We're lucky to have some very cool people who like our band, and we're thankful for that. So we try to keep in contact as much as we can, I'm glad that some people do appreciate it
As for what you said about the evolution being parallel between bands like ours and Anathema, MDB, etc., that's exactly the point we've been making for years. Those guys are the same ages as we are, and ultimately the difference in geography doesn't make that much of a difference really. We all grew up listening to bands like Sabbath, Trouble, Celtic Frost, Possessed, Slayer, Pink Floyd, etc. Of course we would trade tapes with these bands and there was a mutual regard and like for what each other was doing with their respective music. But neither was copying each other, really, we were just kinda walking down that same path. People like to romanticise things and say "Oh its 'cause they're from Britain and its the legacy of Sabbath, it's some big movement!" And the truth is, those UK bands got signed and famous first because a.) they were all very talented and most people found it to be something new and different, and b.) they had the fortune of having labels like Peaceville who believed in them (and were local) and helped bring them to the eyes and ears of the world. The European metal scene were much more embracing of the death/doom style than the U.S. metal scene was (and still kinda arent really) so for the U.S. bands we had to labor in obscurity for a while longer. Anyhow, point is, those U.K. bands deserve all the praise and popularity they've gotten because I think they're great. But just because I admire them doesn't mean we heard them and said "hey lets do THAT!" Actually that might be more true of when I first heard Celtic Frost "Into The Pandemonium" and early Winter and Autopsy tapes!
Same thing with Opeth really.....I think we tend to have similar tastes and influences as Opeth, and as we've progressed on our instruments and gotten better at writing songs and making albums, we've been able to draw more upon our various influences. I adore stuff like Pink Floyd, or The Beatles, or even stuff like Yes and Van Der Graaf Generator, those are all influences on me, not to mention stuff like Pestilence and Morbid Angel and Carnage and Bolt Thrower.....so if you mix those influences, odds are, you're gonna wind up walking some of the same road that Mikael and co. are walking too. Though I don't claim to be half as talented as he is! That guy is fantastic.
Yeah it IS getting cliche for everyone to be compared to Opeth, and usually its because of very broad things like "well they mix heavy guitars with acoustics" or "they have growls and clean vocals"....it's like, nobody ever did this before?? haha And let's face it, Opeth are very unique and have a very particular sound, I think it's very hard for anyone to really sound like Opeth.
Inevitably, when almost every kind of crossbreeding of styles and sounds has already been done in metal these days, you can be compared to SOMETHING out there, it's virtually impossible nowadays to do something where people say "That sounds like nothing else out there" without it being pretty off the wall and crazy haha
) and I think they are a band that really brought and brings still nowadays innovation..even if I see that in every topic in here they are compared to Opeth but I can't really see the matter of comparation since common stuff (for me) is limited to semi acoustic parts (that I love in each of the bands).
