Post by Smitty. on Nov 27, 2020 18:40:57 GMT
Matthew Charles Sanders: (.31.7.1981)
Years Active: 1999 - Present
Associated Acts: Avenged Sevenfold, Fozzy, Slash
Vocal Range: D2 - A5
{Vocal Summary}Born and raised in California, Matt Sanders is a singer-songwriter, best known for fronting the American metal band, Avenged Sevenfold, performing under the stage name of "M. Shadows".
On the first two A7x albums ("Sounding the Seventh Trumpet '' and "Waking the Fallen ''), the band's music was rooted in more of a metalcore sound, with Matt interspersing clean singing with false-chord screams. Whilst his harsh vocals were fairly ordinary, Matt's melodic singing was abundant in potential, carrying his hefty, baritone timbre up to C5 with impressively smooth agility on a regular basis, both in the studio and on the stage. Whilst belting above the high C was something he definitely had in his arsenal, with the two part epic "I Won't See You Tonight" showcasing some climactic D5s and E♭5s, Shadows struggled to reproduce these upper reaches in live performances, tending to delegate those notes to the higher-voiced Jimmy "The Rev'' Sullivan.
In the lead-up to the band's third studio effort, "City of Evil", seen by many as their finest hour, Shadows sought tuition from Ron Anderson, known for coaching vocalists such as Chris Cornell and Axl Rose. Matt's voice became all the more flexible, handling brisk melodies with real aptitude, with a consistent, natural-sounding rasp through his belting register which gave his voice a very recognizable sound. 2005-2009 tends to be seen as Matt's vocal peak, with many of his standout vocal performances found on "City of Evil" and the band's self-titled follow-up record, and live performances from this period being near-studio quality at times.
Matt's flourishing vocal partnership with Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, was sadly cut short by the drummer's passing, and where the band had been layering harmony vocals on their self-titled studio album, they would move back towards lead vocal performances on "Nightmare" and "Hail to the King, with the overdubs being fewer as less prominent in the mix. Shadows would also begin using his mid-range more regularly and prominently on these releases. Speaking of harmonies, whilst a thoroughly chesty mix has been Shadows' weapon of choice throughout his career, he has been known to sing in falsetto in more distant overdubs, reaching up to A5 in the backing vocals of Guitar Hero anthem, "Beast and the Harlot".
The band's heavy touring schedule started to catch up with Shadows around 2014, sounding noticeably more fatigued in the live setting on nimble, high phrases present in songs like "Beast and the Harlot". Warning signs were also audible on Avenged's 2016 album, "The Stage". Whilst the vocals were still adequate on this record (actually proving more explorative in range than the previous record), they did sound more subdued and less vibrant than had been the case in the past, with the signature rasp toned down throughout. By 2018, Shadows was having a lot of trouble reproducing the high melodies of his back-catalogue live, and the following year the band opted to suspend touring whilst Matt rehabilitated his voice.
Overall, M. Shadows is an accomplished metal singer; one of the most iconic and recognizable of the 21st century so far. If his honky accent when singing, comparable to that of fellow Californian and Ron Anderson student, Axl Rose, isn't everyone's cup of tea, there's no overlooking his control over his instrument. Hopefully there is much more still to come from Matt as a singer, with glimpses into his relatively unexplored lower register yielding a potential new avenue for his voice in years to come. Written by clem
On the first two A7x albums ("Sounding the Seventh Trumpet '' and "Waking the Fallen ''), the band's music was rooted in more of a metalcore sound, with Matt interspersing clean singing with false-chord screams. Whilst his harsh vocals were fairly ordinary, Matt's melodic singing was abundant in potential, carrying his hefty, baritone timbre up to C5 with impressively smooth agility on a regular basis, both in the studio and on the stage. Whilst belting above the high C was something he definitely had in his arsenal, with the two part epic "I Won't See You Tonight" showcasing some climactic D5s and E♭5s, Shadows struggled to reproduce these upper reaches in live performances, tending to delegate those notes to the higher-voiced Jimmy "The Rev'' Sullivan.
In the lead-up to the band's third studio effort, "City of Evil", seen by many as their finest hour, Shadows sought tuition from Ron Anderson, known for coaching vocalists such as Chris Cornell and Axl Rose. Matt's voice became all the more flexible, handling brisk melodies with real aptitude, with a consistent, natural-sounding rasp through his belting register which gave his voice a very recognizable sound. 2005-2009 tends to be seen as Matt's vocal peak, with many of his standout vocal performances found on "City of Evil" and the band's self-titled follow-up record, and live performances from this period being near-studio quality at times.
Matt's flourishing vocal partnership with Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, was sadly cut short by the drummer's passing, and where the band had been layering harmony vocals on their self-titled studio album, they would move back towards lead vocal performances on "Nightmare" and "Hail to the King, with the overdubs being fewer as less prominent in the mix. Shadows would also begin using his mid-range more regularly and prominently on these releases. Speaking of harmonies, whilst a thoroughly chesty mix has been Shadows' weapon of choice throughout his career, he has been known to sing in falsetto in more distant overdubs, reaching up to A5 in the backing vocals of Guitar Hero anthem, "Beast and the Harlot".
The band's heavy touring schedule started to catch up with Shadows around 2014, sounding noticeably more fatigued in the live setting on nimble, high phrases present in songs like "Beast and the Harlot". Warning signs were also audible on Avenged's 2016 album, "The Stage". Whilst the vocals were still adequate on this record (actually proving more explorative in range than the previous record), they did sound more subdued and less vibrant than had been the case in the past, with the signature rasp toned down throughout. By 2018, Shadows was having a lot of trouble reproducing the high melodies of his back-catalogue live, and the following year the band opted to suspend touring whilst Matt rehabilitated his voice.
Overall, M. Shadows is an accomplished metal singer; one of the most iconic and recognizable of the 21st century so far. If his honky accent when singing, comparable to that of fellow Californian and Ron Anderson student, Axl Rose, isn't everyone's cup of tea, there's no overlooking his control over his instrument. Hopefully there is much more still to come from Matt as a singer, with glimpses into his relatively unexplored lower register yielding a potential new avenue for his voice in years to come. Written by clem
{Album Ranges}With Avenged Sevenfold:
Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (2000): B♭2 - B2 - D5 - E5
Waking The Fallen (2003): C3 - D3 - E♭5 - E5
City Of Evil (2005): D2 - F2 - F♯5 - A5
Avenged Sevenfold (2007): D2 - A2 - C♯5 - F♯5
Nightmare (2010): F2 - A2 - C5 - F5
Hail To The King (2013): E♭2 - F2 - B4 - D5
The Stage (2016): D2 - F2 - D5
Life is But a Dream... (2023): E2 - F♯2 - D5
Sounding The Seventh Trumpet (2000): B♭2 - B2 - D5 - E5
Waking The Fallen (2003): C3 - D3 - E♭5 - E5
City Of Evil (2005): D2 - F2 - F♯5 - A5
Avenged Sevenfold (2007): D2 - A2 - C♯5 - F♯5
Nightmare (2010): F2 - A2 - C5 - F5
Hail To The King (2013): E♭2 - F2 - B4 - D5
The Stage (2016): D2 - F2 - D5
Life is But a Dream... (2023): E2 - F♯2 - D5
Significant High Notes:
A5 ( "Bat Country" Live Warped Tour 2005, "Beast And The Harlot")
G♯5 ("Beast And The Harlot" Live Warped Tour 2006, "Falling Away From Me" Live Download Festival 2006)
G5 ("Bat Country", "Betrayed", "Sidewinder")
F♯5 ("Almost Easy", "Blinded In Chains", "Critical Acclaim" Live @ The LBC 2008)
F5 ("4:00 AM", "Afterlife" Live Sonisphere 2009, "Beast And The Harlot", "Go Alone", Singing The Melody of A Little Piece Of Heaven, "Save Me", "Seize The Day", "Sidewinder", "Strength Of The World")
E5 ("Almost Easy", "Burn It Down", "Crossroads" Live @ Rock Am Ring 2011, "Desecrate Through Reverence", "Danger Line", "Darkness Surrounding", "It's So Easy" Live @ The Nokia Club 2011, "Mouth For War" Live Golden Gods Awards 2011, "Trashed And Scattered", "Sweet Child O Mine" Live With Steel Panther 2009, "Shattered By Broken Dreams", "Seize The Day")
E♭5 ("Betrayed", "Desecrate Through Reverence", "God Hates Us" Live @ Rock am ring 2011, "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 1)", "Mouth For War" Live Golden Gods Awards 2011, "Radiant Eclipse", "Sweet Child O Mine" Live With Steel Panther 2009, "Walk" Live Download Festival 2006, "We Come Out At Night")
D5 ("Afterlife", "The Art Of Subconscious Illusion", "An Epic Of Time Wasted", "Bat Country", "Beast And The Harlot", "Beautiful Morning", "Betrayed", "Blinded In Chains", "Breaking Their Hold", "Crossroads", "Chapter Four", "Critical Acclaim", "Creating God", "Doing Time", "Demons", "Darkness Surrounding", "Dose", "Eternal Rest", "Forgotten Faces", "Game Over", "God Hates Us" & "God Hates Us" Live Rock Am Ring 2011, "Gunslinger" Live Boner Springs Kansas 2016, "Higher", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 1)", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 2)", "Lips of Deceit", "Mad Hatter", "Mattel", "M.I.A", "Nobody", "Not Ready To Die", "Nothing To Say", "Runaway" Precious Exploits Karaoke Edition Pt 2, "Remenissions", "Radiant Eclipse", "Seize The Day", "Sidewinder", "Sunny Disposition" Unused take from the making of Sunny Disposition, "Simulation", "Savior, Saint, Salvation", "Strength Of The World", "Second Heartbeat", "Trashed And Scattered", "To End The Rapture", "Thick And Thin", "Turn The Other Way", "Unholy Confessions" Studio/Live Rockville 2023, "Warmness On The Soul", "We Come Out At Night", "We Love You", "The Wicked End")
C♯5 ("Bat Country", "Check The Level", "Cosmic", "Crossroads", "Faint" Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 2017, "God Damn", "Lost It All", "Paradigm", "The River", "Sidewinder", "Set Me Free", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Until The End", "Waking The Fallen")
C5 ("4:00 AM", "A Little Piece of Heaven" & "A Little Piece Of Heaven" Live @ The LBC 2008, "Angels", "As Tears Go By", "Brompton Cocktail", "Burn It Down", "Betrayed", "Buffalo Stampede", "Critical Acclaim", "Crossroads", "Chapter Four", "Carry On", "Creating God", "Clairvoyant Disease", "Danger Line", "Demons", "Dancing Dead", "Desecrate Through Reverence", "Eternal Rest", "The Fight", "Forgotten Faces", "G", "God Damn", "God Hates Us", "Gunslinger", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 1)", "Lost", "Lost It All", "M.I.A", "Nightmare", "Natural Born Killer", "(O)rdinary", "Remenissions", "Runaway" Precious Exploits Karaoke Edition Pt 2, "Retrovertigo", "The Stage", "Save Me", "Seize The Day", "Sidewinder", "Sandpaper", "Simulation", "So Far Away", "Second Heartbeat", "Save Me" MGK song, "Turn The Other Way", "This Means War" Live @ Rock In Rio 2013, "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Unholy Confessions" Various Live Performances, "The Wicked End", "Welcome To The Family", "Warmness On The Soul")
B4 ("Almost Easy", "Angels", "As Tears Go By", "An Epic Of Time Wasted", "A Little Piece Of Heaven", "Buried Alive", "Bat Country", "Beast And The Harlot", "Bleed It Out" Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 2017, "Breaking Their Hold", "Coming Home", "Carry On", "Check the Level", "Clairvoyant Disease", "Crimson Day", "Doing Time", "Darkness Surrounding", "The Fight", "Fiction", "Game Over", "God Only Knows", "Malagueña Salerosa", "Mouth For War" Live Golden Gods Awards 2011. "Planets", "Paradigm", "Paranoid", "Roman Sky", "Sandpaper", "Set Me Free", "The Stage", "Street Spirit", "Shattered By Broken Dreams", "So Far Away", "Tonight The World Dies", "Until The End", "Walk", "Waking The Fallen", "Warmness On The Soul")
B♭4 ("4:00 AM", "Acid Rain", "And All Things Will End", "Afterlife", "Angels", "Betrayed", "Burn it Down", "Blinded In Chains", "Brompton Cocktail", "Breaking Their Hold", "Critical Acclaim", "Creating God", "Crossroads", "Chapter Four", "Clairvoyant Disease", "Danger Line", "Dear God", "Demons", "Dancing Dead", "Desecrate Through Reverence", "Eternal Rest", "Faint" Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 2017, "Girl I Know", "Go Alone", "Hail to The King", "Higher", "Heretic", "Haze", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 1)", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 2)", "Lost", "Lost It All", "Lips of Deceit", "Mad Hatter", "Mattel", "M.I.A", "Natural Born Killer", "Nightmare", "Nobody". "Nothing To Say", "Not Ready To Die", "(O)rdinary", "Radiant Eclipse", "The River", "St. James", "Save Me", "Save Me" MGK song, "Seize The Day", "Sidewinder", "Strength Of The World", "Sunny Disposition", "Super Hero", "Second Heartbeat", "Scream", "This Means War", "Trashed And Scattered", "Tension", "To End The Rapture", "Turn The Other Way", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Victim", "The Wicked End", "Welcome To The Family", "Waking The Fallen")
A4 ("4:00 AM", "Afterlife", "Acid Rain", "A Little Piece Of Heaven", "And All Things Will End", "Beautiful Morning", "Betrayed", "Bleed It Out" Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 2017, "Blinded In Chains", "Brompton Cocktail", "Buffalo Stampede", "Buried Alive", "Burn It Down", "Burn It Down" Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 2017, "Crimson Day", "Carry On", "Chapter Four", "Check The Level", "Critical Acclaim", "Clairvoyant Disease", "Coming Home", "Cosmic", "Creating God", "Crossroads", "Demons", "Dear God", "Danger Line", "Doing Time", "Dancing Dead", "Desecrate Through Reverence", "Dose", "Easier", "Entombed We Collide", "Eternal Rest", "The Fight", "Fiction", "Fermi Paradox", "Flash Of The Blade", "Faint" Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 2017, "Forgotten Faces", "G", "Girl I Know", "Go Alone", "God Damn", "God Hates Us", "God Only Knows", "Gunslinger", "Heretic", "Higher", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 2)", "Lost", "Lost It All", "Lips Of Deceit", "Malagueña Salerosa", "Mattel", "M.I.A", "Natural Born Killer", "Nightmare", "Nobody", "Not Ready To Die", "Nothing To Say", "Planets", "Paradigm", "Paranoid", "Requiem", "Roman Sky", "Remenissions", "Retrovertigo", "The Stage", "Shepherd Of Fire", "St James", "Sidewinder", "So Far Away', "Save Me", "Seize The Day", "Strength Of The World", "Sandpaper", "Sunny Disposition", "Simulation", "Scream", "Street Spirit", "This Means War", "Tonight The World Dies", "Trashed And Scattered", "Tension", "To End The Rapture", "Thick And Thin", "Turn Out The Lights", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Until The End", "Unholy Confessions", "Waking The Fallen", "Walk", "We Come Out At Night", "Welcome To The Family", "We Love You", "Wish You Were Here")
G♯4 ("The Art Of Subconscious Illusion", "Almost Easy", "Coming Home", "(D)eath", "Entombed We Collide", "Faint" Live @ The Hollywood Bowl 2017, "God Only Knows", "Hail To The King", "Haze", "Linoleum" Live 2008, "Requiem", "Radiant Eclipse", "Shepherd Of Fire", "Scream", "Sunny Disposition", "Set Me Free", "Super Hero", "Until The End", "Victim", "Walk")
G4 ("Acid Rain", "Angels", "As Tears Go By", "A Little Piece Of Heaven", "Afterlife", "Buried Alive", "Crimson Day", "Chapter Four", "Check The Level", "Dear God", "Darkness Surrounding", "Dose", "Easier", "Exist", "Flash Of The Blade", "Girl I Know", "Heretic", "Haze", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 1)", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 2)", "Lost", "Landmine", "Mad Hatter", "Malagueña Salerosa", "Paranoid", "Roman Sky", "Retrovertigo", "St. James", "The Stage", "Simulation", "Super Hero", "Shattered By Broken Dreams", "Second Heartbeat", "Savior, Saint, Salvation", "This Means War", "Tension", "To End The Rapture", "Thick And Thin", "Unholy Confessions", "Victim", "Wish You Were Here", "Warmness On The Soul")
Significant Low Notes:
D3 ("The Art Of Subconscious Illusion", "As Tears Go By", "Afterlife", "A Little Piece Of Heaven", "And All Things Will End", "Acid Rain", "An Epic Of Time Wasted", "Beautiful Morning", "Betrayed", "Blinded In Chains", "Buffalo Stampede", "Buried Alive", "Burn It Down", "Clairvoyant Disease", "Cosmic", "Creating God", "Critical Acclaim", "Demons", "Desecrate Through Reverence", "Eternal Rest", "Fiction", "The Fight", "Gunslinger", "Girl I Know", "Go Alone", "God Damn", "Heretic", "Higher", "I Won't See You Tonight (Part 1)", "Lost", "M.I.A", "Mad Hatter", "Natural Born Killer", "Nobody", "Nothing To Say", "Planets", "Paranoid", "Roman Sky", "Remenissions", "Radiant Eclipse", "Shepherd Of Fire", "St. James" ,"Seize The Day", "So Far Away", "Save Me", "Sidewinder", "Strength Of The World", "Sunny Disposition", "Shattered By Broken Dreams", "Savior, Saint, Salvation", "Tonight The World Dies", "Trashed And Scattered", "Tension", "To End The Rapture", "Turn the Other Way", "Unbound (The Wild Ride)", "Welcome To The Family", "Wish You Were Here", "Warmness On The Soul")
C♯3 ("Coming Home", "(D)eath", "Game Over", "Paradigm", "Scream", "Set Me Free", "Trashed And Scattered", "Turn Out The Lights")
C3 ("4:00 AM", "A Little Piece Of Heaven", "Beast And The Harlot", "Blinded In Chains", "Brompton Cocktail", "Burn It Down", "Danger Line", "Dancing Dead", "Darkness Surrounding", "Dear God", "Fiction", "Gunslinger", "God Hates Us", "God Damn", "Haze", "Landmine", "Lost It All", "Mattel", "M.I.A", "Nightmare", "Nobody", "Not Ready To Die". "Nothing To Say", "(O)rdinary", "Roman Sky", "Save Me", "Seize The Day", "Sidewinder", "Strength Of The World", "Simulation", "Streets", "St. James", "Second Heartbeat", "Tension", "Victim")
B2 ("As Tears Go By", "Beautiful Morning", "Cosmic", "Darkness Surrounding", "Doing Time", "Game Over", "The Stage", "Street Spirit", "Save Me", "Streets", "Tonight The World Dies", "Until The End")
B♭2 ("Acid Rain", "Betrayed", "Easier", "Forgotten Faces", "Hail To The King", "Higher", "Landmine", "Mattel", "(O)rdinary", "The River", "The Stage", "Strength of the World", "Welcome To The Family")
A2 ("A Little Piece Of Heaven", "Beast And The Harlot", "Crimson Day", "Dose", "Fiction", "Flash Of The Blade", "G", "Go Alone", "Retrovertigo", "We Love You", "The Wicked End")
G♯2 ("Cosmic", "Hail To The King", "Paradigm", "Requiem", "The Wicked End")
G2 ("Bat Country", "Blinded In Chains", "Crossroads", "Demons", "The Fight", "G", "Haze", "Mad Hatter", "Retrovertigo", "Simulation", "Sandpaper", "This Means War", "We Love You")
F♯2 ("Almost Easy", "Doing Time", "Easier", "Fermi Paradox", "God Only Knows", "Paradigm", "Sunny Disposition")
F2 ("A Little Piece Of Heaven" Live @ The LBC 2008, "Bat Country", "Danger Line", "Fermi Paradox", "Heretic", "Nightmare", "Shepherd Of Fire")
E2 ("Carry On", "G", "God Only Knows", "Sandpaper")
E♭2 ("Hail To The King", "So Far Away" Live @ The Grammy Museum 2018)
D2 ("Afterlife", "Betrayed", "Demons", "Mad Hatter", "Sunny Disposition")
..................................................
Blue denotes falsetto and whistle passages.
Green denotes harshly distorted passages.
Boldface denotes outstanding passages.
Italics denote non-melodic and spoken passages.
Underlines denote obscured and background passages.
{Questionable Notes}G5 ("Burn It Down" [4])
D5 ("A Little Piece of Heaven" [2], "Clairvoyant Disease" [4], "Lost It All" [1], "Wish You Were Here" [4])
C5 ("Go Alone" [2])
A4 ("Landmine" [2])
A2 ("4:00 AM" [1], "Gunslinger" [1], "M.I.A" [1], "Strength Of The World" [1])
D2 ("A Little Piece Of Heaven" [2], "Carry On" [3], "Heretic" [4], "Haze" [2], "Shepherd Of Fire" [3])
C♯2 ("Hail To The King" [5])
C2 ("G" [3], "Nobody" [3])
A1 ("Betrayed" [3])
......................................................
[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.
[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.
D5 ("A Little Piece of Heaven" [2], "Clairvoyant Disease" [4], "Lost It All" [1], "Wish You Were Here" [4])
C5 ("Go Alone" [2])
A4 ("Landmine" [2])
A2 ("4:00 AM" [1], "Gunslinger" [1], "M.I.A" [1], "Strength Of The World" [1])
D2 ("A Little Piece Of Heaven" [2], "Carry On" [3], "Heretic" [4], "Haze" [2], "Shepherd Of Fire" [3])
C♯2 ("Hail To The King" [5])
C2 ("G" [3], "Nobody" [3])
A1 ("Betrayed" [3])
......................................................
[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.
[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.
