Andre Coelho Matos (; 14 September 1971 – 8 June 2019) was a Brazilian singer and musician. He was involved in the heavy metal bands Viper, Angra, Shaman and Symfonia. Since 2006, Matos had been dedicating his time to his solo career. In 2012, he was ranked No. 77 at the list of 100 Greatest Voices of Brazilian Music by ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

Brasil''.

Biography

Viper, Angra and Shaman

Matos grew up in his hometown of

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. He began his musical education at the age of 10, when he received his first piano from his parents. As a teen, he would gather with his friends to listen to their favorite bands. Soon they began learning to play music too, and Matos joined his first band, Viper. The band first performed on 8 April 1985, when he was just 13 years old. That same year, they recorded their first demo tape, '' The Killera Sword''. Matos continued on vocals, but he had no intention of remaining a vocalist, a role he assumed only because his singing was the "least poor vocals of all of them", and because he physically resembled Iron Maiden's vocalist, Bruce Dickinson. His instruments of choice were always the piano and keyboard. Matos left Viper when the band began to change its musical style. He had become interested in

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, and felt that his musical vision had begun to diverge from that of the other band members, who wanted to focus on heavier, "crude" music. After leaving Viper, Matos went back to school and finished his education in music, specializing in orchestral conducting and music composition. In 1991, Angra was formed, and with the first album, '' Angels Cry'', released in 1993, the band became famous in Japan and Europe. Later, ''

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

'' and ''

Fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

'' were released. Angra's style evolved from a Helloween-inspired melodic speed metal to a unique blend of heavy-metal, classical music and traditional Brazilian influences which brought them worldwide critical praise. In 2000, Matos left Angra alongside Luis Mariutti (bass) and Ricardo Confessori (drums) because of a disagreement with guitar players Rafael Bittencourt and Kiko Loureiro concerning the band's management. Matos stayed with Mariutti and Confessori and recruited Mariutti's brother Hugo on guitar; together they formed the band Shaman. The band was a sudden success due to the song "Fairy Tale" which was featured in the Brazilian soap opera ''Beijo do Vampiro'' (Vampire Kiss). Their first album, ''Ritual'', sold over 200.000 copies worldwide in the first year of its release and resulted in a tour with 150 concerts around the world and a DVD called ''Ritualive''. Their second release, ''Reason'', kept the fame and culminated in a concert in front of 10,000 people in Rio de Janeiro. After this, the band owner and former Angra drummer Confessori fired Matos and Mariutti brothers from the band. On 29 June 2018, Shaman announced a reunion of their original lineup to tour in celebration of their 17th anniversary.

Solo records ''Time to Be Free'' and ''Mentalize''

Prior to his death, Matos was carrying his solo career on along with Mariutti brothers, but he often said that calling it a solo career was a big mistake; it was a band with his name, and they all decided so due to the fame of his name around the world and the frequent departure from other bands. Their first album, '' Time to Be Free'' (2007), a themed album with lyrics focused on Matos' departure from Shaman, is considered the most symphonic record written by Matos. The album charted well both in Brazil and Europe and was a success in the eyes of both critics and fans. ''Time to Be Free'' is a more personal album, even though guitarist Hugo Mariutti wrote almost every song along with Matos and Pit Passarel, an ex-band partner of Matos in Viper, who was also a guest in this album. Besides all success heading the release of the album and the expectation over the album, Matos decided not to record any worldwide video clips; he only recorded and released an exclusive video clip for the Japanese audience which features a cover. ''Time to Be Free'' was followed by a tour with more than 50 concerts all over the world; Matos was invited to tour with Scorpion and Edguy (an old friend, and this friendship began when Matos was in Angra and Edguy was invited to be the front act for Angra's Fireworks tour), taking place in Europe, Brazil and Japan, and in festivals like Loud Park, Live and Louder, and Finnish Metal Expo. Matos was also called to be headliner in ProgPower USA, but due to problems with their passport, they canceled the concert; he was replaced by another Brazilian band called MindFlow. At the end of the tour, Matos joined Hangar (a up-and-coming Brazilian metal band) to a metal Christmas project, before returning to the studio to record his new album. ''Mentalize'' was released in Brasil and Japan first, at the end of 2009, and a tour started in Brazil, with concerts in Rio de Janeiro, Recife, São Paulo, Fortaleza, and some other cities. It was released in early 2010 in Europe, so Matos would profit to play in some summer festivals. ''Mentalize'' was produced by Corciolli, and mixed by Sascha Paeth.

Collaboration with Avantasia and Symfonia

In 2001, Matos was one of the guests on Tobias Sammet's metal opera

Avantasia Avantasia is a German Supergroup (music), supergroup rock opera, metal opera project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist of the band Edguy. It has been characterized as a rock opera, as it features the contributions of various vocalists and music ...

, playing the part of 'Elderane the Elf' in the Metal Opera albums. He was also part of their first world tour in 2008 as one of the main guests. In 2010, he was featured in the album '' The Wicked Symphony'' providing vocals for "Blizzard on a Broken Mirror". Matos is also featured on the live album/DVD '' The Flying Opera''. His last appearance with Avantasia was in São Paulo on 2 June 2019, a few days before his death. In November 2010, Matos joined Symfonia, a power metal supergroup formed in with

Timo Tolkki Timo Tapio Tolkki (born 3 March 1966) is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing ...

, Uli Kusch, Jari Kainulainen, and Mikko Härkin. They made their debut performance at Finnish Metal Expo 2011 and released their first and only album '' In Paradisum''. As touring and second album plans didn't work as planned, Timo Tolkki (guitarist, ex-Stratovarius) announced that he would stop his life in the music industry and that Symfonia would not continue as a band.

Reunion with Viper and Shaman

On 20 April 2012, it was announced that Matos had returned to his former band Viper to make a reunion tour to celebrate the 25-year anniversary of the band's debut album, ''Soldiers of Sunrise''. The band played its first two albums, ''Soldiers of Sunrise'' and ''Theatre of Fate'', live in their entirety. After that, the solo band and Viper joined each other on the secondary stage of the biggest Brazilian festival, Rock in Rio, for a special concert and opening act for Helloween and Iron Maiden. On 29 June 2018, Shaman made a reunion of their original lineup to tour in celebration of their 17th anniversary. In February 2019, Shaman were announced as a special guest with

in Brazilian concerts.

Death

Matos died on 8 June 2019, aged 47. The death was announced by a note published on social networks and signed by the members of the band Shaman. The media confirmed the news through members and press agents of the band. It was later confirmed that Andre Matos died due to a heart attack. As a wish manifested in his life, there was no public wake and the singer's body was cremated in an undisclosed location. On 13 July 2019, the mayor of

, Bruno Covas, officially declared 8th June as São Paulo's Heavy Metal Day.

Andre Matos band members

*Andre Matos – vocals, keyboards, piano *João Milliet – guitars * Hugo Mariutti – guitars *Bruno Ladislau – bass guitar *Rodrigo Silveira – drums

Former members

* Eloy Casagrande – drums *Rafael Rosa – drums *Luís Mariutti – bass guitar *Fabio Ribeiro – keyboards *Andre Hernandes – guitars

Discography

Solo career

*'' Time to Be Free'' – 2007 *'' Mentalize'' – 2009 *'' The Turn of the Lights'' – 2012 *''Moonlight: The Best of Andre Matos'' (compilation) – 2019 * "Life Goes On" (single) – 2020

Viper

*'' Soldiers of Sunrise'' – 1987 *'' Theatre of Fate'' – 1989 * '' All My Life'' (special guest) – 2007 *''To Live Again: Ao Vivo Em São Paulo'' – 2015 *''The Spreading Soul Forever'' ''Single'' – 2020

Angra

*'' Angels Cry'' – 1993 *'' Evil Warning'' (EP) – 1994 *''Live Acoustic at FNAC'' – 1995 *''

'' – 1996 *''Freedom Call'' (EP) – 1996 *'' Holy Live'' – 1998 *''

'' – 1998 *'' Best Reached Horizons'' (compilation) – 2012

Virgo

*''Virgo'' – 2001

Shaman

*''

Ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

'' – 2002 *'' RituAlive'' (live album) ''– 2003'' *''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing valid conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, religion, scien ...

'' – 2005 *''Video Clip Reason'' – 2020

Symfonia

*'' In Paradisum'' – 2011

Other participations

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

– '' Manifiesto'' – 1996 *Looking-Glass-Self – ''Equinox'' – 1998 * Superior – '' Younique (album)'' – 1998 *Time Machine – ''Secret Oceans Part II'' – 1998 *Sagrado Coração da Terra – ''Ao Oeste do Sol, Oeste da Lua'' – 2000 *Rodrigo Alves – ''Suddenly'' – 2000 *Hamlet – '' William Shakespeare's Hamlet'' – 2001 *Holy Sagga – ''Planetude'' – 2001 *

Karma Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...

– ''Into the Eyes'' – 2001 *

– '' (The Metal Opera) Parts I'' '' & II'' – 2001 / 2002 * Avalanch – ''Los Poetas Han Muerto'' – 2002 * Luca Turilli – '' Prophet of the Last Eclipse'' – 2002 * Dr. Sin – '' Ten Years Live'' – 2003 * AINA – '' Days of Rising Doom'' – 2004 * Korzus - '' Ties Of Blood'' - 2004 *Thalion – ''Another Sun'' – 2004 * Epica – '' Consign to Oblivion'' – 2005 *Eyes of Shiva – ''Deep'' – 2006 *Clairvoyants – ''Word to the Wise'' – 2008 * HDK – '' System Overload'' – 2009 * Corciolli – ''Lightwalk'' – 2009 *

– '' The Wicked Symphony'' – 2010 *

– '' The Flying Opera'' (live album) – 2011 *My Alley – ''Hope'' – 2011 *Trick or Treat – "Prince With 1000 Enemies" – 2012 *Empürios – ''Cyclings'' – 2013 *Art X – ''The Redemption of Cain'' – 2016 *Soulspell – ''The Second Big Bang'' – 2017 *Soulspell – ''10 Years of Soul'' – 2019 *Dune Hill – ''Song of Seikilos'' – 2020

Filmography

* ''Andre Matos: Maestro do Rock'' – 2021 * ''Andre Matos: Maestro do Rock - Episode 2'' – 2023

Bibliography

* ''Andre Matos: O Maestro do Heavy Metal'' – 2020

References

External links

Official website
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Matos, Andre 1971 births Angra (band) members Brazilian heavy metal singers 2019 deaths Musicians from São Paulo 21st-century Brazilian male singers 21st-century Brazilian singers Brazilian heavy metal keyboardists English-language singers from Brazil Child rock musicians Brazilian male pianists 20th-century Brazilian male singers 20th-century Brazilian singers Viper (band) members Shaman (band) members 21st-century Brazilian pianists Symfonia members