DESCRIPTION:
Over the course of his career, Warrel Dane has undergone quite a variety of changes in his vocal style and timbre. Originally a classically trained opera singer, he made his recording debut with the band Serpent's Knight in 1983, for which he regularly utilized a VERY high-pitched, and sometimes even cartoonish-sounding approach in much of his singing. In 1985, he moved on to join power metal band Sanctuary, with whom he recorded two albums before their dissolution. On these albums, he employed a fairly similar tessitura to his Serpent's Knight recordings, but was now able to channel much more power into his screaming style (often sounding like a cross between Rob Halford and Axl Rose), which he gained a great deal of acclaim for at the time. After the remaining members of Sanctuary formed Nevermore in 1991, Warrel's vocal style began to drastically change: instead of focusing on stratospheric, piercing screams, he started to emphasize a more dramatic fourth octave belting sound, as well as occasionally dropping down to deep, bassy second octave notes. However, he also continued to incorporate fifth octave notes into his singing with Nevermore, though his tone for such screams had grown much weaker and airier since his Sanctuary days. On more recent releases, such as Nevermore's 2010 album The Obsidian Conspiracy or his 2008 solo album, Warrel stopped writing melodies with fifth octave notes altogether, and specifically geared his singing more towards the C2-G♯4 area, which is easily the strongest area of his range nowadays. Though Nevermore was disbanded in 2011, Sanctuary have since reformed with Warrel as vocalist, and have been touring ever since. Their third album is expected to be released in the near future.

1. 0:00 - A very impressive showcase of over two and a half octaves from "Veil of Disguise", featuring some D5s with trills to E5, some dramatic B2s, then a powerful high passage topping at G5. We'll hear more highs like this later in the video.
2. 0:26 - The chorus of "We Disintegrate", with some belting up to G♯4 in one vocal, and solid B♭2s (along with a quick F2 and G2) in the other, also followed by a nice C3.
3. 0:48 - Dark A2s from "The Termination Proclamation", followed by some strong F♯4s.
4. 1:06 - Great G♯2s (in between F4s) from "Temptation".
5. 1:27 - Very smooth and pleasant singing down to G2 and F2 from "This Old Man", along with a few short dips to D2.
6. 1:59 - Some fantastic singing between F♯2 and E2 from a 2012 performance of "Eden Lies Obscured" at Club Nokia. Impressive live projection!
7. 2:15 - One of Warrel's most classic low singing clips: the "Cenotaph" verse, with melody E♭2s and one short C♯2.
8. 2:45 - The intro of "Your Chosen Misery", which starts on some formidable C2s, and is sung down to a couple of boomy E♭2s.
9. 3:12 - Enormous C2s and D2s from "Emptiness Unobstructed". Incredible!
10. 3:27 - Melody lines on C2 from "Lucretia My Reflection". Excellent tone!
11. 3:52 - A massively bassy passage from "And the Maiden Spoke", mostly between C♯2 and B1, with a brief dip to A1 and G♯1.
12. 4:15 - Beefy chanted B1s and B♭1s from "Moonrise (Through Mirrors of Death)", along with a couple quick A1s .
13. 4:25 - Warrel's lowest note: a G♯1 from "She Comes in Colors".
14. 4:32 - Now we start the highs with some passionate singing up to F4 from the "This Old Man" bridge.
15. 4:50 - Powerful F♯4s during the verse of "Passenger".
16. 5:14 - A gritty sustained G4 from "The Learning". Nice vibrato!
17. 5:30 - Incredible soaring G♯4s from a recent Warrel guest appearance: "And Life Was Great..." by Shaded Enmity. Fantastic singing throughout this performance!
18. 6:05 - Amazing mezza voce A4s from "Veil of Disguise". Easily some of Warrel's most impressive singing ever!
19. 6:42 - Strong belted B♭4s from the key change of "The Heart Collector". Unfortunately, Warrel often has difficulty hitting these notes live.
20. 7:13 - Now we hear a much younger Warrel in 1986, singing lightly and effortlessly between A4 and C5 in "Insane". Quite a contrast to his Nevermore singing!
21. 7:36 - And now back to Warrel's first Sanctuary album with several more clips of wild high singing! Here we have lines sung between C♯5 and D5 from "Sanctuary".
22. 8:08 - An intense passage from "Veil of Disguise" with numerous E5s, including entire lines sung on that pitch! Also contains some short F♯5s.
23. 8:44 - The classic F♯5s from the "Battle Angels" chorus.
24. 9:00 - A crazy sustained G5 from the ending of "Seasons of Destruction", live at the Chestnut Cabaret in 1990. Much stronger than on the studio version!
25. 9:07 - An F♯5 sliding up to an epic sustained A5 from "Ascension to Destiny"!
26. 9:24 - To cap off, we have the ending of "Soldiers of Steel", which starts with a vibrato-heavy sustained E5 sliding up to a G5, followed by Warrel's highest note: a B♭5! This then trills down to a sustained E5, before ending with a line sung between E5 and F5.