Eerie Silence in "By the Pain I See in Others"

[Kaberonie]

The song starts out with distorted vocals unlike any other Opeth song.
However, the thing that I'm curious about is the eerie silence at the end of the song that goes on from 9:30 - 13:50 the end of the song, and the couple of parts you do hear in between.
What exactly is going on there? Sounds sort of Middle Easternish at times (the singing between the silence).
Has Mikael commented on this before?

 

[Heliologue]

it's a line from "master's apprentice" played backwards.

 

[Parasite]

and the silence isn't eerie, it's fucking stupid.

 

[Kaberonie]

Originally posted by Parasite
and the silence isn't eerie, it's fucking stupid.

yea.....pretty much

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

Its a different thing to do, sort of. And, you are stupid!

 

[Kaberonie]

Originally posted by Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral
Its a different thing to do, sort of. And, you are stupid!

LOLZ! You are stupid too! AHAHA






Its not a different thing to do.....

a bunch of songs have prolonged silence in the beginning or the end....

this one goes on for too long.

 

[Protected Witness]

Stop bitching, bitches.

 

[Demonspell]

I agree, they should have ended the album on that prolonged fade...now that is truly unsettling.

 

[Katatonic]

i reckon itd be a mad way to write a song... go record some middle eastern chant singing and reverse it... kazaam you have the next opeth album!!

 

[AdamWathan]

Hmmm...I'm not quite sure that those sections of vocals are distorted...I think it's just two different layered vocal tracks being sung in a mid-low death growl with some hardcore chorus or something applied...Cool part for sure...

 

[Iron-Flames]

I think I shall kill all of you.

 

[Katatonic]

umm....
what the fuck are you talking about?

 

[Lacent]

the silence isnt stupid, its very strong, sometimes silence is stronger than words, in this instance i think it serves very well, btpisio is a great song, i love the whole thing, and i think the masters apprentice line played backwards is just great, shows they actually think about their music unlike most bands

 

[warsofwinter]

WTF lacent .. how does that show that they really think about the music .. Im sure they do and all .. that's obvious but how exactly does taking a fucking vocal line adding some reverb, flipping the original line around (while keeping the original reverb onto one track) and adding it too some useless space filling silence show that they actually think about their music ..

Maybe you should think about your posts dude

Ummm .. this has been done toooo many times .. and I fail to see the point .. sure you can come up with a million reasons but I really don't see the point of waiting in silence for a few little words that you've already heard before on the album ...

However .. if a band use's this space to create a sort of wall of silence between the hidden song and the full album than I can apreciate that .. obviously the band thought that this had some significance to the album(probably to make it the longest Opeth album to date) .. but come on .. I mean you think adding some vocal lines to the end of the album made it any better than it already is. I think it was one of the producers Ideas myself .

Mikael, if you have some explanation for why you decided to do such nonsense then fill us in. Im guessing it was a producers idea or .. maybe just something to fill space.

Im not exactly bashing it .. It's not my album and he doesn't have to give an answer .. whatever Opeth decides to do Im happy with because it's not my band and I don't have to worry about the music or how it's gonna turn out cause I am confident in mikael in that he will continue to fill our ears with brilliant music ..

but here is a warning to people who are gonna record an album .... if you decide to go with the long, annoying space at the end to take up time then make sure you have a reason for it .. maybe it's just too piss people off .. but I mean tool did it with the number skipping thing, even that is somewhat interesting ...
With music .. just try to have a reason for what your doing .. it will make you more content on whatever your creating and you can give a full, honest answer to many interviewer's questions... which can be a good plug for your band ... dunno .. maybe Im the only one who enjoy's listening to music that is drowning in meaning ....

 

[Kaberonie]

Originally posted by F0RBIDDEN
Hmmm...I'm not quite sure that those sections of vocals are distorted...I think it's just two different layered vocal tracks being sung in a mid-low death growl with some hardcore chorus or something applied...Cool part for sure...

I'm talking about the opening lyrics after the screams.

 

[IanDork107]

Originally posted by Parasite
and the silence isn't eerie, it's fucking stupid.

yeah, really. I mean, if any other band put a hidden track on their album, it would be called gay and shitty, but since it's opeth, it must be eerie....lol.

 

[Kaberonie]

It's eerie to a certain extent but then becomes pointless.

Forgive my titling

 

[Lacent]

whoresofwinter, it shows the really think about their music in terms of end result, its one of those mysterious things, i know personally i wonderd many times what the hell they were saying, then when i found out that he was repeating the lines from masters apprentice i was pretty amazed

yes it has been done before, metallica did it with battery (perhaps blackened????) they recorded the intro and put it on the album backwards

the silence adds a sort of "wall" to their music, it breaks you from your previous lull after listening to the rest of the album, kinda in the same aspect that cutting off songs mid-riff does, it keeps you from being all out there on a limb and brings you back into the real world, cause i know every time i listen to the song i catch myself being like whoa the songs not playing now.....OH....here comes the weird shit

i never said it makes the album better than it already is, all i said was that it adds to the album, i like it

also, instead of coming on here and being a fuckoff jerk, next time you listen to the song use the little --> button on your cd player and skip the silence, and while your at it, take out the album and put in your favorite T.A.T.U cd or perhaps limp bizkit, cause its pretty obvious you cant just accept the fact that opeth is NOT going to do cut and dry things, they do new things, they do better things, they do great things

also, you should get your 16 year old ass out and try to get a life instead of coming here trying to start internet wars, i mean how fucking childish is that man?

 

[Lacent]

BTW, katatonic who is the guy in your sig? jethrow tull?

 

[PeeWee1473]

I'm still amazed that people consider the silence to actually be a part of the preceding song. It's just stuff at the end of the CD. Has nothing to do with the BTPISIO. MANY MANY bands have done this before and believe me, no professional reviewer gave any bad marks for putting a little extra thing after a prolonged silence at the end of any CD.