Dan, what do you think about Opeth's new way?

[Dan Swanö]

It´s cool. My girlfriend is obsessed with this album, and I have heard it many times now...and it´s a "grower". It´s still nothing like "Orchid" but Opeth sounds like a new band these days. The final song is excellent and every clean vocal part is excellent, especially the "happy" major key parts...really kick ass...More Major Mike!!!! The "death parts" are too "uncommericial" for my narrow taste. I need a riff I can hum along to, and that has never been Mike´s trademark in riffing... I am so happy for Opeth. I almost cried of joy when I read the Classic Rock review of their Live gig in London. It feels great for me, after all the years of preaching the goodness of Opeth, that finally the world joins in and praise the genius of Mike. If there is one person that deserves this level of fame and fortune in the musicbusiness right now, it´s Micke.... Nuf said.
Ps. l will see them in Utrech in December, so any Dutch people who believe they spot my secret twin in the audience....it´s really me, and don´t be shy...say Hi!!! Ds.

 

[Kenneth R.]

I'm psyched to see them in London end of the month!

 

[madu]

I saw 'em in Helsinki in September, and there was this guy who looked exactly like Devin Townsend in the crowd. I'm thinking he's a secret identical twin, though.

I didn't see them, but apparently Dream Theater's James LaBrie and Mike Portnoy were at the same gig I was at, too

 

[Therionized]

Did Dan just say he had narrow taste? lol

 

[Tumn]

Narrow meaning broad!

 

[BrandonS]

I've yet to hear a band that sounds anything like Ghost Reveries does.

Dang well that didn't work.... I forgot this board doesn't use HTML. Well to make it short, Rainwound. Click in my sig. It's opeth influenced, yet has become something completely different.. sort of like Elvenefris when you compare them to basic prog death I guess. Whereas Opeth went to prog death, Rainwound is prog metal/rock and pretty experimental whenever possible. So it's not really cookie-cutter Opeth worship, but stuff like some riffs and the improvised solos are definately Opeth (and Camel) influenced.

 

[mattcira]

I guess as long as "Opeth's New Way" doesn't involve bus drivers or kiddie porn, you'll be ok.

 

[paradoxile]

I guess as long as "Opeth's New Way" doesn't involve bus drivers or kiddie porn, you'll be ok.

does this mean opeth don't have a tour bus?

 

[all_sins_undone]

I've had a variety of FNM stuff blasted at me throughout various drives in a friend's car. I can't say I see any resemblance with it on GR.

I think Black Rose Immortal is an exceptionally bad song to cite when trying to prove a point about continuity (unless of course you're arguing AGAINST Opeth having cohesion on the earlier albums). 8:55, 11:55 of the track can quite easily close the first half of it and wrap it up as one song. 14:46 pretty much begs to be the ending of the song. The entire thing just feels like a big rollercoaster of 'stop-start' riffs with absolutely no cohesion and no audible direction. The climaxes, the descents all happen within a few minutes, then keep coming back around and happening again.

The only one of their albums where I see a problem with the length is Deliverance, where it was quite obvious that they were stretching the songs out to fill the 10 minute mark. Ghost Reveries suffers from a bit of this during The Grand Conjuration, but aside from this I see no problem with lengths. A lot of the repetition in the songs serves to establish a certain ambience. I don't need particularily interesting parts happening 100% of the time to hold my attention.. I like my music to have pacing at logical spots.

After reading the 'hasn't released anything mind blowing since Morningrise' comment I might just bring my post to a halt. I suppose it's pretty obvious that we're on entirely different pages when it comes to music. You seem to look for something in their music that they abandoned long ago. I look for that one thing in their music that's (almost) always held true: their constant progression. I love the fact that GR is so different, and so non-metal sounding. I love the fact that it's alienating a lot of the hardcore fanbase, who tend to be guys that get a bit butt-hurt at their favourite obscure band of yesteryear catching mainstream attention through still creating fantastic music.

The sentimental factor of the first two albums wore off on me, and now all I'm left with is looking for musicianship.. the best of which (in my opinion) can be found on Still Life. But damn me, if Ghost Reveries didn't get right up there.

Moonlapse, you're to right. It's true that Deliverance was a rushed album and that the songs could easy have been reduced in length. I also agree that GR was a fantastic album - just as long as it needed to be- with the exception of The Grand Conjuration (which drags....and drags) and Baying of the Hounds.

Still Life is simply their best album up to date.
Orchid and Morningrise sound almost identical. So whoever thinks Opeth is going mainstream seriously needs to reconsider. Opeth may be takign a prog route, but they are insanely unique as it is today, and they continue to make groud breaking music. They lost their mystique, my ass lol.

 

[williamblake]

Ok Mike patton, hes a fucking pot head who did a couple of good songs with faith no more and that was very limited. His solo stuff is hardly called music and i mean that quite literally, i think sometimes there is just a puff of bong smoke in that guys head.

you obviously never heard mr. bungle, fantômas, tomahawk,...
mike patton is god.

 

[paradoxile]

you obviously never heard mr. bungle, fantômas, tomahawk,...
mike patton is god.

Patton has quite a reputation, I thought at some point patton's music wasn't music too but that was before I started listening to avant garde.
He's wierd, he has an anal fixation and he likes circus music and somehow he got all of that into his art. Some said at the time that worhol was shit but that was his art. when it comes to art and music(which are pretty much 2 aspects of the same thing) it's a matter of taste.

 

[rrjii2000]

Damnation was weak, Mordet i grottan pisses all over it apart from windowpane and closure.

Morningrise was bad because it was orchid with weirdo bass parts, and while they are fun to play it still scores a big WTF in my books as a songwritter.

GR is obviously opeth making up for deliverence, deliverence was a few good ideas rushed. GR is a more mature look on those idea and concepts, they added some different influence and some individual parts and jobs in the band completely changed.

How can you say that Damnation and Deliverence were weak? I reguard Deliverence as one of the greatest albus ever. I still listen to it almost daily. And Damnnamtion was a masterpiece in it's own right. I would LOVE to hear more material like that from Mike.

However I got bored pretty quickly with GR. There are a few good melodies and vocal parts, but for the most part, boring, and the songs are too long with lacking substence.

Rob