Warrel Dane

Warrel Dane
Dane with Sanctuary, 2015
Background information
Birth name Warrel G. Baker
Born (1961-03-07)March 7, 1961
Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Died December 13, 2017(2017-12-13) (aged 56)[1]
São Paulo, Brazil
Genres Heavy metal, power metal, progressive metal, thrash metal
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter
Instruments Vocals, keyboards
Years active 1983–2017
Labels Century Media
Associated acts Serpent's Knight, Sanctuary, Nevermore

Warrel Dane (born Warrel G. Baker; March 7, 1961 – December 13, 2017)[1] was an American musician who was the lead singer for the metal bands Sanctuary and Nevermore. He was a natural baritone;[2] though he was known for his high-pitched vocals with Serpent's Knight and on the first two Sanctuary albums, later in his career, Dane became more notable for his distinctively deep, dramatic voice.

Musical career

Dane was trained for five years as an opera singer and utilized a very broad vocal range, spanning from notes as low as the G♯ below low C, or G♯1, to notes as high as the B♭ below soprano C, or B♭5. While his high head voice style vocals were much more prominent in the older Sanctuary albums, there were instances where he utilized it in Nevermore as well. Sanctuary's 2014 comeback album The Year the Sun Died includes these higher passages on three songs. Dane provided the voice of Candynose Twinskins in the musical comedy Metalocalypse on Adult Swim.

Dane's first ever solo record, Praises to the War Machine was released May 13, 2008, on Century Media Records. He was working on a second album at the time of his death.[3] It was going to be different than the first solo effort: "Some of it is just brutally heavy", Dane remarked.[4]

In March 2016, the title was revealed to be Shadow Work [5] The recording session was originally planned for October 2016.[6]

Influences

Dane's musical influences were Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, and The Doors,[7] while Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, George Strait and Bruce Dickinson were his main vocal inspirations.[8]

Death

On December 13, 2017, it was reported that Dane had died of a heart attack in São Paulo, Brazil, at the age of 56.[1] It was there that he was working on his second solo album. The guitarist of Dane's solo band Johnny Moraes stated that, "He died in the night. He had a heart attack. He was in the apartment where he stayed during the recording of the album when it happened. I gave him cardiac massage and we called the Mobile Emergency Care Service (SAMU), who came very fast, but when they arrived, he was already dead." Moraes stated that Dane was already facing a lot of health issues due to a history of alcoholism and diabetes mellitus type 2.[9]

Legacy

On January 14, 2018, one month after Dane's passing, the Brazilian movie director Daney Carvalho released on YouTube his debut shortfilm O Ano em que o Sol Morreu (a play with The Year the Sun Died album title), a drama movie and a tribute to Warrel Dane.[10] The movie was originally released on May 2016 on a Brazilian festival,[11] but the director chose to make it public after singer's death. Dane himself met with Carvalho that year, when the independent director made an interview with him to a local Brazilian TV program during college.[12] According to Carvalho, Dane saw the movie on a private screening after he finished post-production and thought it was "great" and "terrifying".[13]

Discography

Serpent's Knight

  • Released From the Crypt (1983)
  • Silent Knight...of Myth and Destiny (2010)(Disc one vocals)

Sanctuary

Behemoth

Solo

Shaded Enmity

  • And Life Was Great.... (2013)

Nevermore

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Watch WARREL DANE's Final Performance On Brazilian TV, Recorded Two Weeks Before His Death". Blabbermouth. Retrieved 2017-12-16.
  2. ↑ Hasbrouck, Greg. "Interview with Warrel Dane - conducted by Greg Hasbrouck, 2011". Progpower USA. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  3. ↑ Warrel Dane [@warrel_dane] (July 1, 2015). "Slayer one of my favorite bands? Yes! Working on new solo shit ... Ya'll will be happy lol" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  4. ↑ "WARREL DANE Talks Next SANCTUARY Album, Performing NEVERMORE's 'Dead Heart' And Second Solo LP". Blabbermouth.net. October 14, 2015.
  5. ↑ "WARREL DANE Says There Has Been No Discussion Of NEVERMORE Reunion". Blabbermouth.net. March 10, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  6. ↑ "WARREL DANE Has 'Mixed Feelings' About Replacing JEFF LOOMIS In NEVERMORE". Blabbermouth.net. September 18, 2016. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Warrel Dane interview". Metal.de. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Warrel Dane interview". Metal-rules.com. Retrieved September 20, 2014.
  9. ↑ "NEVERMORE And SANCTUARY Singer WARREL DANE Dies Of Heart Attack In Brazil". Blabbermouth.net. December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  10. ↑ DaneyCarvalhoFilms (2018-01-14), O Ano em que o Sol Morreu (2016, dir. Daney Carvalho), retrieved 2018-01-14
  11. ↑ "Seleção 2016" (in Portuguese). 2016-04-04. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
  12. ↑ Faculdade Cásper Líbero (2016-03-10), Edição Extra - Perfil Warrel Dane - Março 2016, retrieved 2018-01-14
  13. ↑ Carvalho, Daney (14 January 2018). "For those who wanna know: Warrel saw the movie on a private screening years ago, after we had our interview. He thought it's great and the bathroom scene "terrifying". :) Miss you, man! #warreldane #nevermore #Sanctuary". @DaneyCarvalho. Retrieved 2018-01-14.
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