Perfil Biográfico - 2014: Leonardo, nº13

Michael Kiske

Michael Kiske is a famous singer, and the vocalist of the band “UNISONIC”. He is also known by the great contribution he made as the vocalist of the power metal band HELLOWEEN, but after he left this band he invested his time in a solo career for many years until he joined UNISONIC.

Kiske Before

He was born in 1968 in Hamburg, Germany and now he’s 46 years old. His music career started when he was 17 years old, as the vocalist of a band called ILL PROPHECY, but when he was 18 he left the band to join HELLOWEEN, the first power metal band in the world, and because of that one of the most popular and respected bands too. When Kiske were in HELLOWEEN, he reached the highlight of his career, and he became very famous and popular worldwide because of his clean, powerful and incredible voice. In 1993 he left HELLOWEEN after arguing with the rest of the band, as he was starting to get obsessed with his religion, and refused to sing any song related to demons, hell or apocalyptic themes. He started a solo career, recorded many albums with special guests, such as Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Helloween), Adrian Smith (Iron Maiden) and Amanda Somerville. In 2009 he created a super-band called UNISONIC, his current heavy metal band.

UNISONIC is considered a super-band since all its current members are already famous because of their contributions in previous bands. The integrants of the band are: Michael Kiske, Kai Hansen (Gamma Ray, ex-Helloween), Mandy Meyer (Krokus), Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69) and Kosta Zafiriou (Pink Cream 69). The band first EP was “Ignition”, and their first hit was “Unisonic”. UNISONIC was well-received by the fans, especially because all the members were already known and respected as musicians. They have made several world tours, including a concert in Brazil, and the band has been really successful so far, not just playing their own songs but also old songs from HELLOWEEN (ex.: “Future World” and “I Want Out”), since Kiske and Hansen have legal rights to do it.

Kiske Now

Besides having an incredible voice, Kiske may be known as a legend of power metal. His participations as a vocalist in HELLOWEEN and UNISONIC are remarkable, and he’s just an amazing singer. He is a tenor, and he has vocal range of almost 4 octaves (C2 – A5), and he was a major influence to other well-known power metal singers, like Andre Matos (ex-Angra, ex-Shaman) and Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia). Michael Kiske participated as a special guest in Kai Hansen’s GAMMA RAY, with the songs “Land of the Free” and “Time to Break Free”, and he is one of the most important guests in Tobias Sammet’s project AVANTASIA, from the albums “The Metal Opera Part I” and “The Metal Opera Part II” until nowadays. He participated in several world tours with AVANTASIA and their respectful guests, such as Amanda Somerville (Aina), Kai Hansen, Andre Matos, Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius, Symfonia), Bob Catley (Magnum) and Jorn Lande (Masterplan). Kiske wrote a book in German, called “Kunst und Materialismus”, and during his solo career he spent 17 years without performing live, a fact considered by many people as the reason why his voice remains the same, with no damage, at the age of 46. The first time he came to Brazil was only a few years ago, with AVANTASIA’s “The Flying Opera Tour”, when he was welcomed by a huge legion of fans.