A countertenor (also contra tenor ) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types , generally extending from around G 3 to D 5 or E 5 , although a sopranist (a specific kind of countertenor) may match the soprano 's range of around C 4 to C 6 . Countertenors often have tenor or baritone chest voices, but sing in falsetto or head voice much more often than they do in their chest voice.
53-480: Kim Bendix Petersen (born 14 June 1956), better known by his stage name King Diamond , is a Danish rock musician. As a vocalist, he is known for his powerful and wide-ranging countertenor singing voice, in particular his far-reaching falsetto screams. He is the lead vocalist and lyricist for both Mercyful Fate and the eponymous King Diamond . He also plays keyboards and guitars on studio recordings but uses live shows to focus solely on his vocal performance. Diamond
106-449: A poseur using a devilish image for shock value ". Diamond has expressed concern that religion has led so many people to kill and destroy each other. He stated that he cannot comprehend why religion has caused so much death and destruction when it is logically impossible to prove the presence or absence of any deity . He states that he has reached a point in his life where he has completely given up believing in anything religious. Diamond
159-417: A majority of countertenors sing with a falsetto vocal production for at least the upper half of this range, although most use some form of " chest voice " (akin to the range of their speaking voice) for the lower notes. The most difficult challenge for such a singer is managing the lower middle range, for there are normally a few notes (around B ♭ 3 ) that can be sung with either vocal mechanism, and
212-419: A malevolent quasi- Satanic stage persona. He left Black Rose and joined the punk - metal band Brats, where he met Hank Shermann . The two were soon asked to help Michael Denner (also formerly a member of Brats) with his own project, Danger Zone. This band included Timi Hansen , and the musicians would join with Diamond in 1980 to become Mercyful Fate . Following Mercyful Fate's 1984 release of Don't Break
265-418: A man who sings the countertenor part, whatever vocal style or mechanism is employed. The countertenor range is generally equivalent to an alto range, extending from approximately G 3 to D 5 or E 5 . In comparison to female voices the male voice usually has an extended range towards the low notes, but the lowest parts of the range are usually not used. In actual practice, it is generally acknowledged that
318-412: A tradition of taking other people's songs and "[turning] them into something very Metallica, different from what the original artist did". Given that the band had recorded many covers that were spread across various releases, such as B-sides of their singles and the 1987 EP The $ 5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited , the band would "put them all in a nice little packaging for easy listening" along with
371-427: A vocal centre similar in placement to that of a contralto or mezzo-soprano. Peter Giles , a professional countertenor and noted author on the subject, defines the countertenor as a musical part rather than as a vocal style or mechanism. In modern usage, the term "countertenor" is essentially equivalent to the medieval term contratenor altus (see above). In this way, a countertenor singer can be operationally defined as
424-463: Is a combination of Garage Days Revisited and Metallica's song "Damage, Inc.", from Master of Puppets . The album's graphical cover draws heavily from the 1987 EP. The album features songs by artists that have influenced Metallica, including many bands from new wave of British heavy metal , hardcore punk bands and popular songs. The day after Metallica finished the North American leg of
477-545: Is denoted by the term today. This is partly because of changes in human physiology ( increase in body height ) and partly because of fluctuations in pitch. The term first came into use in England during the mid-17th century and was in wide use by the late 17th century. The use of adult male falsettos in polyphony, commonly in the soprano range, was known in European all-male sacred choirs for some decades previous, as early as
530-427: Is married to Livia Zita , a Hungarian-born singer who has made appearances as a backup vocalist on the albums The Puppet Master and Give Me Your Soul...Please , as well as during live performances. She is also his business partner, and is currently working with him to compile old footage for two planned DVD releases of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate live performances. She also helped him make remastered editions of
583-963: Is much more numerous and includes Orfeo in Gluck 's Orfeo ed Euridice and many Handel roles, such as the name parts in Rinaldo , Giulio Cesare , Serse and Orlando , and Bertarido in Rodelinda . Mozart also had castrati roles in his operas, including Aminta in Il re pastore , Cecilio in Lucio Silla , Ramiro in La finta giardiniera , Idamante in Idomeneo , and Sesto in La clemenza di Tito . Many modern composers other than Britten have written, and continue to write, countertenor parts, both in choral works and opera, as well as songs and song-cycles for
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#1732783722292636-641: Is renowned for his dark lyrical content and his story concepts. He is also known for his distinctive shock stage persona (in particular his black and white facepaint). He has been an influence for other rock and metal artists, including Metallica , Slayer and Cradle of Filth . King Diamond's first heavy rock band was called Brainstorm (1974–76), with Jeanette Blum (Jean Blue) on vocals and bass, Michael Frohn (Mike West) on guitar and Jes Jacobsen (Jesse James) on drums. Diamond left Brainstorm and began singing with local Danish hard rock band Black Rose. He began experimenting with horror -themed theatrics and shaping
689-540: Is typical of modern high operatic tenor voice production. The latter type of head voice is, in terms of the vocal cord vibration, actually more similar to "chest voice" than to falsetto, since it uses the same "speaking voice" production (referred to as "modal" by voice scientists), and this is reflected in the timbre. Particularly in the British choral tradition, the terms "male soprano" and "male alto" serve to identify men who rely on falsetto vocal production, rather than
742-691: The Roadrunner United – The All-Star Sessions album, contributing vocals for his song "In the Fire", which featured multiple Roadrunner Records musicians (past and present) working together to create individual songs. Diamond also guested on the Cradle of Filth song "Devil Woman" in late 2005. In April 2006, Diamond reunited with Mikkey Dee ( Motörhead drummer) at a sold-out gig at Kåren in Gothenburg, Sweden . In 2001 he referred to Dee as "one of
795-490: The Garage Inc. album. These tracks are a collection of B-sides from artists Metallica were inspired by, throughout the early years of the band. Metallica Guest musicians on " Tuesday's Gone " Technical personnel Disc I Disc II In the U.S., Garage Inc. sold 426,500 units in the first week of release, making Metallica's fourth straight debut surpassing 400,000 copies. Still,
848-586: The Poor Re-Touring Me Tour in San Diego's Coors Amphitheatre , they hit the studio to start recording a new album of cover versions. As Lars Ulrich explained, the band wanted to do something different after "three pretty serious albums in a row, starting with the Black album and then Load and ReLoad ", and the process would be easier by working with covers, especially as the band had
901-547: The contratenor split into contratenor altus and contratenor bassus , which were respectively above and below the tenor. Later the term became obsolete: in Italy, contratenor altus became simply altus , in France, haute-contre , and in England, countertenor. Though originally these words were used to designate a vocal part, they are now used to describe singers of that part, whose vocal techniques may differ (see below). In
954-402: The modal voice , to sing in the soprano or alto vocal range. Elsewhere, the terms have less universal currency. Some authorities do accept them as descriptive of male falsettists, although this view is subject to controversy; they would reserve the term "countertenor" for men who, like Russell Oberlin , achieve a soprano range voice with little or no falsetto, equating it with haute-contre and
1007-639: The 1999 Gods of Metal festival in Milan , Italy (with Hank Shermann on guitar); at the 2008 Ozzfest in Dallas , Texas; and at a 2011 Metallica fan club gig in San Francisco , California (with Hank Shermann on guitar, Michael Denner on guitar and Timi Hansen on bass). King Diamond has appeared on the covers of many rock and metal magazines, and has influenced many artists, including Metallica's Lars Ulrich , Cradle of Filth , Cage , and Andy DiGelsomina of
1060-653: The Catholic Church during the Renaissance, St. Paul's admonition "mulieres in ecclesiis taceant" ("let the women keep silence in the churches") still prevailed, and women were banned from singing in church services. Countertenors, though rarely described as such, therefore found a prominent part in liturgical music, whether singing a line alone or with boy trebles or altos . (Spain had a long tradition of male falsettists singing soprano lines). Countertenors were hardly ever used for roles in early opera, however,
1113-475: The Italian tenor altino . Adherents to this view maintain that a countertenor will have unusually short vocal cords and consequently a higher speaking voice and lower range and tessitura than their falsettist counterparts, perhaps from D 3 to D 5 . Operatic vocal classification, on the other hand, prefers the terms "countertenor" and " sopranist " to "male soprano" and "male alto", and some scholars consider
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#17327837222921166-512: The King Diamond albums The Spider's Lullabye , The Graveyard , Voodoo and House of God . In 2017, they became parents to a son, Byron, born in March. Metallica released an 11-minute medley of five Mercyful Fate songs on their 1998 Garage Inc. cover album. King Diamond has provided guest vocals for live performances of the medley at Metallica's concerts on three occasions: at
1219-454: The Oath and the subsequent tour (which saw them play in the U.S. for the first time), Diamond split ways with Mercyful Fate. With him, he took two of his bandmates (Hansen and Denner) to pursue a solo career under his own name. Mercyful Fate reunited in 1992 (while Diamond simultaneously continued his solo career) and recorded five more studio albums. In 1999, Diamond and Hank Shermann performed
1272-489: The Wagnerian opera metal project Lyraka . American heavy metal band Cage devoted to him the song "King Diamond" on the album Hell Destroyer in 2007. [REDACTED] Media related to King Diamond at Wikimedia Commons Countertenor The nature of the countertenor voice has radically changed throughout musical history, from a modal voice , to a modal and falsetto voice, to the primarily falsetto voice that
1325-405: The album's release. Embracing the cover song concept, the band's setlist consisted entirely of cover songs from throughout their career. Metallica's own music was presented by the opening band, Battery, a Metallica tribute band . The cover for Garage Inc. had an Anton Corbijn photograph of Metallica dressed as mechanics. The band wanted the booklet to hold a detailed account of the contents of
1378-452: The band was actively working on a new album. In 2001, King Diamond worked out a deal with the band Usurper to sing backup vocals on the song "Necronemesis" in exchange for them shifting their recording schedule around to accommodate the recording of Abigail II: The Revenge . In 2004, Diamond contributed vocals to "Sweet Dreams", the final track on the album of Dave Grohl 's heavy metal side project Probot . In late 2005, Diamond appeared on
1431-530: The basic two-part contrapuntal texture of discant ( superius ) and tenor (from the Latin tenere , which means to hold, since this part "held" the music's melody, while the superius descanted upon it at a higher pitch). Though having approximately the same range as the tenor, it was generally of a much less melodic nature than either of these other two parts. With the introduction in about 1450 of four-part writing by composers such as Ockeghem and Obrecht ,
1484-425: The best drummers of all time and that's something that has bothered us since he left." Diamond released his album Give Me Your Soul... Please , on 26 June 2007. The band received a Grammy nomination in the "Best Metal Performance" category for the track "Never Ending Hill". He was forced to cancel a United States tour due to a herniated disk, causing severe back pain, which puts him in intense pain almost all of
1537-515: The countertenor revival in the twentieth century was Alfred Deller , an English singer and champion of authentic early music performance. Deller initially identified as an "alto", but his collaborator Michael Tippett recommended the archaic term "countertenor" to describe his voice. In the 1950s and 60s, his group, the Deller Consort , was important in increasing audiences' awareness (and appreciation) of Renaissance and Baroque music. Deller
1590-476: The duet, "Hark each tree", the countertenor soloist sings from E 4 to D 5 (in the trio "With that sublime celestial lay". Later in the same work, Purcell's own manuscript designates the same singer, Mr Howel, described as "a High Contra tenor" to perform in the range G 3 to C 4 ; it is very likely that he took some of the lowest notes in a well-blended "chest voice" – see below). "The Purcell counter-tenor 'tenor' did not flourish in England much beyond
1643-615: The early years of the [eighteenth] century; within twenty years of Purcell's death Handel had settled in London and opera seria , which was underpinned entirely by Italian singing, soon became entrenched in British theatres". In parallel, by Handel's time, castrati had come to dominate the English operatic stage as much as that of Italy (and indeed most of Europe outside France). They also took part in several of Handel's oratorios, though countertenors, too, occasionally featured as soloists in
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1696-400: The first two albums he bought were Deep Purple 's Fireball and Black Sabbath 's Master of Reality . Diamond follows LaVeyan Satanism , which he does not see as a religion , but a philosophy by which he lived even before reading occultist Anton LaVey 's The Satanic Bible . Michael Moynihan calls him "one of the only performers of the '80s Satanic Metal who was more than just
1749-413: The increased popularity of Baroque opera and the need of male singers to replace the castrati roles in such works. Although the voice has been considered largely an early music phenomenon, there is a growing modern repertoire collection for countertenors, especially in contemporary music. In polyphonic compositions of the 14th and early 15th centuries, the contratenor was a voice part added to
1802-730: The late seventeenth century castrati predominated, while in France, the modal high tenor, called the haute-contre , was established as the voice of choice for leading male roles. In England Purcell wrote significant music for a higher male voice that he called a "counter-tenor", for example, the roles of Secrecy and Summer in The Fairy-Queen (1692). "These lines have often challenged modern singers, who have been unsure whether they are high tenor parts or are meant for falsettists". Contemporary vocal treatises, however, make clear that Purcell's singers would have been trained to blend both methods of vocal production. In Purcell's choral music
1855-522: The latter two terms inaccurate owing to physiological differences between male and female vocal production. Notable countertenor roles include: Sources Garage Inc. Garage Inc. is a compilation album of cover songs by American heavy metal band, Metallica . It was released on November 24, 1998, through Elektra Records . It includes cover songs, B-side covers, and The $ 5.98 E.P. - Garage Days Re-Revisited , which had gone out of print since its original release in 1987. The title
1908-566: The latter, the parts written for them being closer in compass to the higher ones of Purcell, with a usual range of A 3 to E 5 . They also sang the alto parts in Handel's choruses. It was as choral singers within the Anglican church tradition (as well as in the secular genre of the glee ) that countertenors survived as performers throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Otherwise they largely faded from public notice. The most visible person of
1961-670: The mid-16th century. Modern-day ensembles such as the Tallis Scholars and the Sixteen have countertenors on alto parts in works of this period. There is no evidence that falsetto singing was known in Britain before the early 17th century, when it was occasionally heard on soprano parts. In the second half of the 20th century, there was great interest in and renewed popularity of the countertenor voice, partly due to pioneers such as Alfred Deller and Russell Oberlin , as well as
2014-710: The mid-1980s Melissa was stolen after a performance in the Netherlands. Diamond has changed the design of his make-up often over the years. With Conspiracy , he wore a mesh of black and white line war paint, with some red "blood" made to look like a wound coming out of his forehead. With his album The Puppet Master , he used very little white and mainly had black crosses and inverted crosses going up and down his face. Diamond cites Arthur Brown , David Byron , Alice Cooper , Ronnie James Dio , Ian Gillan , Ozzy Osbourne and Robert Plant as his primary influences. According to Diamond's biography on his official website,
2067-459: The newly recorded cover versions, chosen through a group decision. Only one of the eleven songs in the "New Recordings '98" disk was not done in the three-week sessions, a version of Lynyrd Skynyrd 's " Tuesday's Gone " the band recorded for a radio broadcast along with friends such as Les Claypool , John Popper and Gary Rossington . Metallica played five shows in November 1998 to support
2120-551: The project, and designer Andy Airfix was allowed to search through Ulrich's catalogue of Metallica memorabilia in San Francisco to create a 32-page booklet. Airfix also did the back cover, where the front of Garage Days Re-Revisited was modified with headshots of Metallica in 1998 and the track list written on tracing paper . These tracks (except "Tuesday's Gone"; see below) were recorded in September–October 1998 for
2173-467: The rise of which coincided with the arrival of a fashion for castrati . For example, the latter took several roles in the first performance of Monteverdi 's L'Orfeo (1607). Castrati were already prominent by this date in Italian church choirs, replacing both falsettists and trebles; the last soprano falsettist singing in Rome, Juan [Johannes de] San[c]tos (a Spaniard), died in 1652. In Italian opera , by
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2226-458: The situation is further complicated by the occasional appearance of more than one solo part designated "countertenor", but with a considerable difference in range and tessitura . Such is the case in Hail, bright Cecilia ( The Ode on St Cecilia's Day 1692 ) in which the solo, " 'Tis Nature's Voice", has the range F 3 to B ♭ 4 (similar to those stage roles cited previously), whereas, in
2279-406: The song "Evil" live with Metallica . This performance also featured Diamond without his famous makeup. In 2000, Diamond decided to put Mercyful Fate on hold and continue on with his solo career. On 1 August 2019 Mercyful Fate announced a reunion and an accompanying European tour. In June 2022, Mercyful Fate debuted a new song, "The Jackal of Salzburg". In August 2022, King Diamond confirmed that
2332-493: The time. He attributes the problem to the long stressful hours spent working on the album. Diamond made an appearance at Ozzfest on 9 August 2008 at Frisco, Texas alongside Metallica , performing a medley of Mercyful Fate songs previously released on Metallica's Garage Inc. album. He also performed a cover of the Pantera song "A New Level" with Vinnie Paul , Scott Ian , Max Cavalera , and Nick Bowcott. In 2009, Diamond
2385-878: The title role in Philip Glass 's Akhnaten (1983), Claire in John Lunn 's The Maids (1998), the Refugee in Jonathan Dove 's Flight (1998), Trinculo in Thomas Adès 's The Tempest (2004), the Boy in George Benjamin 's Written on Skin (2012) and several others (see Roles in opera below). The vocal range of a countertenor is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types . A trained countertenor will typically have
2438-476: The track "Room 24". In August 2013 Diamond performed at Open Air Bloodstock Festival, UK. Slayer was chosen to headline the 2015 Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival. The bands HELLYEAH , King Diamond, The Devil Wears Prada , Thy Art Is Murder , Jungle Rot , Sister Sin , Sworn In , Shattered Sun , Feed Her To The Sharks, Code Orange and Kissing Candice also participated in the Rockstar Tour. Diamond
2491-407: The transition between registers must somehow be blended or smoothly managed. In response to the (in his view) pejorative connotation of the term falsetto, Giles refuses to use it, calling the upper register " head voice ". Many voice experts would disagree with this choice of terminology, reserving the designation "head voice" for the high damped register accompanied by a relatively low larynx that
2544-531: The voice. Men's choral groups such as Chanticleer and The King's Singers employ the voice to great effect in a variety of genres, including early music, gospel, and even folk songs. Other recent operatic parts written for the countertenor voice include Edgar in Aribert Reimann 's Lear (1978), the messenger in his Medea (2010), Prince Go-Go in György Ligeti 's Le Grand Macabre (1978),
2597-657: Was Deller's American counterpart and another early music pioneer. Oberlin's success was entirely unprecedented in a country that did not have much experience of performance of works prior to Bach , and it paved the way for the great success of countertenors following him. Oberlin, however, harked back to the earlier tradition of countertenors using only their modal voices. Today, countertenors are much in demand in many forms of classical music. In opera, many roles originally written for castrati (castrated males) are now sung and recorded by countertenors, as are some trouser roles originally written for female singers. The former category
2650-591: Was a special celebrity guest star in four episodes of the Warner Bros. adult-oriented cartoon Metalocalypse as the Blues Devil, Ronald von Moldenberg, a fast food manager, and one of the Klokateers in 2006 on Adult Swim . On stage, Diamond uses a microphone stand consisting of a femur bone and a tibia bone in the shape of a cross . He previously used a human skull , called Melissa, on stage. In
2703-756: Was medically dead for five hours. The surgery was performed successfully and on 11 December 2010 it was announced that he was at home recovering. All his musical projects were placed on hold. On 7 December 2011, Diamond appeared on stage with Metallica at the Fillmore in San Francisco to celebrate Metallica's 30th anniversary. In June 2012, Diamond performed his comeback concert at Sweden Rock Festival . On Saturday 8 September 2012, Diamond appeared along with Mark Tremonti on VH1 Classic's That Metal Show discussing his surgery and various details about upcoming events. He appeared on Volbeat 's 2013 album, Outlaw Gentlemen & Shady Ladies , providing guest vocals on
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#17327837222922756-497: Was revealed to be a playable character for the rhythm game Guitar Hero: Metallica , appearing with Mercyful Fate's song "Evil". The player must complete the song on any instrument and any difficulty to unlock the character. On 29 November 2010, Diamond was taken to the hospital, where doctors discovered several blockages in his arteries due to his heavy smoking habit. They determined that he had had several heart attacks and that he needed triple-bypass surgery , during which time he
2809-515: Was the first modern countertenor to achieve fame and has had many prominent successors. Benjamin Britten wrote the leading role of Oberon in his setting of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960) especially for Deller. The countertenor role of Apollo in Britten's Death in Venice (1973) was created by James Bowman , the best-known amongst the next generation of English countertenors. Russell Oberlin
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