Ray Alder

A powerful and versatile heavy metal vocalist, Ray Alder is best known as the lead singer for the progressive metal groups <a href="spotify:artist:4S6URhg3PMKnCv9clR4ejE">Fates Warning</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:4psposOXVZfZPiTQnxz6Bb">Engine</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:3TZpN3GTy0RL1i6Pb10IRS">Redemption</a>. One of the more seasoned and recognizable voices of the genre, Alder released his debut solo LP, What the Water Wants, in 2019.

The San Antonio, Texas native joined <a href="spotify:artist:4S6URhg3PMKnCv9clR4ejE">Fates Warning</a> in 1988 and made his debut on the band's influential fourth studio long-player, No Exit. A pioneering force in the progressive metal movement of the '80s and early '90s, <a href="spotify:artist:4S6URhg3PMKnCv9clR4ejE">Fates Warning</a> are often cited as one of the "Big Three" (alongside <a href="spotify:artist:2OgUPVlWYgGBGMefZgGvCO">Queensrÿche</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2aaLAng2L2aWD2FClzwiep">Dream Theater</a>) who helped usher in the golden age of American progressive and power metal. Since then, he has helmed each consecutive <a href="spotify:artist:4S6URhg3PMKnCv9clR4ejE">Fates Warning</a> album with highlights arriving via Perfect Symmetry (1989), A Pleasant Shade of Gray (1997), and Theories of Flight (2016).

In 1999 Alder joined up with ex-<a href="spotify:artist:1FQv3rI4iJPitbZiTxBGut">Agent Steel</a> guitarist Bernie Versailles, <a href="spotify:artist:4ug41UGuMZzlV2hJOrOqHN">Armored Saint</a> bassist <a href="spotify:artist:3srOLMh3PQLdeUUfpQuXqW">Joey Vera</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4l9ufn9GC6LLYXvIanDlLd">Face to Face</a> drummer Pete Parada in the progressive metal group <a href="spotify:artist:4psposOXVZfZPiTQnxz6Bb">Engine</a> and released an eponymous debut. <a href="spotify:artist:4psposOXVZfZPiTQnxz6Bb">Engine</a>'s sophomore full-length effort, Superholic, arrived in 2001. Two years later he lent his vocal prowess to a cut on Los Angeles-based prog-metal band <a href="spotify:artist:3TZpN3GTy0RL1i6Pb10IRS">Redemption</a>'s eponymous inaugural release, which he also produced. He joined the group full-time the following year and stayed behind the mike until 2016, appearing on five studio albums. In 2019 Alder issued his debut solo effort, What the Water Wants, which featured a band consisting of <a href="spotify:artist:4S6URhg3PMKnCv9clR4ejE">Fates Warning</a> touring guitarist Mike Abdow, <a href="spotify:artist:3sbCQySv22txu41pXbKORV">Tony Hernando</a> (<a href="spotify:artist:5PgEqen6HcezHZRU1PJO0Z">Lords of Black</a>), and drummer Craig Anderson (<a href="spotify:artist:48ErVeccMDF5UiHA4TdGWr">Ignite</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:6CEdFf3LqV68CmNiUee65x">Crescent Shield</a>). ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi