André Coelho Matos (born September 14, 1971) is a Brazilian vocalist, pianist and composer. He was involved in the heavy metal bands Viper, Angra, Shaaman and Symfonia. Since October 2006 André Matos has been dedicating his time to his solo band. In 2012, he was ranked #77 at the list of 100 Greatest Voices of Brazilian Music by Rolling Stone Brasil.
Matos grew up in his hometown of São Paulo, Brazil. Matos began his musical education at the age of ten, 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 April 8, 1985, when he was just thirteen years old. That same year, they recorded their first demo tape, "The Killera Sword".
Matos continued on vocals, but he had no pretension 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 instruments. Matos left Viper when the band began to change its musical style. He had become interested in classical music, 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, Andre 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 and Fireworks 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.
Andre took part in a worldwide contest for replacing Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden and was in the Top 3 finalists alongside James LaBrie and eventual winner, Blaze Bayley.
In 2001, he left the band Angra alongside the rhythm section composed of Luis Mariutti (bass) and Ricardo Confessori (drums) because of a disagreement with guitar players Rafael Bittencourt and Kiko Loureiro concerning the band's management.
Andre stayed with Angra's former rhythm section and recruited Luis' brother Hugo Mariutti on the guitar : together they formed the band Shaman, who had to change names to Shaaman before the release of their second album for legal reasons.
The band was a sudden success due to the song Fairy Tale that was in a Brazilian Soap Opera Beijo do Vampiro (Vampire Kiss) and this fame reached worldwide in a little while... The first album, called 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 before an audience of more than 7.000 Brazilians in São Paulo.
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 June 29, 2018 Shaman announced a reunion of their original lineup to tour in celebration of their 17th Anniversary.
23 авг 2024
