I had a debate on the Symphony X forum with some guys that were ardent in their claim that Opeth isn't a death metal band, but a prog metal one. What do you think?
Are Opeth a death metal band?
- Thread starter Slaydon
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Vamos
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Since I responded in that thread, I guess I'll just respost here:
They share some elements with the genre but not so much as to be considered DM (along the lines of Cannibal Corpse, Bloodbath, Nile, etc).
I think that if you compare a song like Dehumanized by Theory in Practice with Wreath by Opeth you will note the difference between a DM band and Opeth. Theory in Practice is DM but Opeth, even in their heaviest, is not (in this example, you could actually say it is quite close).
This of course is not a bad thing. Opeth does not fit neatly into DM just as it does not fit neatly into PM. They share some elements with each style (and others as well) but lean enough towards progressive that they can be rightly labeled an "Extreme Progressive Metal" band (as Metal Archives has them). Personally I don't try to over think this stuff, to me Opeth is Opeth, a metal band that has it's own style and which I love to listen to.
They share some elements with the genre but not so much as to be considered DM (along the lines of Cannibal Corpse, Bloodbath, Nile, etc).
I think that if you compare a song like Dehumanized by Theory in Practice with Wreath by Opeth you will note the difference between a DM band and Opeth. Theory in Practice is DM but Opeth, even in their heaviest, is not (in this example, you could actually say it is quite close).
This of course is not a bad thing. Opeth does not fit neatly into DM just as it does not fit neatly into PM. They share some elements with each style (and others as well) but lean enough towards progressive that they can be rightly labeled an "Extreme Progressive Metal" band (as Metal Archives has them). Personally I don't try to over think this stuff, to me Opeth is Opeth, a metal band that has it's own style and which I love to listen to.
The Wooden Doors
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mexicola
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CadenZ
Son of Crom
In my opinion this is how every band should be categorized - in their own category. Why invent lots of weird genres (f ex extreme progressive blackened viking death metal...wtf?! come on
) when you can just refer to the band with their name? Today you can listen to any band on the net via youtube, myspace, spotify and countless other audio tools, so why categorize when you can skip the most-often-unsatisfyingly-inaccurate description and go straight to the source?
To rid you disease
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Taken from http://www.metal-archives.com/ they're "extreme progressive metal"...I'd go with progressive death 
Vamos
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I'd go with progressive death
That would work too and it probably is the best label for the band.
Taken from http://www.metal-archives.com/ they're "extreme progressive metal"...I'd go with progressive death
Progressive death? :zombie: That sounds...scary!
![[KOTNO]Narrot](/data/avatars/l/1/1031.jpg?1052155060){kind=avatar}
[KOTNO]Narrot
Eats and spits corpses...
[KOTNO]Narrot;8094638 said:
Why, thank you!
I know what you mean, on every forum the threads have a tendency to grow dull.
Hox
Superiorly grim and kvlt
shittiest thread in a while. who cares.
Genre names are about the most pretentious thing ever. Genre's are good for one thing and one thing only: describing a band to someone who hasn't heard them before. After that its all trivial. Furthermore opeth is one of those bands that even in just one song transcend several genre lines.
That being said, Death Metal is about the last thing i'd call Opeth. Other than the songs without distortion, i dare you to find me a song that you can classify with just one genre. Death metal makes me think of Morbid Angel, Deicide, Decapitated, Psycroptic, Vader etc. If you don't include Progressive in opeth's genre classification you are wrong.
Genre names are about the most pretentious thing ever. Genre's are good for one thing and one thing only: describing a band to someone who hasn't heard them before. After that its all trivial. Furthermore opeth is one of those bands that even in just one song transcend several genre lines.
That being said, Death Metal is about the last thing i'd call Opeth. Other than the songs without distortion, i dare you to find me a song that you can classify with just one genre. Death metal makes me think of Morbid Angel, Deicide, Decapitated, Psycroptic, Vader etc. If you don't include Progressive in opeth's genre classification you are wrong.
grey knight
Etheraven
Nasty-Fire
Discursion
It's clearly death metal, how can you not find it? Not only the growls, but also SO many riffs, and songs... it's hard to believe some people are so ignorant about that. Also, death metal is a pretty vast category.. just underlining it. If you think death metal = Cannibal Corpse, then alright, Opeth isn't death metal, but you sure are dumb.
Also, death metal is a pretty vast category.. just underlining it. If you think death metal = Cannibal Corpse, then alright, Opeth isn't death metal, but you sure are dumb.
The Wooden Doors
Cloak of Autumn Shroud
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It's clearly death metal, how can you not find it? Not only the growls, but also SO many riffs, and songs... it's hard to believe some people are so ignorant about that.
Great post. If someone said that Opeth sounded like "Progressive Metal" to me, I would think they sounded like Dream Theater or Tool. If someone told me that they played "Death Metal" music then I would think of... Cynic, Death, Atheist, Obituary etc...
If someone said they sounded like "Progressive Death Metal" then I would think of, well, Opeth! A meeting point between both classifications.
