Opeth = accessible music ?

[Wolff]

Originally posted by D Mullholand
Wolff, feel free to include your dick, or your complete illusionary world for that matter, in any discussion! Quote-forgery, though, is far from the most creative thing you could do to show-off your "identity". This won't be remembered as one of your shining moments.

What the fuck are you talking about? Take those balls out of your chin, and stop taking yourself so seriously.

 

[Jannet]

I played April Ethereal to one of my coworkers in her car, just to give her a taste of what I like. She really was quite impressed! She thought it was very "beautiful" and had "artistic flow."

 

[bleedingskeptic]

opeth is accessible in the sense that its good music. its not overly technical, but its not ridiculously simplistic either. its accessible in the sense that its good music. i don't see the word accessible meaning "pop", so opeth is accessible. any music, given enough listens, can become accessible.

i'd also like to argue that opeth is by no means becoming more commercialized or accessible. their more rescent albums are full of even more dissonance and heaviness than orchid and morningrise.

 

[YaYo]

Originally posted by Mayh




Well I really have to disagree, just because some of riffs reapear in the songs it doesn´t really make it more accessible, if we would compare "To bid you farewell" which is a quiet ballad which doesn´t repeat any riff and "Serenity Painted Death", a song thats filled with intense growling and riffs that reapear later in the song, " To bid you farewell" would rather fall in the accessible category. Cannibal Corpse repeat riffs and so do Morbid Angel but that doesn´t make them accessible. The length on the Opeth songs draw out the impact of the chorus feel, also the fact that the songs contain such amount of riffs, not just two riffs that dance around each other!

The examples are maybe a bit extream but I just have to defend the latter Opeth albums cause they´re in no way worse than the earlier ones, Serenity Painted Death stands as a monument for a great composition not better or worse than Night and the silent water, just diffrent (in my oppinion ofsourse ) And Opeth getting accessible is bad, It would be like haveing someone steal my treasure, my precious... naive attitude but what the fuck..

To Bid You Farewell would be more accesible with repeating sections. Serenity Painted Death would be less accessible if it had no repeating sections at all. Thats what i meant. Agreed? Case closed.

And yes i think the later albums are just as brilliant, but in different ways. Its easier to get into the songs, or like them straight away (ie more accessible) yet theres so much else to the songs (that 'commercial music' listeners wouldnt 'hear').

I have this thought, that Opeth, while inaccessible at first, becomes the ultimate form of easy-listening later (in a positive sense) - for a person interested in music, of course. It takes some amount of time to figure out their ways of expression, embodied in their compositional structures; but when you've already learnt to think on their wave, Opeth's music is rather relaxing to the intellect, while being still emotionally intense. The reason is hidden in their formula - each new element (riff/interlude/dynamic change) introduces a new emotion or a new image, but as opposed to developing the theme, Opeth settle on repeating it a few times - this music always leaves enough space for the listener to catch up on the feeling in case she missed it for the first time around. As opposed to constantly developing music (like classical, for instance), where the listener must find her own (hard) way and is not given time to relax and take a breath. This, again, is a statement from a general musical viewpoint, not related to local "Opeth/In Flames" or "metal/pop" comparisons. Okay, now that I've set this thesis up , I want it to be challenged and ripped to pieces!

Hm, ripped to pieces.. hm. Im not quite sure whether to agree or not. What you've said is true, but i think the opposite is true as well. I think Opeth are so layered that you can listen to them on in an easy-listening way, or if you wish you can focus your attention on the songs and less to them in a more intellectually challenging way. Thats what i find anyway. Some days ill listen to a riff of blackwater park and itll just get me pumped, other days ill be thinking about the lyrics and noticing all the subtelties and listening in an entirely different way.

So i conclude. Opeth are becoming more accessible, yet their 'full experience' is still as inaccessible as earlier albums.

 

[morganm]

Orchid was too harsh for most people that aren't into metal (i adore it, however). The only people that I've played Opeth for and had them not like it in some sense were punk fans, or silly young girls that listened to pop.

 

[Ice Queen]

I would say that Opeth is accessible. Why? Because friends of mine who aren't even into metal of any shape or form really dig Opeth. It's just quality music, no matter what genre you're into. BP is probably their most accessible yet. I loved it on first listen.

 

[samoniac]

I agree with YaYoGakk. I think especially Still Life is an album which is very easy to love even in the first listening. I did! At the same time there are all the little bits and pieces you'll find after years and years of listening.

 

[Spotted Owl]

i think i can summarize it to:

-to metal fans it's pretty accessible
-to non-metal fans it's not accessible,

growls and dissonant distortion parts put them off, if i let one of my friends (who aren't into metal) listen to for example the first 2 mins of godheads lament they would probably say: this is not music.
Only the non-metal fans that are truly interested in getting to know opeth, will like it, most others probably won't.

But, the acoustic/clean parts: almost everyone i let listen to those passages loves them
I met a girl i know from university when i saw opeth live in Groningen...her opinion was they play those acoustic parts to show off they can actually play, then go back to bashing their instruments again (distortion ). It made me laugh

I for one had to get used to the growls, but now they don't irritate me anymore. In opeth's music they add to the atmosphere, mikael uses them in the right moments, that's what makes the difference for me. (As opposed to bands which growl all the fuking time, then it gets rather dull imho)

 

[D Mullholand]

Originally posted by bleedingskeptic
opeth is accessible in the sense that its good music. its not overly technical, but its not ridiculously simplistic either. its accessible in the sense that its good music. i don't see the word accessible meaning "pop", so opeth is accessible. any music, given enough listens, can become accessible.

i'd also like to argue that opeth is by no means becoming more commercialized or accessible. their more rescent albums are full of even more dissonance and heaviness than orchid and morningrise.

Agreed on both points. Good summarization.