Van Canto - A-cappella metal from Germany

Hello Steemians,

this post is about a German band without guitars or keyboard, with only their voices and drums. But if you have a group of singers with such great voices you don't need a guitar.
I know it's hard to imagine metal without guitars, so just give it a listen:

song: If I Die In Battle; drums and the more metal part starts at 1:15

Van Canto consists of 6 singer and 1 drummer and was founded in 2006 as a studio project. "Canto" is from the Latin word "cantare" which means "I sing" and "Van" has no special meaning "but looks great on the posters".

Apart from the drums, the only effect they're using is for the solo parts were they need a distortion module to make it sound like a guitar-solo. They can bring in natural effects when they sing normal but not when they sing with their head-voice with which they sing the solos.
Why not also replace the drums with a beatbox? Their answer:
"First, because it would sound like discopop and secondly, it would be a shame to have a drummer like Basti and not to let him play".
Without the drums I think the pressure behind the music would be missing and the power would be lost. So i'm glad they decided to leave the drums as... drums.

Since 2006 they created 6 studio album and a bunch of great a-cappella covers of famous songs:

2006: A Storm to Come
2008: Hero
2010: Tribe of Force
2011: Break the Silence
2014: Dawn of the Brave
2016: Voices of Fire

They have cover versions of songs like
Sabaton's "Primo Victoria" (feat. Joakim Brodén)
"Wishmaster" of Nightwish
Metallica's "Master of Puppets"
"Kings of Metal" of Manowar
Metallica's "Battery"
"Fear of the Dark"
or my favorite: The Bard's Song from Blind Guardian:

Interesting video... he's filming the cat like it's a dangerous beast 😁

Another great quiet song of Van Canto (if not the best!) is "Last Night of the Kings" from their third album "Tribe of Force". If you have not gave the other songs a listen, listen to this! You don't have to be with rock or metal to love this wonderful piece of music:

So, i posted a song with drums and "guitar solo", a great cover and a self-created quiet song... yep that's enough in think.

I'm a fan of the quiet songs and ballads because I kinda miss the guitars when it comes to more powerful songs. Anyway, it's a great alternative for my ears from time to time
and these guys do a great job.
Let me know how you like the music without guitars and other instruments!
Do you miss something?

Stay tuned :)
@twolittlebirds

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ulsarthegreat (40) · 7 years ago

van canto is not music it is way of life :D .

$0.06

1 vote

twolittlebirds (55) · 7 years ago

So you jump through the day, singing guitar rhythms? I ike :D

$0.00

zorank (60) · 7 years ago

Unusual combination ... almost a-capella metal. Who needs guitars with such powerful voices.

$0.05

exactly! thanks for passing by :)

paganlord (50) · 7 years ago

aw great band) im listening them much)

Great to hear that from an Ukrainian metalfan :)

yes. its well-known in Ukr. band) in Ukraine its well-known group "Piccardiyska tertsia", but when i was heard "Van Canto" - i sayd "wow, its really possible to sing metal a'capello/" 😈

Hi , man you should link some good metal from UKraine . I know only for this one

i love this song but dont understand what they are singing :D

hi, its group is russia speaking/// follow my blog, im posted sometimes about ukrainian metal band/ https://steemit.com/metal/@paganlord/7-ukrsinian-bands-7-ukrayinskikh-grup

illuminati-inc (50) · 7 years ago

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