Melissa Marie Ferlaak (born April 26, 1979) is an American

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

, best known as the former singer of

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-genre style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitars ...

bands Aesma Daeva,

Visions of Atlantis Visions of Atlantis is an Austrian symphonic metal band from Styria, founded in 2000. Inspiration came both from successful Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish and from the myth of Atlantis, as well as a Pirates in popular culture, pirate th ...

, and Echoterra. She is the singer of

doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

project Plague of Stars and the ambient band MY Eternel with Voa voxyd. She wrote the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

and vocal parts for the opera ''Demandolx'', and sang the role of Madeleine on the recording. She has appeared as a guest with bands such as Ad Inferna, Therion, Beto Vazquez Infinity and more.

Career

Born in

Cottage Grove, Minnesota Cottage Grove is a city south of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul in Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It lies on the north bank of the Mississippi River, north of the confluence with the ...

, Ferlaak graduated from Park High School in 1997, and entered University of Wisconsin-River Falls. She met John Prassas who began symphonic metal band Aesma Daeva. They began a live band with Earl Root; this was her introduction to heavy metal music. Between her junior and senior years, she was invited by Aesma Daeva bandleader John Prassas to record with the band in 2001 as one of three vocalists on the album ''The Eros of Frigid Beauty''. Ferlaak sang on the album's two epic metal compositions: "In My Holy Time" and the title track. Finishing at River Falls, Ferlaak moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

for graduate studies at the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. The conservatory is located on Huntington Avenue along Avenue of the Arts (Boston), the Avenue of the Arts near Boston Symphony Ha ...

. Prassas asked her to become sole vocalist for the group, which she did for four years, fronting the band in concert and on the albums ''The New Athens Ethos'' (2003) and ''Ex Libris'' EP (2005). She earned a master's degree at New England Conservatory. On October 11, 2005, Aesma Daeva band announced that Ferlaak was leaving to join the Austrian band

. She performed her last show with Aesma Daeva in December 2005 at Star Central in Minnesota. The concert was filmed for the DVD, "Last Rites", and it was released in March 2007. In 2005, Ferlaak was asked by

Napalm Records Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal, hard rock and folk/folk rock/folk metal. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach a ...

to join Austrian symphonic power metal band

. In early 2006 to early 2007, Vision of Atlantis did a short European tour with

Xandria Xandria is a German symphonic metal band founded by Marco Heubaum in 1994. Originally a project, Heubaum later restarted the project as a band in 1999, and has gone through various lineup changes. The German vocalist Lisa Middelhauve joined for ...

. With Ferlaak the band recorded their third album ''Trinity'', released on May 25, 2007, supported by a tour through Europe, China, and the U.S.. On November 28, 2007, the band announced that Ferlaak had departed, citing personal reasons. In late 2009, she joined Minneapolis band Echoterra, replacing their original singer Suvi Virtanen. Ferlaak and Echoterra recorded the EP ''In Your Eyes'' which was released on January 19, 2009, and they began to perform regularly. ''Land of The Midnight Sun'' was released on October 17, 2011, through Blinding Force Recordings. On March 13, 2012, Ferlaak left Echoterra due to creative and personal differences. Ferlaak started Plague of Stars in 2012 with Will Maravelas (We Are Legion), Aaron Lanik (We Are Legion), and Timothy Morton. The quartet released their first album, ''When Morning Came'' in 2015. In March 2013, Ferlaak started making music with Voa voxyd from Ad Inferna. The two began a new project MY Eternel, releasing ''Pursuit of a Higher Throne'' in 2013.http://www.facebook.com/myeternelofficial In April 2014, ''Ancient Rites of the Moon'', the first album of the Stardust Reverie Project (Graham Bonnet, Zak Stevens and Lynn Meredith among others) was released. It features Ferlaak on three songs, including "Daughter of the Sun", a tune based in an old Cherokee tale. In June 2015, ''Demandolx: The First Chapter of Convent Demonic Possession'' was completed in which she wrote the libretto and vocal parts. She sang the role of Madeleine on the recording of the opera. In February 2018, Ferlaak sang on Therion's opera, ''Beloved Antichrist'' in the role of Sophia. In June 2019, Plague of Stars released ''Daedalus'', their second full-length album with Ferlaak as lead vocalist and lyricist. She has performed classically with such companies as Minnesota Opera, Theater Latte Da, Coro!, Thursday Musical and the Schubert Club.

Discography

With Aesma Daeva

*''The Eros of Frigid Beauty'' (2002) *''The New Athens Ethos'' (2003) *''Ex Libris'' (EP, 2005) *''Last Rites'' (DVD, 2007)

With Visions of Atlantis

*''

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

'' (2007)

With Adyta

*''Rose of Melancholy'' (2009) *''Katarsis'' (2011)

With Echoterra

*''In Your Eyes (EP)'' (2010) *''Land of the Midnight Sun'' (2011)

With MY Eternel

*''Pursuit of a Higher Throne'' (2013)

With Stardust Reverie

*''Ancient Rites of the Moon'' (2014)

With Plague of Stars

*''When Morning Came'' (2014) *''Daedalus'' (2019)

Demandolx

*''Demandolx'' (2015)

References

External links

Demandolx, the Opera WebsiteMelissa Ferlaak's official FacebookPlague of Stars official FacebookVisions of Atlantis official site

Adyta official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferlaak, Melissa 1979 births American women heavy metal singers American heavy metal singers Living people New England Conservatory alumni American operatic sopranos Singers from Minneapolis University of Wisconsin–River Falls alumni American people of Dutch descent People from Cottage Grove, Minnesota 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Classical musicians from Minnesota American Idol participants