Warrel Dane (9,849 views)

[Zedd Squared]

Voice Type: Baritone
Associated Acts: Serpent's Knight (1983-1985), Sanctuary (1985-1992, 2010-2017), Nevermore (1992-2011)
Vocal Range: G♯1-B♭5

High Notes:

B♭5 ("Soldiers of Steel")
A5 ("Ascension to Destiny", "Disturbing Your Peace", "Sleaze", "Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Veil of Disguise" 1986 demo)
G♯5 ("Beyond the Valley", "No Sanctuary", "Soldiers of Steel", "White Rabbit" 1986 demo)
G5 ("Apollyon the Destroyer", "Battle Angels" 1986 demo, "Die for My Sins" 1986 demo, "Disturbing Your Peace", "Long Live Heavy Metal", "Seasons of Destruction", "Sleaze", "Soldiers of Steel", "Termination Force", "Veil of Disguise", "White Rabbit")
F♯5 ("Apollyon the Destroyer", "Ascension to Destiny", "Battle Angels", "Die for My Sins" Studio +1986 demo, "The Dreaming Mind", "Future Tense", "Love Bites", "No Sanctuary", "Poison Godmachine", "Sleaze", "Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Timothy Leary", "Veil of Disguise")
F5 ("C.B.F.", "Dream of the Incubus", "Epitaph", "Evolution 169", "Future Tense", "Garden of Gray", "Long Live Heavy Metal", "No More Will", "The River Dragon Has Come", "The Sanity Assassin", "The Seven Tongues of God", "The Third War", "Trial by Fire", "We Disintegrate")
E5 ("Apollyon the Destroyer", "Arise and Purify", "Battle Angels", "Communion", "Die for My Sins", "Dream of the Incubus", "The Dreaming Mind", "Eden Lies Obscured", "Epitaph", "I Am Insane", "Long Live Heavy Metal", "The Mirror Black", "No Sanctuary", "One More Murder", "Question Existence Fading", "Sanctuary", "Seasons of Destruction", "Soldiers of Steel", "Sorcerer's Apprenctice", "The Sound of Silence", "Termination Force", "The Third War", "This Godless Endeavor", "Trial by Fire", "Turbo Lover" live 2011, "Utopia", "Veil of Disguise", "We Disintegrate", "White Rabbit", "World Unborn")
E♭5 ("All Play Dead", "Diary of a Madman" live Seattle 1998, "The Dreaming Mind", "Godmoney", "The Learning", "Love Bites", "Matricide" live Seattle 1992, "Poison Godmachine", "Question Existence Fading", "The Sanity Assassin", "Sea of Possibilities", "Taste Revenge", "The System's Failing", "Timothy Leary", "Utopia", "What Tomorrow Knows" live Mannheim 1995, "World Unborn")
D5 ("42147", "Ascension to Destiny", "C.B.F", "Communion", "Dream of the Incubus", "Eden Lies Obscured", "End This Life", "Epitaph", "The Fault of the Flesh", "Final Product", "Future Tense", "Let the Serpent Follow Me", "Sanctuary", "Seasons of Destruction", "Taste Revenge", "Termination Force", "Turbo Lover" live 2011)
C♯5 ("Ambivalent", "C.B.F.", "The Death of Passion", "Dream of the Incubus", "Godmoney", "Love Bites", "Mother Is the Word for God", "One More Murder", "Question Existence Fading", "The Sanity Assassin", "Timothy Leary", "Utopia", "We Disintegrate")
C5 ("Beyond Within", "Eden Lies Obscured", "Future Tense", "I Am Insane", "Long Since Dark", "Noumenon", "What Tomorrow Knows")
B4 ("The Fault of the Flesh", "Garden of Gray", "The Obsidian Conspiracy", "Seasons of Destruction")
B♭4 ("All Play Dead", "Believe in Nothing", "Chances Three", "The Death of Passion", "Future Tense", "Godmoney", "The Heart Collector", "The River Dragon Has Come", "The Seven Tongues of God", "The System's Failing", "Utopia")
A4 ("Ascension to Destiny", "Beyond the Valley", "C.B.F.", "Dream of the Incubus", "Dreaming Neon Black", "Epitaph", "I Am Insane", "Long Since Dark", "The Mirror Black", "Next in Line", "One More Murder", "Passenger", "Sea of Possibilities", "Seasons of Destruction", "The Third War", "The Tianenmen Man", "True as Steel" live w/ Doro Pesch 2008, "Utopia", "Veil of Disguise", "White Rabbit", "Without Morals", "Your Chosen Misery")
G♯4 ("42147", "All the Cowards Hide", "And Life Was Great...", "Believe in Nothing", "Beyond Within", "Bittersweet Feast", "C.B.F.", "Create the Infinite", "The Death of Passion", "Deconstruction", "Diary of a Madman" live Seattle 1998, "The Dreaming Mind", "Dreaming Neon Black", "Emptiness Unobstructed", "Enemies of Reality", "The Fault of the Flesh", "Final Product", "A Future Uncertain", "Garden of Gray", "Godmoney", "The Heart Collector", "The Hurting Words", "I Am the Dog", "I, Voyager", "In Memory", "Inside Four Walls", "The Learning", "The Lotus Eaters", "Love Bites", "Madame Satan", "Matricide", "Medicated Nation", "Narcosynthesis", "Never Purify", "Next in Line", "No More Will", "The Obsidian Conspiracy", "Optimist or Pessimist", "Passenger", "Poison Godmachine", "The Politics of Ecstasy", "The Purist's Drug", "Revelation (Mother Earth)", "The River Dragon Has Come", "The Sanity Assassin", "Sea of Possibilities", "Seed Awakening", "Sell My Heart for Stones", "Sentient 6", "The Seven Tongues of God", "Silent Hedges/Double Dare", "The Sorrowed Man", "The Sound of Silence", "The System's Failing", "This Godless Endeavor", "This Sacrament", "Timothy Leary", "Tomorrow Turned into Yesterday", "True as Steel" live w/ Doro Pesch 2008, "We Disintegrate", "Who Decides", "Without Morals", "World Unborn")
G4 ("Ambivalent", "And Life Was Great...", "August", "Believe in Nothing", "Beyond the Valley", "Born", "C.B.F", "Communion", "Create the Infinite", "The Day the Rats Went to War", "Dead Heart in a Dead World", "The Death of Passion", "Die for My Sins", "Eden Lies Obscured", "Enemies of Reality", "Engines of Hate", "Epitaph", "Equilibrium", "Everything is Fading", "The Fault of the Flesh", "Final Product", "Frozen", "A Future Uncertain", "The Hanging Garden", "I, Voyager", "Inside Four Walls", "The Learning", "Let You Down", "Long Live Heavy Metal", "Long Since Dark", "Lost", "Lucretia My Reflection", "Messenger", "The Mirror Black", "Mother Is the Word for God", "Noumenon", "Obey", "The Obsidian Conspiracy", "One Final Day (Sworn to Believe)", "Optimist or Pessimist", "Passenger", "Patterns", "Revelation (Mother Earth)", "Sanctuary", "Soldiers of Steel", "Taste Revenge", "Tears of Love", "This Sacrament", "Timothy Leary", "Trial by Fire", "We Disintegrate", "What Tomorrow Knows", "When We Pray", "Your Chosen Misery", "Your Poison Throne")
F♯4 ("All the Cowards Hide", "All Play Dead", "Ambivalent", "Arise and Purify", "Beyond Within", "Bittersweet Feast", "The Blue Marble and the New Soul", "Born", "Brother", "Cenotaph", "Chances Three", "The Day You Built the Wall", "Dead Heart in a Dead World", "The Death of Passion", "Deconstruction", "Diary of a Madman" live Seattle 1998, "Dreaming Neon Black", "Emptiness Unobstructed", "End This Life", "Enemies of Reality", "Evolution 169", "The Fault of the Flesh", "Forever", "Frozen", "A Future Uncertain", "Garden of Gray", "The Hanging Garden", "The Heart Collector", "The Hurting Words", "I, Voyager", "In Memory", "Inner Sanctum", "Inside Four Walls", "Insignificant", "The Learning", "Let the Serpent Follow Me", "Lost", "Love Bites", "Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death)", "My Acid Words", "Never Purify", "Next in Line", "No More Will", "The Obsidian Conspiracy", "One Final Day (Sworn to Believe)", "Optimist or Pessimist", "Passenger", "Poison Godmachine", "The Psalm of Lydia", "Revelation (Mother Earth)", "The Sanity Assassin", "Sea of Possibilities", "Seed Awakening", "Sell My Heart for Stones", "Sentient 6", "The Seven Tongues of God", "She Comes in Colors", "Silent Hedges/Double Dare", "The Sorrowed Man", "The Sound of Silence", "The Termination Proclamation", "This Godless Endeavor", "The Tianenmen Man", "Tomorrow Turned into Yesterday", "Who Decides", "Without Morals", "The World is Wired", "The Year the Sun Died", "Your Poison Throne")
F4 ("As Fast as the Others", "August", "Born", "Brother", "The Day the Rats Went to War", "Deconstruction", "Disconnection System", "Dreaming Neon Black", "The Dying Age", "End This Life", "Engines of Hate", "Everything is Fading", "Exitium (Anthem of the Living)", "Eyes Wide Open", "A Future Uncertain", "I Am Low", "Inner Sanctum", "Let the Serpent Follow Me", "Let You Down", "Madame Satan", "Messenger", "Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death)", "Mother Is the Word for God", "My Acid Words", "Narcosynthesis", "Noumenon", "Obey", "The Obsidian Conspiracy", "Ordinary World" live Athens 2015, "Patterns", "The Purist's Drug", "Rain", "Shades of War", "Shadow Work", "Temptation", "The Termination Proclamation", "Tomorrow Turned into Yesterday", "This Godless Endeavor", "This Old Man", "What Tomorrow Knows", "Without Morals", "Your Poison Throne")

Low Notes:

C♯3 ("As Fast as the Others", "And the Maiden Spoke", "Arise and Purify", "Chances Three", "Deconstruction", "Dreaming Neon Black", "Enemies of Reality", "Evolution 169", "Forever", "I Am Low", "Inside Four Walls", "Let the Serpent Follow Me", "The Lotus Eaters", "Question Existence Fading", "The Sorrowed Man", "Temptation", "Timothy Leary", "Who Decides", "World Unborn", "The Year the Sun Died", "Your Poison Throne")
C3 ("Equilibrium", "Everything is Fading", "I Am", "Let the Serpent Follow Me", "Messenger", "Rain", "When We Pray", "Your Chosen Misery")
B2 ("The Blue Marble and the New Soul", "Communion", "The Dying Age", "Enemies of Reality", "The Hanging Garden", "Inside Four Walls", "Madame Satan", "Rain", "She Comes in Colors", "Temptation", "Veil of Disguise")
B♭2 ("As Fast as the Others" live Ribeirão Preto 2017, "Believe in Nothing" live Athens 2015 acoustic, "The Crystal Ship", "Epitaph", "Exitium (Anthem of the Living)", "Future Tense" live Athens 2015 acoustic, "The Hurting Words", "Lost", "Lucretia My Reflection", "Matricide", "Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death)", "Narcosynthesis", "Save Me", "We Disintegrate", "Your Poison Throne")
A2 ("And the Maiden Spoke", "It Was a Very Good Year" live 2012, "The Purist's Drug", "Sanctuary", "Termination Force", "The Termination Proclamation", "Veil of Disguise" 1986 demo)
G♯2 ("Believe in Nothing" live Athens 2015 acoustic, "Chances Three", "Dreaming Neon Black" live Brazilian TV 2017, "Emptiness Unobstructed", "The Heart Collector" live Athens 2015 acoustic, "Mother Is the Word for God", "Obey", "Temptation", "Without Morals", "The Year the Sun Died" live Rock Hard Festival 2015 acoustic)
G2 ("The Day the Rats Went to War", "Epitaph", "The Heart Collector", live Athens 2015 acoustic, "Let You Down", "Shadow Work", "Soldiers of Steel", "Solitude", "The System's Failing", "Tears of Love", "This Old Man")
F♯2 ("Ambivalent", "Deconstruction", "Disconnection System", "Eden Lies Obscured", "The Fault of the Flesh", "The Lotus Eaters", "She Comes in Colors", "Utopia", "The Year the Sun Died")
F2 ("42147", "August", "Brother" live Athens 2015 acoustic, "Create the Infinite", "Digital Ocean", "End This Life", "Eyes Wide Open", "A Future Uncertain", "Garden of Gray", "Inner Sanctum", "Lucretia My Reflection", "Matricide", "Mother Is the Word for God", "The Purist's Drug", "Rain", "Solitude", "The Sound of Silence", "This Old Man", "Veil of Disguise", "Your Chosen Misery")
E2 ("Dreaming Neon Black" live Brazilian TV 2017, "Eden Lies Obscured" live Club Nokia 2012, "Mother Is the Word for God", "One Final Day (Sworn to Believe)", "Patterns", "Question Existence Fading", "The Sanity Assassin", "White Rabbit", "World Unborn", "The Year the Sun Died")
E♭2 ("As Fast as the Others", "Beyond Within", "Brother" live Athens 2015 acoustic, "Cenotaph", "Chances Three", "The Crystal Ship", "The Day You Built the Wall", "Deconstruction", "Eden Lies Obscured" live California 2012, "Everything is Fading", "Evolution 169", "Exitium (Anthem of the Living)", "Future Tense" live Athens 2015 acoustic, "The Hanging Garden", "In Memory", "The Learning", "Noumenon", "Poison Godmachine", "Silent Hedges/Double Dare", "The Politics of Ecstasy", "The Seven Tongues of God", "Shadow Work", "This Sacrament", "Timothy Leary", "Tomorrow Turned into Yesterday", "Your Chosen Misery")
D2 ("August", "Communion", "Digital Ocean", "Emptiness Unobstructed", "Godmoney", "Messenger", "No More Will", "Obey", "Patterns", "Solitude", "This Old Man")
C♯2 ("And the Maiden Spoke", "Cenotaph", "Create the Infinite", "Madame Satan", "The Seven Tongues of God", "The Year the Sun Died" live Rock Hard Festival 2015 acoustic)
C2 (2016 Metalside Interview, "And Life Was Great...", "Everything is Fading", "Exitium (Anthem of the Living)", "Eyes Wide Open", "I Am", "Inner Sanctum", "Lucretia My Reflection", "Patterns", "Your Chosen Misery")
B1 ("And the Maiden Spoke", "Arise and Purify", "Dreaming Neon Black" live Brazilian TV 2017, "Emptiness Unobstructed", "Ethereal Blessing", "The Hanging Garden")
B♭1 ("And Life Was Great...", "Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death)")
A1 ("Ethereal Blessing")
G♯1 ("She Comes in Colors")

A king of his kind, Warrel Dane was one of the most distinctive and dramatic deep voices in modern metal lore. Getting his start in the early 80s with Serpent's Knight, he demonstrated a piercing King Diamond-ish banshee wail as his principle style. He soon evolved to the screaming battle angel we know him as from his years with Sanctuary before finally cementing his artistically tortured and ever foreboding status as the key deep baritone voice of modern metal through his work with Nevermore. In recent years he reunited with Sanctuary and reintroduced his high range into his new work somewhat, but still shined best in his mid 4th octave belting and boomy low range. R.I.P. to one of the best, your legacy will live on!

NOTE: Take the pitching of the Serpent's Knight songs with a grain of salt. I did my best to determine what the actual pitch of the songs should but the tape speed was not consistent across the tracks.
.......................................................
*Underlines mark notes in backing vocals.
*Blue marks soft and/or disconnected sounding falsetto notes.
*Boldface marks notes that are considered to be particularly notable examples of this person's vocal capabilities.
*Italics mark non-sung notes.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Questionable Notes}B♭5 ("Dream of the Incubus" ^[1])
A4 ("Silent Hedges/Double Dare" ^[1])

D2 ("Inside Four Walls" ^[5])
C♯2 ("Passenger" ^[5])
C2 ("This Sacrament" ^[4])
B1 ("My Acid Words" ^[4], "Sentient 6" ^[3])
G1 (2016 Imprensa do Rock Interview ^[3], "I Am" Behind the Scenes w/ One Arm Away 2014 ^[3])
F1 (2016 Imprensa do Rock Interview ^[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}Serpent's Knight

Released from the Crypt (1983): G2-A5

Sanctuary

Refuge Denied (1987): E2-B2-B♭5
Into the Mirror Black (1990): D2-F♯2-G5
The Year the Sun Died (2014): B1-E5
Inception (2017): F2-A2-B2-A5 *Archival release recorded in 1986

Nevermore

Nevermore (1995): D2-F5-F♯5
In Memory (1996): E♭2-G♯4
The Politics of Ecstasy (1996): C♯2-E♭5-F5
Dreaming Neon Black (1999): C♯2-F♯5
Dead Heart in a Dead World (2000): E♭2-F5
Enemies of Reality (2003): C♯2-E♭2-G♯4-C♯5
This Godless Endeavor (2005): F2-E5
The Obsidian Conspiracy (2010): G♯1-B♭1-A4-B4

Warrel Dane

Praises to the War Machine (2008): C2-G4-A4
Shadow Work (2018): A1-E♭2-G4-G♯4-C♯5

[kriegha898]

Hey,all bellow E2 is fry or spoken word no?

[IhateMana]

no

[kriegha898]

But,the 1st notes of Warrel in the songs listed sounds spoken/fryed in think that his melodic vocal range is more  closer to  C2 to B5

[IhateMana]

"melodic range" doesn't exactly mean a whole lot here; furthermore it's possible to mix fry, which appears to be what he's doing on those lower notes.

if you consider C2 "melodic" for him, why did you ask whether every note below E2 was spoken word? lol

[kriegha898]

Sorry,because its a mistake that i made,just the 1st octaves sounds fry/spoken to me.

[clem]

^Pretty sure he has some chest drag, non-fry stuff below E2 at any rate. Those D2s from "Solitude", for example, sound like he's flooring his larynx rather than mixing in fry.

[Henny Macc]

Nice work overall here! My only suggestions offhand are to add the B♭4s from "Godmoney" and F2s from live versions of "Eden Lies Obscured". I would also say the F1 he touches on while demonstrating the pitch of his father's voice in that interview is at least worth listing in the spoiler.

[Zedd Squared]

I added the Club Nokia 2012 Eden Lies Obscured E2 to the OP (guess I got distracted because that's a good note) and the F1 to the spoiler but which Bb4s in Godmoney would you want to count? I remember thinking it peaked consistently at different pitches than that.

[Henny Macc]

There are several of them actually.

0:37 on "cash vindiCAtion", 1:07 on "religion is POWer", and then 3:42 during the reprise of the first verse.

[Zedd Squared]

Well part of the problem there is that since we're not separating the 5th octave notes anymore it feels a bit extra to have that as well as the C#5 and Eb5, though I'll have to recheck the song later to see if the Bb4s are more prominent than the G#4s I'm currently counting.

So since it was brought up elsewhere, do we still think the G1 is worth counting? It's starting to feel quite outdated to me.

[Henny Macc]

Well in some of those sections B♭4 is the highest note hit in the passage, so I don't see a reason not to count it...

And yes, I would still count the G1. I would argue in favor of the F1 too for that matter, but I know there's not much hope of convincing people about that.

[Zedd Squared]

The issue with both of those notes is we're selectively counting the lowest strong pitch in the phrase when really the note he's "aiming" for is the super pitchless fry note at the bottom of each phrase. They're worth noting the existence of but I'm not sure they qualify as actual notes in his range.

[Henny Macc]

I know I've flipflopped back and forth on this a lot over the years, but listening back to the "Soldiers of Steel" B♭5, I'm pretty damn sure it's a sharp A5 that we've been mishearing as B♭5 because of the B♭ chord under it. It might very briefly touch on B♭5, but I would consider it an overshot note at that point, and probably nanonotewatching as well for that matter.

As evidence to support my case, I present the demo version of it off Inception, where it's clearly a (less sharp) A5 but ultimately follows the same melody.


Thoughts? Mind you this may not be full-on range destruction, because there are also B♭5s in "Dream of the Incubus", though definitely non-sung:

[Zedd Squared]

The last several times I've checked on this note everyone seemed in favor of Bb5 and listening to it again now at half speed it's not even flat, just a straight up unambiguous Bb5. We're so accustomed to hearing that kind of melody going up a whole step because if the song was staying in a traditional E minor key that's what would be required, but it's deliberately chromatic there so the in-key thing to do is go up a minor third instead. It's the roof of his range so it's not shocking that other versions of him attempting the note wouldn't quite make the pitch (like the demo version you linked).

Also, ain't no way I'm counting those Dream of the Incubus moans in the main OP, which is why they're currently listed in the spoiler.

[queenfan11]

I'm pretty sure the Bb4s in "Future Tense" are actually A4s and the F5 is actually E5. The song sounds like it's pitched half a semitone sharp.

[Henny Macc]

Dead link on the "The Year the Sun Died" live C♯2s D:

[Zedd Squared]

Feb 24, 2021 4:23:57 GMT queenfan11 said:

I'm pretty sure the Bb4s in "Future Tense" are actually A4s and the F5 is actually E5. The song sounds like it's pitched half a semitone sharp.

Huh, I did always find this a bit curious. Do others agree? I guess one way to solve this would be to look at which frets the guitars/bass are on in the video and compare the pitch that comes out of it to live versions from the same era.

Also idk what to do about that dead C#2 link. It looks like it's been completely removed from the internet but those notes are still bold-worthy. Bold with no link maybe?

[Henny Macc]

So queenfan11 and I were talking about the "42147" D5s over Discord last weekend, and we both agreed that we can't really hear anything questionable about them. I'm guessing that was a TRP3 note ruling that probably wouldn't really hold up these days?

Here's the a link to one of them, the other is at 4:07.

[Zedd Squared]

It was a verdict I made on my own without talking to anyone else about it. My reasoning was it's pretty accidental and kind of "cracked into" but listening back it seems fine enough.

[clem]

Does anyone know if Warrel smoked? It would be uncommon to have that big a shift in natural placement and timbre without smoking, so I expect he must have been a smoker at some point in his career. But I haven't seen clips of him smoking, or heard him mention smoking in interviews, even though he did talk about the change in his voice from the early days.

[dingo]

Dec 8, 2021 17:44:40 GMT clem said:

Does anyone know if Warrel smoked? It would be uncommon to have that big a shift in natural placement and timbre without smoking, so I expect he must have been a smoker at some point in his career. But I haven't seen clips of him smoking, or heard him mention smoking in interviews, even though he did talk about the change in his voice from the early days.

Yes, people supposedly recalls conceiving of him being a smoker. So he was a smoker, it also comes along with uncertainty a whole bunch of stuff that contributed significantly to his voice and range getting way lower awfully quickly.

I'm skeptical that some dudes likes Geoff Tate or Ray Alder are in that mix too.

[Zedd Squared]

Where are you getting that info? I've never heard anything about him being a smoker. His voice change was quite notable but it seemed fairly gradual to me and didn't fully settle into that extra low tone until his mid 30s or so, plus let's not forget that some of that change was also stylistic.

[clem]

His voice change was kind of similar to Geoff Tate's, who was a smoker. So I could buy it. But the fact that there aren't any video clips or pictures where he is smoking, or even interviews referencing smoking, would seem unlikely too. Hiding an addiction for decades as a public figure seems harder to believe.

[brutalism]

Isn't the Bb1 in 'Moonrise' kind of using the same singing style as the B1 in 'Emptiness Unobstructed'?

I only ask this because the first is in italics and the latter is not. As I heard, they both have some sort of melodic direction.

Not trying to belittle any of those notes by the way. They both sound great to me. I just would like to to know why one is considered "talked" or 'non-melodic' and the other isn't.

(by the way I love most of the singers you pick for your threads, O.P. - great taste in music and in voices).