Well, I bought MAYH, Morningrise, Orchid, Still Life (or the other way for those two), then BWP.
You can hear a progression in most aspects of the music, in my opinion. Since they're not all fresh in my mind except Still Life right now, I won't go into huge detail, as I'm sure someone else will.
Orchid: Fairly raw sound. Knowing how old it is, you can tell what an impact it could have made/did make. It's a VERY bold album, and takes music in a totally new direction. The transitions between heavy and soft passages seem to not be so smooth. Perhaps they wanted to break the piece into movements. The bass sound is, as previously discussed, of a higher "tone," and meshes with the guitars as another solo instrument. The piano tracks add a lot of atmosphere to the album, but also at times seem somewhat tacked on (but they are good). They don't fit the flow of the album as, say, "No Dreams Breed in Breathless Sleep" by Dissection. Vocally, the growl has a different, somewhat "throatier" sound than some of the deeper growls we may be used to. The "twin guitar" sound is used heavily, and mixed in such a way that you can listen to each guitar almost individually in an ear.
Morningrise, they'd gotten an audience. Transitions are smoother, guitar sound is a little fuller, but that always comes with money and contracts. The throaty growl is moving downward, also becoming fuller. That growl certainly fits the mood of the album, it conveys more emotion, almost on par with Mikael's clean singing. The twin guitars are still there, as is the bass sound. The drumming is quite good, and stands out particularly. They move into "epic mode" with the 20-minute Black Rose Immortal.
MAYH - Here's where it changes. The twin guitars are almost abandoned - there is more of a "rhythm-lead" style with this. Mikael had a cold during recording, so the vocals are quite heavy. The transitions between acoustic and distorted are quite smooth, as are the vocal transitions. (What's crazy is that he can do this live as well..) The songs are shorter (if 9 minutes is short..), and the bass style has become more a part of the rhythm section, less tone, more "oomph." The drumming has changed, but in this album, the drums aren't as high in the mix (if I recall) and don't stand out as they did previously. Some people complain about the production, that the guitars bleed together and it's too mushy a sound. Maybe so, but it's still less mushy than most "all chord" music. Credence is an all-acoustic song, capable of winning the hearts of metal haters. Aww yeah.
Still Life - Here's where their skill at transitions takes over. The seamless blends from acoustic to distorted elevate the musical sophistication to a new level. The use of a pause in a song is not so much a "hit the distortion pedal off" as a "here's a breather before we kick your ass with a solo" (White Cluster) The use of clean vocals over distorted keeps a song heavier, while still allowing the emotion to come out. Vocally, this album is quite heavy. The growl has a menacing rasp to it, and it sound quite harsh. But good harsh, not bad harsh. Again, twin guitars aren't too prominent, and the bass sound remains rhythm. The riffing is quite sophisticated, some good examples are the opening to Moonlapse Vertigo, and the ending of The Face of Melinda. Benighted is another all-acoustic song, and The Face of Melinda is more like To Bid You Farewell - clean singing over distorted guitar.
Blackwater Park - This album has production very similar to Still Life. The guitar sound is basically the same. Vocally, the growls are deep, but not as raspy or menacing as on Still Life. There's some harmonies in the vocals, and more overdubbing of the voices, which would be hard to pull off live. I found that stylistically, they didn't change much from Still Life on this one, which is, perhaps, why I still turn to Still Life over Blackwater Park. The acoustic endeavours on BWP aren't as memorable, but are still feats in and of themselves. The Drapery Falls kicks ass. The bass sound, while the same, has adapted somewhat to fill the void - it maintains a low profile, but adds a lot more depth.
Those are basically my thoughts, right now. It's likely I'm wrong on some counts, as I'm now listening to The Doors, not Opeth, for some reason. Feel free to flame me. All the albums kick ass, and they're each a totally seperate unit, to be taken as such. Here's a project, listen to the finale tracks of each album, and see how they compare. You gotta leave an album feeling good about it. Do they pull it off in all cases? Maybe this is for another thread..
later
) doesn't. Not 100% sure, but that's how I been feeling after lots of experimenting.
