Bands that take 'radical' new directions.

[A Fair Judgment]

Opeth BECAUSE:

Ghost Reveries was like Opeth’s Black Album….

It’s all a downward spiral from here, folks. ;(

Dude, you just cursed yourself!

 

[Hypnos]

bands changing radically , but staying great:

In The Woods
Ulver
Katatonia
Orphaned Land
Arcturus


bands changing radically, being not so good now:

Moonspell
Amorphis
Anathema
My Dying Bride

bands changing radically into dog shit:

Paradise Lost
Metallica
Tiamat
Samael

 

[Stilgar]

Oh, darn. How could I forget some of my old favourite bands?

• My Dying Bride - One of my favorite bands. At least the stuff before 34.788% Complete. I did not like 34.788% Complete at all when it was released. I don't know how I'd like it now after my musical taste has evolved (I haven't listened to it since its release and right now it's somewhere in a box in the basement). But now I wonder if they shouldn't have continued experimenting, since the new stuff I've heard sounds a little too much like their older stuff.
• Tiamat - I really loved the first 4 albums, but kinda lost interest after that. They were heading in a totally different direction than I was at the time. I haven't heard the latest albums, so I can't comment on those.
• Moonspell - I loved everything up to (and including) Irreligious. After that, they started to sound a little bit too mainstream for me.
• Amorphis - A little bit like Tiamat. After Tales, they moved off in a direction I wasn't ready to follow at the time. Don't know what they sound like now.

 

[Stilgar]

Anathema: To be honest, 'A Dying Wish' and 'Lovelorn Rhapsody' aside, I thought they were pretty lacking as a doom metal band. 'Eternity' woul dhave been good if Vinnie had been able to sing at the time. But I adore the way they're changed. They've found their style, and are so much better for it. Underrated isn't a strong enough word.

I guess I'll have to listen to some of their newer stuff then.

Therion: I don't think the change is good. Don't get me wrong, their newer stuff is ok. But with the preoduction they have now, their deat-metal albums would be so awesome. 'Symphony Of The Dead' is an amazing song!

Yeah. "Symphony Of The Dead" rocks. That's the song that got me interested in Therion. There's actually a new, interesting version of the song on the album "A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming".

The Gathering: I'm a little less familiar with them as a whole, but from what I've heard, I like the change. 'Souvenirs' has much better atmospherics than albums like 'Mandylion', and it gives Anneke the chance to show what an incredible voice she has. And the Trickster G duet is awe-inspiring!

*nod* Since I've been listening to them ever since their first album, I might have a little different view on it.

On the first album they only had a male singer, and a totally different sound compared to their later albums. On the second album they had a different singer than Anneke, and a different sound. For me, the biggest change was when they released Mandylion. I was pleasantly surprised and thought it was a very positive change.

 

[EveOfDarkness]

Extol - from Progressive/Melodic Death Metal to Technical Thrash to Progressive rock (Love all their stuff though)

Death - Straight up Death metal to Technical Death/Thrash

Meshuggah - Technical Thrash to Doomy Technical Metal type stuff

 

[BurningSky]

I whole heartedly agree. Don't own GR and don't care to. They are now doing all they can to appeal to the masses. Leave Ghost Reveries for the children and the twits.

Everyone has their opinions and that's fine, but you show time and time again that some people's opinions actually are worthless. I actually hope that Anna sees what you said, understands that you claim to think ghost reveries is a piece of shit yet DON'T own it, and bans you from the forum. Not because you dislike the album, but because you flat out said you pirated it. I hope you disappear.

 

[Stilgar]

I whole heartedly agree. Don't own GR and don't care to. They are now doing all they can to appeal to the masses. Leave Ghost Reveries for the children and the twits.

I hope you're joking. I would NOT consider GR to be mainstream in any way. I've listened to Opeth ever since they released Orchid in Sweden, and although Orchid and Morningrise are very special to me (as they are to most people that started listening to Opeth in those years), I do like the direction Opeth is taking. I think it's great that they've always played the music they want to play, not what they think the masses want to hear. It makes every new album a surprise. You do need to listen to every album more than once or twice to get into it though.

 

[MasterOLightning]

To add to the existing thoughts here...

Current Anathema is great, especially A Fine Day to Exit. Easily better than what I've heard of popular bands like Radiohead. The Silent Enigma is also a pretty good doom album.

Ulver's best work out of their newer stuff is the Teachings in Silence EPs. These are very strong ambient/experimental pieces. Much better than the lacking Lyckantropen Themes, which was about 15 minutes of music stretched into 35.

My Dying Bride's 34.788% Complete was a one time experiment such as Damnation was to Opeth, from my understanding. 34 ranges from excellent to somewhat dull. The Whore, The Cook, and The Mother, and Der Uberlebende are among their best tracks. And Aaron's voice is always great. One of the most emotive in metal. Mid-era MDB was rather dull anyway. TDH and Songs of Darkness... are better than anything since Turn Loose the Swans. It's good that they tried something different.

I would say that Death, like Opeth was a band that definitely changed, but it was hardly a radical new direction for either. Both logically flowed from one style to another.

Amorphis is an overrated band. Their death metal material was dull, and the newest stuff is just generic rock. Nothing special at all.

 

[prowlergrig]

one common thing that sucks imo about bands changing their style (even if it's for the better) is when they stop playing the old songs live - that is, if they weren't shit to begin with

 

[R0l0]

on one album the backstreet boys clapped their hands in the air and waved them like they just don't care, and on another they wanted it that way.

 

[Powers]

Never Gone was a great album though, it has to be said. Especially after a 5 year abscence.

 

[chomps]

I've only ever listened to new amorphis, and although I like it, I do agree with whoever said it is generic rock. They are probably overrated, so I'll stay away from them.

And Varg is awesome. Stop bashing my hero!

 

[vampyrouss]

Mortiis as mentioned early on in this thread has an interesting history!
For the most part it was the dark dungeon style, then he himself got sick of it and thought that all his works sideprojects included were just becoming poor because he wasn't putting all his efforts into them singularly, and he just really wanted to do something else.

So then we got The Smell Of Rain, which most Mortiis fans hated, obviously, if you hear the old stuff and then this it would have been a shock (its what got me into Mortiis, so I loved it anyway) and just as the fans started to mellow out and like that material he tells us that it was a disaster recordingwise and developed a band and the industrial sound of the new album which is how he intended TSOR to sound in the first place...

Now everyone is half expecting something similar on the next album and half expecting something different again, but he is very open about only doing what he wants in his music and as The Stargate proved if he thinks he is selling himself out and is tired of the current style he will change it to make himself happy, not do what the fans want.

I like that a lot!

Opeth have done this too, though not in such an extreme way, but they have tried different things in their career. And although all Opeth albums sound like Opeth albums if you play Orchid and Ghost Reveries to a casual listener they probably wouldn't guess it was the same band. (Not to mention Damnation of course!)

 

[Disgustipated]

Never knew pussies burned churches and murdered...

In my opinion, this is what defines him as being a 'pussy'.

Anyway, it's good to finally see a thread worth reading on this forum after so much shit.

Genesis - from prog rock to pop rock.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

In my opinion, this is what defines him as being a 'pussy'.

Agreed 100%. These things are not 'hard' or 'solid' or 'impressive'. They are cowardly, heinous atrocities that the guy deserved to be locked up for.

Anyway, it's good to finally see a thread worth reading on this forum after so much shit.

Thank you, I thought it was a good idea

 

[OPETH_DT]

The story of Metallica: 1) Dave starts Megadeth, and 2) Cliff dies.. and of course 3) Who's gonna write our songs for us now? We certainly can't!

 

[Disgustipated]

Self Titled would have been a better album, had it not been released by Metallica. It's still good though. And there are some great country influence rock songs on Load. I am brave enough to say I like all of Metalica's stuff before ReLoad.

 

[Kenneth R.]

I liked everything up to and including S&M. Then they dropped the ball imo.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

^^^ So do I. In fact, the first couple of songs on Re-Load are ok too, IMO.

S&M is largely good, but some of it doesn't work (Master Of Puppets).

But, it sucks by comparison with their older material.

St. Anger just sucks. It doesn't need to be compared with anyting, it just blows hardcore.

 

[Disgustipated]

Oh yeah, I forgot S&M because I don't own it. But I'm still not a big Reload fan. It was, funnily enough, one of the first metal albums I got into, though. Thanks to my sister.