The Vocal Range of Matt Barlow: (F♯1-)C♯2-F♯5(-B♭5)

The retired frontman of Iced Earth, Barlow is most known for his dark, verismo tone and powerful highs. A high baritone, he is often confused for a much lower voice type due to his hefty dramatic timbre and gravelly delivery.
He also filled in for Danish metallers Pyramaze in 2008, and actually ended up delivering some of his best work.

0:00 - Singing strong G♯2s in "Dante's Inferno"
0:30 - Answering himself with F2s in "Reaching the End"
0:40 - Chanting down to F2 in the live version of "Dante's Inferno"
0:58 - Speaking down to E♭2 with lots of whisper in "Diary"
1:16 - Strong spoken E♭2s from "Scarred"
1:25 - Chanting dipping down to D2 in the studio version of "Dante's Inferno"
1:52 - Speaking down to D2 in "Cast in Stone"
2:12 - VERY strong D2s in Pyramaze's "Year of the Phoenix"
2:27 - Very dark slide to C♯2, Barlow's lowest full note, in "Creator Failure"
2:39 - Another resonant C♯2 in the background from "Damien"
2:51 - Two short passages from "Reaping Stone," first hitting a growly C♯2, then a fry F♯1!

3:11 - On to highs: Singing strained B♭4s in the chorus of "Creator Failure"
3:27 - Belting more B♭4s, ending on a great sustained G♯4, from "Life and Death"
3:52 - Soulful B♭4s, trilling up to B4 from "Watching Over Me"
4:26 - Singing easily up around B4 in "Birth of the Wicked"
4:57 - First up to B4, then sustaining a C5 in the fantastic chorus of "Burnt Offerings"
5:24 - Singing C5s in the even fantastic-er chorus of "A Beautiful Death"
6:02 - Very powerful C♯5 phrase, with one E♭5 in "The Highland"
6:15 - Lots of C♯5s from the cover of "Hallowed Be Thy Name"
6:52 - More strong D2s, followed by emotional singing ending on a sustained D5, from "Caramon's Poem"
7:23 - Gritty A4 sliding into a powerful D5 from "Highway to Hell"
7:40 - One quick F5 to a sustained D5 in "Year of the Phoenix"
7:55 - Several clean C♯5s, ending on a great E♭5 in "Cast in Stone"
8:14 - Angry singing up to E♭5 from "Burning Times"
8:28 - The verse of "Dracula" sung on airy E♭5s
8:52 - A powerful phrase around C♯5 with several E♭s from "Come What May"
9:26 - Chesty E♭5s, with the final one sliding up to E5, in "Screaming for Vengeance"
9:46 - A passionate E5 from the end of "I Died for You" live
9:57 - A line sung around E5 before another one starting on F5, from "Ghost Light"
10:19 - A fantastic sirenic F5 from "Year of the Phoenix"
10:32 - A couple of rather wobbly F5s from "Winter Nights"
10:53 - Powerful singing up to E♭5s, ending with a piercing F♯5 from "Travel in Stygian" live
11:15 - Some raw screaming up to F♯5 (with E♭2s from Schaffer) in "Jeckyll & Hyde"

11:24 - Now for falsetto: A powerful falling G5 from "Travel in Stygian" live
11:40 - An unusual phrase for Barlow, singing shrill G5s in "Creator Failure"
12:14 - A LONG G♯5, over an F4, B♭4, then F5 from the re-recorded "Setian Massacre". The harmony in the verses goes up to F♯5!
12:28 - The incredible climax to "A Question of Heaven", singing up to full E5s before a breathtaking sustained G♯5.
12:53 - Equally incredible climax of "Come What May", with an entire line sung on G♯5
13:22 - A line around D5, then a falsetto G♯5 trilling to A5 several times from "Burning Oasis"
13:47 - A piercing, divebomb A5 from "Blessed Are You" live
14:04 - From "Wolf", several screamed F♯5s, with a harmony B♭5 (Barlow's highest note) on the last one.
14:16 - Another harmony B♭5, sustained(!) over a G♯5 from the Iced Earth cover of "The Ripper"
For more (and better) examples of B♭5, check out the version of "Damien" under the Video Responses.

Thanks of course to Thetarantinomaniac, royalcrimsontheater, Danerage, StageHolder, GoodGuitarSolos, athousandstrats, and AmadeusD

Category:

Music

Tags:

• matt
• barlow
• iced
• earth
• pyramaze

[InventorOfMetal]

Fantastic video. Keep making these.

[paoacab13]

best vocals ever

[GabriHell23]

one of my favourite singers

[wizorz]

Yeah i love vocal range videos, really interesting good job

[RampRat1984]

AWESOME!