Do you think any Opeth band member is the best at what they do?

[Sadguru]

Lol, just for your entertainment, I'll make a thread about it.

I look foward for it

 

[Diabolus_BE]

Mikael is one hell of a vocalist, but some of the people I at least consider equal are Aaron Stainthorpe of My Dying Bride, Jason McMaster of Spastic Ink (not in WatchTower) and Chad Gray of Mudvayne.

I totally don't think Martin Lopez is the best drummer. In the metal field, guys like Bobby Jarzombek (Spastic Ink, Iced Earth, Riot, Halford), Rick Collaluca (Watchtower), Dirk Verbeuren (Aborted, Scarve, Soilwork) and Peter Wildoer (Darkane) kick his ass. In terms of feeling, Vinnie Collaiuta(Sting, Zappa), Stéphane Galland (Aka Moon, Axelle Red), Gene Lake (Steve Coleman), Steve Gadd (Paul Simon) are all better than him.

That said, Martin Lopez is a really good drummer, but not the best by a long shot.

I like Mendez's bass playing, but there I'd have to chose Les Claypool (Primus) and Steve DiGiorgio (Testament, Pain Museum).

 

[worldwide_suicide]

Kiko Lindgren:

And i would rather watch Bass Player than the other guys, he's more fun and i know shit about music so i don't really pay that much attention to how good they are.

 

[Forest-of-October]

Jesus Akerfeldt.

Man who could've guessed that, that would spread so fast

Anyhow, they do for me what no other band can. They just bring out so many emotions. To me thats all that matters, whether or not they're the most talented at their instrument, maybe, maybe not. I don't even take that into consideration. I care about the music and how it sounds to me.

 

[Kenneth R.]

mike on vox, maybe. otherwise, no... but being the best singularly doesn't make the best band anyway.

 

[Nitronium Blood]

This is obviously a subjective question, and limited to the musicians you know of.

I think Martin Lopez (hoping he gets better) is the best metal drummer. I can't think of any other drummer that has the touch and feel that he does.

I think Mikael has the best metal vocals. I consider him the best at mixing various styles (death & clean) and doing both well.

I can't say that Opeth has the best bass or guitar players. I'm taking nothing away from the individual talent in these areas. I've heard some pretty phenominal bass and guitar work by other bands, so it's difficult for me to say anybody is the best at their craft in these areas.

There is always room for improvement.

 

[Disgustipated]

mike on vox, maybe. otherwise, no... but being the best singularly doesn't make the best band anyway.

Agreed.

Imo, Swanö is up just as high as mike on the vocal-pedestal.

Per is far from the best keyboard player. Steiner Sverd from Arcturus and that guy out of Children of Bodom slay him.

Keys have a larger roles in these bands.. they're only a new addition to Opeth. Therefore, we haven't even heard the extent of Per's abilities. Peter said in an interview that he's the best musician in the band. If that's anything to go by, he'd easily contest Sverd and .. that guy out of Children of Bodom.

But yeah, singularly, I don't think the members are particularly expressed to be the best at what they do. Except Mike with his comedics. Opeth aren't a showcase band, though. They are a compositional band. Their true abilities aren't shown, I believe.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

Keys have a larger roles in these bands.. they're only a new addition to Opeth. Therefore, we haven't even heard the extent of Per's abilities. Peter said in an interview that he's the best musician in the band. If that's anything to go by, he'd easily contest Sverd and .. that guy out of Children of Bodom.

Really? Well, I can imagine that Per may be the most competent in terms of pitching and theoretical knowledge, professional keyboard players often are. And you're right, keys are much more heavily incorperated into the melodies of these other bands (Lars Nedland from Borknagar is another example of a better keyboard player).
But, from what I hear, I don't just think he lacks technical proficiency. Speaking as a pianist (not a great one, Per is still WAAAAY better than I am lol), I feel he lacks a sensitivity in his playing. He is good with organs (TBOTH and HOW are very nicely done on organ), but for example, his playing on AFJ on Lamentations wasn't good. Trust me, it wasn't a patch on Steven Wilsons. And that may have been down to the crappy nature of his keyboard. I think maybe I just don't really like him that much because I think his playing doesn't have a sensetivity to match that of Mike's songs.
Plus, when I saw them live, he REALLY irritated me. Not on the GR songs, that was good. But on the songs that didn't originally feature keyboards, he attempted to incorporate them. And the result was merely a very high-pitched screeching sound. At first, I thought it was feedback, but I soon started to realise it was Per. Most of my friends didn't notice, but once it caught my attention, I couldn't tune it out! it was very unfortunate. I mean, I commend him for trying, but... it didn't work.

*Edit* btw, the best keyboard player is, of course, Tori Amos

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

the only member of opeth who is the best at what they do is akerfeld. there are much better drummers, guitar players and keyboardists than the rest of the band.

 

[Pitiless Wanderer]

and make no mistake, sverd is the best keyboard player in metal. technically, there are better players, but for feel...no way. check out the subtleties on the new album...songs like SPF and Hufsa and ECD, or for sheer power listen to the key solo at the end of Radical Cut.

 

[123=7]

I would say that Paul Kuhr is the better vocalist than Mikael.
Always a matter of own taste.

 

[NickFBM]

Mike I would say is top of the vox (sorry that was awful I know but I couldn'r help myself). No one else can mix brutality and beauty as well, and plus he is playing some pretty complex stuff underneath, so all in all I'd say very few people come close. Guitar wise neither Peter or Mike play as crazy stuff as many others but it'd not always aboot that. I'd always go for fewer well chosen notes over millions of notes per second with no real emotion. But hey that's me.

Lopez, well it's hard to say if he is the best as how can you compare a pure speed obsessed death metal drummer to a jazz drummer who is all aboot touch. Lopez does combine all of these elements so he is one of the best around, but perhaps not THE best.

Per does his job brilliantly, bit like Mike and Peter he is more aboot note selection. I'm sure there are better keyboard players aboot, but I don't know enough to comment really.

Mendez, great bass player and his (not that they are always his) bass parts fit the songs perfectly. Watching Nile's new bass player made me realise how complex many bass parts can be without being 'great'. He was slaying his fretboard, but I don't know how much he added to the song, I guess the crap sound didn't help matters...

All in all whilst each member may not be at the top of their technical field I reckon only a few bands come close for togetherness and feeling. I belive no note, or drum beat, is wasted or clichéd so this is one of those times when the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

Also, Mendez does have cool hair so he must get some respect for that and his sideways headbanging that counts for loads surely? lol

 

[Kerry King]

Mike is so versatile in his vocals.
But when it comes down to it, I prefer Johan Hegg's death vocals. Can Johan ever have such a beautiful, spine chilling lighter side to his singing? No.

I personally love Peter's guitaring. I just love the man's solos and just the way he plays. He arpeggiates alot... pretty simple, yet his solos have such an emotive tone and give life to the song.

Akerfeldt is a phenomenal guitarist and song writer but to me, he's just any other very talented musician and guitar player. His guitaring doesnt kick my ass like Peter's does.

Mendez isnt technically the best bassist. But he's great at what he does.

Lopez is very creative. I'm no drummer but I think he's the best at what he does. Millions prbably emulate his style. But he still does it one of the best, if not the best.

Happy new year,
KFK

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

...or for sheer power listen to the key solo at the end of Radical Cut.

I agree. I think his best keyboard work is on The Sham Mirrors. Absolutely mind-bending ability

 

[wankerness]

I think Mikael Akerfeldt is the best growler, but that's more of a matter of opinion than "technical ability" I think...it's rather hard to determine one's skill at making hideous noises. I just think his are the coolest sounding of anyone's I personally don't think his clean ones are that great, i don't care if he's in tune or whatever, I just think his voice is kind of weak and that his clean vocals usually sound "flat"-they don't seem particularly emotional to me. Entirely a matter of opinion so don't try and start an argument.

As for guitar playing, Akerfeldt obviously isn't one of the top ones in term of skills. He doesn't even know the theory behind what he's doing, which while it doesn't mean what he plays sucks, means that he is automatically at a huge disadvantage to everyone who knows what they're doing cause he isn't able to easily improvise coherent solos, etc. Anyone who argues that "omfg this just means they are boring and HE ISN'T AND HE HAS FEELING!" is missing the point, improvisational skill and knowing what you're doing is part of musicianship, like it or not. This said I really do like his solos, especially on GR and MAYH (Ghost of Perdition's last one is probably my favorite).

In addition I'm 3000% sure he (or Peter) couldn't play most of the material from any number of technical metal bands. I'd like to see them attempt to play some of the nastier material by Necrophagist or Theory in Practice or Spiral Architect or even Dream Theater or Into Eternity, I'm completely sure they couldn't. I don't really LIKE most of those bands, but the fact remains that they're a LOT more musically adept. I can actually play 99% of Opeth's material (about the only thing I can think of offhand that I can't are the last solos from White Cluster), yet I can't come close to playing tons of material by Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation, etcetcetcetc. Opeth is really just not that musically impressive in the guitar department.

I can't really judge who's the most talented guitarist out there, there are way too many out there who can all play so fast it hardly matters who's more talented. John Petrucci has got to be up there, though. As far as FAVORITES go, I don't really have any, sry.

Bassist - He's pretty good, especially on Ghost Reveries, but it's just not even worth comparing him to the better bassists in the metal world. Guys like the player for Stargazer or the guy from Spiral Architect could play him under the table with one finger. Truly insane bassists. My favorite bassists are Michael Manring and Victor Wooten, who are way better than the two guys I mentioned even, but they aren't metal by any stretch of the imagination so whatever. Some other really good rock bassists are Stu Hamm, Billly Sheehan, and even Sean Malone (from Cynic, Gordian Knot, OSI, etcetc), the guys in Atheist, John Myung, and Steve Digiorgio (I forget how to spell that, guy from a couple Death albums). I will never understand how people can say Les Claypool comes close to almost any of these guys, especially Manring/Wooten.

Drummer - I am not the best judge of drumming, cause I can't play them for shit. Based on my untrained ear, Lopez is really good, though. He's not my personal favorite metal drummer (that would go to Giuseppe from Novembre, who has the most interesting drumming I've ever heard on a metal album on all of Novembre's albums, especially Novembrine Waltz and Dreams D'Azur), and I dunno if he could pull off the double bassage of a lot of guys (Giuseppe, Hellhammer, Pete Sandoval from Morbid Angel, etc), and I'm completely sure he could not play any of the material from any recent Meshuggah albums (especially Chaosphere or I, assuming I didn't use a drum computer like they had on Catch 33), but arguments I've seen about "feeling" and "latin touches" from drummers I can't comment on so maybe he is better than he sounds to this non-drummer.

And what is with all the Danny Carey worship? I have NEVER noticed anything impressive in the Tool catalog, but maybe I'm deafened by their dreary powerchord drop-d sludge of boring music to this apparently spectacular drumming. I sort of liked his stuff on Lateralus but I don't remember any of it being technically impressive.

Keyboardist, HA. There is absolutely no comparing the Opeth guy to the keyboardist in practically any band that uses a keyboard player as more than atmosphere. The best keyboard player in the rock/metal universe is probably Jordan Rudess. Whether you hate Dream Theater or not, there's no denying that guy's talent. Everyone in Dream Theater will even say that he's by far the most talented at his respective instrument of any of them.

 

[Liquid Diamonds]

I personally don't think his clean ones are that great, i don't care if he's in tune or whatever, I just think his voice is kind of weak and that his clean vocals usually sound "flat"-they don't seem particularly emotional to me. Entirely a matter of opinion so don't try and start an argument.

Not trying to start an argument, but who's vocals do you like? like, what style of vocal do you prefer?

 

[Forest-of-October]

I think Mikael Akerfeldt is the best growler, but that's more of a matter of opinion than "technical ability" I think...it's rather hard to determine one's skill at making hideous noises. I just think his are the coolest sounding of anyone's I personally don't think his clean ones are that great, i don't care if he's in tune or whatever, I just think his voice is kind of weak and that his clean vocals usually sound "flat"-they don't seem particularly emotional to me. Entirely a matter of opinion so don't try and start an argument.

As for guitar playing, Akerfeldt obviously isn't one of the top ones in term of skills. He doesn't even know the theory behind what he's doing, which while it doesn't mean what he plays sucks, means that he is automatically at a huge disadvantage to everyone who knows what they're doing cause he isn't able to easily improvise coherent solos, etc. Anyone who argues that "omfg this just means they are boring and HE ISN'T AND HE HAS FEELING!" is missing the point, improvisational skill and knowing what you're doing is part of musicianship, like it or not. This said I really do like his solos, especially on GR and MAYH (Ghost of Perdition's last one is probably my favorite).

In addition I'm 3000% sure he (or Peter) couldn't play most of the material from any number of technical metal bands. I'd like to see them attempt to play some of the nastier material by Necrophagist or Theory in Practice or Spiral Architect or even Dream Theater or Into Eternity, I'm completely sure they couldn't. I don't really LIKE most of those bands, but the fact remains that they're a LOT more musically adept. I can actually play 99% of Opeth's material (about the only thing I can think of offhand that I can't are the last solos from White Cluster), yet I can't come close to playing tons of material by Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation, etcetcetcetc. Opeth is really just not that musically impressive in the guitar department.

I can't really judge who's the most talented guitarist out there, there are way too many out there who can all play so fast it hardly matters who's more talented. John Petrucci has got to be up there, though. As far as FAVORITES go, I don't really have any, sry.

Bassist - He's pretty good, especially on Ghost Reveries, but it's just not even worth comparing him to the better bassists in the metal world. Guys like the player for Stargazer or the guy from Spiral Architect could play him under the table with one finger. Truly insane bassists. My favorite bassists are Michael Manring and Victor Wooten, who are way better than the two guys I mentioned even, but they aren't metal by any stretch of the imagination so whatever. Some other really good rock bassists are Stu Hamm, Billly Sheehan, and even Sean Malone (from Cynic, Gordian Knot, OSI, etcetc), the guys in Atheist, John Myung, and Steve Digiorgio (I forget how to spell that, guy from a couple Death albums). I will never understand how people can say Les Claypool comes close to almost any of these guys, especially Manring/Wooten.

Drummer - I am not the best judge of drumming, cause I can't play them for shit. Based on my untrained ear, Lopez is really good, though. He's not my personal favorite metal drummer (that would go to Giuseppe from Novembre, who has the most interesting drumming I've ever heard on a metal album on all of Novembre's albums, especially Novembrine Waltz and Dreams D'Azur), and I dunno if he could pull off the double bassage of a lot of guys (Giuseppe, Hellhammer, Pete Sandoval from Morbid Angel, etc), and I'm completely sure he could not play any of the material from any recent Meshuggah albums (especially Chaosphere or I, assuming I didn't use a drum computer like they had on Catch 33), but arguments I've seen about "feeling" and "latin touches" from drummers I can't comment on so maybe he is better than he sounds to this non-drummer.

And what is with all the Danny Carey worship? I have NEVER noticed anything impressive in the Tool catalog, but maybe I'm deafened by their dreary powerchord drop-d sludge of boring music to this apparently spectacular drumming. I sort of liked his stuff on Lateralus but I don't remember any of it being technically impressive.

Keyboardist, HA. There is absolutely no comparing the Opeth guy to the keyboardist in practically any band that uses a keyboard player as more than atmosphere. The best keyboard player in the rock/metal universe is probably Jordan Rudess. Whether you hate Dream Theater or not, there's no denying that guy's talent. Everyone in Dream Theater will even say that he's by far the most talented at his respective instrument of any of them.

All of this just brings me back to my original post. I couldn't give two shits and a fuck about the guys' knowledge, or talent or whatever. It's all about what feeling I get from the music. Mike, Peter, and the Martins may not be the best at their instruments and what not. They may not know "theory" and all that bullshit, but to me, they sound better then any band I've ever heard. It's a matter of taste

 

[wankerness]

Not trying to start an argument, but who's vocals do you like? like, what style of vocal do you prefer?

I like a lot of different styles. This will surely get me flamed for liking "fag vocals" or something, but I think Jeff Buckley and Daniel Gildenlow are the best two singers I've heard in the rock world...they have such an incredible range at their disposal and such control over vibrato and other techniques that they can convey nearly any emotion without even singing any lyrics. I don't like them cause they wail (I HATE 99% of prog vocalists and 100% of power metal ones), I like them cause they have such control and ability to convey emotions wordlessly. I like some other singers that are pretty much the polar opposite too, like Daryl Palumbo and Mike Patton. Most singers I like are actually in lame alternative/rock bands, like Filter, Third Eye Blind, Finger 11, etc. In conclusion, my favorite metal clean singers:

Daniel Gildenlow
Devin Townsend (SOMETIMES, there are a fair amount of songs I don't like his singing on at all, but he's capable of being really good, like on "Storm" and "Deadhead")
Guy from Sevendust (let's not start the "NOT METAL" argument, even if they're not metal I like his singing)
Anneke from The Gathering (they've become pretty un-metal, but I still like her )
Guy from Klimt 1918 (he sounds kinda like a wimpy version of Enrique Iglesias sometimes, but on the whole I like him)

Mikael would obviously be towards the top of a list of my favorite singers OVERALL, but that would mainly be on the strength of his growling. I don't DISLIKE his clean vocals I just think there are plenty of better guys out there.

 

[Deadlift]

Mike I would say is top of the vox (sorry that was awful I know but I couldn'r help myself). No one else can mix brutality and beauty as well, and plus he is playing some pretty complex stuff underneath, so all in all I'd say very few people come close. Guitar wise neither Peter or Mike play as crazy stuff as many others but it'd not always aboot that. I'd always go for fewer well chosen notes over millions of notes per second with no real emotion. But hey that's me.

Lopez, well it's hard to say if he is the best as how can you compare a pure speed obsessed death metal drummer to a jazz drummer who is all aboot touch. Lopez does combine all of these elements so he is one of the best around, but perhaps not THE best.

Per does his job brilliantly, bit like Mike and Peter he is more aboot note selection. I'm sure there are better keyboard players aboot, but I don't know enough to comment really.

Mendez, great bass player and his (not that they are always his) bass parts fit the songs perfectly. Watching Nile's new bass player made me realise how complex many bass parts can be without being 'great'. He was slaying his fretboard, but I don't know how much he added to the song, I guess the crap sound didn't help matters...

All in all whilst each member may not be at the top of their technical field I reckon only a few bands come close for togetherness and feeling. I belive no note, or drum beat, is wasted or clichéd so this is one of those times when the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

Also, Mendez does have cool hair so he must get some respect for that and his sideways headbanging that counts for loads surely? lol

I fully agree. Well written.

 

[MetalManCPA]

All of this just brings me back to my original post. I couldn't give two shits and a fuck about the guys' knowledge, or talent or whatever. It's all about what feeling I get from the music. Mike, Peter, and the Martins may not be the best at their instruments and what not. They may not know "theory" and all that bullshit, but to me, they sound better then any band I've ever heard. It's a matter of taste

This thread has NOTHING to do with the ability of Opeth, the band. I asked a musical question about the individual abilities of the band members. How a band sounds may not be directly correlated to the individual abilities of the members. I never insinuated that if none of the Opeth band members were the best at their craft would mean the band doesn't measure up. I think by being in this forum, it's obvious what most think about Opeth.

Why is it so hard to just discuss a question as asked without going on tangents?