Ragnar Zolberg (1,161 views)

[kuyashii]

Ragnar Zolberg (also spelled Solberg or ZSolberg)
Associated Acts: Sign (2000-currently), Pain of Salvation (2012-2013, 2014-2017), Solo (1998-currently), Aanonymous Band (2015-currently), RÓ (2003-currently)
Vocal Range: B♭2-B♭5

High Notes

B♭5 ("The Hope" Extended Version)
A5 ("Disco Queen" Live at Leipzig 2012, "Linoleum" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Rockers Don’t Bathe"  Rog Version, "One Step at a Time")
G♯5 ("Used" Live at Progressive Nation 2014)
G5 ("Dancing In", "Hear as I'm Calling" Rog Version, "Hold Me Alive", "Love to be Loved", "Run to the Hills", "When Demons Win", "Youth Gone Wild")
F♯5 ("To the Shoreline" Falling Home version, "Meaningless", "Moveless" The Hope and The Hanged Man versions, "Rockers Don’t Bathe Out of the Dirt and Rog Versions, "Strid"¹, "The Battle of Brothers")
F5 ("All Gone", "Ashes" Various Live Performances, "Beyond the Pale" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Cut the Bone", "Echo of Stains", "Going Somewhere", "In a Darkened Room", "The Stone Opens", "When Angels Turn to Clowns", "When Demons Win", "Where My Heart is Bound")
E5 ("Breathe" The Hanged Man versions, "Deeper", "Flame to the Moth" Falling Home version, "Immobilized by Fear", "Iter Impius" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Lover (Darker Side)", "Love to be Loved", "Mind Above Matter", "Meaningless", "Not Feeling Like I Should", "Rise Above", "Rockers Don’t Bathe" Out of the Dirt and Rog Versions, "Volcanic Fields", "Veiðileysa", "Waking Every God" Live at ProgPower 2014², "When Demons Win" Acoustic, "When You Can’t See the Glow Anymore", "Whip My Hair", "Who Wants to Live Forever")
E♭5 ("If I were a Ghost", "Loss for Words", "Linoleum" Falling Home version, "O Holy Night", "The Lonely Boy", "To Perceive the Self", "Used" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Viva Forever")
D5 ("Agliz", "All Gone", "Anger is the Killer", "Beyond the Pale" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Breathe" Thank God for Silence and The Hanged Man versions, "Chain Sling" Falling Home version and Live at ProgPower 2014², "Deeper", "Dreamcatcher", "Ending Theme" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Falling Home" Live with Ragnar Olafsson, "Ghostly We Walk", "Going Somewhere", "Hear as I'm Calling" The Circle and Rog Versions, "Hold Me Alive", "I Am a Dream", "Immobilized by Fear", "In a Darkened Room", "Iter Impius" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Krunk", "Justify", "Lover", "Lover (Darker Side)", "Love to be Loved", "Lift Me Up", "Mountain Top" Sonr Ravns Version, "Moveless" The Hope and The Hanged Man Versions, "Nemesis", "Never Stop Rockin'", "Obstacles", "On a Tuesday", "Phantom and I", "Run to the Hills", "Thank God for Silence", "The Perfect Element" Live at Progressive Nation 2014", "The Stone Opens", "Through Magic I Can Touch You", "Tombstone", "Veiðileysa", "Volcanic Fields", "Where My Heart is Bound", "With the Stars", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "Youth Gone Wild")
C♯5 ("A Trace of Blood" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Cut to the Bone", "Dark Allure", "Ending Theme" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Hel (Northern Light)", "On a Tuesday", "Rainboy"³, "Softly She Cries" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Thank God for Silence", "The Battle of Brothers", "Viva Forever", "Waking Every God" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Words of Mine")
C5 ("103 Mentality", "Agliz", "A Little Bit", "All Gone", "Adfangadagur Dauda Mins (Christmas Song)", "Beautiful/Depressing", "Bedroom", "Breathe" Thank God for Silence and The Hanged Man versions, "Conditioned" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Dancing In", "Don't Talk to Strangers" Live at FUZZ Guitar Show 2017, "Dreamcatcher", "Fairy Tale/After I'm Gone", "Ghostly We Walk", "Going Somewhere", "Hear as I'm Calling", "Heroes", "Hold Me Alive", "Home", "Iter Impius" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Krunk", "Linoleum" Falling Home version, "Justify", "King of Loss" Falling Home version, "Loss for Words", "Mind Above Matter", "Misguided" The Hope and The Hanged Man versions, "Never Stop Rockin'", "Obsessions", "One Step at a Time", "Phantom and I", "Rise Above", "Rope Ends" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Sonr Ravns", "So Pretty", "Spitfall" Falling Home version, "The Beat"&"The Beat (Darker Side)", "The Hope" Extended Version, "The Perfect Element" Live at Progressive Nation 2014", "The Soul Moves Forward", "Tongue of God", "Undertow" Live at ProgPower 2014¹, "When Demons Win", "Where are the Flowers?", "Who Wants to Live Forever", "With the Stars")
B4 ("Echo of Stains", "Firebird", "For the Light", "Heroes", "He Who is Waiting", "I Am a Dream", "Justify", "King of Loss" Falling Home version, "Krunk", "Legacy", "Lover", "Lover (Darker Side)", "Mountain Top" Rog Version, "Mrs. Modern Mother Mary" Falling Home version, "Never Stop Rockin'", "Not Feeling Like I Should", "Of Two Beginnings" Live at ProgPower 2014², "Our Beloved Bleeding Sun", "Rock 'n' Roll Children" Live at Guitar Summit 2017, "Rog", "Rope Ends" Live at ProgPower 2014², "So Small", "Stay on My Side", "The Battle of Brothers", "The Beat" Rog Version, "This Call for Closure", "Used" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Vetur", "Waking Every God" Live at ProgPower 2014², "What You Don't Know", "When Demons Win" Acoustic, "With Mother")
B♭4 ("All That I Can Do", "Dancing In", "Diffidentia (Breaching the Core)" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Don't Wanna See no Ghosts", "Echo of Stains", "Life on Mars" Live at Musiken Hub 2013, "Loss for Words", "Love to be Loved", "Mountain Top" Sonr Ravns Version, "Mind Above Matter", "Misguided" The Hanged Man Version, "O Holy Night", "Slepptu Mer, Haltu Mer", "Softly She Cries" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Sonr Ravns", "The Beat"&"The Beat (Darker Side)", "Tongue of God", "To Perceive the Self", "Viva Forever", "What You Don't Know", "With the Stars", "Words of Mine", "Youth Gone Wild")
A4 ("Born in the Dark", "Bedroom", "Breathe" Thank God for Silence and The Hanged Man versions, "Conditioned" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Closure", "De-Sign", "Don't Talk to Strangers" Live at FUZZ Guitar Show 2017, "Dying Gift", "Echo of Stains", "Full Throttle Tribe", "Guiding Star", "Healing", "Hear as I'm Calling" The Circle and Rog Versions, "I Don’t Like People", "If This is the End", "In a Darkened Room", "Labia’s Kiss", "Legacy", "Lifestream/ Let it Grow", "Mind Above Matter", "Misguided" The Hanged Man Version, "Moveless" The Hope and The Hanged Man Versions, "My Enemies", "My Symbol Sol", "Never Stop Rockin'", "Not in Love", "Now Is Not the Same", "Obstacles", "On a Tuesday", "Rain on the Window", "Ragnarök", "Ressurection", "Rise Above", "Rog", "She Likes to Hide" Falling Home version, "Soulmates", "So Small", "Step Out from the Shadow", "Taiga", "Thank God for Silence", "The Battle of Brothers", "The Beat" Rog Version, "The Hermit", "To the Shoreline" Falling Home version, "Untitled", "Vetur", "Volcanic Fields", "Waking Every God" Live at ProgPower 2014², "When My Dead Friends Come to Visit", "Where are the Flowers?", "Where My Heart is Bound", "Whip My Hair", "With Mother")

Low Notes

F♯3 ("…But I’m Not Afraid of Anything", "Dark Allure", "Dying Gift", "Ending Theme" Live at ProgPower 2014¹, "Feelings of Mine", "Guiding Star", "Hel (Northern Light)", "He Who is Waiting", "I Don’t Like People", "Love to be Loved", "Not in Love", "Obstacles", "Ragnarök", "She Likes to Hide" Falling Home version, "The Chosen Youngs", "The Hanged Man", "Untitled", "Volcanic Fields", "With Mother", "You are the Life (Eli)")
F3 ("A Murder of Ravens", "Dirt", "Dream Catcher", "Healing", "Mountain Top" Rog Version, "Phantom and I", "Run to the Hills", "So Pretty", "The Lost Way of Self-Remedy", "Through Magic I Can Touch You", "When Angels Turn to Clowns", "Vetur", "Where My Heart is Bound")
E3 ("103 Mentality", "Beautiful/Depressing", "Bedroom", "Breathe" Thank God for Silence version, "Darling Time" Live with Ragnar Olafsson, "Deeper", "De-Sign", "Diamonds", "Dying Gift", "Fairy Tale/After I'm Gone", "Guiding Star", "Heroine", "Home", "I am a Dream", "Lover" & "Lover (Darker Side)", "Mother", "Not Feeling Like I Should", "Obstacles", "Ragnarök", "Rog", "Soulmates", "Spitfall" Falling Home version, "The Battle of Brothers", "Tombstone", "Used" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "Veiðileysa", "Ways of the Earth", "Where My Heart is Bound")
E♭3 ("Feelings of Mine", "Diffidentia (Breaching the Core)" Live at Progressive Nation 2014, "I Don’t Like People", "O Holy Night", "Slepptu Mer, Haltu Mer", "So Pretty", "The Beat (Darker Side)", "Words of Mine")
D3 ("Adfangadagur Dauda Mins (Christmas Song)", "Agliz", "Anger is the Killer", "Beyond the Pale" Live at Progressive Nation 2014", "Born in the Dark", "Closure", "Darling Time" Live with Ragnar Olafsson, "Diamonds", "Dirt", "Don't Wanna See no Ghosts", "Echo of Stains", "Edge of the World", "Firebird", "Heroes", "Krunk", "Legacy", "Lifestream/ Let it Grow", "Linoleum" Falling Home version, "Mind Above Matter", "Misguided" The Hope and The Hanged Man Versions, "My Enemies", "My Symbol Sol", "Nemesis", "Not Alone", "Our Beloved Bleeding Sun", "Out from the Dirt", "Phantom and I", "Rise Above", "Soulmates", "Sounds of Silent Thoughts", "Thank God for Silence", "The Beat" Rog Version, "The Hermit", "The Hope" Extended Version, "The Perfect Element" Live at Progressive Nation 2014", "The Stone Opens", "To the Shoreline" Falling Home version, "Undertow" Live at ProgPower 20141, "Urges" Live with Ragnar Olafsson, "When You Can’t See the Glow Anymore", "Where are the Flowers?")
C♯3 ("Bedroom", "Loss for Words", "Moveless" The Hope and The Hanged Man Versions, "Not Feeling Like I Should", "Rain on the Window', "Stay on My Side")
C3 ("Born in the Dark", "Breathe" Thank God for Silence and The Hanged Man versions, "Dancing In", "Fantastic Piece of Architechture", "Firebird", "Going Somewhere", "Hear as I'm Calling" The Circle and Rog Versions, "Hide from Shadows"⁴, "Hold Me Alive", "In a Darkened Room", "King of Loss" Falling Home version, "No More"⁴, "Not Alone", "Rockers Don’t Bathe" Out of the Dirt and Rog Versions, "Sonr Ravns", "Slepptu Mer, Haltu Mer", "Step Out from the Shadow", "The Beat"&"The Beat (Darker Side)", "The Perfect Element" Live at Progressive Nation 2014", "This Call for Closure", "To Perceive the Self", "Through Magic I Can Touch You")
B2 ("Fairy Tale" & "Fairy Tale/After I'm Gone", "For the Light", "Hear as I'm Calling" The Circle and Rog Versions, "The Battle of Brothers", "The Beat" Rog Version, "Too Sad to Smile", "Viva Forever")
B♭2 ("All Gone", "King of Loss" Falling Home version)

Blue marks soft/disconnected falsetto notes.
Green marks heavily distorted/harsh notes.
Underlines mark notes found on backing vocals or otherwise obscured/muffled on the mix.
Bold indicates notes that are particularly notable examples of this singer's capabilities.

SPOILER: Click to show

{Footnotes}1 - "Strid" is a collaboration between Ragnar and Maskinisten released on the 2014 album Parasit.
2 – As heard on the "Remedy Lane Re:Lived" disc of the 2016 re-visition of the Pain of Salvation album Remedy Lane.
3 - "Rainboy" is a collaboration between Ragnar and Dr. Spock released on the 2008 album Falcon Christ.
4 - "Hide from Shadows" and "No More" are collaborations between Ragnar and Single Drop released on the 2007 album Single Drop

SPOILER: Click to show

{Discography and Range by Release}Sign – Thank God for Silence (2005) (C3-G5)
Ragnar Zolberg – The Circle (2008) (B2-F5)
Sign 0 The Hope (2008, rereleased in 2013 I think?) (B♭2-G5 original 2008 release, B♭2-B♭5 rerelease)
Ragnar Zolberg – The Hanged Man (2011) (B2-E5)
RÓ – The Battle of Brothers (2011) (B2-F♯5)
Sign – Out from the Dirt (EP) (2012) (C3-F♯5)
Sign – Hermd (2013) (C3-F5)
Pain of Salvation – Falling Home (2014) (D3-F♯5 regular edition, B♭2-F♯5 limited edition)
Ragnar Zolberg – The Hermit (2014) (C3-F5)
Aanonymous Band – Feelings (EP) (2015) (B2-C5)
Pain of Salvation Remedy Lane (Re:Lived) (Live) (recorded in 2014, released in 2017) (D3-F5)
Pain of Salvation – In the Passing Light of Day (2017) (-F♯5)
Ragnar Zolberg – The Circle (Dark Side) (recorded around the same time as The Circle, released in 2017) (B2-A5)
Ragnar Zolberg – Sonr Ravns (2018) (D3-E5)
Ragnar Zolberg – Rog (2018) (B2-A5)

Ragnar Zoidberg Zolberg is an Icelandic singer and instrumentalist, mostly known for his tenure with the swedish progressive metal band Pain of Salvation (as a guitarrist and highsian backing/occasional lead vocalist), as well as for his own work with the band Sign, his eclectic solo work and a handful of other projects. Ragnar possesses a considerably high placed and nasal voice (which reminds me of a much more technically-capable Daron Malakian from System of a Down and Scars on Brodway) which he sings mostly with a very well-controled "rock 'n' roll" rasp, akin to his biggest influence Sebastian Bach (Sign even recorded a cover of "Youth Gone Wild"). This distortion comes with some truly incredible sustain and can also turn into very solid harsh vocals as well (e.g. the track "With the Stars" from the 2013 Sign album Hermd) but he can also sing in a somewhat feminine, softer tone (like the PoS song "Falling Home"). His low register isn't very strong and sometimes the "wet kitten" timbre he uses can sound awkward and grating, but Ragnar is a pretty cool vocalist overall.