Well, I got into Opeth before I listened to into any metal. I was thirteen and I think the heaviest things I listened to were Nirvana and Linkin Park. I bought Blackwater Park one day because I thought the artwork on the cover was amazing. I know that must sound odd, but my dad is professional artist and I was very intersted in seeing how the music would sound being portrayed by such a dark image. Needless to say the album didn't fail. I listened to the title track first and it blew me away. It actually quite frightened me on the first listen, but it changed my perspective on music forever. Afterwards I got into heavier music but within the recent years I've abandoned that type of music besides my all time favourties and become more interested in the melodic aspects. Opeth remain my favourite band but they have brought on interest to such bands as Katatonia, Porcupine Tree, Tool & A Perfect Circle, Kamelot and many of the like and increased my interest in bands my parents listened to (Floyd, Zeppelin, The Doors). I still find it odd hearing of people who are fans of Opeth but only listen to death metal, everyone I know who listens to them have them as the most extreme band in the catologue. I consider many death metal fans to have an underdeveloped music taste, because it is a very generic genre. As you grow older you usually find certain aspects of the bands you experiemented with listening that you appreciate the most an grow your taste around that aspect.
But anyways, like I said Opeth remain my favourite band and I have an ever growing appreciation for their melodic material and Damnation has been my album of choice for quite sometime, but I don't in anyway dislike the brutal material.
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