Post by falsetokaiba on Sept 22, 2019 22:03:52 GMT
Timo Antero Kotipelto (15 March 1969 -)Years Active: 1982 - present
Associated Acts: Stratovarius (1994 - present), Kotipelto (2001 - present, on hiatus post-2008), Cain's Offering (2008 - present), Kotipelto & Liimatainen (2012 - present)
Vocal Range: E2 - G♯5 (3 Octaves + 4 Semitones)
{Vocal Analysis}Timo Kotipelto fits largely into the mould of a traditional power metal vocalist, with the defining feature of his voice being his mixed belting register, stylistically comparable to Michael Kiske or Geoff Tate. Kotipelto’s mix has usually capped consistently at F♯5, with most of his notes above that being brief and appearing to stretch him to his limits, though he has shown the capability to mix up to G♯5 even performing live. Kotipelto's fairly 'bright' tone and relative ease in fashioning a capable fifth octave mix with no known formal vocal training reveals his natural placement as a tenor; his tessitura would not appear to have lowered greatly with age, retaining his usual tone up to the present day. Most of his strongest and highest-ranging performances have come on Stratovarius’ mid-1990s to early 2000s studio albums, boasting his best singing from E5-F♯5. Kotipelto is somewhat more conservative with his range today, rarely venturing above E♭5, although he remains solid in the upper fourth and early fifth octave up to which his vocal melodies still often reach, and showed as recently as 2015 retention of the ability to sustain strong notes up to F♯5. In some respects, Kotipelto possesses impressive agility in his upper register, being able to transition from belting in the fourth octave to hold standalone climactic fifth octave high notes. However, his technique coupled with his heavy accent can at times lead to an awkwardness when attempting to sing a fluid melody from the upper fourth octave up into the fifth whilst maintaining his diction in English, a problem more noticeable from the early 2000s onwards since losing some of that initial vocal sprightliness of youth since accumulating more miles on the clock.
Kotipelto’s accent is somewhat less pronounced away from his upper register, and he possesses a comfortable mid-range which he has worked on integrating more into his singing as time has passed, preventing himself from becoming too quickly tired out by more relentlessly high melodies. His third octave tone is relaxed and he more frequently now demonstrates the capacity to sing softly and comfortably up to the mid-fourth octave. Although much of Stratovarius’ early discography featured wall-to-wall high singing, Kotipelto did show some natural aptitude for lower singing in the 1990s and early 2000s, with solid notes down to A2 and melodic low singing bottoming at G♯2. He has taken a greater interest in utilising his lower register as time has passed, likewise with mid-range as to give his higher register a break during performances as well as with a changing stylistic approach. The 2012 unplugged album Blackoustic featured perhaps Kotipelto’s most consistent outing for his lower register, including comfortable singing down to G2. Kotipelto’s lowest note to date is a comedic but passably low-larynxed E2, and his most recent studio album with Stratovarius continued to feature lows down to A2.
Overall, Timo is far from a perfect vocalist, but should not be overlooked in helping shape the face of power metal from the early 1990s onwards, delivering some great performances along the way, and he remains a solid vocalist today, learning better with the passage of time to mould his music to fit his voice rather than attempting to do the opposite.
Kotipelto’s accent is somewhat less pronounced away from his upper register, and he possesses a comfortable mid-range which he has worked on integrating more into his singing as time has passed, preventing himself from becoming too quickly tired out by more relentlessly high melodies. His third octave tone is relaxed and he more frequently now demonstrates the capacity to sing softly and comfortably up to the mid-fourth octave. Although much of Stratovarius’ early discography featured wall-to-wall high singing, Kotipelto did show some natural aptitude for lower singing in the 1990s and early 2000s, with solid notes down to A2 and melodic low singing bottoming at G♯2. He has taken a greater interest in utilising his lower register as time has passed, likewise with mid-range as to give his higher register a break during performances as well as with a changing stylistic approach. The 2012 unplugged album Blackoustic featured perhaps Kotipelto’s most consistent outing for his lower register, including comfortable singing down to G2. Kotipelto’s lowest note to date is a comedic but passably low-larynxed E2, and his most recent studio album with Stratovarius continued to feature lows down to A2.
Overall, Timo is far from a perfect vocalist, but should not be overlooked in helping shape the face of power metal from the early 1990s onwards, delivering some great performances along the way, and he remains a solid vocalist today, learning better with the passage of time to mould his music to fit his voice rather than attempting to do the opposite.
Significant High Notes:
G♯5 ("Black Diamond" (Live Wacken 2005))
G5 ("The Flame", "Learning to Fly", "Metanol Man", "Paradise", "Puppet")
F♯5 ("Blackout", "Elements", "Father Time" Live Rio de Janeiro 1997, "Maniac Dance", "Forever Free", "I'm Still Alive", "Season of Change", "Stormcrow", "Take Me Away", "Visions (Southern Cross)", "Will the Sun Rise?")
F5 ("Against the Wind", "Awaken the Giant", "Beginning", "The Curtains Are Falling", "Evening's Fall", "False News Travels Fast", "Invisible Power", "Legions", "Lord of Eternity", "Night Time Eclipse", "Out of the White Hole", "Reasons")
E5 ("030366", "Around", "Battle of the Gods", "Black Diamond", "Evil's Gone", "Father Time", "Find Your Own Voice", "The Flame", "Forever Is Today", "Freedom", "Have No Fear", "Into Deep Blue", "I Will Stay" (Live with Leningrad Cowboys), "Know the Difference", "Metanol Man", "No Turning Back", "One Must Fall", "Out of the White Hole ", "S.O.S.", "Take Me Away", "Travel Through Time", "Visions (Southern Cross)", "What Can I Say?", "Will the Sun Rise?")
E♭5 ("4000 Rainy Nights", "Abyss of Your Eyes", "Against the Wind", "Angels Will Cry", "Arise", "Around", "Babylon", "Before the Winter", "Blackout", "Chosen By Re", "Cold Winter Nights", "Coming Home", "The Curtains Are Falling", "Destiny", "Eternity", "Event Horizon", "False News Travels Fast", "Fantasy", "Forever Free", "Future Shock '96", "Glory of the World", "Götterdämmerung (Zenith of Power)" "Hunter", "Hunting High and Low", "If the Story Is Over", "Infernal Maze", "Infinity", "Intro" ('Waiting for the Dawn' track), "Invisible Power", "Journey Back", "Legions", "Let's Have A Party" (Live with Leningrad Cowboys), "Liberty", "Lord of Eternity", "The Lost Saga", "Millennium", "Morpheus In A Masquerade", "Movement of the Nile", "Night Time Eclipse", "No Turning Back", "Papillon", "Paradise", "Phoenix", "Season of Change", "Second Sight", "Shine in the Dark", "Singer's Chance", "Tomorrow", "Uncertainty", "Vapaus", "Venus in the Morning", "Winter", "Years Gone By")
D5 ("After the Rain", "Beauty Has Come", "Beginning", "Burn" (Live Verkatehdas Hämeenlinna 26.8.2014), "Burn Me Down", "Dawn of Solace", "Distant Skies", "Dragons", "The End You'll Only Know", "Evil's Gone", "Father Time", "The Flame", "Freedom", "Infinity", "Into the Blue", "I Will Stay" (Live with Leningrad Cowboys), "Keep the Flame", "King Anti-Midas", "Know the Difference", "My Queen of Winter", "Puppet", "Somehow Precious", "Spark", "Stolen Waters", "Tale Untold", "Thorn In My Side", "The Trooper" (Live with Brothers In Arms), "Twilight Symphony", "Visions (Southern Cross)", "What Can I Say?", "When the Night Meets the Day", "Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace?")
C♯5 ("030366", "4000 Rainy Nights", "Abandon", "Abyss of Your Eyes", "Alpha & Omega", "Antemortem", "Anthem of the World", "Arise", "Babylon", "Back to Madness", "Battle of the Gods", "Black Diamond", "Blind", "Can You Hear the Sound", "Castaway", "Celestial Dream", "Chosen By Re", "Coming Home", "Deep Unknown", "Destiny", "Dragons", "Dreams and Reality", "Dream With Me", "A Drop in the Ocean", "Elements", "Elysium (Parts I & III)", "Eternity", "Evening's Fall", "Falling Into Fantasy", "Falling Star", "Fantasia", "Few Are Those", "Find Your Own Voice", "Forever Is Today", "Galaxies", "Higher We Go", "Hunter", "Hunting High and Low", "Glory of the World", "I Walk to My Own Song", "If the Story Is Over", "I'm Still Alive", "In My Line of Work", "Infernal Maze", "Into Deep Blue", "It's A Mystery", "I Will Build You A Rome", "Journey Back", "Just Carry On", "Kill It With Fire", "King of Nothing", "The Kiss of Judas", "Knowledge and Wisdom", "Learning to Fly", "Leave the Tribe", "Lifetime in a Moment", "Lord of the Wasteland", "Millennium", "Morpheus In A Masquerade", "Mother Gaia", "Move the Mountain", "Mr Know-It-All", "Nemesis", "Neon Light Child", "Night Time Eclipse", "No Turning Back", "Oceans of Regret", "One Must Fall", "Out of the White Hole", "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Live with Tarja Turunen 11.06.2016), "Paradise", "Perfect Strangers" From 'Blackoustic', "Phoenix", "Playing with Fire", "Reasons", "Rebel", "Rising Sun", "Run Away", "Season of Change", "Season of Faith's Perfection", "Second Sight", "Seeds of Sorrow", "Shine in the Dark", "S.O.S.", "Speed of Light", "Stormcrow", "Thorn In My Side", "Tomorrow", "Travel Through Time", "Uncertainty", "Under Flaming Skies", "United", "Vizier", "Venus in the Morning", "Waiting For the Dawn", "We Hold the Key", "Why Are We Here?", "Winter", "Years Gone By")
C5 ("Aces High" (Live with Brothers In Arms), "Angels Will Cry", "Battle of the Gods", "Bloodstone", "Burn" (Live Verkatehdas Hämeenlinna 26.8.2014), "Child of the Wild", "Darkest Hours", "Dawn of Solace", "Deep Unknown", "Eagleheart", "Elysium (Part II)", "Enigma", "Eye of the Storm", "Fantasy", "Feeding the Fire", "Forever Free", "Freedom", "Giants", "Invisible Power", "I Will Stay" (Live with Leningrad Cowboys), "Karjalan Kunnailla" From 'Blackoustic', "King Anti-Midas", "Legions", "Let's Have A Party" (Live with Leningrad Cowboys), "Liberty", "Luminous", "Metanol Man", "More Than Friends", "My Eternal Dream", "My Queen of Winter", "Out of the Fog", "Playing with Fire", "Puppet", "Rise Above It", "Ronnie James Biojäteastia", "Serenity", "Singer's Chance", "Somehow Precious", "Stolen Waters", "Vapaus")
B4 ("4000 Rainy Nights", "Abandon", "Abyss of Your Eyes", "After the Rain", "Against the Wind", "Alone" (Live Milan acoustic 09.04.2016), "Around", "Back to Madness", "Before the Winter", "The Best of Times", "Beyond Dreams", "Black Diamond", "Blind", "Can You Hear the Sound", "Castaway", "Castles in the Air", "Celestial Dream", "Chosen By Re", "Cold Kiss", "Coldness of My Mind", "Cold Winter Nights", "Darkest Hours", "Destiny", "Distant Skies", "Dragons", "Dreams and Reality", "Dream With Me", "Dreamweaver", "A Drop in the Ocean", "Elysium (Parts I & II)", "Emancipation Suite Part I: Dusk", "Emancipation Suite Part II: Dawn", "Eternity", "Evening's Fall", "Event Horizon", "Fairness Justified", "Fantasia", "Father Time", "Few Are Those", "Forever Is Today", "Galaxies", "The Game Never Ends", "Glory of the World", "Gypsy In Me", "Halcyon Days", "Hollowed", "Hunter", "Hunting High and Low", "Infinity", "Into Deep Blue", "Into the Blue", "I Surrender" (Live, 'Intermission' version), "I Will Build You A Rome", "If the Story Is Over", "Journey Back", "Just Carry On", "King of Nothing", "The Kiss of Judas", "Last Defender", "Leave the Tribe", "Lifetime in a Moment", "Lord of Eternity", "Lord of the Wasteland", "Morpheus In A Masquerade", "Mother Gaia", "Move the Mountain", "Mr Know-It-All", "Neon Light Child", "Night Time Eclipse", "A Night to Forget", "No Turning Back", "Oblivion", "Oceans of Regret", "Once Upon A Time", "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Live with Tarja Turunen 11.06.2016), "Perfect Strangers" From 'Blackoustic', "Playing with Fire", "Season of Change", "Season of Faith's Perfection", "Seeds of Sorrow", "Sleep Well", "Snowbound", "S.O.S.", "Soul of a Vagabond", "Spark", "Speed of Light", "Stolen Waters", "Stormcrow", "Take Me Away", "Tale Untold", "Tomorrow", "Too Tired To Run", "Travel Through Time", "Twilight Symphony", "Uncertainty", "Under Flaming Skies", "United", "Venus in the Morning", "Visions (Southern Cross)", "Vizier", "Waiting For the Dawn", "What Can I Say?", "When the Night Meets the Day", "Why Are We Here?", "Will My Soul Ever Rest In Peace?", "Will the Sun Rise?", "Winter")
B♭4 ("030366", "Alpha & Omega", "Antemortem", "Arise", "Awaken the Giant", "Babylon", "Beauty Has Come", "The Best of Times", "Blackout", "Bloodstone", "Child of the Wild", "City of Mysteries", "Cold Kiss", "Coming Home", "Constellation of Tears", "The Curtains Are Falling", "Dawn of Solace", "Eagleheart", "Elements", "Elysium (Parts II & III)", "Emancipation Suite Part I: Dusk", "Emancipation Suite Part II: Dawn", "The End You'll Only Know", "Enigma", "Eye of the Storm", "Fairness Justified", "Falling Into Fantasy", "Falling Star", "Feeding the Fire", "Fight!!!", "Fireborn", "Future Shock '96", "Giants", "Götterdämmerung (Zenith of Power)", "Here We Are", "Higher We Go", "Hollowed", "Holy Diver" (Live acoustic 2017, "In My Line of Work", "It's A Mystery", "Kill It With Fire", "Last Defender", "Learning to Fly", "Liberty", "The Lost Saga", "Man in the Mirror", "Millennium", "More Than Friends", "Movement of the Nile", "My Eternal Dream", "Nemesis", "Oceans of Regret", "Old Man and the Sea", "Once Upon A Time", "On the Shore", "Out In the Fields" From 'Blackoustic', "Out of the Fog", "Playing with Fire", "Reasons", "Rising Sun", "Run Away", "Second Sight", "Serenity", "Shine in the Dark", "Somehow Precious", "Stand My Ground", "Two Minutes To Midnight" (Live with Brothers In Arms), "Unbreakable", "Vapaus", "Waiting For the Dawn", "We Hold the Key", "Winter Skies")
A4 ("Alone" (Live Milan acoustic 09.04.2016), "Beyond Dreams", "Burn Me Down", "Can You Hear the Sound", "Coldness of My Mind", "Distant Skies", "Dreamweaver", "A Drop in the Ocean", "Evil's Gone", "Feeding the Fire", "Fire in Your Eyes", "Glory of the World", "Gypsy In Me", "Have No Fear", "Into the Blue", "I Surrender" (Live, 'Intermission' version), "Keep the Flame", "Knowledge and Wisdom", "Lord of Eternity", "Lost Without a Trace", "A Million Light Years Away", "Muukalainen", "My Heart Beats For No One", "My Queen of Winter", "Nemesis", "Oblivion", "One Must Fall", "Ronnie James Biojäteastia", "The Second Big Bang", "Seeds of Sorrow", "Singer's Chance", "Sleep Well", "Snowbound", "The Trooper" (Live with Brothers In Arms), "When Mountains Fall")
Significant Low Notes:
E3 ("Father Time", "Halcyon Days", "Hunting High and Low" From 'Blackoustic' "Into the Blue", "I Will Stay" (Live with Leningrad Cowboys), "Knowledge and Wisdom", "Matkaa Teen", "Metanol Man", "More Than Friends", "Stolen Waters", "Stormcrow", "Tale Untold", "Thorn In My Side", "Waiting For the Dawn")
E♭3 ("030366", "Babylon", "Back to Madness", "Behind Blue Eyes" From 'Blackoustic', "City of Mysteries", "The Curtains Are Falling", "Destiny", "Dream With Me", "Elysium (Part I)", "Emancipation Suite Part I: Dusk", "Emancipation Suite Part II: Dawn", "Eternity", "Falling Star", "Few Are Those", "Forever", "Hunter", "I Walk to My Own Song", "If the Story Is Over", "Leave the Tribe", "Movement of the Nile", "My Selene" From 'Blackoustic', "A Night to Forget", "Old Man and the Sea", "Papillon", "Paradise", "Rainbow Eyes" From 'Blackoustic', "Season of Change", "Season of Faith's Perfection", "Shine in the Dark", "Visions (Southern Cross)", "Waiting For the Dawn", "We Hold the Key", "When the Night Meets the Day")
D3 ("Elegantly Broken", "Enigma", "Into the Blue", "Knowledge and Wisdom", "Oceans of Regret", "Sait Kyyneleet", "Spark", "Stolen Waters")
C♯3 ("Babylon", "Behind Blue Eyes" From 'Blackoustic', "Castles in the Air", "Dream With Me", "If the Story Is Over", "More Than Friends", "Morpheus In A Masquerade", "Move the Mountain", "My Selene" From 'Blackoustic', "A Night to Forget", "Rainbow Eyes" From 'Blackoustic', "Serenity" From 'Blackoustic', "Stormcrow", "Venus in the Morning", "We Hold the Key", "Winter", "Why Are We Here?")
C3 ("All I Ask of You" Duet with Diandra 2014, "Fire in Your Eyes", "Invisible Power", "Karjalan Kunnailla" From 'Blackoustic', "Keep the Flame", "King Anti-Midas", "Out In the Fields" From 'Blackoustic', "Out of the White Hole ", "Where My Rainbow Ends")
B2 ("030366", "Elegantly Broken", "Morpheus In A Masquerade", "Too Tired To Run", "Venus in the Morning")
B♭2 ("Elysium: Part III", "Fairness Justified", "Karjalan Kunnailla" From 'Blackoustic', "Out In the Fields" From 'Blackoustic')
A2 ("Fire in Your Eyes", "Keep the Flame", "Out of the White Hole ", "Too Tired To Run", "Where My Rainbow Ends")
G♯2 ("All I Ask of You" Duet with Diandra 2014, "Venus In the Morning")
G2 ("I Wanna Love You Tender" Duet with Klaus Flaming 2002, "Where My Rainbow Ends")
E2 ("I Wanna Love You Tender" Duet with Klaus Flaming 2002)
Range-iest Song(s): "Out of the White Hole" (A2-F5, 2 Octaves + 8 Semitones)
{Questionable Notes}
B♭5 ("Tomorrow" [2a])
E5 ("My Queen of Winter" [1], "Welcome to Hellsinki" [2])
C♯5 ("The Second Big Bang" [2])
D3 ("Pieni Liekki" [2])
C3 ("After the Rain" [4], "Giants" [2])
B2 ("If the Story Is Over" [5a], "Twilight Symphony" [2])
B♭2 ("Giants" [2])
(There's also some really weird overtones on the E♭5 from Journey Back which make it sound deceptively like an E♭6, but having checked it an octave down using Audacity, it's definitely an E♭5.)
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
a. This note may be sung by Timo Tolkki.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
a. Currently on the fence about this note, as it's brief at the start of a new line, but it holds its pitch and tone fairly solidly, so I would be open to counting it.
B♭5 ("Tomorrow" [2a])
E5 ("My Queen of Winter" [1], "Welcome to Hellsinki" [2])
C♯5 ("The Second Big Bang" [2])
D3 ("Pieni Liekki" [2])
C3 ("After the Rain" [4], "Giants" [2])
B2 ("If the Story Is Over" [5a], "Twilight Symphony" [2])
B♭2 ("Giants" [2])
(There's also some really weird overtones on the E♭5 from Journey Back which make it sound deceptively like an E♭6, but having checked it an octave down using Audacity, it's definitely an E♭5.)
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacrusis and short dips in low range.
[2] marks notes of questionable identity that cannot be confirmed to be the singer in question.
a. This note may be sung by Timo Tolkki.
[3] marks non-melodic notes that don't have a significant enough pitch to warrant inclusion.
[4] marks notes that possess uncertain pitch or have been pitch-shifted.
[5] marks notes that do not fit the previous criteria but are not of a substantial enough quality to warrant counting towards the singer's range.
a. Currently on the fence about this note, as it's brief at the start of a new line, but it holds its pitch and tone fairly solidly, so I would be open to counting it.
{Notewatched Material/Album Ranges}
LPs:
With Stratovarius:
Fourth Dimension (1995) falsetokaiba B2-F5
Episode (1996) falsetokaiba C♯3-F♯5
Visions (1997) falsetokaiba E♭3-G5
Destiny (1998): clem G♯2-E5
Infinite (2000) falsetokaiba C♯3-E5
Elements Pt. 1 (2003) Gatr E♭3 - G5
Elements Pt. 2 (2003) Gatr E♭3 - F♯5
Stratovarius (2005) falsetokaiba E♭3-C♯5-E♭5-F♯5
Polaris (2009) falsetokaiba E♭3-E5
Elysium (2011): Zedd Squared B♭2-E♭5
Nemesis (2013): Zedd Squared C♯3-E♭5-E5
Eternal (2015): Zedd Squared A2-E♭5
With Kotipelto:
Waiting for the Dawn (2002) falsetokaiba D3-F♯3-F5
Coldness (2004) falsetokaiba F3-E5-F♯5
Serenity (2007) falsetokaiba C3-D5-E♭5
With Cain's Offering:
Gather the Faithful (2009) falsetokaiba B2-E♭5
Stormcrow (2015) falsetokaiba A2-F♯5
With Kotipelto & Liimatainen:
Blackoustic (2012) falsetokaiba G2-C5-C♯5
EPs/Compilations Containing Unreleased Original Material:
(Note that these do not include album ranges, given that the material for them was compiled from various albums and recording sessions, not recorded at any one time as you might expect with an ordinary album, so is not really reflective of the vocalist's singing at the year of its release.)
Intermission (2001) falsetokaiba
Enigma: Intermission 2 (2018) falsetokaiba
LPs:
With Stratovarius:
Fourth Dimension (1995) falsetokaiba B2-F5
Episode (1996) falsetokaiba C♯3-F♯5
Visions (1997) falsetokaiba E♭3-G5
Destiny (1998): clem G♯2-E5
Infinite (2000) falsetokaiba C♯3-E5
Elements Pt. 1 (2003) Gatr E♭3 - G5
Elements Pt. 2 (2003) Gatr E♭3 - F♯5
Stratovarius (2005) falsetokaiba E♭3-C♯5-E♭5-F♯5
Polaris (2009) falsetokaiba E♭3-E5
Elysium (2011): Zedd Squared B♭2-E♭5
Nemesis (2013): Zedd Squared C♯3-E♭5-E5
Eternal (2015): Zedd Squared A2-E♭5
With Kotipelto:
Waiting for the Dawn (2002) falsetokaiba D3-F♯3-F5
Coldness (2004) falsetokaiba F3-E5-F♯5
Serenity (2007) falsetokaiba C3-D5-E♭5
With Cain's Offering:
Gather the Faithful (2009) falsetokaiba B2-E♭5
Stormcrow (2015) falsetokaiba A2-F♯5
With Kotipelto & Liimatainen:
Blackoustic (2012) falsetokaiba G2-C5-C♯5
EPs/Compilations Containing Unreleased Original Material:
(Note that these do not include album ranges, given that the material for them was compiled from various albums and recording sessions, not recorded at any one time as you might expect with an ordinary album, so is not really reflective of the vocalist's singing at the year of its release.)
Intermission (2001) falsetokaiba
Enigma: Intermission 2 (2018) falsetokaiba
.......................................................
Blue marks clear falsetto notes.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix.
Italics mark non-melodic notes.
Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.
Finnish singer best known as the frontman and longest standing current member of power metal band Stratovarius. Kotipelto fits clearly into the archetype of the modern power metal vocalist, being mainly known for his quasi-operatic upper register imitative of Michael Kiske and Geoff Tate (though his pronounced accent has always been a feature of his singing.) Kotipelto's singing career has been one more of peaks and troughs rather than consistent improvement or decline- having suffered a bad dip in the early 2010s as a result of infection stemming from a bout of food poisoning, he has recovered pretty well and sounds solid for a guy who turns 50 in 2019, whilst his use of his mid and lower range has by and large improved with the passage of time. Still probably one of the most recognisable singers of his genre today, Kotipelto can be identified as a key part of the European power metal scene of the late 20th and early 21st century.
Big thanks to Zedd Squared, Gatr and clem for their help on this one!
