1. 'Pop music' can be good, and i personally indulge in listening to a few select pop groups. Saying that ALL pop music is bad is just stupid; do you really think this? How much pop have you actually heard? Are you just trying to be different?... I think people like Mikael Akerfeldt and Steven Wilson have a very 'objective' and 'mature' musical taste eg. they both enjoy/appreciate Abba
2. Some 'metal' IMO, is much worse than alot of pop eg. slipknot
3. If someone dislikes/"can't understand" death growls, melancholia, brutality, or any other of the elements present in Opeth's music, that's their problem. I've learnt to give up trying to convert these people to Opeth. One friend said (in response to Damnation), "it's really good, they're heaps good musicians, but it's too sad. I like happy music." Rather than being frustrated with this, my 'release', if you could call it that, is, i like to mention certain bands to him that i love, and when he inevitably and excitedly asks me what there music is like, i simply respond: "unless you're going to really listen to the music, not just have it on in the car or whatever, then i doubt you'll ever appreciate it." (something along those lines).
4. Even if Opeth removed the growls from their music, they would never achieve a large gathering (we're talking Led Zeppelin size) because: A.) people generally only like what's on the radio...it's on in the workplace, it's on the car, it's repetitive...the songs are going to get stuck in your head, and this will always dictate the majority of people's musical 'taste'. Opeth is not repetitive, and i have only ever heard porcelain heart on the radio once!
B.) alot of people are NOT enthusiastic about music, and thus have a very shallow appreciation. Opeth takes time to sink in.
C.) some people seem to almost exclusively listen to one genre, generally in an attempt to gain some form of identity. This works in Opeth's favour to an extent, but what I mean is that, on the whole, the metal scene is probably looked upon as "scary" or "emo" or whatever other rubbish people who have never heard it believe.
D.) Society on the whole, glorifies 'catchy'/'cool' music; it isn't as much about the music itself as it is about the image (this applies to both bands, and fans; the bands are probably/usually very aware of this fact, and use it to their advantage). Most metal is a little different. How often does a metal fan say, how 'catchy' is the outro to deliverance, how 'cool' is it when bands wear corpse-paint?
Most of us know these things- it's a sad/frustrating reality, but let's not let that get in the way of us appreciating other styles of music. Instead, be thankful that you truly can appreciate music like Opeth, and if you can't, but pretend to because you think it's cool or non-conformist or whatever it may be, shame on you, you give metal a bad name.
Hypothetical: How can i take Opeth seriously when the majority of their fans make statements like: "all pop is shit", "metal is the BEST music", "Opeth and Slipknot 4 eva!"
To the "real" fans of great music
