Maybe some of you out there know about PelleK, but I only just discovered him a few months ago, and he's become probably my 3rd favorite musician to listen to, behind Phantom of the Opera and Tchaikovsky. If you're not familiar, he's a Norwegian singer and actor with an incredible 4 octave range.
His music somehow manages to satisfy most of my music cravings at once. He does a lot of covers of things like Disney music and video game music and anime music, but with a twist that is both metal-ish and Broadway-ish. Below is one of my favorites of his, a cover of "The Bells of Notre Dame."
Let me explain my taste in metal a little more thoroughly. The only type of metal I really, really like is a sub-style called "glam metal," which has a very bright, upbeat, energetic and yet epic sound. So, this is not what most people think of when they think of metal (such as growling like a monster about death and demonic stuff. I stay thoroughly clear of that kind of metal.) Glam metal is really more of a display of virtuosity. As a classically trained violinist and soprano, I really like to hear people go nuts on the electric guitar, and singing extremely high notes with lots of vibrato. That's what glam metal is. It's not terribly far off from going nuts on the violin and singing opera.
PelleK's music satisfies me so much because it is exactly what I want to hear in metal. His voice is extremely theatrical and Broadway-like. I was enchanted with his voice from the moment I discovered him on Spotify. And I couldn't believe my luck in finding a combination of the type of metal I like
and theatrical Broadway style!!
I think one of the best examples of his vocal talent is his cover of "Let It Go."
He sings it in the same key as Idina Menzel!!!! And he sounds fantastic!
And I thought the instrumentation and character voices in his "Zero to Hero" cover was super fun!
Some other things I like from him:
- Cover of "This Is Halloween"
- Cover of "Belle" - he sang all the characters, from Gaston to Belle!!
- Cover of "We Are Number One" - I don't know how he managed to take a LazyTown song and make it an epic banger, but here we are, lol.
The only thing I wish PelleK's music had is more live instruments/an orchestra. Most of the orchestral instrumentation sounds in his music seem to be synthesized. If he got a full, live orchestra involved in any of his music, it would satisfy every single one of my music cravings.
Also, if he ever sang music from Phantom of the Opera, I'd just be in heaven.
I know this was a bit of an essay, but I have what most people consider "unusual" music taste, so I can't help but over-explain when I do feel brave enough to share music I like.