Ralf Gyllenhammar (3,191 views)

[aliensweetheart]

Associated Acts: "B-Thong": 1997-1998, "Mustasch": 1998-present
Voice Type: Mustachioed Tenor
Vocal Range: D2-G5 (3 octaves + 5 semitones)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Vocal Summary}

Though approaching his singing with a Hetfield-like technique (hell, even looks a bit like Hetfield), Gyllenhammar's natural timbre is almost identical to Ian Astbury's voice, just lighter. He has that baritone-like texture to his voice, but his rough singing style had me fooled for a long time about the natural placement of his voice - he definitely spots much easier time singing high with clarity and power as opposed to his whispery and uncomfortable lower register. He also spots a VERY impressive vibrato, which he is able to apply to even the roughest of textures. (Author: Timi)

SPOILER: Click to show

{Fun Fact}

The band’s name "Mustasch" refers to their musical heroes’ (Freddie Mercury and Tony Iommi) moustaches.

Significant High Notes:

G5 ("Silent Killer", "Daybreaker", "I Wanna Be Loved", "Winners")
F♯5 ("Änglahund", "Feared And Hated", "The Mauler")
F5 ("6:36" (The New Sound Of The True Best), "Angel’s Share", "Be Like A Man", "The Challenger", "Daybreaker", Destroyed By Destruction", "Down To Earth", "Forever/Whatever", "From Euphoria To Dystopia", "I Don’t Hate You", "I Hate To Dance", "In The Night", "My Disorder", "Nailed To Pain", "Speed Metal", "Testosterone", "Witch Waltz/Warphobia", "Your Father Must Be Proud Of You")
E5 ("Dead Again", "A Final Warning", "Lone Song (Reclusion)", "Ransacker")
E♭5 ("Albert Einstein", "Be Like A Man", "Blood In Blood Out", "Breaking Up With Disaster", "California Love", "Cold Heart Mother Son", "Damn It’s Dark", "Destroyer Paranoya", "Down To Earth", "Fire", "From Euphoria To Dystopia", "The Heckler", "In The Night", "Lawbreaker", "Mine", "My Disorder", "Never Too Late")
D5 ("Blood In Blood Out", "Contagious", "Desolate", "Destroyed By Destruction", "Fire", "In My Eyes", "In The Deep: October", "Libertà", "Midnight Runner", "The Rider", "Searching For Long Range Communication", "Testosterone", "Under The Radar", "What Is Wrong", "Where Angels Fear To Tread", "Witch Waltz/Warphobia", "You Are Killing Me")
C♯5 ("Albert Einstein", "The Audience Is Listening", "Blackout Blues", "Blood In Blood Out", "The Challenger", "Destroyed By Destruction", "Down To Earth", "Feared And Hated", "Hound From Hell", "I Am Not Aggressive", "The Mauler", "Someone", "Stinger Citizen", "Where Angels Fear To Tread")
C5 ("Accident Black Spot", "Albert Einstein", "All My Life", "The Answer", "The Audience Is Listening", "Barrage", "Before A Grave", "Breaking Up With Disaster", "Bring Me Everyone", "Burn", "California Love", "Cold Heart Mother Son", "Cut Or Run", "Damn It’s Dark", "Destroyer Paranoya", "Dogwash", "Double Nature", "Down In Black", "The End", "Evil Doer", "Falling Down" (B-Thong), "Falling Down" (Mustasch), "A Final Warning", "Frosty White", "Garlic And Shots", "Haunted By Myself", "The Heckler", "I Am Not Aggressive", "I Wanna Be Loved", "Lawbreaker", "Libertà", "Life On Earth", "Lone Song (Reclusion)", "The Man The Myth The Wreck", "Mine", "Monday Warrior", "My Disorder", "Never Too Late", "Once A Liar", "Parasite", "Powerhouse", "Ransacker", "The Rider", "Stinger Citizen", "Sympathy For Destruction", "Taunus", "Teenage Pacifier", "Turn It Down", "Where Angels Fear To Tread", "Yara’s Song", "You Are Killing Me", "Your Father Must Be Proud Of You")
B4 ("Änglahund/Hound From Hell", "Borderline", "Destroyer Paranoya", "From Euphoria To Dystopia", "Homophobic/Alcoholic", "The Hunter", "I’m Alright", "Insanity Walls", "Kill The Light", "Lowlife Highlights", "Someone", "To Be Continued", "What Is Wrong", "Winners")
B♭4 ("6:36", "Accident Black Spot", "Angel’s Share", "Barrage", "Bed On Fire", "Blood In Blood Out", "Breaking Up With Disaster", "Bring Me Everyone", "The Challenger", "Cut Or Run", "The Dagger", "Damn It’s Dark", "Daybreaker", "The Deadringer", "Desolate", "Do Or Die", "Down In Black", "Down To Earth", "Fabian’s World", "Forever/Whatever", "Freddie Mercury", "Frederika", "Frosty White", "The Heckler", "I Hate To Dance", "I Hunt Alone", "In My Eyes", "Insanity Walls", "In The Deep: October", "Kill You For Nothing", "Life On Earth", "Lone Song (Reclusion)", "Lucified", "The Mauler", "Midnight Runner", "Monday Warrior", "Never Too Late", "The Ogre", "Once A Liar", "The Rider", "Serpent The Zodiac (Bazaar)", "Stinger Citizen", "Sympathy For Destruction", "Turn It Down", "Under Behind", "The Wave", "White Magic", "Witch Waltz/Warphobia")
A4 ("Alpha Male", "Black City", "Contagious", "Cosmic Elvis", "The Deadringer", "Double Nature", "The End", "Feared And Hated", "A Final Warning", "Forever Begins Today", "Homophobic/Alcoholic", "I Don't Hate You", "I Lied", "In My Eyes", "Into The Arena", "Lonely", "Morning Star", "No Religion", "Speed Metal", "Thank You For The Demon")

Significant Low Notes:

E3 ("Borderline", "Morning Star")
E♭3 ("All My Life", "I’m Frustrated", "The Mauler", "Powerhouse", "Suntrip")
D3 ("Before A Grave", "Cosmic Elvis", "Freddie Mercury", "I Lied", "Under The Radar")
C3 ("6:36", "Be Like A Man", "Don’t Want To Be Who I Am", "Falling Down", "I Wanna Be Loved", "No Religion", "Once A Liar", "The Rider", "Thank You For The Demon", "Where Angels Fear To Tread", "Yara’s Song")
B♭2 ("6:36", "The Audience Is Listening", "I Hate To Dance", "I Wanna Be Loved", "Lone Song (Reclusion)", "Mine", "Never Too Late", "Ocean Song (Including Orust)", "The Ogre", "Witch Waltz/Warphobia", "Welcome To Leave")
A2 ("Larghetto", "Thank You For The Demon")
G2 ("Bed On Fire", "The End")
D2 ("The Hunter")

.......................................................
Green denotes harshly distorted passages.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix.
Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this singer's vocal capabilities.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}
D2 ("Barrage" ^[5])
.......................................................
[1] marks yelps and short trills in high range or anacruses 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.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Notewatched Material/Album Ranges}B-Thong:
From Strength To Strength (1997) A2-F5

Mustasch:
The True Sound Of The New West (EP) (2001) C5
Above All (2002) B♭2-C5
Ratsafari (2003) B♭2-E5
Powerhouse (2005) D3-D5
Parasite! (EP) (2006) F5
Latest Version Of The Truth (2007) G2-G5
Singles A’s & B’s (2009) B♭2-G5
Mustasch (2009) B♭2-E♭5
The New Sound Of The True Best (2011) B♭2-F5
Sounds Like Hell, Looks Like Heaven (2012) B♭2-F5
Thank You For The Demon (2014) A2-F♯5
Testosterone (2015) D2-F5
Silent Killer (2018) D2-G5
Killing It For Life (2019) C3-E5
A Final Warning - Chapter One (2021) E5

Ralf Gyllenhammar:
Bed On Fire (2013) G2-F5

[Rodney Blazershorts]

We prefer live performance pictures for the header where applicable, or something that shows them actually performing. You also don't need blue in the key if you don't use it.

[aliensweetheart]

Jan 10, 2021 20:11:16 GMT Rodney Blazershorts said:

We prefer live performance pictures for the header where applicable, or something that shows them actually performing. You also don't need blue in the key if you don't use it.

The picture and key have been updated.

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

A few pointers offhand:

- Are the D2s from "Barrage" the random spoken bit at the beginning? At best that should be marked as a spoken note, but honestly I would say it should probably be considered a questionable note, since there's no musical context or anything really making it serve as controlled range.
- I actually hear the lows from "The Hunter" getting as low as B1, but they should probably be colored grey, to indicate them as obvious vocal fry notes. I'm not 100% sold on them being sung notes either, but I'd be open to more opinions about that.
- For "Once a Liar", I don't think you need to include "(Bonus Track)" in the title - I'm pretty sure that's just meant as a mention that it's a bonus track only available on some versions of the album, but not an actual part of the song name.
- From what I remember, doesn't this guy have a lot of gritty distorted screams in his higher register? I'd imagine some of those fifth octave notes might benefit from being colored green to indicate that.
- Personally I think at least A4s would be worth listing as high notes for him (we generally only start men's high ranges at B♭4 if they have SUPER high tessituras), but it's your thread so whatevs on that one. However, if you happen to change your mind about that, here's a bunch of examples of A4s from his TRP2 thread:

SPOILER: Click to show

A4 ("Alpha Male", "Black City", "Cosmic Elvis", "Double Nature", "Feared and Hated", "Forever Begins Today", "Homophobic/Alcoholic", "I Don't Hate You", "I Lied", "In My Eyes", "Into the Arena", "Lonely", "Morning Star", "No Religion", "Speed Metal", "Thank You for the Demon", "The Deadringer", "The End")

[aliensweetheart]

I highly appreciate your feedback, thank you!
Beforehand, I had the intention anyway to request feedback on the bold notes, bold note suggestions and those D2s.

- The D2s from "Barrage" are indeed those at the very beginning (all notes are hyperlinked, by the way). I included them because I thought they had some slight melodic value to them, but they will be moved to the "Questionable Notes" spoiler box because of their questionable quality.
- I'm not sure about the low notes from "The Hunter" either, the D2s are way too dark, thick and resonant than what should be expected from him, so they may have been brought down an octave? Anything lower might indeed be included as vocal fry, but I'd like to anticipate some other thoughts on the D2s there first.
- Will get rid of that.
- Yes, there were quite a few heavily distorted fifth octave notes which were hard to pitch due to the grit, although they were not as severely distorted as commonly heard in (heavy) metal singing. I would love some help there though, as I am quite unfamiliar with green notes.
- Thank your the input! I initially set off including them whilst notewatching yet quickly found them to sound too comfortable in the studio songs. However, considering his inconsistency starting at B♭4 on live occasions, due to improper vocal care and lack of technique, it'd make sense to start reincluding them when I'm out of my exam period.

[aliensweetheart]

For the Gyllenhammar fans, a new song with rare, clean live D5s!

[mushymarionette]

Just a quick appreciation post for the natural power of Gyllenhammar's singing, his voice is when you somehow combine Ian Astbury and James Hetfield with Tom Araya's vocal placement and technique. Very underrated voice.



Great song and one of my favourite performances by Ralf, amazing high notes in that chorus <insert a crying elk in front of a swedish flag-emoji here>