Shawn Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 Thanks to this board and the constant talk about Porcupine Tree over the years, I've become a huge fan. Also, a side discovery during all this was Opeth. Opeth shattered pretty much every (mis)conception I had formed in my mind about what they would sound like. Their use of dynamics, light and dark, beauty and ugliness is really amazing...and it all comes off as effortless. In Mikael Arkefeldt they have a singer/guitarist of Steven Wilson's stature, a really singular voice. At this point I think I like both bands equally, for different reasons. Two of the most "complete" sounding groups on the planet I think. As an introduction, here are two Lasse Holle directed videos from Opeth's Watershed album, which I think is one of the best rock albums of the past decade. Burden: Porcelain Heart: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Cat Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 nice topic, i'm an Opeth fan too since i was metalhead some years ago, i would like to recommend the album damnation, which i think it's the best and considering some of you may not like his death metal approach this ill be ok check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IzLDT73bkk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 "Damnation" is a beautiful album, I really love it. Shawn got me started on Opeth with a viewing of "Lamentations" DVD and I went on to first assimilate "Damnation" and "Deliverance" and then collected the other albums. I still am learning this music, and each play is a discovery. I'm still "learning" the earliest and the latest albums; I know the middle albums best. I think they're amazing. I love the interplay between clean and dirty, light and dark, soft and smashing. A band to study and enjoy for years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 I really like Damnation quite a bit also. Ghost Reveries and Watershed as well, though Damnation is the high point for me. Depending on my mood I either like or really dislike the cookie monster thing on the other albums though. I’ve still never heard Blackwater Park, so I guess I should check that one out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 I think Still Life (1999) is nearly the equal of Blackwater Park (2001) in the songwriting, if not quite in production quality. Blackwater is a little more dynamic overall, but Still Life is the album that Steven Wilson heard that inspired him to contact Mikael in the first place about working together. Still Life was the album where they went from being a death metal band with progressive tendencies...to a progressive rock band with occasional bursts of death metal. On both albums the clean vocals are split about evenly. Still Life & Blackwater Park are both concept albums, so they fit nicely together. The path of progression they've been on since the beginning is pretty staggering, especially when you consider they sounded like nobody but themselves from the first record. Here's one of my favorite songs from Still Life, "Face Of Melinda". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2010 one more clip, the song Closure from the Damnation album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YOH9pdkWdA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 (edited) US Fall Tour Dates Announced - lots of dates, they are taking good friends Katatonia as the opening act. SEPTEMBER 2011 19th - The Palladium, Worcester, MA - USA 20th - Webster Theater, Hartford, CT - USA 21st - Webster Hall, New York, NY - USA 22nd - Webster Hall, New York, NY - USA 23rd - Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA - USA 26th - Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH - USA 27th - Expo Five, Louisville, KY - USA 28th - Cannery Ballroom, Nashville, TN - USA 29th - Amos' Southend, Charlotte, NC - USA 30th - Center Stage, Atlanta, GA - USA OCTOBER 2011 1st - House of Blues, Lake Buena Vista, FL - USA 3rd - Warehouse Live, Houston, TX - USA 4th - Stubb's Waller Creek Amphitheater, Austin, TX - USA 5th - Granada Theater, Dallas, TX - USA 6th - The Beaumont Club, Kansas City, MO - USA 7th - First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN - USA 14th - Knitting Factory Concert House, Spokane, WA - USA 15th - Showbox SoDo, Seattle, WA - USA 16th - Roseland Theatre, Portland, OR - USA 18th - The Warfield, San Francisco, CA - USA 19th - Mayan Theatre, Los Angeles, CA - USA 20th - House of Blues, San Diego, CA - USA 21st - The Fox Theater, Pomona, CA - USA 22nd - Marquee Theatre, Tempe, AZ - USA 24th - The Complex, Salt Lake City, UT - USA 25th - Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO - USA 27th - The Rave, Milwaukee, WI - USA 28th - Vic Theatre, Chicago, IL - USA 29th - St. Andrews Hall, Detroit, MI - USA 31st - Mr Smalls Theatre, Millvale, PA - USA NOVEMBER 2011 1st - Rams Head Live!, Baltimore, MD - USA Edited June 10, 2011 by Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 Heritage album cover unveiled: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 Thanks for posting the list of tour dates. Been an Opeth fan for some time, though I feel they are starting to become less and less interesting. I think losing Martin Lopez really changed the chemistry of the instrumental aspects of the band. Also, way too many "clean" vocals. Some of the cuts on Watershed were an embarrassment in my opinion (the opening song was like some sort of awful Ozzy/Lita Ford duet). Then again, I am partial to tracks like "Wreath" and "Ghost Of Perdition" from the previous records. On the other hand, bands like Enslaved really are keeping things interesting on the prog metal front (though, with Enslaved being more "Black" than "Death"). I have high hopes for Heritage, though the reference to Alice Cooper as being an influence could be very, very bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 I didn't discover them until Watershed came out, so I worked myself backwards. I love all the eras actually. Not a single album I don't like. When Mikael refers to Alice Cooper I'm guessing he's speaking more in terms of the production style relationship between Cooper & Bob Ezrin on Welcome To My Nightmare, Billion Dollar Babies, etc. Since Heritage was mixed by Steven Wilson, he is basically is the "Bob Ezrin" in this scenario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 I like that album cover, though it's certainly not "dark" like I'd expect. October 4th in Austin. Hmmm...Tuesday night, that part sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 I can't believe I"m saying this, but count me among the recent converts to Opeth. I'm not big on their death metal vocals, but there's a lot of other stuff going on that I find pretty interesting. They are certainly good musicians. My two favorites right now are probably Damnation and Watershed. I don't think they're getting less interesting as much as they're mellowing out a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 Welcome to the club James. Damnation is an amazing album, it was the first one (via DVD) that I marveled at, and it's still my favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 (edited) Some items here of interest I believe (although Jay may not be happy by this news) Heritage will signal a departure for Opeth from the musical style of their past albums; most notably, there will be no death growls, which have been present on every album except Damnation. Unlike Damnation, however, the music will have a prominent fusion influence. I'm not surprised by them jettisoning the death metal vocal sections at this juncture, they've been moving progressively in that direction over several albums. I grew to enjoy the mixture of the light and dark, so it doesn't really change my enjoyment at all....but it could remove the the final sticking point for those that have issues with it. The best news to me...the words "fusion influence" and the knowledge that Steven Wilson mixed the album, kind of tips the scales into the HOLY SHIT category as far as I'm concerned. (sshhhh, don't tell anyone, but I actually like Opeth a "tad" better than Porcupine Tree, so this excites me to no end) From the press release: The album will be released as a standard version; as a special edition loaded with extras; as a box set exclusive to the Roadrunner and the band's own official Omerch webstore; and as a double LP. Commented Åkerfeldt, "It will be our 10th album/observation. I dig it; we all do. In fact, it feels like I've been building up to write for and participate on an album like this since I was 19." Åkerfeldt went a little deeper and described the music contained within"Heritage", saying, "It's quite intense at times in some 'old' murky way, and quite beautiful and stark at times, if I may say so myself. "It's obvious I'm going to say nice things about it since I wrote, basically, the whole piece, but I guess it will raise a few eyebrows and it certainly is an acquired taste. "I think you'll need a slightly deeper understanding of our music as a whole to be able to appreciate this record. "I've realized my influences for this album are so diverse that I can't really say what it sounds like. "If I can compare it to any other band, it would have to be OPETH, but it's different from the stuff we've done before. Full press release here: http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=158656 Edited June 13, 2011 by Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Egads! Fusion! I'll have to hope for the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjk Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 I can't believe I"m saying this, but count me among the recent converts to Opeth. I'm not big on their death metal vocals, but there's a lot of other stuff going on that I find pretty interesting. I see the death metal growling is just another approach in creating a tonal character for the music--like another color in a painted image. Just another instrument, really. When I first discovered Opeth, I was very alarmed by the growls, and felt that I maybe shouldn't be listening to this sort of stuff!! I remember even feeling guilty when I bought Blackwater Park, thinking I had done something irreverant (6 years of Catholic School will do that to you)! These days I welcome the dm growls, and I'm disappointed that the upcoming release will not contain this coloring. Will definitely try to catch the Worcester, MA show, or one of the NY shows in September. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjk Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Been an Opeth fan for some time, though I feel they are starting to become less and less interesting. I think losing Martin Lopez really changed the chemistry of the instrumental aspects of the band. Also, way too many "clean" vocals. I feel this way to a certain extent also. Lopez was great, but I think Opeth's recent change in direction (since before Watershed) also followed Akerfeldt's whims at any given moment, maybe more than the absence of certain musicians in the band. I can appreciate that losing Lopez AND Peter had an impact, though. I see the run of albums from My Arms, Your Hearse through Damnation to be the best the band has done. They're all just incredible from start to finish. Last year's live set at the Royal Albert Hall was fantastic also. One think I'd LOVE to see is the fist two albums remixed. The music on Orchid and Morningrise is so powerful, but I can't listen to that bad guitar tone for an album's length of time---especially Morningrise. Beautiful, but not without pain to my ears (but maybe THAT'S the point? ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 Orchid and Morningrise were both very cheap digital recordings, mastered onto regular VHS tape because that's what the studio had to use. I've created EQ curves for both of those albums, so I just listen via iTunes and the EQ settings are already applied via file tags. I could burn them again, but I don't really play any physical CDs anymore. They all go into the computer and are then accessed there. It would be very cool to see the modern day version of the band, go back and maybe play the entire Orchid album in a set or something. But I don't think Mikeal bothers to check the review mirror very often, he's all about forward progression. That "one song off each album" set from the RAH date is probably as close to that as we'll get. He's thrown curveballs before...just bring up the Damnation album with some of the more "death metal leaning" side of their audience and you'll find a lot of "sell out" being yelled. Totally illogical for a band this complex to be called a "sell out", but that section of the audience has a much narrower view generally. The funny thing, is that those guys can never decide "which album" was the sellout, some say My Arms...some say Blackwater...some Damnation...some waited until Watershed. There are some very entertaining tunnel vision viewpoints to be found floating around the net when Opeth is mentioned. I'd rather he keep trying new stuff and if he falls flat on his face at some point....I'm cool with that, because I'd rather see a band continue to progress and evolve and remain natural to themselves and explore those risky moves, because that's where the best albums usually spring from. Playing it safe don't lead anywhere except obsolescence. I'd buy a damn polka album if Mikael decided to perform and record it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 (sshhhh, don't tell anyone, but I actually like Opeth a "tad" better than Porcupine Tree, so this excites me to no end) Heretic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjk Posted June 13, 2011 Report Share Posted June 13, 2011 I'd buy a damn polka album if Mikael decided to perform and record it. And I'd be hoping for an EVIL polka, at that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted June 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Listening to Watershed, which is just about as "heavy" as you can get in a few different ways...God I love this album. Heir Apparent is one of the most badass tunes I have in my collection. As long as the "heavy as fuck" guitars stay in place, I'm a happy camper. Here is my list of favorite Opeth records in order of preference (today at least). 1. Ghost Reveries 2. Deliverance 3. Watershed 4. Still Life 5. Damnation 6. My Arms, Your Hearse 7. Blackwater Park (I much prefer the live version of this album on the RAH concert, so the studio release dropped a notch or two) 8. Orchid 9, Morningrise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmjk Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 (edited) For me it's probably: Deliverance Blackwater Park Still Life My Arms, Your Hearse Damnation Morningrise Orchid Ghost Reveries Watershed Just because Ghost Reveries and Watershed are at the bottom of my list doesn't mean I dislike them. I actually like them both very much, just not as much as what came before. Ghost Reveries, in particular, is an eff-ing CRACKING album. I just don't get the same buzz off of that as I do the others, like Still Life, Blackwater and Deliverance. In addition to the regular releases, I've picked up the deluxe editions of Blackwater Park, Still Life, Ghost Reveries and Watershed just for the 5.1 mixes. Blackwater Park KILLS in 5.1, but I haven't had the time to dedicate to the others yet. (edit for sloppy spelling!) Edited June 14, 2011 by jmjk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 Just saw this info on the SH board, I guess from some early "listening party" or something: ***** Some info about Opeth's new album: -It was played in 5.1 surround system and according to the writer the mix was good although he's usually not a fan of playing rock in other than stereo format. Åkerfeldt himself said "I first heard the record today and I didn't know they were going to play it to the media in surround. I had my doubts, but the end-result made me have goose bumps" -It's about 56 minutes long. -Draws to mind Sabbath, Beatles, jazz, King Crimson, Cream, Rainbow, Floyd, funk, Purple, Piirpauke, classical, My Dying Bride, folk, Love, Jethro Tull, Maiden… -No death metal parts or growling -No modern style of "wall of guitar tracks". -Lots of keys, piano and mellotron are featured. Some intros include clarinet and contrabass. - "We aren't concerned about other people's opinions", Åkerfeldt stated. "If fans of death metal can't enjoy this, that's their problem" The band leader also said that he had grown tired of extreme metal already in the 90s, but couldn't explain why the previous record still included death growls. "I have wanted to make a record like this since I was 20", Åkerfeldt said and added that making it would not have been possible without the metal roots that brought them success. The journalist also says: "In any case, some metal fans will have troule with Heritage, but if your hopes are more in the 70s, this album can only work. This is probably safe to assume after a single listen. The first 7 songs are insanely good, the other 3 a bit less so." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 Thanks for the update! Should be a fantastic record and I look forward to hearing how the dynamics work now that the "dissonant" sections have been removed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted July 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2011 new song "The Devil's Orchard" available for streaming! http://stereogum.com/766792/opeth-the-devils-orchard-stereogum-premiere/franchises/haunting-the-chapel/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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