An Opeth irony

[TyrantOfFlames]

Opeth has all the makings of a very cliche rock band:drums, bass, two guitars, one of them doubling as vocals. That's about as standard as it gets. But the have done something amazing, by taking the most tired foundation of the music world, and making a masterpiece with it (5 of them actually). Their music, we can call agree, is some of the most original music to date, espectially considering basics they use. You would think such originality can no longer be had from a metal band. Once again: praise to the masters!

 

[Lina]

amen.

i've always leaned toward the bands with more unique instruments, thinking, for instance, that a band with violin must have some classical training and therefore will probably have more well-thought-out songs. Uh, boy was I wrong!

In fact, someone just mentioned on one of these threads recently that Mikael said he didn't think keyboards were needed to enhance any composition, or something along those lines. I remember reading that too. And he's absolutely right, goddamn genius that he is! I never knew such a complete, rich and unique sound could come from such a standard formula.

 

[_Transparent_]

yeah, they're great, if Opeth have 4, why do slipknot have 9? anyway who cares im listening to 140 mins of opeth squeezed onto a mini disk, followed by 140 mins of Katatonia also freshly squeezed

 

[Opth_001]

Have you ever wondered if Mikeal ever goes throught these post and what he thinks when he reads them?

my impression


Mikeal: ohh I don't think I'm that good but I really apreciate the thought!

 

[Lina]

Oh, Mikael knows he's good. He's said before that he thinks you have to be intelligent to like his music. But I agree.

 

[MacMoney]

Opeth has all the makings of a very cliche rock band:drums, bass, two guitars, one of them doubling as vocals. That's about as standard as it gets. But the have done something amazing, by taking the most tired foundation of the music world,

I think most metal musicians would feel really offended by that part of your post.

 

[warsofwinter]

indeed they would

 

[Demonspell]

I think Opeth is testament to the fact that you can be progressive without using any odd instrumentation, although their song structures are anything but cliched and tired.

 

[Misanthrope]

My band has that line up but with an extra vocalist. I am not offended there are thousands of 5 piece bands out there i know but I try to make my music original by incorporating jazz and progresive elements into melodic death metal and more recently making a fusion of those elements. I do hope to be a band that is known because of this irony you talk about.

 

[TyrantOfFlames]

Don't get me wrong, I listen to plenty of bands that have that makeup. But the setup is very standard. I just was making an interesting note.

And I never implied opeth's song structures were cliche, I find them very anti-cliche.

 

[musicholic]

I think their large use of acoustic guitar sets up the electric parts very well. And when they do use keyboards it jumps out because they are not over-used. Their cover of Celtic Frosts' "circle of the tyrant" shows this very well. :hotjump:

 

[Russell]

Originally posted by musicholic
I think their large use of acoustic guitar sets up the electric parts very well. And when they do use keyboards it jumps out because they are not over-used. Their cover of Celtic Frosts' "circle of the tyrant" shows this very well. :hotjump:

I really wanna get my hands on the originals of those 2 covers! So I know how they have changed them!

 

[MacMoney]

I really wanna get my hands on the originals of those 2 covers!

I take it that you mean Circle of the Tyrants and Remember Tomorrow?

Opeth's covers are good but the original Celtic Frost is IMO better. Of the Remember Tomorrow... The live one with Bruce is better than the Opeth cover but the original Remember Tomorrow was sung by Di'Anno who IMO doesn't fit into that song at all.

 

[Belial]

Originally posted by Lina
Oh, Mikael knows he's good. He's said before that he thinks you have to be intelligent to like his music. But I agree.

Hmm... that could explain why I think they're godly, and the rest of my family think they're horrible.

 

[Lina]

Originally posted by Belial
Hmm... that could explain why I think they're godly, and the rest of my family think they're horrible.

But of course!

 

[TyrantOfFlames]

Originally posted by MacMoney
Of the Remember Tomorrow... The live one with Bruce is better than the Opeth cover

I don't understand...the Opeth one has more depth, better solos, acoustics instead of clean electrics, and vocal harmonies. But most of all, I don't understand how you can call Bruce's voice better than Mikael's, (from what I understand). I can't say that Mikael is much more talented than Bruce, but I hate the vibrato Bruce does so often. It makes his voice so much less listenable, and much less emotion too. So why is it better?

 

[musicholic]

Originally posted by TyrantOfFlames


I don't understand...the Opeth one has more depth, better solos, acoustics instead of clean electrics, and vocal harmonies. But most of all, I don't understand how you can call Bruce's voice better than Mikael's, (from what I understand). I can't say that Mikael is much more talented than Bruce, but I hate the vibrato Bruce does so often. It makes his voice so much less listenable, and much less emotion too. So why is it better?

I have to say that Mikael has one of the best voices for metal that I've heard. That "vibrato" is what for a while turned me off of 80's style metal. I loved the guitar work but that type of singing is far more offensive to my ears than most "death" vocals, which I learned to enjoy.

 

[MacMoney]

Opeth's version is somewhat sped up and it takes away somewhat from the song. Also Dickinson sings the higher parts much better than Mikael and the normal parts slightly better. The solo in the Maiden version is better but the acoustic guitar is a nice addition in Opeth's version.

Dickinson puts more feeling into the song than Mikael.