I know most of you here probably did not follow me for my occasional meandering musical ramblings. You might not know much about metal as a genre. And… it’s probably been more than a little bit awkward to stand there in the sidelines and watch me do laps through the stages of grief over this past week, in the wake of the extremely unexpected, absolutely untimely, and frankly, exceedingly unfair passing of André Matos.
So, I thought I’d do a little explaining, add a little context, and share some of his music with you guys. He’s made a mark on a lot of people, on the music scene in general, and I’d like to keep that alive.
André Matos was a Brazilian vocalist, pianist and composer whose robust career began as a teenager with the band Viper, and went on to include bands and side projects like Angra, Shaman, Symfonia, Virgo, & his self-titled solo band. He also showed up in significant number of guest spots in other projects, perhaps most notably the supergroup Avantasia. A lot of the details are in his Wiki page for your perusal, because there are a lot of details to get into. Point is, he was very prolific, for very good reasons, and for those reasons was nicknamed “the Metal Maestro” by many fans.
On top of his monumental skill as a pianist and composer, he was known for his unique vocals. He had a very bright, powerful voice, and tended to utilize an extremely high vocal register. And when I say “high”, I mean he covered Kate Bush’s Wuthering Heights and changed pretty much nothing. Face-melting falsetto isn’t necessarily unusual in metal, particularly as you lean towards the power/speed subgenres, but André always had this sensitive, feminine quality to his voice that separated him from from a lot of other singers who worked in a similar style. He brought a lot of emotion to his performances, whether in the studio or on-stage, and his distinct voice was a major factor in that.
So, what now, how do you get into this kind of music? Well, here’s a brief compilation of some of my favourite things he’s been involved with and a brief description as to why they are (only some of) my favourites. Hopefully you’ll be able to eventually say the same as well.
I already mentioned Wuthering Heights - seriously, listen to that. It’s a faithful cover. (They DID do a “metal” version of the cover but the one I linked is just like… wow)
Holy Land (Angra) - This entire album is exceptional and blends metal with both classical and indigenous Brazilian influences. Some highlights include the VERY cool percussion lines in Carolina IV, and the entirety of the title track, Holy Land. Make Believe, which also exists in music video form here, is a passionate and dramatic piece that isn’t overly metallic and might be a good jumping off song for those of you who aren’t particularly metal-aligned.
RituaLive (Shaman) - A live album. I linked to the full concert here but you can find it in many forms on the old You of Tubes. This was a great-ass performance and you can really see his sense of showmanship shine through here. Perhaps most famous is the RituaLive performance of Fairy Tale, which has an extended piano intro.
Virgo - This one’s a weird little anomaly. A collaboration with renown metal guitarist and producer Sascha Paeth, Virgo was interesting in that it was not a metal album, but more pop-rock (with River diving straight up into country). It’s worth listening to this one front-to-back, there’s a diverse set of tracks here and André does something magical with each of them.
Chalice of Agony (Avantasia song, Edguy performance) - Okay, it’s extremely difficult to pick just one moment from André’s collaborations with Tobias Sammet, be it with Avantasia proper or other guest appearances. Firstly, it will have always been a stroke of genius to have cast André as an elven prince for The Metal Opera(s), but the two of them had such wonderfully positive and energetic stage chemistry. I actually only discovered this recording recently, and it’s so much fun.
I Will Return (André Matos solo, Mentalize) - Something about this song is very poignant to me still. I love all his solo stuff but the driving pace and Queen-reminiscent intro does it for me.
There is so much more to get into. Most is on Spotify, some isn’t. I’m sure some folks are reading this like “hey, what about [x]!” and that’s great, because there are so many things that [x] can be. Add them on! The world became so much more vibrant whenever he put something out there.
Art is permanent. That’s what I hope for, anyways. That there is some collective unconscious out there in the great beyond and art is our way of harnessing that into something that can mark or even change the real world we’re used to dealing with, and make it just a bit more tolerable. Hopefully some of this can rub off on you a little, and the man who made this music can live on in the joy it brings.
Miss you, Maestro. Carry on forever.
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