel and Unusual", "Deeper Down", "Going Hunting", "Last One Standing", "My Lie", "New Land", "On the Other Side of Tonight", "Scream Until You Wake", "Slave Hive Meltdown", "Stranger", "The Eagle Has Landed" live at The Fillmore Silver Spring 2023, "The Skinner", "War Song", "When Your Darkest Hour Comes"
C5: "All Which Is Black", "And I Bid You Farewell", "As It Is", "Breaking the Law" live Shiprocked 2017, "Bound to the Wall", "Child", "Die with Me", "4 AM Breakdown", "God of Sick Dreams", "Gotta Wanna Riot", "Hail the Apocalypse" live Paris 2018, "House of Eternal Hunt", "I Still Hate You", "Last One Standing", "Legend of the King", "Letters from Neverend", "My Lie", "My Shining Star", "One/One/One/Three", "Pray the Sun Away", "Puppet Show" live at Pol'and'Rock 2019, "Queen of Blades", "Schlacht", "Slave Hive Meltdown", "Smells Like a Freakshow" live Reading 2023, "Stranger", "The Eagle Has Landed" live acoustic on WGRD 2016, "The End of Our Ride", "The Great Pretender", "The Skinner", "Violence No Matter What", "The Willy", "Wild Flower"
B4: "A Statue of the King", "Cruel and Unusual", "Do You Feel in Control?", "For the Swarm", "King After King", "Justice", "Make It Rain", "Napalm" live from Avatar Ages: Madness 2021, "New Land", "One More Hill", "On the Beach", "Scream Until You Wake", "The Dirt I'm Buried In", "The Eagle Has Landed" live Paris 2018, "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country", "Tsar Bomba" Auto-Cappella session 2019, "Valley of Disease", "Violence No Matter What", "Wormhole"
A♯4/B♭4: "Cruel and Unusual", "Dance Devil Dance", "Death of Sound", "Going Hunting", "I Still Hate You", "One More Hill", "One/One/One/Three", "Pray the Sun Away", "Regret", "Something in the Way", "Tooth, Beak & Claw", "When the Snow Lies Red"
A4: "Barren Cloth Mother", "Black Waters", "Bloody Angel", "Cruel and Unusual", "Glory to Our King", "Gotta Wanna Riot", "Legend of the King", "New Land", "Night Never Ending", "Raven Wine", "Smells Like a Freakshow" live Paris 2018, "The Dirt I'm Buried In", "The Eagle Has Landed", "The King Wants You", "Tsar Bomba", "Valley of Disease", "When the Snow Lies Red"
G♯4/A♭4: "A Statue of the King", "Cruel and Unusual", "Death of Sound", "Fiddler's Farewell", "Going Hunting", "King After King", "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" live Berkeley 2018, "Puppet Show" live at Pol'and'Rock 2019, "Scream Until You Wake", "Queen of Blades", "Strife" live Berkeley 2018, "Torn Apart"
G4: "A Secret Door", "Black Waters", "Bloody Angel", "For the Swarm", "God of Sick Dreams", "Gun", "House of Eternal Hunt", "Justice", "Make It Rain", "New Land", "Night Never Ending", "Out of Our Minds", "Paint Me Red", "Raven Wine", "Revolution of Two", "Smells Like a Freakshow", "So Sang the Hollow", "The Eagle Has Landed", "The Great Pretender", "Tower", "Train", "Vultures Fly", "What I Don't Know", "Wormhole"
F♯4/G♭4: "Barren Cloth Mother", "Colossus", "Death of Sound", "Napalm", "New Land", "Revolution of Two", "Silence in the Age of Apes", "Strife" live Berkeley 2018, "The Dirt I'm Buried In", "The Eagle Has Landed", "Violence No Matter What", "What I Don't Know"
Recorded low notes:
D3: "A Secret Door", "Child", "Let It Burn", "Make It Rain", "Paint Me Red" live Paris 2018, "Spårvagnschauffören" live at SiriusXM Studios 2016, "Tower"
C♯3/D♭3: "King's Harvest", "Puppet Show", "Strife" live Berkeley 2018, "Torn Apart" live at Sticky Fingers 2012
C3: "Clouds Dipped in Chrome", "Going Hunting", "Lullaby (Death All Over)", "Spårvagnschauffören" live at SiriusXM Studios 2016, "Use and Abuse", "Use Your Tongue", "When the Snow Lies Red"
B2: "A Secret Door", "Black Waltz", "Colossus", "Cruel and Unusual", "For the Swarm", "Gun", "Murderer", "One Touch", "Sky Burial", "Smells Like a Freakshow", "The Dirt I'm Buried In", "What I Don't Know", "Wormhole"
A♯2/B♭2: "Going Hunting", "Smells Like a Freakshow" live acoustic on 95 WIIL Rock 2015, "Something in the Way"
A2: "Get in Line", "Gotta Wanna Riot", "House of Eternal Hunt", "Let It Burn" live Paris 2018, "Murderer", "New Land", "One More Hill", "Revolution of Two", "Smells Like a Freakshow" live acoustic on 100.3 the X, "Spårvagnschauffören" live SiriusXM Studios 2016, "The King Wants You", "Train", "What I Don't Know", "When the Snow Lies Red"
G♯2/A♭2: "Barren Cloth Mother", "Construction of Souls", "King After King", "Pray the Sun Away", "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country", "Torn Apart"
G2: "Bound to the Wall", "Going Hunting", "Gun", "Let It Burn" live Paris 2018, "Murderer", "Napalm" live from Avatar Ages: Madness 2021, "Spårvagnschauffören" live at SiriusXM Studios 2016, "Sky Burial", "The Eagle Has Landed" live at SiriusXM Studios 2016, "Tooth, Beak & Claw"
F♯2/G♭2: "Black Waltz", "Bloody Angel" live acoustic on 95 WIIL Rock 2015, "Dying to See You Dead", "Napalm" live from Avatar Ages: Madness 2021, "New Land", "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country" live Paris 2018
F2: "The King Wants You"
E2: "Bloody Angel", "Child", "King After King", "Let It Burn", "Murderer", "So Sang the Hollow", "The Eagle Has Landed" live acoustic on WGRD 2016, "Tower", "Vultures Fly"
D♯2/E♭2: "As It Is", "Colossus", "Let It Burn", "Tooth, Beak & Claw", "Train"
D2: "Cruel and Unusual", "Dying to See You Dead", "Gotta Wanna Riot", "Justice", "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country" live acoustic 2018, "Tower", "Vultures Fly"
C♯2/D♭2: "Justice", "Train"
C2: "As It Is", "Use Your Tongue", "When the Snow Lies Red"
B1: "Colossus", "The Dirt I'm Buried In"
{Questionable notes}
G1: "Revolution of Two"
G1: "Revolution of Two"
.......................................................
*Blue marks soft falsetto notes.
*Green marks harsh distorted notes.
*Grey marks heavily fryish notes.
*Italics mark non-sung notes.
*Underlines mark notes found in backing vocals or otherwise obscured in the song mix.
{Detailed bio}
Best known as the frontman for Swedish avant-garde/progressive metal band Avatar, Johannes Eckerström utilizes a prominent variety of ranges and vocal approaches in his music. He is well recognized for his versatility - frequently jumping between clean melodic singing, heavy distorted belting, intensely powerful harsh vocals, and wild false cord screaming in many of Avatar's songs. His melodic range can be quite extensive, and can stretch between some very powerful fourth octave notes, impressively resonant and controlled fifth octave notes, and fairly solid and well-used notes throughout the second octave. Granted, he seems to sometimes start to lose power below E2 or so (which is somewhat surprising for a baritone such as himself), and his mid range singing can be noticeably pitchy at times, but he is still quite an admirable vocalist overall with a range well worth documenting.
When Johannes first co-founded Avatar in 2001, they were a straight up melodic death metal band, and utilized almost exclusively harsh vocals in their music. During these early years of the band, Johannes really showcased the full extent of his harsh vocal and screaming range, frequently using a very shrill, distorted high register that had him stretching well into the mid fifth octave and beyond. These served as the characteristic features of the vocals on Avatar's first two albums - 2006's Thoughts of No Tomorrow and 2007's Schlact, as well as the 2004 EP 4 Reasons to Die. Melodic vocals were rare on these releases, and much of the band's music was very spastic and wild, with far less stylistic variation than the band would later become known for.
Avatar's 2009 self-titled album served as something of a turning point for the band's style, as well for as for Johannes vocally. It was on this album that the band shifted to a more melodic heavy metal/progressive metal sound, with a much wider range of dynamics and musical moods than they had shown before. Johannes also began to sing more melodically during this time, and achieved a somewhat even balance between harsh vocals and clean melodic singing for the songs on this album. However, for his clean singing he still retained much of his tessitura from the previous albums, meaning that he was now singing fifth octave melodies on many songs with surprising head voice control. This resulted in some of the highest song melodies in Avatar's discography - most prominently heard on the songs "Roadkill" and "Reload", which have choruses sung all the way up to G5! In between these high passages and harsh vocals though, Johannes also started to showcase his significantly darker-sounding chest voice range, which would become a major part of his signature sound later on.
In 2012, Avatar released their fourth album, Black Waltz, which saw them evolve into what has since become their classic sound - essentially a blend of some elements of extreme metal, industrial metal, nu metal, progressive metal and sometimes even symphonic metal or power metal. In accordance, Johannes' vocal style shifted once more to reflect this - from this album onward, he began to mostly stray away from his previous high-pitched screaming, and mostly targeted his clean singing between the second octave and lower fifth octave. His cleaner singing, in turn, began to become more dramatic and theatrical from this album onward, which also reflected some of developing themes in the band's style. In addition to this, however, he also still retained some of his more intense harsh vocals, and still frequently incorporated these into more death metal-oriented songs as well - sometimes performing entire songs in that register, such as "Blod" and "Ready for the Ride".
Black Waltz also saw Johannes adopting a new stage appearance, starting with the music video for the title track, in which he donned a sort of clown-esque face paint, somewhat reminiscent of the character The Crow. This has since become his signature look for all concerts, music videos, and photo shoots with the band, and is now something that Avatar is widely recognized for. Avatar has since released four more studio albums - 2014's Hail the Apocalypse, 2016's Feathers & Flesh, 2018's Avatar Country, and most recently, Hunter Gatherer in 2020. The band's style (as well as Johannes' vocal style) has stayed mostly consistent since Black Waltz, but each new release has featured lots of variation and versatility within that style, which always keeps the listener on their toes in terms of what to expect. One particularly interesting recent surprise was the song "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country", in which Johannes sings melodies up to D5 and E♭5 in a rough, scratchy high register that some have compared to Brian Johnson of AC/DC!
Please note that for the songs off Avatar's first two albums, I have the sung/not sung markings applied very liberally, as it's hard to distinguish what exactly qualifies as singing vs. straight up screaming on those ones. I also do not guarantee 100% accuracy with all of the pitching I did for them, as a lot of the vocal passages are so manic that it's hard to get an exact pitch on them or figure out what to count them as.
Best known as the frontman for Swedish avant-garde/progressive metal band Avatar, Johannes Eckerström utilizes a prominent variety of ranges and vocal approaches in his music. He is well recognized for his versatility - frequently jumping between clean melodic singing, heavy distorted belting, intensely powerful harsh vocals, and wild false cord screaming in many of Avatar's songs. His melodic range can be quite extensive, and can stretch between some very powerful fourth octave notes, impressively resonant and controlled fifth octave notes, and fairly solid and well-used notes throughout the second octave. Granted, he seems to sometimes start to lose power below E2 or so (which is somewhat surprising for a baritone such as himself), and his mid range singing can be noticeably pitchy at times, but he is still quite an admirable vocalist overall with a range well worth documenting.
When Johannes first co-founded Avatar in 2001, they were a straight up melodic death metal band, and utilized almost exclusively harsh vocals in their music. During these early years of the band, Johannes really showcased the full extent of his harsh vocal and screaming range, frequently using a very shrill, distorted high register that had him stretching well into the mid fifth octave and beyond. These served as the characteristic features of the vocals on Avatar's first two albums - 2006's Thoughts of No Tomorrow and 2007's Schlact, as well as the 2004 EP 4 Reasons to Die. Melodic vocals were rare on these releases, and much of the band's music was very spastic and wild, with far less stylistic variation than the band would later become known for.
Avatar's 2009 self-titled album served as something of a turning point for the band's style, as well for as for Johannes vocally. It was on this album that the band shifted to a more melodic heavy metal/progressive metal sound, with a much wider range of dynamics and musical moods than they had shown before. Johannes also began to sing more melodically during this time, and achieved a somewhat even balance between harsh vocals and clean melodic singing for the songs on this album. However, for his clean singing he still retained much of his tessitura from the previous albums, meaning that he was now singing fifth octave melodies on many songs with surprising head voice control. This resulted in some of the highest song melodies in Avatar's discography - most prominently heard on the songs "Roadkill" and "Reload", which have choruses sung all the way up to G5! In between these high passages and harsh vocals though, Johannes also started to showcase his significantly darker-sounding chest voice range, which would become a major part of his signature sound later on.
In 2012, Avatar released their fourth album, Black Waltz, which saw them evolve into what has since become their classic sound - essentially a blend of some elements of extreme metal, industrial metal, nu metal, progressive metal and sometimes even symphonic metal or power metal. In accordance, Johannes' vocal style shifted once more to reflect this - from this album onward, he began to mostly stray away from his previous high-pitched screaming, and mostly targeted his clean singing between the second octave and lower fifth octave. His cleaner singing, in turn, began to become more dramatic and theatrical from this album onward, which also reflected some of developing themes in the band's style. In addition to this, however, he also still retained some of his more intense harsh vocals, and still frequently incorporated these into more death metal-oriented songs as well - sometimes performing entire songs in that register, such as "Blod" and "Ready for the Ride".
Black Waltz also saw Johannes adopting a new stage appearance, starting with the music video for the title track, in which he donned a sort of clown-esque face paint, somewhat reminiscent of the character The Crow. This has since become his signature look for all concerts, music videos, and photo shoots with the band, and is now something that Avatar is widely recognized for. Avatar has since released four more studio albums - 2014's Hail the Apocalypse, 2016's Feathers & Flesh, 2018's Avatar Country, and most recently, Hunter Gatherer in 2020. The band's style (as well as Johannes' vocal style) has stayed mostly consistent since Black Waltz, but each new release has featured lots of variation and versatility within that style, which always keeps the listener on their toes in terms of what to expect. One particularly interesting recent surprise was the song "The King Welcomes You to Avatar Country", in which Johannes sings melodies up to D5 and E♭5 in a rough, scratchy high register that some have compared to Brian Johnson of AC/DC!
Please note that for the songs off Avatar's first two albums, I have the sung/not sung markings applied very liberally, as it's hard to distinguish what exactly qualifies as singing vs. straight up screaming on those ones. I also do not guarantee 100% accuracy with all of the pitching I did for them, as a lot of the vocal passages are so manic that it's hard to get an exact pitch on them or figure out what to count them as.
{Album ranges}
Avatar:
Avatar:
- Thoughts of No Tomorrow (2006) - G2-F♯5
- Schlact (2007) - C2-G♯5
- Avatar (2009) - A2-G5
- Black Waltz (2012) - C2-D2-G5
- Hail the Apocalypse (2014) - D2-B♭4
- Feathers & Flesh (2016) - C2-F♯2-F5
- Avatar Country (2018) - E2-A5
- The King Live in Paris (2019) - D2-G♯5
- Hunter Gatherer (2020) - B1-D5-F♯5
{Best displays of vocal range}
"As It Is" (C2-F5)
"Let It Burn" (E♭2-G5)
"King After King" (E2-B4-G♯5)
"Colossus" (B1-C♯5)
"Justice" (C♯2-D5)
"Child" (E2-C5-E5)
"When the Snow Lies Red" (C2-A2-B♭4)
"Pray the Sun Away" (G♯2-F5)
"Tooth, Beak & Claw" (E♭2-B♭4)
"New Land" (F♯2-B4-C♯5)
"As It Is" (C2-F5)
"Let It Burn" (E♭2-G5)
"King After King" (E2-B4-G♯5)
"Colossus" (B1-C♯5)
"Justice" (C♯2-D5)
"Child" (E2-C5-E5)
"When the Snow Lies Red" (C2-A2-B♭4)
"Pray the Sun Away" (G♯2-F5)
"Tooth, Beak & Claw" (E♭2-B♭4)
"New Land" (F♯2-B4-C♯5)
