mike's vocal evolution

billyneverdies

belovedfraternitytoanend
Aug 26, 2006
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mike's vocals have changed vastly over the past 16 some years. in my opinion, both his growls (that word does him no justice) and his clean singing are amazing.

in orchid and morningrise, he used those self-defined "howls" which i like, but don't love. in addition, it seems that the magical range of his clean voice is missing here.

my arms your hearse, imo, saw a big step forward in the growls. i love the harsh bellows but also the awesome gurgling in demon of the fall. however, his clean voice is alot different here. perhaps its the recording or production, but his voice seems to be somewhat restricted.

still life...i love his growls here. they werent fully developed, but they had an almost breathy sound to them...like a hybrid of his morningrise-esque howls mixed with his latter growls. clean vocals, naturally, were gorgeous. you can hear his accent much more in the singing, particuarily in benighted and face of melinda.

my personal favorite for growls, blackwater park saw some intense shit. from the gutteral roars of bleak to the absolutely fucking amazing growls in the title track, i am still blown away. his clean vocals were better than ever, though the album's melodies lacked some of the folk influence of still life.

damnation and deliverance were both excellent albums. mike's clean vocals were better than ever. the growls, while still amazing, sounded slightly more strained than blackwater park. could be the production.

and finally ghost reveries, mike honed his growls to near perfection. he has complete control and lots of energy. curiously, i was hoping for something in the vein of still life or blackwater park. nothing to say about the clean vocals, other than amazing. but for mikael, amazing is standard. his vocal performance in ghost reveries (2:34 and the outro) is particuarily divine.

what are your guy's favorite opethian vocals?
 
billyneverdies said:
my arms your hearse, imo, saw a big step forward in the growls. i love the harsh bellows but also the awesome gurgling in demon of the fall. however, his clean voice is alot different here. perhaps its the recording or production, but his voice seems to be somewhat restricted.

He was sick.
 
Jon Snow said:
He was sick.

Yeah, he had a cold if I remember correctly.

I had trouble singing along to some of the clean passages on that album, but when I heard that he was all blocked up during the recording, I tried holding my nose while singing.
Sounds retarded, I know, but it worked like a charm.
 
Jon Snow said:
He was sick.
yes, i know that.

but the clean vocals are mixed alot differently than every other album. the guitars and drums seem to have a higher volume priority and the vocals almost sound like a backgrounded afterthougth.
 
Opeth's music would be genuinley more to my liking if Mikeal dropped the death vocals, however this is something I wouldn't suggest he should do A. Because the guy wouldn't give a fuck what I though and I respect him for that and B. Because the band simply woulnd't be pushing boundaries like they do, the fact that I'd prefer it wouldn't mean it was actaully better music.
 
Powers said:
Opeth's music would be genuinley more to my liking if Mikeal dropped the death vocals, however this is something I wouldn't suggest he should do A. Because the guy wouldn't give a fuck what I though and I respect him for that and B. Because the band simply woulnd't be pushing boundaries like they do, the fact that I'd prefer it wouldn't mean it was actaully better music.

My god, he better not drop the growls.
 
Tubbs Mcgee said:
No t3h growls must stay!!!11one

Holy crap, I haven't listened to Opeth for 2 weeks now. That's it! Time to put on Still Life.
two weeks? ive gone a week, but then started humming demon of the fall and blackwater park and the night and the silent water in my head...random riffs from each of the songs and couldnt remember which was which. that was my signal to cram some opeth. and by cram, i mean 3-5 hours of nonstop listening.
 
^ Well, that's just super-duper hyperbolistic; I might have and enjoy all of their albums, but WOW, 3-5 hours of listening to Opeth and doing nothing else would bore the hell out of me. 1-2 hours maybe, perhaps even 3, but 5 is ludicrous unless I'm doing something else along with it. Like watching Lamentations, or being fat and eating tons of food.
 
ha no i don't just sit there staring at the screen or even stay at home. opeth is so dynamic that the various moods fits whatever i'm doing. the day i listened 3-5 hours, i did damnation while i was reading, ghost reveries while mowing the grass and other yardwork, still life and part of blackwater park while working out at the YMCA, and some other random stuff while driving around.

as good as opeth is, i could not sit still and stare while listening to them.
 
I reckon that in general, the vocals seem to improve with each album they do. However, despite saying that, my favourite vocals would probably be on "My Arms Your Hearse". The death vocals to me sound more intense (in a way) and the clean vocals seem to have this wierd quality to them that gives them a different effect to other clean Opeth vocals...Maybe when Opeth record their albums they should wait for Mike to be sick before they do the vocals...hehe...

PS. HAPPY 100TH POST TO ME! 100 POSTS IN NEARLY 3 YEARS WOOT!
 
I overplayed Opeth for about a year... and now I only listen to dribs and drabs. Occasionally I'll listen to an entire album and I really enjoy it, but it just doesn't blow me away like it used to.

On topic: best vocals = My Arms, Your Hearse.
 
illidurit said:
what in the fuck is wrong with you people
what the fuck is wrong with you?

opeth is a band worthy of being obsessed over.

in reguard to the other posts, i like to listen to entire albums rather than just random songs. but my tastes are wider than opeth. just got done listening to ensiferum's self-titled and maudlin of the Well is next.
 
^yeah opeth used to be my ONLY band i listened to. when i discovered opeth i didnt care about listening to other stuff and exploring metal more, i just listened to them, but now im really looking around and getting into the proggy stuff.