Best time to be a Opeth fan?

[SerenityNow!]

One of the many wonderful things about Opeth is that they have expanded the musical tastes of many people (including me). I can't count how many times I've seen people on this forum discussing how they weren't into growling vocals until Opeth turned them on to it (again, including me). I've said it before, the first song I heard was Remember Tomorrow off of an otherwise mediocre/disappointing Iron Maiden tribute CD. That song stuck out for me and I ended up buying Morningrise. Took a little while to get into it, but now I love 'em. All that happened a long time ago ('98 or '99). I'm still not a huge death metal fan. I need my growls mixed with clean vocals, as well as amazing music. I can't understand how some people can be disappointed in the new stuff. I would think even old fans would realize what they're all about just from the first 3 or 4 albums. Still Life is a HUGE difference from the 3 before it. Were on album #9 now!! 9 albums of the same stuff, and no progression...I think a great many people would be more disappointed in that. You can only go so far with crazy-ass brutality mixed with alittle serenity. You need to mix it up. People talk about their "new direction", but not their "new directionS". Who knows where they'll go next. Keeps me on my toes!!!

 

[Taotrac]

I actually like it when Opeth's music (and music in general) is tuned perfectly on every note. It's one thing i hate most about really new bands, is it seems they can't tune their instraments or make anything perfect.

Still Life and Ghost Reveries are my two favorite albulms by Opeth, (and GR is my all time favorite music album) because of this, and its why im disliking Watershed.

Idk, personally Deliverance and Blackwater Park seem dull to me at times when I'm not trying to listen to them. The others all always are remeberable to me, especially the chorus riff on Godhead's Lament...that riff and vocal part is like a metal legend moment to me.

Anyway, I do miss the vocal production that Deliverance and Damnation had. It seems like that kinda stuff is missing on Watershed. I loved how those two albulms had all different kinds of vocal editing and sounds. Watershed honestly sounds like it needed a few more producers to help it along.

Anyway i think Opeth are more well known in America than most people would like to think. I know alot of people in my school who know who they are, and not because of me. Same with Cradle Of Filth, In Flames, ect, all those european death metal bands. That whole european scene became pretty popular for a couple years here, and kinda in America in general. Too bad grindcore and shitcore and emo has taken over =(...people were actually starting to like great music back in 2005.

 

[Rogue Eagle]

if I could go back in time.... looong ago.... like back to 2000/1999.
I'd tell myself to stop listening to eminem, linkin park and other general mediocre shit.....
and Force myself to listen to still life and blackwater park.

So many years wasted :-(

 

[Frosties]

Apparently Opeth have a pretty big following within the Israeli metal scene (at least, judging by the disproportionate amount of israelis that post here). Do you find that to be true?

Well, I think so. It seems that just about anyone who has anything to do with the metal scene is aware of them, and I don't think I can name more than 5 metalheads who dislike them (though I don't know that many metalheads as I used too).
Now you can easily find at least 3-4 Opeth albums in any cd store, and when Damnation was released they were playing it on their PA system. Also, I think it was within a week or maybe even less that they sold out all of their tickets when they came here last year (something like 2000 tickets).

So, in short, yes, I think they have a relatively big fanbase here, even though just about all of my friends don't listen to them.

 

[aestusmaris@hotmail.com]

I got into Opeth thanks to a friend on the day Blackwater Park came out. As he was a huge Opeth fan, he had to have it on the day. So we skipped school and went to Bristol (the nearest city to where I was living at the time) armed with bus fare, some sandwiches, a cd walkman and the money to get the album.
Personally I didn't really give a shit about the album, but any excuse to bunk off school with a mate is a good one.
So after the cheap 2 hour bus ride (which by car is 30 mins maximum) we finally got to Bristol, made our way to the record shop and he bought Blackwater Park. I was 15 or 16 I think at the time and was into Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Maiden and the like, hadn't really delved into the darker strands of metal and could not understand his excitement, I remember the smile on his face when he got it...
So we made our way back on the now 2 and a half hour journey back home (rush hour) and listened twice through the whole album a headphone apiece. Even in mono I was somwhwat blown away, enough at least to motivate me to buy the album the same week.
My friend then lent me Orchid and Morningrise...my fate as an Opeth fan was then sealed.

I only wish I could revisit those times to hear and appreciate the music for the first time again.

 

[Metalstrm]

I actually like it when Opeth's music (and music in general) is tuned perfectly on every note. It's one thing i hate most about really new bands, is it seems they can't tune their instraments or make anything perfect.

I don't think there's anything like a perfectly tuned guitar. Simply pressing the string against the fret detunes it to a small extent. Add to that the effect of techniques and pressing really hard, and the detuning is greater. Don't get me wrong I don't like detuned guitars (through lack of knowledge); earlier on I was only referring to the vocals.

 

[Lina]

I became obsessed with them when Still Life was released and listened to nothing but Opeth for about 6 months. It just consumed me.

I flew to Milwaukee in 2000 for their first U.S. show, and it was such an amazing moment. They were playing in this relatively small room, but it was CRAMMED full of people who'd come to the festival just for them, and you could tell they were overwhelmed by the response. Funny thing is, I remember thinking, "This could be my ONLY chance to see Opeth EVAR." Ha.

 

[Defluo]

Being in New Zealand things may have been a little different.

I remember stumbling upon a very low quality sample of To Bid You Farewell and half of The Drapery Falls on some site. Regardless of my black metal leanings, I loved it.

There was a record store in my city which actually had a metal section so I went to find Opeth. I found one copy of Blackwater Park buried amongst the Obituary cds. That was it. I did however manage to order in about 10 copies of Morningrise and Orchid closely followed by a few copies of MAYH and Still Life.

Less than a handful of people had heard of Opeth and I knew most people in Christchurch's small metal scene. I couldn't believe how little recognition they had so I made a point of showing Opeth to anyone who would listen. I soon became renowned for being an Opeth Fanatic. We'd have Opeth playing during intervals at my band's shows..I was even featured in the college newsletter ranting about My Arms Your Hearse

As time went by more Opeth albums started appearing on the shelves until there was a complete Opeth section. People even started getting into Opeth without me prompting them!

A few years ago things got weird. Emos and nu-metal fans (even a couple of "gangsters") started wearing Opeth hoodies and shit, the majority of whom wouldn't even be able to name 5 death metal bands. I recently saw a kid in town wearing a Ghost Reveries hoodie and asked him if he liked MAYH. He hadn't even heard it. When I asked another "Opeth Fan" what his favourite album was he replied "Still Water"

While I'm happy for the guys that they're now getting the recognition they deserve, I feel it's a shame that they're so big now that people are pretending to like them in order to adhere to a trend.

In a way, I miss the times where me and a mere handful of friends would be the only people in the city sitting around a stereo, beers in hands, marveling at the hidden wonders of Opeth.

 

[SerenityNow!]

The best time to be an Opeth fan is NOW!!:Smokin::zombie:

 

[fps]

2001, just after BWP came out, my mate told me to download the funeral portrait. i did, thought it was ok not great (still don't love it). then i heard Bleak and To Bid You Farewell and i was completely spellbound don't really feel that way any more, Ghost Reveries was a big letdown for me. they started sounding like their influences.

 

[shadyfigure]

i became a fan a little while after d&d. i first got into damnation, then their other slow songs... face of melinda and the drapery got me into liking their heavier stuff, it was around this time that i began appreciating complex music. i still remember watching lamentations for the first time with my ex gf and singing/growling most of the way through it, she thought it pretty funny. ghost reveries was a pretty exciting release and ill never forget seeing them live for those tours.

 

[aestusmaris@hotmail.com]

New Zealand generally sucks for metal, luckily though the internet and trademe made getting hold of good metal easier. I found it hard to find good metal fans, I found some but the majority of the ones I met (and unfortunately lived with in Auckland) had not got out of the nu metal phase, so thus listened to shit like Korn, Disturbed, Mudvayne and the like. I've found that with a lot of so called metal fans (maybe thats just orcland I dunno).
Although praise be given for the small group of people in that most beautiful of countries that keep the scene alive.

 

[Defluo]

New Zealand generally sucks for metal, luckily though the internet and trademe made getting hold of good metal easier. I found it hard to find good metal fans, I found some but the majority of the ones I met (and unfortunately lived with in Auckland) had not got out of the nu metal phase, so thus listened to shit like Korn, Disturbed, Mudvayne and the like. I've found that with a lot of so called metal fans (maybe thats just orcland I dunno).
Although praise be given for the small group of people in that most beautiful of countries that keep the scene alive.

When were you living in NZ?

I think the majority of NZ "metal heads" are like that. I think it's partially because we're so small - there are no big record stores with decent metal selections or radio stations playing extreme metal, and the few who have explored the underground tend to stick to themselves.

Though I find it easy to believe that you had trouble in Aucks you were actually in the best city in New Zealand for extreme metal. The NZ scene has actually improved a little recently with a few internationally renowned acts (including Opeth in 06) entering our island...

At least people know who Immortal are now :Smug: