Warrel Dane (March 7, 1961 – December 13, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead singer for the metal bands Sanctuary and Nevermore.

He was a natural baritone, 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 voicestyle 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. It was going to be different than the first solo effort: "Some of it is just brutally heavy", Dane remarked. In March 2016, the title was revealed to be Shadow Work  The recording session was originally planned for October 2016.

Personal life

He cited Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Jefferson Airplane, Simon & Garfunkel, The Beatles, The Doors as his musical influences and Ronnie James Dio, Rob Halford, Bruce Dickinson as his main vocal inspirations.

Dane, along with bassist Jim Sheppard, was a certified chef and formerly owned a restaurant in Seattle. As reflected in his songwriting, Warrel was critical of religion and government and he expressed mixed feelings toward the advancement of technology.

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. 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 also claimed that Dane had a history of addictions and health issues.

Discography

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

• Refuge Denied (1988)
• Into the Mirror Black (1990)
• Into the Mirror Live (1991)
• The Year the Sun Died (2014)
• Inception (2017)

• The Apostasy (2007, guest vocals)

• Praises to the War Machine (2008)

• And Life Was Great.... (2013)

• Nevermore (1995)
• In Memory (EP, 1996)
• The Politics of Ecstasy (1996)
• Dreaming Neon Black (1999)
• Dead Heart in a Dead World (2000)
• Enemies of Reality (2003, remixed/remastered in 2005)
• This Godless Endeavor (2005)
• The Year of the Voyager (2008)
• The Obsidian Conspiracy (2010)