Are Opeth a death metal band?

[Koi]

fuck the tags, they are opeth...they play music....music that appeals to them.
Stop foldering stuff and comparing bands with other bands!

 

[Ninfix]

HOLY SHIT!!!!

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

you people are honestly daft if you think that opeth is a death metal band. eos.

 

[Lateralus14]

don't ask me to check out other "death metal" bands, that just means nothing. Are they more "death metal"? Yeah? Alright, why? You are talking about bands that are known to be "death metal", but you doesn't explain why Opeth aren't, you just want me to compare with other bands that are (necesserly) different. The only (weak) argument is "Opeth are death metal because they don't play death metal." Be clear and consistent.QUOTE]


If you refuse to listen to bands that defined the death metal genre then you really have no knowledge that qualifies you to determine whether or not Opeth is a death metal band.

You can't say "they're death metal they're just different" - by that logic you could say anything is death metal because according to that, you don't have to sound anything like death metal to be death metal. The whole point of a genre is to put a label on a certain kind of sound, and the label "death metal" was made for bands that sound nothing like Opeth.

There's just no way to convince people if that's not enough. Opeth is not death metal because they don't play death metal, but I guess from this thread we can tell we shouldn't expect anyone to believe that.

And a suggestion to those trying to put a label on Opeth and using progressive death just because there's nothing else, tell your friends "Opeth is a metal band" - that should do.

 

[{-sapob-}]

I think Opeth are just Progressive Metal.

The two words put together explain it better than anything else.
Ok you could put Progressive death metal.
but then you are pinning it to the extreme side of metal, when thats clearly not the case.

I think people are forgetting that an opeth song rarlely goes without a softer passage, and i think thats enough to dum the title down a bit.

You have a track, put some folky stuff, + a couple of ballads, add some death metal vocals

you get a Progressive metal album/band/song.

Just my thoughts.

(i actually edited this too much now it doesnt make as much sense as it did, I really wish there was a delete post option)

 

[Uaarkson]

SHIT













THREAD

 

[{-sapob-}]

It cant be that shit if it was able to provoke as many posts it has with the majority contributing something,
apart from two words, red font, at a larger size, with some spacing.

 

[4speedmetal]

A lot of the subject matter of the music is death.

But I think this proves that you just can not catagorize the music of Opeth.

Keep aruging tho. I'm gonna go crank it up.

 

[{-sapob-}]

^
Nice point.

 

[Walls1441]

lol. The lyrics are in general not death metal lyrics.

Opeth lyrics are very dark and deal with deaths and ghosts and other shit like that, but thats not really typical of death metal lyrics.

mes typically invoke Z-grade slasher and splatter movie violence,[23] but may also extend to contain themes of Satanism, criticism of religion, Occultism, mysticism, and/or social commentary.

from wikipedia. I'd say thats pretty accurate and not very opeth.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

A lot of the subject matter of the music is death.

yeah, and? whats your point with that idiotic statement?

morbid angel are hailed as one of the pioneers of death metal, and the majority of their lyrics are not about death. nile are hailed as a prime death metal band of the 00s (while others categorize them as boring, but thats another story) and their lyrics are about egyptian mythology.

ftlog some of you are deaf or smth.

 

[4speedmetal]

OK then. The subject matter of the songs are rainbows and wildflowers and all things cute and furry.

JA

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

OK then. The subject matter of the songs are rainbows and wildflowers and all things cute and furry.

JA

deicide = criticizing religion, specifically christianity
morbid angel = criticizing society in general (not just religion), especially on albums not called "altars of madness"
nile = egyptian mythology
amon amarth = viking bullshit
carcass = early shit was gore, later shit was more criticizing society
immolation = religion criticizing (now they've gone into politics and societal shit on the last two albums)
death = later albums talked about society - especially tsop (but that wasn't a dm album, more a prog album with screams)
incantation = criticizing religion

should I go on and on? or whats the deal here. yes, death metal deals with some darker subject matter. but to say "A lot of the subject matter of the music is death." is a very vast overgeneralization, based on no evidence whatsoever.

 

[4speedmetal]

First off, I like every one of the bands you listed. Except Incantation, I just don't know of them.

My point is that it's just hard to catagorize Opeth. Maybe cuz they don't stick to one or two particular subject matters. That's a good thing. If they span all these different sub-stratas of metal, maybe they can draw in more fans.

Their music is fantastic, and I'd like to see more people get into them. Pigeonholing a metal band might be good, might be bad. You decide. All I know is, all forms of metal are alright by me. Because I fucking love Heavy Metal. But Opeth shines above the rest cuz the music is very dynamic. This is just my opinion.

If nothing else, I just like the sound of the words, Death Metal!!!

 

[The Wooden Doors]

Taken from the Death Metal article on Wikipedia...

Technical death metal and progressive death metal are related terms that refer to bands distinguished by the complexity of their music. Common traits are dynamic song structures, uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms and unusual harmonies and melodies. Bands described as technical death metal or progressive death metal usually fuse common death metal aesthetics with elements of progressive rock, jazz or classical music. While the term technical death metal is sometimes used to describe bands that focus on speed and extremity as well as complexity, the line between progressive and technical death metal is thin. "Tech death" and "prog death", for short, are terms commonly applied to such bands as Cryptopsy, Edge of Sanity, Opeth, Origin and Sadist. Cynic, Atheist, Pestilence and Gorguts are examples of bands noted for creating jazz-influenced death metal. Necrophagist and Spawn of Possession are known for a classical music influenced death metal style. Death metal pioneers Death also refined their style in a more progressive direction in their final years.

 

[Horef]

Are Opeth a death metal band ? Yes.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

First off, I like every one of the bands you listed. Except Incantation, I just don't know of them.

My point is that it's just hard to catagorize Opeth. Maybe cuz they don't stick to one or two particular subject matters. That's a good thing. If they span all these different sub-stratas of metal, maybe they can draw in more fans.

Their music is fantastic, and I'd like to see more people get into them. Pigeonholing a metal band might be good, might be bad. You decide. All I know is, all forms of metal are alright by me. Because I fucking love Heavy Metal. But Opeth shines above the rest cuz the music is very dynamic. This is just my opinion.

If nothing else, I just like the sound of the words, Death Metal!!!

what the fuck are you talking about, in this arguement the lyrical content has nothing to do with whether opeth are death metal or not. which they clearly are not.

a death metal band does not release an album full of clean/acoustic material, nor do they release albums where at least half of the material is clean/acoustic (including interlude tracks).

a death metal band generally plays faster music (the fastest opeth song I can think of is deliverance at ~195bpm/16th notes and dotf which is at ~230bpm/16th notes during the "chorus")

a death metal band generally uses more "straight-forward" chords than opeth do - opeth use a lot of open chords or other "non-death metal" chord shapes (I'm not really versed in chordal theory so I couldn't tell you what they are).

a death metal band doesn't release an album where there's only growling on three songs out of seven.

I could go on and on and on but by now it should be pretty clear why I'm holding to my consensus that opeth aren't a death metal band.


by the way, wikipedia is a shit source of information. it's a user-edited source, and most of the time it's wrong (especially in dealings with the various sub-genres and sub-sub-genres of metal.)

 

[Walls1441]

Show me one song where opeth is strictly a death metal band. and then show me a well accredited death metal band with a similar song.

by the way, wikipedia is a shit source of information. it's a user-edited source, and most of the time it's wrong (especially in dealings with the various sub-genres and sub-sub-genres of metal.)

haha this applies when you are doing research for school. This does not apply for common knowledge. Wikipedia is tested as 99% Accurate against encyclopedia britanica and when it comes to shit like underground music culture there is no other source. If you're doing your masters thesis on death metal lyrics. yeah you probably don't want to cite wikipedia, but it doesn't hurt to check the bottom of the page for all of the foot notes. Your statement is just wrong.




show me 1 case of false information on the Death Metal page. okay well don't, because someone's going to go edit it so nevermind lol

* Melodic death metal: Scandinavian death metal could be considered the forerunner of "melodic death metal". Melodic death metal, sometimes referred to as "melodeath", is heavy metal music mixed with some death metal elements, such as growled vocals and the liberal use of blastbeats. Songs are typically based around Iron Maiden-esque guitar harmonies and melodies with typically higher-pitched growls, as opposed to traditional death metal's brutal riffs and much lower death grunts. Carcass is sometimes credited with releasing the first melodic death metal album with 1993's Heartwork, although Swedish bands In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, and At the Gates are usually mentioned as the main pioneers of the genre and of the Gothenburg metal sound. Additionally, Afflicted, Amon Amarth, Unleashed and Tiamat helped to define the sound that would evolve into common melodic death metal.

* Technical death metal: Technical death metal and progressive death metal are related terms that refer to bands distinguished by the complexity of their music. Common traits are dynamic song structures, uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms and unusual harmonies and melodies. Bands described as technical death metal or progressive death metal usually fuse common death metal aesthetics with elements of progressive rock, jazz or classical music. While the term technical death metal is sometimes used to describe bands that focus on speed and extremity as well as complexity, the line between progressive and technical death metal is thin. "Tech death" and "prog death", for short, are terms commonly applied to such bands as Cryptopsy, Edge of Sanity, Opeth, Origin and Sadist. Cynic, Atheist, Pestilence and Gorguts are examples of bands noted for creating jazz-influenced death metal. Necrophagist and Spawn of Possession are known for a classical music influenced death metal style. Death metal pioneers Death also refined their style in a more progressive direction in their final years.

* Brutal death metal: Brutal death metal developed by combining death metal with aspects of grindcore, and took death metal to greater extremes in terms of speed and aggression. Brutal death metal tends to be drum-heavy and rhythm oriented leaving little room for melody and harmony. Typically, guitar riffs make use of fast tremolo picking, and heavy palm muting for a percussive effect. The drum lines are fast and blast beats are predominant. Brutal death metal vocalists employ low-pitched death grunts and the lyrics are often, but not always gore related. Some bands occasionally alternate fast and aggressive parts with slower grooves and breakdowns. Bands who focus more on these slower groovy parts and breakdowns are sometimes referred to as slam death metal.[56] Certain bands in this genre, for example Nile and Suffocation, have also been categorized as technical death metal. There is a sizable overlap between the two genres, as some bands not only focus on speed and aggression but also incorporate technical and progressive elements. Brutal death metal is also associated with bands like Cannibal Corpse, Disgorge and Hate Eternal.

* Death/Doom : Death/doom (also known as doom/death) is a style that combines the slow tempos and melancholic atmosphere of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal.[57] The style emerged during the late 1980s and gained a certain amount of popularity during the 1990s.[57] It was pioneered by bands such as Autopsy, Winter,[58] Asphyx,[58] Disembowelment,[58] Paradise Lost,[58] and My Dying Bride.[58] Death doom subsequently gave rise to the gothic metal genre.

* Blackened death metal: Blackened death metal is a subgenre of death metal fused with the more fluid and melodic elements of black metal. These bands also tend to adopt some of the thematic characteristics of that genre as well: evil, Satanism, and occultism are all common topics and images. Early influences for blackened death metal include death metal bands such as Deicide, Acheron, and Immolation. Some examples of this subgenre include Akercocke, Behemoth, Belphegor , Zyklon, and Sacramentum.

* Deathgrind or goregrind: This style mixes the intensity, speed, and brevity of grindcore with the complexity of death metal. It differs from death metal in that guitar solos are often a rarity, shrieked vocals are more prominent as the main vocal style (though death growls are still utilized and some deathgrind bands make more use of the latter vocal style), and songs are generally shorter in length, usually between one and three minutes. The style differs from grindcore in the more technical approach and less evident hardcore punk influence and aesthetics. Some notable examples of deathgrind are Brujeria, Cattle Decapitation,[59] Cephalic Carnage, Soilent Green, Pig Destroyer,[60] Circle of Dead Children and Rotten Sound.

* Deathcore: With the rise in popularity of melodic metalcore, some of its traits have been incorporated into death metal. Bands like Job for a Cowboy (on their first EP Doom) and Suicide Silence combine melodic metalcore with death metal influences. Death metal characteristics, such as fast drumming (including blast beats), down-tuned guitars, tremolo picking and partially growled vocals, are combined with melodic riffs and breakdowns. In the case of some groups such as Despised Icon and Bring Me the Horizon, lyrical themes are less focused on gore and violence, and more on personal issues.

where else would i go to get that information? and don't say encyclopedia metallum. I stand by this, unless you are doing NEW research, like at the graduate level wikipedia is the greatest initial source of information. Magazines and other things aren't primary sources of research anyways. You'd be lucky to find any metal band in a published scientific journal. Sure i can edit the page and say that Hall and Oates started Death metal in 1843 or put my own band on there, but thats silly and would be promptly fixed by wikipedia's staff.

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

show me 1 case of false information on the Death Metal page. okay well don't, because someone's going to go edit it so nevermind lol

they had children of bodom listed as a melodic death metal band - which they are not. they have job for a cowboy listed as a death metal band - which they are not. etc etc etc.

 

[Walls1441]

I would consider CoB Melodic Death Metal in their middlemost days. Never listened to job for a cowboy. What would you call them? Power Death Metal? lol
I'd say they were Melodic Death with Folk elements in their earlier days. Now they are just Shit Death metal. You can't argue opinions like that.



holy shit did you actually read it? it says job for a cowboy is deathcore
http://www.myspace.com/jobforacowboy


i'd say thats pretty accurate for the first song on their myspace.

Band pages are less accurate than genre pages, because bands can call themselves a certain thing and then if that is cited then thats the information that goes and stays on the page regardless of what subtle differences dictate their ACTUAL subgenre. Deathcore is still a SUBgenre of Death Metal while probably not the most accurate title.


and in wikipedia's defense. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4530930.stm