Finding the Best Music Streaming Service for You

August 6, 2025 / metalvalkyrie2014 / 4 Comments

For over five years now, I have been testing various Music Streaming services to find out what worked best for me. I have tried just about every service, except Apple Music because I don’t really use Apple products except my Laptop. So, I will leave Apple out of this. Everyone has different criteria for streaming services, so I will go into great depth and detail to list what makes each service great or not so great. With Spotify continually making controversial decisions, many people might be looking for another service. I personally don’t like Spotify, not only because they continually don’t pay artists in a timely manner or what the streams are worth, but because they LIE about the quality of their streaming and they do not have a lot of the independent artists I listen to, and consistently lose licensed content. There are so many reasons to drop Spotify, especially with other Scrobbling Apps available if you like your monthly and yearly “Wrapped” or “Recap”. I will also explain the scrobbling apps, for us data and tracking nerds!

I will end the article with the best service (in my opinion) and the service I currently use.

Spotify: Rating 4/10

I used Spotify off and on for about eight years. Initially, I loved this Streaming App. The app had all of the content I listened to, even some obscure European music I listened to then. The quality, compared to Radio and Pandora was mind-blowing in the beginning. It had immense dynamic range and seemed to have a FLAC listening experience even while on Mobile Data. The “Offline Mode” was a must have. I live in Colorado and our cell service and Mobile Data is incredibly spotty while traveling. Offline Mode allowed me to per-download full albums in high-quality and listen to them wherever I went. Life was good with Spotify, and then they started pulling shady corporate business practices. Artists began complaining about how little they made from Spotify compared to other platforms. I noticed a decline in quality shortly after these allegations came out. Then, I became a huge fan of Devin Townsend when the album Z2 came out. Spotify notoriously dropped Devin Townsend albums, then got them back, and then dropped them again. This was extremely frustrating, especially at $20 a month for the App. Nothing was more frustrating than the lack of ability to stream brand new albums on-the-go, however. A new album would release, I would go on the Desktop version of the App, and pre-save the album so it would download as soon as it was available. Then, I would get in the car for a trip and the album would never load on the mobile app. I did this probably a hundred times, before giving up entirely on the App. The other reason I switched from Spotify to the next App on the list (Amazon Music), is the streaming quality was never as good as advertised. Another feature that was not worth the money was the “Family Plan”, which didn’t work as intended for my family. Maybe Spotify has improved on these features since then.

To test the quality, I simply plugged my Beyerdynamic Headphones into my Sony Hi-Res Amp, and played three of my favorite songs on Amazon, YouTube, Spotify, and Tidal. The songs were “Okapi” by Novelists, “Kingdom” by Devin Townsend, and Choke by The Warning. These songs have completely different ranges and span a huge range from different tuning, levels of layering, and vocals. Spotify was the absolute worst performer on this test. I couldn’t hear any of the quieter details, especially the intro on “Okapi”, and the flam (multiple snare hits with ghost notes) on the songs. The bass was too quiet, even after using the equalizer and boosting everything. The sound was flat, muddy, and even had distortion at louder volumes. I tried multiple mediums to test Spotify and try to get the best sound out of it, but nothing seemed to matter. It doesn’t perform as well as expected for me. Many people say it has the best quality, but to me, it’s the worst besides the Radio.

This absolutely sealed the coffin on Spotify. They claim to have the best streaming quality around, but based on the music I listen to, it falls incredibly flat. Once I tried other apps, I realized Spotify was not as good of quality as advertised.

Amazon Music: Rating 5/10

Amazon Music is a service my family and I received through our Prime membership. I was looking for an app other than Spotify that had a massive selection and worked on-the-go. I decided to try Amazon Music. Immediately, I was impressed by their selection, their suggestions for music, the ease of use of the App, and the high quality of the music on Desktop and the App. I found it to be better than Spotify right away. It was faster, crashed less, used less memory on Desktop, and had a much better fuller sound on their Metal tracks. It was working great for a year and a half, but then I noticed some glaring issues. Upon update, it lost my account login, my playlists, and changed the user agreement. I could no longer use my own account, and had to use my mom’s account. I tried to recover my account, but it required a new family plan. This was extremely upsetting, as we were not warned beforehand that this would occur. The countless hours I spent making playlists and collaborating with my family and friends was gone. The account was not recoverable, so Amazon lost my business. On top of that, Amazon’s “Offline Music mode” was incredibly inconsistent. It would randomly delete all my downloaded data without telling me. Then, I would get in the car and nothing would play offline. Every week I had to re-download a playlist or two. This was annoying and a wrongful advertisement of a great feature. Like most apps I’ve used since Smartphones became a thing, Amazon Music became worse and worse over time and was hard for my other family members to use.

Amazon’s music quality to my ears is superior to Spotify, but not enough to go back to it.

Upon research, I did find that Amazon does pay their artists a bit better than Spotify. But, ultimately you’re just funding Jeff Bezos’ personal and business ventures as well as shady dealings with China, where they sell all the data that the App collects to the highest bidder like most apps out there and ultimately funds the Chinese Communist Party, which isn’t something I wish to do.

Spotify: Pays artists an estimated range of $0.003 to $0.005 per stream.

Amazon Music: Pays artists an estimated range of $0.004 to $0.00402 per stream.

Soundcloud: 8/10

Soundcloud is great at streaming on Desktop. Upon testing the app, I cannot find an “Offline Mode”, unless it is for your own music that you own. Offline mode is only available on the Go+ version of the app. Soundcloud has a massive catalog of music, however. There is infinite level of discovering unsigned and underground music. It is a huge range of music from big names to independent basement artists in any genre or sub genre you can think of. I enjoy the huge range of music. There was even a Devin Townsend ambient album on there that I forgot existed. To stream music at a basic level is $4.99 per month. For high quality music, it is $10.99 per month. That is $2 to $10 cheaper than competing streaming services.

The high quality is god level, to be honest. It is just as good as Tidal for quality, which really surprised me. I tested “Kingdom” by Devin Townsend on Soundcloud vs Tidal back to back, honing in on parts of the song. On first listen, it sounds nearly identical. Plenty of punch and layers and clarity at high volume. But Soundcloud did something I thought no App could do, and that’s make it sound “live”. The reverb is way more audible on Soundcloud, giving the sound a more “anthemic” and epic effect. To be honest, I like the version of Kingdom on here much more than Tidal. Tidal sounds TOO distorted on this song, like there’s still too much distortion at high volume. Let me try another song and see if it has the same effect.

Okay, the “fullness” and full dynamic range definitely depends on the song. Some songs I listen to sound better on Soundcloud. Some songs sound better on Tidal. It is definitely a subjective preference. But I still prefer Tidal’s dynamic range. It provides a HUGE boost to the bast on Rock songs, especially The Warning when I want to hear the full range of Alejandra’s bass at full volume, Tidal is incomparable. For Metal listeners, I definitely recommend trying both apps. For EDM listeners, Tidal’s bass is unlike anything else I have ever experienced. It is a religious experience hearing the bass quality on Tidal. I listen to Hayla and The Chainsmokers regularity, and it just sounds so starkly better on Tidal than any other app.

Soundcloud is unassuming, a light weight juggernaut. The app seems so basic. It is so incredibly easy to use. You can find literally anything you’re looking for in seconds. I also enjoyed the tag based search. You can search based on anything from a mood, to a color, to a subject, to a region. It is miraculous how much bang you get for your buck on this app. I did not expect to like this App at all, but Soundcloud is my next choice after Tidal for a Streaming service. This app is simply amazing. Go+ is worth every penny. I highly recommend the free trial.

YouTube Music: 4/10

YouTube is one of the biggest websites of all time, especially after Google Monopolized it and but billions into optimizing the site and App and boosting content. I use YouTube Premium and YouTube every single day of my life since it all begin. I am a music video junkie (one of my next topics on this blog) and I love YouTube. So I was eager to try their “premium” music service. The quality on YouTube Premium Videos seemed pretty good. I can always tell when the audio is super compressed, which is a common complaint among YouTube users. Sometimes the music sounds ultra flat, distorted, and honestly garbled from CD or other Streaming Services that offer FLAC quality. I expected YouTube Music to be better quality than the videos. I ended up being very disappointed. YouTube Music provides the same quality as Music Videos, as far as I can tell. The App is overly complex. You can’t tell if it wants to play the video or the song. The artist names are not always correct on more obscure songs. It takes A LOT of Bandwidth and lags on WiFi, even worse on 4g or 5g Data. There’s so much I don’t like about this App. The family plan costs the same as Tidal’s, but I don’t think it’s worth the money. It’s not user friendly in anyway. It is hard to make playlists and time consuming, even if you’ve had a YouTube account for as long as I have. There’s nothing intuitive about the App. I really dislike the layout of it. It is small, clunky, and way too touchy. While the selection is great, even including exclusive live performances, I don’t think it’s worth $13.99 a month. You’re welcome to try it for yourself, but I didn’t care for this App at all.

Bandcamp 8/10

TLDR: Bandcamp is a choice App to support your favorite artists 100% with no Middle man, but you have to pay $10 an album to do so. If you truly care about giving real artists your money, USE BANDCAMP. Great App, Great quality, infinite possibilities and interactions with the artists themselves PLUS exclusives!

Bandcamp is a rare gem in the streaming industry. It allows for 85% or more proceeds to go to the Artist, but the honest truth is, this does not apply to Streaming.. You have to buy the digital versions of songs or albums to pay artists, and that applies to the entire industry. So don’t be fooled and think streaming on Bandcamp is any better for the artist, because it simply doesn’t pay. If you buy the albums or individual songs and then stream them, then they get paid. But Bandcamp does not pay the artist for streams without buying the album or song.

BUT, the download quality and Streaming through the App is absolutely incredible. I found it to be almost equal with Tidal, especially since you get access to FLAC files even through the App upon buying those versions.. It sounds absolutely fantastic. The selection is immense, especially for Rock, Metal, Indie, and Avant Garde. Taking into the account of being able to purchase albums and stream, knowing 85% goes to the artist, I LOVE the idea of this app. Is the App the best? No. The browser version is so much easier to use. So, if you’re on Desktop it’s fantastic. And if you want to track music for a Spotify Wrapped experience, there’s no way to do that with Bandcamp. BUT, I think having Bandcamp in addition to Tidal is a wonderful way to insure your artists are getting paid what they deserve.

Tidal 9/10

TLDR: I love Tidal more than any App ever made. It pays artists more per Stream. It’s seamless, easy to use, user friendly, family plan,, and offline mode actually works. The quality of streaming is truly unbelievable. It’s FLAC quality and dynamic range are unmatched. Tidal is mostly American owned by Block INC, and Norwegian owned with no shady dealings.

I have never been more blown away by a streaming service. Tidal is my end all be all Music Streaming App. It is the most intuitive music App I have ever used. It knows what I want to listen to and helps me build infinite playlists with ease. It’s selection is expansive. Anything you can think of, even Sea EDM, Indie, Shoegaze, and so much Metal and Classical music. It also allows users to upload their own music, which is great for sharing. It keeps a monthly track of your listening habits and makes a graphic every month. It works with Last FM to get a comprehensive stat based look at what you listen to. I can’t really find anything wrong with it, besides some small clarity issues on some songs. There’s a bit of distortion on loud streaming, and I have no idea why.. Other than that, you can hear every layer so well.

Progressive Metal sounds unbelievably good on Tidal, as well as old music. Old Music sounds better on Tidal than on Disc, because the volume is boosted and a little compressed so you don’t have to blow your speakers out on the louder parts. Every aspect of the App is optimized. It is fast, but the Desktop app is a memory HOG. It streams at such a high quality, it will bog your computer. It is not good for playing while gaming. I recommend listening on headphones on your phone while you game. It will crash your PC if you try to run new games with high intensity processor use. But I don’t care. I love this App anyway. It just sounds fantastic on everything; The car, your phone, home theater system, desktop speakers, it sounds EXACTLY the same no matter what you’re using to stream it on.

So, Tidal is my favorite Streaming service thus far, and I don’t think that’ll change anytime soon. But you ultimately have to find what service works the best for you. Give Bandcamp and Tidal a shot!

More importantly, go buy merch and physical copies from your favorite artist to support them in the maximum way possible. Streaming alone will never be enough to sustain the variety of new music.

1M Stream = $4,000 = 115 T-shirts sold

‍

(data from 2023) https://labelgrid.com/blog/royalties/spotify-pay-per-stream/

What are you using to listen to music?

THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Conquer The Hunger Games in New Single “Can’t Catch Me Now”

July 24, 2025 / metalvalkyrie2014 / Leave a comment

New Heavy Music Report of the Week

April 16, 2025April 16, 2025 / metalvalkyrie2014 / Leave a comment

It has been a hell of a month for me personally. Life has its ups and downs and endless battles, but music is always my shield wall or barrier for all the trials in life. Music is what drives me to rise above it all and continue to fight for a better life. I dread to think what the darkest times would be like without it. While I usually go to my comfort bands during these times, I also like to keep up to date on the world of Metal. And, it’s been a whirlwind of impactful releases and fresh takes in the music industry. Below, I have compiled some of my favorite releases these past two weeks. After I finish this, I will be working on the next installation of my favorite Heavy Metal albums to try to finish up the series. From there, I will go on to discuss my favorite Heavy Metal and Rock songs of all time.

Symphonic Progressive Metal Band Epica Stuns With “Aspiral”

“Aspiral” is a Progressive Symphonic Journey for the ages. It is bold, loud, and tastefully produced. Finally, it’s an Epica album you can hear each member shine on. Each member of Epica has different influences and techniques that attribute to the band’s signature sound. But those individuality qualities have been quite foreshadowed by fifty layers of orchestra and choir that sometimes make me forget they have one of the greatest lead singers in Metal. “Aspiral” is a peak of Epica and Simone Simons’ career. You can finally hear her beautiful Soprano vocals with perfect timbre and intonation. Her Prog writing style also gets to shine on this record. It is one of my top five Favorite Epica records and will be on regular rotation. This is definitely an album of the year contender.

Check out the latest single from “Aspiral”

Order Aspiral: https://epica.indiemerch.com/

Classic Melodeath Band Arch Enemy Freshens the Genre with “Blood Dynasty”

International Melodeath trailblazers Arch Enemy are back with the bombastic “Blood Dynasty”. This album is a surprising fresh take on classic Arch Enemy sounds without delving into thew commercialism. It’s gritty, dark, and moody as ever. My hopes for this album based on the first two singles were low, but Blood Dynasty grabbed me instantly. This is such a departure from Deceivers, which continued the more formulaic sound of War Eternal. While I loved those albums still, I desperately wanted a Classic Arch Enemy album with Amott’s more Thrash style riffs. Blood Dynasty delivers on all fronts, and really pulled me in upon first listen. This is one of AE’s most encapsulating releases of the diverse and long catalog. It is a complete thrill to experience.

One of my favorite songs from Arch Enemy’s career.

Order “Blood Dynasty” Here: https://linktr.ee/blooddynasty

New Video From Legendary band MESSA

Order “The Spin” Here: https://www.metalblade.com/messa/

About MESSA; https://www.metalblade.com/messa/#bio

New Live Video Clip From “An Evening With” Haken

Order An Evening With and Discover More Haken Here: https://hakenmusic.com/

Doom Metal Epic Featuring the Famous Heiki Langhans

Taken from the album “We, The Dead” to be released on May 9, 2025 by Meuse Music Records.

Instrumental Post Rock Stun with New Gorgeous Track

Preorders Available here: https://www.welostthesea.com/

Brand New Power Metal Track Speeds With Classic Blind Guardian-esque vox

Swedish Melancholic Rock Legends Return With Doomy Prog Track

Order their new album here; https://lnk.to/KAT-NAEOTWS

TechDeath Juggernauts Release New Track with Legend

shadowofintent.com

Swedish Proggers Release Chaotic New Deftones Influnced Track

Order their new album here: https://www.vildhjartastore.com/product-category/dar-skogen-sjunger-preorder/

Melodeath Power Group Release New Single and new Album

What new releases did I miss? What have you been spinning lately? Let me know below in the comments!

Discover New Metal 3/18/25

March 18, 2025March 18, 2025 / metalvalkyrie2014 / Leave a comment

Looking for new bands or songs to freshen up your music rotation? I’ve got you covered with this week’s Rock and Metal report! If you’re anything like me, I tend to get stuck on the same bands (Ankor) or albums for a month straight. So, here’s some newer music you may not have heard before!

What have you been listening to lately?

German Eurovision Stars Release New Single

Norse Folk Metal band You Probably Haven’t Heard

Female Fronted Jazz Death Metal, something I never thought I’d Say

Steven Wilson Pays Homage to Pink Floyd in the Epic “The Overview”

Melodic Rock From Sweden Drop New Anthemic Single

80s Stars Giant Are Back With Whitesnake-esque Power Ballad

Legendary Cradle of Filth Are Back with a Vengeance

Swiss Fantasy Metal Band Are Growly but Chill

Italian Noir Band Bring Doom, Jazz, and Ambient sounds together. Love this band!

All Female Hard Rock Band rivals Doro, Dorothy, Burning Witches

All Girl Melodeath Band Releases New Serial Killer Inspired Song

Female Fronted Black Metal Stuns with Folky new Song

Slovenian Speed/Heavy Metal With Gorgeous Hansi-like Vocals

My Favorite Song right now, and a top ten of all time favorite. Have to end it with Ankor

20 Most Underrated Male Vocalists

October 13, 2022 / metalvalkyrie2014 / 1 Comment

Danny Estrin- Voyager

Danny is a powerhouse with a pretty impressive range used widely over Voyager’s 20+ year career. He uses an eclectic throwback sound to the New Wave days in the 1980’s and layers in Power Metal influences and occasional grunts. It’s an incredibly complex vocal that I don’t think anyone else could replicate. You hear him sing one note and you know it’s him immediately. No matter what style Danny may emulate, Voyager is an absolute party to listen to and a truly happy Metal band with sick riffs and catchy vocals.

Devin Townsend

My favorite singer of all time and one of the most technical on this list. Devin has a four octave range that he utilizes in over twenty styles of music and 25 years of creating. He is a vocal shapeshifter, switching from harmonic screams to tenor vocals in the smoothest transition. It is astounding to watch what he can do with his voice as he goes to the absolute limit in every performance, “Screaming until he tastes blood” doesn’t get any more brutal than that. I will definitely cover this astonishingly beautiful artist throughout my entire career as a Metal writer. He is one of the greatest singers, forget genres, forget tastes and subjectivity, he is supremely talented.

Phil Romeo- Countless Skies

One of the most surprising voices on this list, Phil Romeo is an operatic tenor Power singer and bassist in British Melodeth band Countless Skies. The first time I heard Phil sing was on the track Zephyr, and not knowing anything about this band, I thought it was a Devin Townsend feature. I was astounded to find out that it wasn’t Devin and that it was this unknown bassist laying down one of the most passionate vocal lines I have ever heard.

Tom Englund- Evergrey

I know, Evergrey is a well known Power Metal band with nearly 30 years of experience under their belt, but I have to say that Tom is a hugely underrated vocalist. I don’t see him come up on any vocalist list and I think he’s overlooked. He has such a unique and recognizable smooth tone. It’s almost a bluesy style, but with insane power. Nobody sounds like Tom.

Joseph Michael-Witherfall

I only discovered this incredible Doomy Progressive Metal band last fall and I was utterly bombed by Joseph’s voice. His delivery of vocals in the cover of Foreplay/Long Time by the great Boston is absolutely spectacular and not what I expected in the slightest. Witherfall is one of the most musically talented bands out there today, and Joseph is the frontrunner of the dynamics.

Dan Cleary- Striker

Striker (not to be confused with 80’s Stryper) is a Epic Power Metal band from Alberta, Canada that is known for playing throwback traditional style Metal. They are a nostalgic cheesy Metal band part of a collective touring group NWONMB, that features Lords of The Trident, Unleash the Archers, Seven Kingdoms, and more. Dan has immense power and range that definitely reminds me of Dokken, Queensrhyche, and Whitesnake. It’s just good clean Metal with soaring vocals.

Daniel Helman- Lost Horizon

One of the more unknown names on this list, Dan Helman led the great Lost Horizons from Sweden and created a sound that would go on to influence some of the newest and most powerful singers today. I hadn’t heard of him until Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers mentioned LH as an influence. The song below is an absolute vocal masterpiece of shocking proportion.

Joacim Cans- Hammerfall

I can’t talk about male singers without talking about Joacim Cans. I don’t see this fantastic melodious Power singer on any list, and it’s an absolute crime. He is one of the best vocalists I have ever seen live. His control, consistency, and power belts are unreal. Hammerfall has been around for three decades and hasn’t received nearly enough credit.

Damian Wilson- Threshold, Ayreon, and more.

Damian is one of those singers nobody talks about, and yet has one of the most distinctive voices of all time. I was introduced to Damian Wilson on Arjen Lucassen’s Star One and was blown away by his tone. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard. He goes from singing soft ballad vocals to high powerful belting. No matter what he’s singing, his vocals are angelic and crystal clear.

Mike Mills- Toehider, Ayreon

Possibly possessing one of the biggest ranges on the list, Mike Mills has been Arjen Lucassen’s go-to singer for fifteen years. The Australian Singer, Guitarist, and Songwriter does vocal gymnastics in any song he’s ever done. He pushes the limit of male vocals, reminiscent of the great Freddie Mercury with his high Soprano operatic vocals and having easily a four octave range. I have honestly never heard another singer like Mike. The song below is just five percent of what this guy can do. I highly recommend checking out his entire discography.

Patrik Selleby- Bloodbound

There’s quite a lot of Power Metal vocalists on this list, not on purpose but by sheer will of talent. The subgenre of Metal just has a knack for using the best, most versatile vocalists. Patrik Selleby has that belting higher range vocal that just captivates crowds. He has so many different techniques he uses. He can do soffty tenor vocals, dipping into baritone. He can scream and wail with precise vibrato reminiscent of 80’s Heavy Metal. He can also use fry vocals to accentuate vowels. I absolutely love his style and Bloodbound’s overall sound.

Isahn- Emperor

Isahn has one of the most piercing and soul haunting screams I’ve ever heard, but his clean vocals are what truly astonished me. I hadn’t heard him sing until the release of the EP “Pharaohs” and I have craved his voice ever since. If you could ever describe a man’s voice as sultry, it would be Isahn’s.

Einar Solberg- Leprous

Out of all the singers on this list, Einar possibly has the most shocking and distinctive voice on the list. This man’s voice is breathtakingly beautiful. I don’t describe male vocals as “beautiful”, but it’s the word that comes to mind. It is light, airy, and angelic upon every note he sings. His range is just massive, reaching into the rafters with soprano operatic and epic falsetto that bring chills and tears alike. It is impossible not to listen to Leprous and not get emotional. Nobody sounds like Einar. He is absolutely sensational. He’s just a brilliant vocalist and songwriter. The song below says more than I can ever say.

Mathias Blad- Falconer

Falconer is a legendary Medieval Folk Power Metal band with quite the cult following. The band tried to hang it up in 2016, but due to a high demand, they keep returning for exclusive performances and one final album. They officially disbanded in 2020 sadly, but Mathias’ legacy lives on.

Kobi Farhi- Orphaned Land

I have always been enchanted by Middle Eastern vocals since Sting’s “Desert Rose”. It’s never been a style I thought “oh, that would work in Metal”, but it absolutely does. Kobi Farhi of the Israeli Heavy Metal band proves the unique technique fits the Western Heavy Metal instrumentation. This singing style, Mizahi or monotonic, requires a lot of control and technique to stay in pitch. His ability to switch into this and keep it perfectly within the music is spectacular. He is truly one of the most talented male singers out there.

Spencer Sotelo- Periphery

I could write an entire article about this vocalist and his range. I didn’t expect to become obsessed with his voice as it is a lot higher than I am usually into. Spencer has insane control over his instrument, able to switch from screams to falsetto to a softer vocal. He also has a nu-metal style fry rap in “Marigold” which is just sublimely executed. He’s effortless in his delivery, as with most singers on this list. His range also frequently rises to harmonics, which is one of the highest sectors in music. He is an unbelievably skilled vocalist and truly doesn’t get enough credit.

Jeff Scott Soto- Sons of Apollo, Yngwie, Trans Siberian Orchestra.

I only see this guy talked about in Prog channels and not more globally honored for some reason. Soto has a unique style that blends 90’s Hard Rock, Power Metal, and Soul aspects into one powerhouse vocal. Sons of Apollo is an American supergroup of some of the most talented musicians of all time. Soto fits this bill and the resounding emotive Heavy Metal style. He brings the melody so smoothly on top of very rhythmic music, which is hard to do. He has a massive range from Baritone to high screams, and I don’t think there’s a limit to it.

Terje Haroy- Pyramaze

Now, I know 99% of Metal listeners have never heard of Terje, making him one of the most unknown on the list, but he is a MUST hear vocalist. The power, the emotion, the clarity, and the grit of this singer is monolithic. He produces so much sound from just one held note. I have no idea how he pushes it to the limit while staying in perfect pitch. His vocals range from deep drones, to power belting, screams, and sounds I cannot even begin to describe. Pyramaze has been around for two decades and has been led by some amazing vocalists, but this guy is on a whole other level. His vocal energy could probably power the entirety of North America. The song below is one of the best vocal performances I have ever heard in my twenty two years of listening to Metal.

Markus Vanhala- Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum

A backing vocalist normally known for his songwriting and guitar playing, doesn’t get much credit as a vocalist. But when Markus’s clean vocals come in, it sets the whole tone for any track. You know it’s going to be a deeply emotional track when Markus sings. His tonal quality and breath control is astounding to me. He can hold notes for two measures without any vibrato or notational deviation. I had to include him because he is just so distinctive and such an underrated musician. After hearing him sing live in person twice, I have been in love with his clean vocals ever since. He could honestly front a band all on his own instead of being in the background.

Yannis Papadopoulos- Beast in Black

One of the craziest voices I’ve ever heard (besides Mark Slaughter) Yannis has what is best described as a Soprano Male Vocal. He is only one of the only males I’ve mistaken as a female, and that definitely makes an interesting reaction. After hearing this guy do operatic soprano, fry vocals, and crazy high screams, I never thought I’d hear him use a more beautiful and emotive vocal. Once you hear Floor Jansen sing “Ghost Love Score”, you may say it is the only version, but I highly recommend Yannis’ beautiful cover of the Power Ballad. He has immense range and one of the highest technical abilities I have ever heard. I think he’s one of those singers that could sing just about anything. So, I really want a covers album from this incredible Norwegian Power Metal band.