Metal Reviews

Name some songs with outstanding vocal performances. And don't just say "anything by [insert group here]", I mean songs were the vocalist really outdones himself.

Lost Horizon - Highlander (The One)
Best vocal performance, ever. Heiman makes first rate metal vocalists sound like jokes on this song. Throughout the song he does things with his voice that I didn't think was possible for a human.

Savatage - When The Crowds Are Gone
How much emotion can you put into a song? Oliva puts his heart and soul into every word. I get shivers every time I listen to this song.

Demons and Wizards - Fiddler on the Green
Also a very emotianal perfoemance. Hansi SHINES here! Those who says that he can't sing need to shut up and listen to this song.

Rainbow - Stargazer
Simply put, Dio's best performance ever.

I have to agree with Lost Horizon - Highlander.

Other than that, nothing comes to mind. Highlander is the first song that comes to mind when I think of an amazing vocal performance.

Heavy Metal Perse - Legenda Taikamiekasta

Human Fortress - Siege Tower, Mortal Sinful Wrath and The Valiant.

Lost Horizon's Highlander is amazing!!! 8)

Rosemary's Baby by Fantomas.. it's a tour-de-force of creepiness, no soaring vocals in sight.

I was trying to think of something that Garm's on, too.. he has the sexiest vocals on the planet

edit: maybe "Nowhere/Catastrophe" by Ulver

I think his vocals are better on Think Not Forever.

And just to name a couple others.

Midnight (Crimson Glory) - Azrael

Andy Michaud (Liege Lord) - Birds of Prey

John Cyriis (Agent Steel) - Still Searchin

Jon Arch (Fates Warning) - Exodus

David Potter (Cloven Hoof) - Cloven Hoof

Michael Kiske (Helloween) - Keeper of the Seven Keys

Anders Zackrisson (Nocturnal Rites) - Burn in Hell

Joe Terry (Labyrinth) - Mortal Sin

Ronnie James Dio (Rainbow) - Stargazer

Freddy Mercury (Queen) - The Prophets Song

Ray Alder (Fates Warning) - The Ivory Gate of Dreams

Hansi Kursch (Blind Guardian) - The Last Candle

Kevin Heyborne (Angel Witch) - Atlantis

Jon Anderson (Yes) - Gates of Delirium

Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth (Overkill) - E-limination

Tim Baker (Cirith Ungol) - Chaos Descends

Thats a pretty long list, but I dont give a shit, hopefully if you havent heard of some of these songs you'll check em out...whoever you are.

That has to be the best Savatage ballad ever.Olivia may not have the best range ever but he makes it up with a damn good mid to low range and when he sings ballads watch out he will put you in tears so damn emotional he's a damn good singer.

Well I say

Kamelot-Abandoned
Talk about emotional singing.Khan has so much emotion in this song it's not even funny he's one of the best singers around IMHO

Geoff Tate - Suite sister Mary
Rob Halford - Victim of changes, Dreamer deceiver
Rob Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus) - Chapel of burning
Hansi Kursch - Imaginations from the other side
Roy Kahn - Soul society
Johann Edlund (Tiamat) - A deeper kind of slumber
King Diamond - At the graves
Sandra Schelerett (Dreams of Sanity) & Tilo Wolf (Lacrimosa) - The phantom of the opera

These come to mind...

Manowar-Hail And Kill
Iron Maiden-all the songs.. bruce must be one of my favorite singers out there|

Holy Terror's list has many of my faves as well (like Michaud per say), so I won't repeat them. Also I agree with Sweet Sister Mary and a few others. Here's some more picks :

Eric Adams - Battlehymn, talk about goosebumps...

Carl Albert - Kamikazee, it's from the first Villain album, the scream at the end of the song must be the highest octave any vocalist has ever hit... ever!!

J.D. Kimball - The curse album (by Omen), perhaps the most haunting vocal performance in the history of heavy metal, R.I.P. brother.

Tim Baker - King of the Dead, perhaps the second most haunting vocal performance blah, blah, blah!

Geoff Tate - Queen of the Ryche, talk about screams!

Midnight - Red Sharks (Crimson Glory from the transcendence album) talk about more screams!!

Tim "Ripper" Owens - Diamonds and Rust from the priest '98 live album, just because he can sing it as well as Halford

Harry "the Tyrant" Conklin - License to kill (from Jag Panzer's Ample Destruction album), the most in your face vocals you'll ever hear.

Anyway I can go on for hours, but just one more Sean Peck - Kill the Devil from Cage's Darker than Black album, simply deranged!

Oh and last but not least any Deadly Blessing song with Ski on vocals, damn that guy can scream!!!

Oh, oh and Halford - Painkiller, you didn't really think I'd leave the metal god out of my list did ya?

Not saying its the best, but definitely a unique performance is the lead on Deadly Sinners, 3 Inches of Blood. A man should not be able to hit those notes.

Right off the top of my head, Highlander from LH comes to mind.



But where's the vote for Kelly Carpenter with Beyond Twilight? The Dark Side is probably the most chaotic, insane sounding song, and it has almost everything to do with his voice.

Kamelot - Center Of The Universe

I agree with Metalstorm in saying that Kahn is one of the best singers out there.

Iced Earth - Dracula

Matt Barlow sings his throat out on this one.

Nevermore - The Seven Tongues Of God

Not only does Warrel Dane deliver his creepiest, most disturbed vocal delivery to date on this, but the song is just flat out amazing. It's definately a contender for the best Nevermore song ever written.

Toby Sammett and David DeFeis on The Final Sacrifice

Dio on Rainbow Eyes

Halford on Hell Patrol and Painkiller

Ripper on Diamonds and Rust

Bruce Dickinson on The Thin Line Between Love and Hate, plus Arc of Space

Bob Catley on In Quest For

Daniel Heiman on Highlander and Sworn In The Metal Wind

Roy Khan on loads of stuff

A few songs that give me chills:

Geoff Tate on "Someone Else?" from Promised Land.

Sarah McLachlan on "Hold On" from Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.

Devin Townsend on "Processional" from the Infinity EP, a must hear!!

There are tons more, but off hand this is what I can think of.

:?: ???

Do you have a different version or something? I don't think my copy has that song on it.

It's not on the Infinity album. It's on an EP. Devin had 4 songs he'd done during the Infinity sessions that were incomplete in his mind, "demos," as he called them. So he released them on an EP with "Christeen." The tracks are:

01. Christeen
02. Om
03. Sit In The Mountain
04. Processional
05. Love-Load

Each song is awesome! Demos they are not, but Devin is weird. The songs sound amazing! "Love-Load" is a bit weird, more like industrial, but "Om" and "Sit In The Mountain" are fucking killer! "Om" is reminiscent of "Regulator" from the Ocean Machine album, he even does a medley of the two live sometimes. "Processional" is almost 12 minutes long and goes through suites. It's a fucking epic tune and Devin's vocal performance is IN-FUCKING-SANE!!! Go buy it now from hevydevy.com

Actually, I think my brother owns that. I never sat down and listened to it though.




I heard he had a nervous breakdown after he wrote Infinity.

That was a turbulent time for him and it reflects in the music. He did commit himself at one point, not sure if it was before or after the album. That album and the music from it is a rare moment in time, it'll never happen again. You must indulge...

I first heard Infinity in ninth grade when I was in my little rap phase, and I completely fell in love with it. That's probably the reason I like HevyDevy so much. He stands out above all IMO.