Opeth: holy ****
 

So, I'm typically very indie rock when it comes to music; I also like a lot of old blues and even some bluegrass.
I usually HATE metal. I think it sounds annoying and gives me a headache. I don't mean that faux-metal they play on 98.9.. I know what death, grind, and black metal are, and I typically believe they're just different genres for me to be annoyed with.
But I recently started listening to Opeth, and I absolutely love it. Holy shit. I bought their album Blackwater Park, and I really like it. I'm not sure how I made it this long without hearing them, but it's not like that type of metal is necessarily mainstream.

Anyway, I'm a convert. Even when he growls, the music behind it is so densely layered and complex that I still really like it. Anybody else like Opeth? Good recommendations for a second purchase?

I know for a fact one plannateer will be in this thread


googlegoogle

Yes. Opeth is awesome. I'm pretty into indie as well. You might also like Between the Buried and Me. Similar with lots of cool movements and changes within a given song.

Is is just me or is Opeth getting progressively worse? Lindgren could not be replaced. Opeth is still better then 90% of all other music but just saying...

I remember when I first found out about Opeth. It is a great moment.

What are some of their best songs to check out? I'm intrigued.....

They've been my favorite band for a long, long time. Listen to "Still Life" and "Watershed" next and branch out from there.

No, I don't think that at all. The only thing they're getting is more Progressive and less Death Metal. Mikael wrote everything anyway. As far as lineup changes go- Axenrot is a very good metal drummer but Martin Lopez was one of the best drummers on Earth. Still, this band is all-Akerfeldt, all the time. They're fine.

If you really are intrigued then please listen to these 4 songs. If you're worried about the song length, well, they play long songs. I added it up one time and the average Opeth song lasts 8.5 minutes.

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My breakthrough Opeth moment: listening to Watershed. Lotus Eater, I believe. And the freaking jazz section in that.... just blew me away that these guys were going from super heavy grinding shit to that light jazz feel.

I'm still not a huge Opeth head (as evidenced by my inability to recall the exact song I'm trying to remember), but I definitely appreciate them. I'd love to just have 50 great metal albums in the vein of Opeth sitting around to indoctrinate me to the greatness of the genre. I know it's good stuff... but I just can't get past certain aspects of it. When I hear a band like Opeth or BTBAM... the inherent quality of the music overwhelms any problems I have with other aspects of the genre.

Were you seriously asking? 'Cuz, you know...

Well... the problem is acquiring said albums....

You could d/l from a list of albums I'd give you. Think of it as research instead of stealing; a metal evaluation period.

Holy shit, I guess so. I'll watch those tomorrow to give them due diligence. Too late for me, gotta work tomorrow (on frickin' Easter :grr:)

Sounds good so far though. Thanks for the vids.

Hey. I'm there. I can tell you where my tastes run, and why I like Opeth.

I can't stand the unrelenting shit that just stays hard hard hard. I like the stuff that has variety. Goes from beautiful and melodic and uplifting to nasty and evil. I like the contrasts. I also like stuff that spans and samples from different genres. And I don't mean just... influenced by this genre (because all metal is influenced by jazz). I mean... sounds like a certain genre. Seems to actually sample it at times.

I'm going to work on a list of awesome stuff that blends sounds and styles. I'll post it here later tonight.

Nice. Look forward to it.

It was a firm belief of mine that Led Zeppelin would probably be my favorite band until hair grew abundantly from my ears. I did not stop to ponder what a momentous day it was when my best friend sent me “In My Time of Need” By Opeth, from their Damnation album. I was surprised to find that the song sounded heavily influenced by pink floyd, and maybe even cut from the 70’s itself. My friend told me they played music mixed from 70’s style rock and current death metal.

After listening to only In My Time of Need during the fall months of highschool. I began to transition into some of their other music. It was then I discovered just how diverse Opeth was, after listening to the soft, melodic Harvest, the heavy, fast paced In Mist She was standing and a mixture of the two in A Fair Judgement, Even my parents became fans. (Though they didn’t care for their heavy stuff so much)

It was then my dad found the song Burden. Wow, this song moved my soul, Akerfeldts voice really reached a new level with this song. A song which is in my opinion, stairway to heaven worthy (Stairway has been one of my favorite songs for ages) The power, and emotion in Akerfeldts voice just blew me away.

Finally, Opeth is so much to who I am. Opeth truly moves my soul, their writing paints a captivating image within my mind and encompasses my soul in a celestial garden. They place my mind into a world where I can see everything so clearly and unblemished. It is a dream environment for me to write within. (Ever since I got serious into Opeth, My novel progressed from page 64 to 405 in only a year.)

After staying with their clean songs for about a year, I finally began to branch off into their heavier music. I downloaded their ghost reveries album on my seventeenth birthday, and "Ghost of Perdition" quickly became one of my favorite songs. I do not believe I have ever heard a song so brutally vigorous yet astonishingly beautiful at the same time. ( I then heard "Bleak" for the first time about a month later, and found that it too achieved this phenomenal feat.)

3,500 last.fm scrobbles later, Opeth is still by far my favorite band, I'm now refocusing on the heavier portions of their watershed album while revisiting Damnation. I do not know if I shall ever know another band so diverse, so daring, so wicked yet beautiful, and completely remarkable at all that they attempt.

I highly recommend this band for anyone who has any kind of a taste in music.

For NewPhin (and whoever else), a list of metal albums that blend heavy & light passages, blend genre, are good.

*Legend*
Band Name (brief description of band):
Album Name
Album Name

Agalloch (An Oregon band that expertly blends Post-Rock, Black Metal and European Folk music. I think they are the best band in America.):
Pale Folklore
The Mantle
Ashes Against the Grain

Angra (a Brazilian Power Metal band. The compositions are awe-inspiring. So much Latin influence):
Temple of Shadows
Aurora Consurgens

Ansur (progressive metal. The vocals suck but the instrumentals are the kind of thing you're looking for if you like how Opeth blends heavy and melodic so well):
Warring Factions

Athiest (Death Metal has always been the subgenre of metal that has played up the genre's inherent jazz influence the most. Athiest, perhaps moreso than any metal band, is jazz music. Crazy-good.):
Piece of Time
Unquestionable Presence
Elements

Baroness (Southern-fried, sludgy, subversive use of minor and major scales):
Blue Record

Crotchduster (a comedy side-project from members of death metal band Capharnaum. They shift complete genres on a dime with multiple song parodies within a single song. The album has to be heard to be believed.):
Big Fat Box of Shit

Dan Swano (an influential producer and member of numerous metal bands. Does rare solo work. If you like Opeth you will like):
Moontower

Disillusion (German band. Fits the description of musical blending. Title track is tremendous):
Back to Times of Splendor

Edge of Sanity (A Dan Swano band. Both of these albums are twisting, turning, tornadoes of musicality. Both albums consist of a single 40-50 minute long song):
Crimson
Crimson II

Kalisia (French band. They put out an EP in 1994. They're full-length concept album didn't come out until last year. It was my second fav album of 2009. This band is insane in an organic, uncontrived way):
Skies
Cybion

November's Doom (a Chicago-based band that meshes Doom & Death metal. Tons of light/dark interplay):
The Pale Haunt Departure

Persefone (a lot like Kalisia. Balls-out crazy. So Exciting yet altogether musical):
Core
Shin-ken

Sigh (a Japanese band that was originally a band heavily inspired by Scandinavian Black Metal but grew increasingly and rapidly more experimental. Their most recent album, for example, is musically accomplishing the blending of bombastic German symphony, German thrash metal and Japanese pop/rock. It is far from their most experimental album):
Hail Horror Hail
Scenario IV: Dread Dreams
Imaginary Sonicscape
Gallows Gallery
Hangman's Hymn
Scenes from Hell

UneXpect (a Canadian band that makes surprisingly organic, natural sounding music that also happens to be chaotic. Opera, free jazz, circus music, and all kinds of disparate shit join up in the effort):
In A Flesh Aquarium

So, 25 albums isn't a bad starter list. I could have listed an infinitely large number of other bands that are more straightforward (and yet not straightforward at all). The albums that did get listed are the ones that are complex and perpetually exciting, the ones that keep you on the edge of your seat because you don't know what will happen next, the ones that accomplish all that without sounding gimmicky or sounding like they are "forcing it."

Awesome, thanks! Now I've got to start torrenting or something. It's pathetic that a music junkie like myself doesn't download music much. I pretty much depend on the public library for my m usic.

:clap:

Here's my Opeth story, also starting in high school: people online were telling me that this is an incredible band, that the singer has the best harsh vocals ever, that they are heavy and complex. So I downloaded Damnation and Deliverance simultaneously from a P2P client, song by song. The first song I played was Damnation's first track, "Windowpane." Now, I love prog-rock but I was waiting for the metal... and it never came. I didn't know then that the album was conceptually meant to be a mostly-acoustic album. The the first track off of Damnation's companion album, the [mostly]all-heavy Deliverance finished downloading. "Wreath" was complex, brutal punishment all the way through. The title track of the album showed me how masterful then-drummer Martin Lopez is. He plays a drum part near the end of the song that sounds impossible to the ears of a non-drummer: he's playing a complex counter-rhythm to what is going on with the guitars that sounds like it is taking every bit of his arms to play... until you listen closer and hear that he's somehow hitting the cymbal with some magical 3rd hand, keeping everything in a solid 4/4. It blows my shit away.

So when I got their most acclaimed album, Blackwater Park, and heard on the song "Bleak" that those two sides of the band come together so majestically. I was completely sold then and there. Still Life, my 3rd favorite album of any genre, all-time, made them my favorite band. "Serenity Painted Death" was so much fun and my favorite song by the band, "Godhead's Lament" has this perfectly-phrased folk interlude that sends me to happy places every time.

So, yeah, Opeth rule.

I just got into Deliverance when my parents bought me their "Lamentations" concert video for Christmas. I always had "A Fair Judgement," Though this is not a fair reflection of that album. (It's a rather soft song in comparison to "Wreath", and "Deliverance" from that album.)

Bleak..God...I would call this the Stairway to Heaven of Prog/Death metal. (Okay, I know I already compared their song Burden to Stairway earlier, but hear me out.) In stairway, the song starts soft and slowly evolves into a faster tempo, upbeat song, before concluding with an incredible solo and an upbeat final to the fabled masterpiece. I would argue that "Bleak" has a similar transition, though it starts out vicious and slowly transitions into a melodic masterpiece, before transitioning into a fast paced, brutal conclusion to Opeth's masterwork of "Blackwater Park."

And, I am kind of ashamed to admit this, but I actually have not downloaded "Still Life" yet, I have heard that it is one of the greatest concept albums ever made, but, it will be the final Opeth Album I shall listen to, (Besides their upcoming albums) and I really want to savor their entire discography. (I think I will download it as a reward when I near the end to my story.)

Anyways, what is your opinion of Fredrik and Axe? I mourned for three days when I realized the true impact of Lopez' departure, and for about another week when I read about Peter's departure as well. Though, I must say I have warmed up to Axe as a drummer, listening to "Heir Apparent" and "Burden" while reading into his biography really warmed me up to his character.

Welcome to the club Stanley Nickels.

You will adore Still Life when you get around to listening to it.

Lopez is one of my favorite drummers ever. I took that loss pretty damn hard. Axenrot, however, is a fine addition to the band. He's a different drummer entirely; he's not going to have the Latin influences that Lopez had. But Axe is tough to beat for sheer death metal drumming skill. He plays the drums heavier than Lopez did; seeing Opeth live with Axe was seeing a heavier band. Fredrik? Well, he can play guitar and he can play it better than I thought he ever could. Its Akerfeldt who is writing everything anyway and as long as Fredrik can play it then its all good. I liked Lindgren's style and tone quite a bit but I recognize that his departure isn't going to hurt the songwriting.

Wouldn't that reversal make it more like the opposite of the Zeppelin song and therefore a Stairway to Hell?

Escalator to Hell.

Good job. :thumb:

Just to add to Reaper's list...

Monolith by In Mourning is my favorite album of the year so far. Beautifully tragic lyrics (darklyrics.com). Two of my favorite songs:

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Thanks for the Agalloch recommendation Reaper.

Good shit.

Just checking back in to say I'm enjoying the music recommended so far. At some point in the near future I'm going to get serious about downloading some albums. I'm working out pretty regularly, and that's usually the most uninterrupted time I have to listen to music. Metal tends to be pretty damned good to work out to. So I like to throw an album on the shuffle, workout to it for a few days, then toss another new one on.

Ghost Reveries is my favorite Opeth album.

Also, I would like to agree with those who said Agalloch is awesome.

Bumping as I've discovered a "source" for music, and I'm about to start working my way through obtaining and listening to this list.

Porcupine Tree, baby.

They're definitely on my list. Which album would you recommend to get me started?

If you want balance between heavy crunch and softer melodies, I would suggest "In Absentia" (2002) or "The Incident" (2009). "In Absentia" was where I came in, when it first came out.

In between those two, "Deadwing" (2005) and "Fear of a Blank Planet" (2007) put the thumb a little more on the heavy side of the scale.

Prior to "In Absentia," their work is more melodic, more progressive (and prior to 1996's "Signify," it's spacey-electronic-psychedelic). I like all of it, but the stuff from "Signify" through "In Absentia" is closest to my heart. Although "The Incident" is right up there, too.

Starting with Agalloch Pale Folklore:


Liking the intro of first song, "She Painted Fire Across the Skyline Part 1" with wind noise in the background and a slow steady buildup. Feels like I'm in Siberia or some eastern european mountain range. And yes, there's a sweet transition at about the 4 minute mark where everything slows down. And nice, evil whispery vocals. Ooo, bonus for the operatic chick singing in the background. And we transition out of the slow and into a sort of crunchy section with "fanning" guitar chording and the whispering vocals getting progressively more evil. A second guitar comes in and starts doing a repeated solo lick over the top of the rest. Nice build of layers. Then slows down again at 7:00 and returns to the operatic singer. Oh yes, timpani at 7:30! Gotta love that. Sounds like an outro as the timpani takes over, nice melodic sparse playing of a guitar and the return to the mountain range as the howling wind returns to take us out of this song.

Yes indeed, I like the movement of that one.

Song 2: "She Painted Fire Across the Skyline Part 2"
Wind takes us into some sparse guitar picking that quickly picks up into an... almost upbeat... song. Until the evil ****er singing comes in and rips any upbeat goodness from it with the maliciousness of his voice. He sounds like what Grishnákh from the Two Towers would sound like if he started a band.

Alright, I'm just going to listen to the album now and not type. I have other shit to do. Anyway, I'm liking this quite a lot.

And just think... I like Pale Folklore the least of Agalloch's three full-length albums.

Okay,

Listening to Angra now... and I've figured out something else about what I "like" in metal. I don't like this type of vocal. I know it's the traditional way of singing metal and shows amazing vocal range... but it's just not for me. I still like the music a lot, and I can tolerate the vocals... but I prefer the vocals of Agalloch.

Though Angra did just use a really cool harmonized choir vocal on "The Voice Commanding You" that I liked. I just don't like the way the verses and choruses are sung, overall. It reminds me of watching headbanger's ball in high school.

Just as I say I don't like the vocals, the song "Breaking Ties" completely changes my mind. Powerful, heartfelt vocal that I really enjoyed.

I had to check out Sigh because they just sounded so weird. Got Scenes from Hell... and yeah. It's weird. A nonstop blitzkrieg of metal with totally incongruous almost cartoonish anthems layered on top of it. Sounds like taking the soundtrack from a spaghetti western or a bunch of oompa music and synching it up with death metal so that the two hit the same notes and rhythm. Very interesting. I'm not sure I'm going to just be grooving to it all the time, but it's definitely worth a listen.

Agalloch remains my favorite so far.

Interestingly enough, as I was listening to Agalloch, I kept thinking: "A lot of this guitar work of crescendo/descent is like Explosions in the Sky or something."

Today I start reading up on Agalloch and find out that they're supposedly heavily post-rock influenced. Wow, I do know something about music.

Yeah, Agalloch's musical formula is pretty much equal parts folk metal, black metal and post-rock.

Can't go wrong with a group that titles an album "Big Fat Box of Shit". lol

That album is really hilarious. Their transitions between genres and parodies of metal subgenres cracks my shit up. Take their song "Mammal Sauce" for example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MbhPWud8kM


Here, and I may be leaving some things out since I'm doing this from memory w/o listening to the song again because my work computer has no speakers, Crotchduster transitions from rap to brutal death metal to soft rock to technical death metal to punk rock to vocoder pop ala Cher's "Believe," to the same style of pop only sung like Sam Kennison. That's one song.

Grabbed "Blue Record" by Baroness tonight. Really, really enjoying this one at this point in time. Good hard stuff without trying to hit you over the head with how hard they're being. Lots of different sounds represented as well. Thumb's up for sure.

Opeth reminds me of Faith No More with a stomach ache. The music is great, but I'd prefer a front man with the range of Patton over all the growling. Hard not to listen though. The arrangements are fantastic.

I'd prefer a job where I got my dick sucked all day while playing Super Mario Galaxy but I'll take what I can get.

Listen to Opeth's most recent album, Watershed. Mikael's singing voice has never been stronger, and he sings way more than he growls.

Sounds worthwhile. I just checked out Burden. Pretty awesome.

Baroness is still blowing my mind on nearly a daily basis. Love that album. I gave Kalisia a good listen on a road trip. Very interesting the way they dip into different genres, especially the electronic influence.

In February of 2009 I saw Baroness and High on Fire (and Clutch) open for Opeth. That was a brilliant show.

These guys are young as hell, which is what surprised me about finding them while refreshing my Iron Maiden collection. Their songs are full of nasty Maiden like transitions. And I guess that makes sense, because Maiden is their main inspiration, and favorite band.
At least listen to the solo .
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Reminds me of when Metallica was worth listening to.

I like.


Shame there's no longer an all music station on TV. You know, like MTV was until about a 15 years ago...

Trivium has always been bad to me but I haven't listened to them past their second album. I guess I'll listen to beach tribe's YouTube embed.

*1:14 later*

Nope, Trivium still sucks.

Not a fan.

Well you just said you liked Trivium, so what do you know? :p

Each his own, of course.
When I blast the Ascendancy, or Shogun album till the double bass about breaks my windows, and the shredding scares the neighbors, I feel strangely comfortable.

I know you wouldn't really value my opinion either, but that is some dumb shit.:)

Of course it's dumb. The whole album is parody. Comedy. It is impressive on a technical level while being refreshingly silly.

I can get that.

Ascendancy is as far as it goes.....opened for them three times and partied with those guys....great dudes, great live show but god Crusades and Shogun sucked. BFMV are much better although The Fever sucks big time too..

I can't even listen to Crusades. My God it's horrible.
BFMV can shred. Awesome transitions, love the way the two play off of each others soloing, Matt Tuck's voice is definitely lacking in testicular department.(and that was before he blew out his voicebox)
If you like some of the softer stuff mixed in they've got it.
Love their dual soloing like in this song starts at 1:40ish)
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this thread sucks now

It's a goddamned shame, too. Leaving out whether or not one happens to like a band or not, there are certain bands that don't ever come to mind on a thread about Opeth and bands that do similar things. Yet...

Surely that's not elitism I'm sensing from Reaper?

That I don't like Trivium or Bullet For My Valentine is beside the point. Those bands shouldn't even come to mind in a thread titled "Opeth: holy ****." It'd be like I started a Radiohead thread and someone posted clips from Guns and Roses.

All I know about BFMV is that a lot of the high school scenester kids wear their shirts.

I can agree with this. I love Opeth. I'm not a youngen', but I don't mind the newer generation's thrashers, but I can also see how they don't really belong in an Opeth thread. My apologies.

Pale Communication is a ****ing masterpiece.

Did they go all 70s prog on it?

yes, and the mix by Steven Wilson is just perfection. It's so warm and vintage.

It's the album that Heritage was trying to be. I really love Pale Communion.