John Arch (5,477 views)

[Zedd Squared]

John Maurice Archambault
Member Of: Fates Warning (1982-1987), Arch/Matheos (2010-present)
Voice Type: Tenor
Vocal Range: G2-B♭5

High Notes:

B♭5 ("Flight of Icarus")
A5 ("The Apparition" 1990 Dream Theater Audition)
G♯5 ("The Apparition", "Exodus", "Fata Morgana" Progpower XVII 2016, "Kiss of Death" L'Amour 1985, "Last Call", "The Sorceress" Progpower XVII 2016, "Valley of the Dolls", "Victim of Changes")
G5 ("The Apparition", "Buried Alive", "Epitaph", "Giant's Lore (Heart of Winter)", "Misfit", "Victim of Changes")
F♯5 ("The Calling", "Damnation", "Exodus", "Fata Morgana", "Guardian" Keep It True XIX 2016, "The Killing Hand" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Kyrie Eleison", "Only a Matter of Time" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Orphan Gypsy", "The Sorceress" Progpower XVII 2016, "Traveler in Time", "Valley of the Dolls", "Victim of Changes")
F5 ("The Apparition", "Die Young" Long Island 1986, "Guardian", "Kiss of Death" L'Amour 1985, "Only a Matter of Time" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Orphan Gypsy", "Without a Trace")
E5 ("Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me)", "Buried Alive", "The Calling", "Cheyenne", "Damnation", "Don't Look Past Me" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Epitaph", "Fata Morgana", "Kiss of Death", "Kyrie Eleison", "Last Call", "Misfit", "Night on Bröcken", "On the Fence", "Pirates of the Underground", "Prelude to Ruin", "Relentless", "The Sorceress", "Traveler in Time", "Valley of the Dolls", "Victim of Changes")
E♭5 ("Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me)", "Darkest of Angels", "Incense and Myrrh", "The Killing Hand" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Kindred Spirits", "Midnight Serenade", "Never in Your Hands", "Pirates of the Underground", "Pitch Black Prism", "Solitary Man", "The Sorceress", "Wanderlust")
D5 ("Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me)", "Buried Alive", "The Calling", "Cheyenne", "Damnation", "Darkest of Angels", "Epitaph", "Exodus", "Giant's Lore (Heart of Winter)", "Guardian", "Incense and Myrrh", "The Killing Hand" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Kiss of Death", "Kyrie Eleison", "Midnight Serenade", "Misfit", "Neurotically Wired", "Never in Your Hands", "Night on Bröcken", "On the Fence", "Orphan Gypsy", "Pirates of the Underground", "Pitch Black Prism", "Prelude to Ruin", "Relentless", "Soldier Boy", "The Sorceress", "Stained Glass Sky", "Straight and Narrow", "Traveler in Time", "Valley of the Dolls", "Vermilion Moons", "Without a Trace", "Wrath of the Universe")
C♯5 ("Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me)", "The Apparition", "The Calling", "Cheyenne", "Darkest of Angels", "Die Young" Long Island 1986, "Exodus", "Fata Morgana", "Flight of Icarus", "Incense and Myrrh", "Kindred Spirits", "Kiss of Death", "Last Call", "Neurotically Wired", "Night on Bröcken", "Pirates of the Underground", "Prelude to Ruin", "Relentless", "Solitary Man", "The Sorceress", "Tethered", "Traveler in Time", "Valley of the Dolls", "Vermilion Moons", "Wanderlust", "Wrath of the Universe")
C5 ("The Apparition", "Buried Alive", "Cheyenne", "Darkest of Angels", "Don't Look Past Me" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Epitaph", "Guardian", "The Killing Hand" 1990 Dream Theater Audition, "Kiss of Death", "Midnight Serenade", "Neurotically Wired", "Never in Your Hands", "On the Fence", "Pitch Black Prism", "Soldier Boy", "Stained Glass Sky", "Straight and Narrow", "Without a Trace")
B4 ("Any Given Day (Strangers Like Me)", "Cheyenne", "Damnation", "Epitaph", "Flight of Icarus", "Incense and Myrrh", "Kindred Spirits", "Last Call", "Misfit", "Night on Bröcken", "Pirates of the Underground", "Prelude to Ruin", "Relentless", "Solitary Man", "Tethered", "Vermilion Moons", "Victim of Changes", "Wanderlust", "Wrath of the Universe")

Low Notes:

G3 ("Damnation", "Kyrie Eleison", "Midnight Serenade")
F♯3 ("Cheyenne", "Damnation" Keep It True XIX 2016, "Night on Bröcken", "Pirates of the Underground", "Relentless")
F3 ("Darkest of Angels", "Guardian" New Britain, Connecticut 1994 Rehearsal, "Kyrie Eleison" Progpower XVII 2016)
E3 ("Guardian" New Britain, Connecticut 1994, "Kiss of Death", "Valley of the Dolls" Demo, "Victim of Changes", "Wanderlust")
E♭3 ("Epitaph", "Kyrie Eleison" Progpower XVII 2016, "Neurotically Wired", "Relentless")
D3 ("Damnation", "Epitaph" Keep It True XIX 2016, "On the Fence")
C♯3 ("Epitaph" Keep It True XV 2012, "Prelude to Ruin" Keep It True XIX 2016)
C3 ("Fata Morgana" Keep It True XIX 2016, "Neurotically Wired")
B♭2 ("Epitaph" Progpower XVII 2016)
A2 ("Relentless")
G2 ("Neurotically Wired")

As the legendary original singer for progressive metal originators Fates Warning, John Arch is a cult icon in the metal world. His out-of-this world lyrical stylings and unusual vocal melodies helped define their groundbreaking early sound on such landmark albums as The Spectre Within and Awaken the Guardian. While his musical output since then has been infrequent, his releases with Arch/Matheos have shown that time has not slowed his vocal or songwriting abilities in any way, with some of his greatest work being featured on these modern albums.

Arch's vocal lines often feature syncopated timing and off kilter touches of melisma, something he attributes to his Celtic heritage. These unusual characteristics are grounded by a familiar 80s metal belt register and strong vibrato. In this way, his singing extends an olive branch to the uninitiated while also providing numerous quirks, often yielding details missed upon repeated listens. In his earliest years as a professional vocalist, Bruce Dickinson was his biggest hero and on those first two Fates Warning albums you can definitely hear it. His tone was more aggressive, with many sustained notes and a similar sort of "bite" that you hear in Dickinson's early works. Even by The Spectre Within though, you could hear Arch's signature vocal style creeping up with a greater sense of esotericism to his lyrics and a move towards a brighter tone. By Awaken the Guardian, he had cemented this approach with some of the most unique vocal lines to be heard in 80s metal and his work since that time has largely followed that template. He doesn't do his mid-upper 5th octave wails as much anymore, but his recent live reunions with the classic FW lineup demonstrate he's clearly still capable of knocking those notes out of the park when he chooses to.

As you can tell from this range analysis, Arch has never placed much emphasis on low singing and will often bottom out around C4 or B♭3 in the majority of his songs. This is evidently more comfortable for him according to Jim Matheos, who pointed out that when they were working on vocal lines for the Sympathetic Resonance album he'd often take the guide vocal lines well above their original contour. Having said that, on the rare occasion we do get to hear an Arch low note it does provide a nice contrast to his belting and suggests there is untapped potential in that area. Perhaps in the future we will get to hear more of it but either way, Arch's legacy as a metal singer who consistently works outside the box is firmly cemented.

Fun Fact: Arch was the first ever thread and post I made on TRP, way back in January of 2012!
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*Underlined notes are found in backing vocals or are otherwise obscured in the song mix.
*Blue marks soft and/or disconnected sounding falsetto notes.
*Boldface indicates notes that are notable examples of this singer's capabilities.
*Italics mark non-sung notes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}G♯5 ("Darkest of Angels" ^[2])

C♯3 ("Damnation" Progpower XVII 2016 ^[1], "Guardian" Progpower XVII 2016 ^[1])
C3 ("Epitaph" Keep It True XIX 2016 ^[1])
B2 ("Cheyenne" ^[1])
A2 ("Exodus" ^[2][4])
G♯2 ("Epitaph" Keep It True XIX 2016 ^[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.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Album Ranges}Fates Warning

Night on Bröcken (1984): D3-G5
The Spectre Within (1985): E♭3-G♯5
Awaken the Guardian (1986): G♯3-G♯5
Awaken the Guardian Live (2017): B♭2-C♯3-G♯5

John Arch

A Twist of Fate (2003): A2-E5

Arch/Matheos

Sympathetic Resonance (2011): G2-E5
Winter Ethereal (2019): E3-E♭5

[Zedd Squared]

Just got done doing a complete remake of this thread! :headbang:

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Damn, didn't realize that his tessitura was so high that he'd be a case of starting highs at B4 for a man! Seeing how sparse his low range is (even as far out as the mid third octave), I suppose it fits though.

You know someone's a metal tenor when their G♯5 section is bigger than any single note section in their low range

[Zedd Squared]

Yeah it's not that his natural placement is SO high really but he doesn't have any melody lines that peak below B4 that also sound high. I think he also never really worked out a "low singing style" so idk if he knows how he'd even phrase down there, especially after hearing about him intentionally taking written lines higher.

[Hennessy Macklemore III]

Is it just me, or is there a backing G♯5 here in "Darkest of Angels"?

[Zedd Squared]

Yeah I have it in the spoiler because when making this thread I wasn't entirely sure it was him, which is probably still a fair concern since Sarah Lacasse is credited as doing backing vocals on that song and the tone isn't too clear to me.