Maq said:
I didn't like Orchid at first, (I agree with that part about riffs), now its my second favourite album...(right after SL) Force yourself to listen to it over and over again
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Ahh well, the first Opeth album I ever owned or had the pleasure to listen to was Blackwater Park which is an amazing album, but since then I have become more a fan of Still Life and Deliverance. I have only been listening to Opeth since BWP came out so that may be the reason I am partial to the newer stuff.
I have listend to Morningrise and Orchid numerous times and I would have to say that they are far below everything from MAYH or in musical content. On the songs on those albums the band will play a series of riffs and completely stop and go into an acoustic part which if isolated from the song and played seperately (as in a different track all together) would share little relationship to the song it was taken from. I would even argue that you could switch mix the songs up and they would be no better or worse for it. (of course I realize there are musical parts that MUST be there, but im refering to Orchid more than Morningrise in this particular instance.)
I also think that the interplay between the guitars is much more interesting in the newer stuff. (I will include MAYH with my definition of "newer stuff".. yes I know its a bland and general term to use) On Orchid and Morningrise, Peter and Mikael generally playing beautiful, blistering harmonized melodies sometimes with one altering the rythmic pattern and placement of the said notes to create tension, something we all know is important to Opeth's music.
From MAYH on there seems to be an effort to move away from that and to move into what is in my opinion more interesting guitar interplay. While the newer music is in no way lacking in harmonized melodies, there is more of a focus on having one guitar play and outline and play actually chords, while one guitar focuses on creating melody. This evolution in the music may just be due to the fact that Opeth seems more willing to explore multitracking options in the studio, or it may actually be a caculated move. I think that much of Opeth's earlier music could be better associated with Iron Maiden ( some of the lighter parts on Orchid sound as if they are kin to Rime of the Ancient Mariner; not a bad thing of course
) than to modern progressive rock acts.
With all that being said, as long as you enjoy the music, no matter what the time period, band, heaviness, non heaviness ect., it doesnt really matter what I or any of message board jackass thinks
Feel free to criticize my post in the fullest. I am always open to new ideas and perspectives that can change the way I think about something.