Opeth fans! Do you have a sense of metal history?

[dolphz]

Strted listening to hard rock metal with Rush, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath in the late 70's; Rush, Pantera, Judas Priest, UFO, Dio, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Scorpions, etc in the 80's; Megadeth, Anthrax, Nevermore, Gamma Ray, Death, Sepultura, Coroner, Carcass, Cemetary etc in the 90's; now it's Naglfar, Emperor, Opeth, CoBodom, Moonsorrow, Vader, Soilwork, Dark Tranquillity, Omnium Gatherum etc in the 2000's. I'm 37 and have been a metalhead for about 25 years, and I believe music keeps getting better!

 

[Pieless]

I am not tr00 in any way. I started off listening to Slipknot and other nu-metal shit. From there(while still liking nu-metal) I got into Metallica. After that I got into Pink Floyd(Nu-metal fading) Just recently(Eh, like Sept last year or so), Pancakes and Hearld turned me onto Opeth. From there, I've looked up metal of all kinds, and well, more classic rock. Here, here is my current top 7.

#1: Pink Floyd
#2: The Who
#3: Rush
#4: The Beatles
#5: Devin Townsend
#6: Opeth
#7: Emperor

Between Rush and Opeth, I'm not sure about which band I like more, so yeah. But, other bands I like include:

The Doors
The Clash
Nick Drake
Ulver
Ephel Duath
SYL
Alice in Chains
Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin
King Crimson
Angra
Blind Guardian
Antimatter
Arcturus
Cynic
Metallica
Megadeth
Enslaved
Edge of Sanity
Jimi Hendrix
Sigur Ros
Television
Vintersorg

 

[Lost Wisdom]

Im 14 and been into Opeth just over a year.

Opeth
In Flames
Arch Enemy
Soilwork
Burzum
Children Of Bodom
Iron Maiden
Death
Amon Amarth

I got into Opeth listning to a radio show (www.sexto9.com) then i herad Arch Enemy were supporting them...so i went to gig. They wernt that good live then. Then i got all there albums

 

[hej]

I'm 15 and been into Opeth for... 4 months I think.

Agalloch
Amorphis
Arcturus
Children of Bodom
Cynic
Dan Swanö
Death
Dream Theater
Edge of Sanity
Evergrey
Frightmare
Green Carnation
Immortal
In Flames
Into Eternity
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Nightingale
Opeth
Pain of Salvation
Porcupine Tree
Queensrÿche
Testament
The Provenance

I started listening to metal about 2 years ago, when I, for some reason, felt like listening to some Metallica. So I downloaded a few songs I had heard before and liked them. Got their first 5 album within a couple months, and since then I've been getting into more extreme bands

 

[GabrielKnight]

Hey, I like this thread. So here's my short story on how I got into Opeth.

I wasn't into metal until mid 90's (93-94). believe it or not, I used to listen to pop music back in my teenage years and early 20's. Relax - those days are long gone

So in mid-90's, I started getting into heavier kind of music (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, you get the idea), until one day I heard Iron Maiden's "Fear of the Dark" album. That was it - I became a Maiden fan. I still am a Maiden fan, and I think that Maiden is one of the greates metal bands ever, and the fact that Mike is a Maiden fan speaks for itself.

In late 2000, I started to get into Napster, mostly to download Maiden bootlegs. Then one thing let to another, and next thing I knew, I was discovering hundreds of European metal bands that I never heard of.

Being an old-school (and at that point an old-school only) metal fan, I wasn't ready for the death metal vocals just yet. I noticed a lot of people had Opeth in their collections, so I decided to give it a shot. I downloaded a couple of Opeth songs, heard Mike's growl, and deleted the songs, dismissing them as garbage. I remember thinking, "what kind of a band would have an album called My Arms, Your Hearse".

One day I was on Napster chatting with a dude who was saying a lot of praises about Nevermore (his nick was NeonBlack69, I think). I downloaded some from him and liked it a lot. Then he goes, why don't you check them out live, they are touring your area right now. So I checked, and they were playing in a local club in 2 days! I didn't bother looking more carefully who was supporting them.

So I went to see Nevermore. I had no idea that there were 5 bands playing before them, and most of them sucked anyway. About 3 hours into the show some band comes on stage and crowd kind of starts cheering. The guy with the guitar walks up to the mic and says, "we are Opeth, we are from Sweden". I was like shit, not another shit death metal band! I want to see Nevermore, damn it! And then they start playing... and it was like a l was struck by lightning. I could not believe my ears! They were heavy, they were melodic, and their music was strangely beautiful. I think I just stood in there with my mouth open, being dumbfounded by what I heard. So there you go, I became an Opeth fan This was about 2 years ago.

-GK

 

[LambOfGod]

When I was little, my Dad got me into Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath for the most part. The first metal band or bands that I got into by myself were Sepultura, Death, and In Flames. This was around probably 1996.

 

[HoserHellspawn]

#1: Pink Floyd
#2: The Who
#3: Rush
#4: The Beatles
#5: Devin Townsend
#6: Opeth
#7: Emperor

Heh, cool. That's a good list.

When I first started getting into music ('95-'96 or so) it was all about Load-era Metallica and White Zombie. From there I moved onto Slayer and Fear Factory, while simultaneously getting into Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Who, Pink Floyd, and Frank Zappa ('97-'99). Then I was onto Hypocrisy and Edge of Sanity, but also Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots, and then came Opeth (before Still Life was released, summer '99). Then I exploded into the underground metal scene, and now I'm into most of the current metal bands listed in this thread, like Devin Townsend, maudlin of the Well, Agalloch, Soilwork (sue me), etc.

Just recently I've been listening to a lot of Rush, Yes, and Camel.

 

[Slynt]

I began listening to DIO, IRON MAIDEN and the likes in 1986-7, and have since that time followed the metal scene very closely. I bought 'My Arms Your Hearse' when it came out, but didn't get really obsessed with OPETH until 'Still Life' entered the cdplayer. After that I purchased the two first albums, which I love dearly, and the later releases. OPETH has been my favorite band ever since, and I find a lot of other metal bands boring compared to them. Btw, I will give a blow job for a vinyl edition of 'Orchid'.

 

[Static]

Hey, I like this thread. So here's my short story on how I got into Opeth.

Man, that story was awesome! Good shit.

Back when I was a dumb kid I listened to Michael Jackson, and ecchhh Michael Bolton.

Then around the age of 13 or so I got Sparkle and Fade by Everclear, and I thought it was just about the heaviest music I had ever heard. I was like...WOW. Hehe. That's what years of Michael Jackson will do to you. Also, around the same time, I listened to Nirvana, but it never stuck to me for some reason.

Later me and my friend used to sit around at his house and listen to music. We got some old Metallica...which made both of us go...WHOA. Some Disturbed, which we thought rocked mightily and soon I discovered a band called System of a Down. I introduced it to my friend and we both enjoyed it heaps. Then we got into Tool. I remember when I used to go to my friends house and we downloaded a Cannibal Corpse song for kicks...it was just about the most brutal thing we could imagine at the time...I do believe the song 'Hammer Smashed Face' was just about my first listen to death metal, EVER. At the time, it was absolutely disgusting, I remember it vividly. Me and my friend discussed how disgusting growls are and how shit all death metal must be.

Then, one day, browsing through the internet on a RANDOM whim I looked up 'extreme metal' reviews, if only to scare myself...I saw rave reviews of Opeth on metalobserver.com, and the idea of quiet bits mixed with extreme metal sounded oddly appealing. Listened to Blackwater Park and bought it never knowing that from now on my music tastes would be changed forever. Sadly...I lost my friend who had started on the metal path with me to the demons of drum and bass, rap and other shit, largely talentless music...he listened to Opeth and upon hearing the vocals gave me a weird look and shook his head. Everyone I know has shunned my incessant blabbering about metal.

I started to check out more and more metal, getting In Flames and old Metallica songs. Soon after getting into metal my parents gave me the best of Pink Floyd...which after a bit of time I began obsessing over...and that began my love of another genre of music, prog. So now after devouring so much metal I must say I'm a devoted metal-head and metal is simply the BEST fucking music...hehe. But also, I still hunger for more prog, cos prog rules as well, like Camel and Yes and King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, that kind of thing.

It's really weird but being into metal has change me alot. One of my mates used to tell me that he listened to metal and got depressed, he only listened to bullshit like Slipknot and Slayer though (no offense Slayer fans, mwhaha). He never ever came near to scratching the goddamn SURFACE of the metal world. He turned all angtsy and gothy after listening to such stupid music and thinking that it was the be all and end all of metal. He also said: 'now that I'm into rap music I'm alot less depressed...I almost turned myself into a depressed goth, I was so fucked up'...like enjoying metal turns you into a goth, like its some disease or something.

I must say that listening to metal has made me into a much quieter and more reserved person in general, I used to be alot more open with people. However, it has NEVER made me depressed, in fact the thing that really depresses me is that I don't know anyone who likes all the music I find myself constantly blabbing about. My sister probably gets annoyed with me talking about metal all the freakin time. It's just I have no one to talk to about metal, and it eats away at me. I show up with my friends and feel apart from them because they are so different from me and my tastes. Metal DOES NOT depress me however, I'd rather be alone and listen to music alot of the time, its so much fun...in fact, I'm really fucking happy right now. Getting into Emperor and Dissection round about now have been a godsend...fuck this shits cool!

I don't mean to babble so much...its just when I think about it metal has changed my life so much. It's changed me as a person I think, in some ways, and opened my eyes to new things. I just wish I knew some people I could share my love of metal music with...sick of hanging around with people who listen to crappy music. I'm not the 'boohoo I'm all alone cos I listen to metal and I'm all whiny and depressed'...person because being depressed is fucking lame and being into metal just so you can act like an outsider is stupid. It's just great music. When you tell people you listen to metal and they treat you different, like your some poor fool, a depressed goth or something, it pissses me off. *sigh* I wanna know some metalheads...


Hehe...I sound like a fucking goth...

 

[illbeleavinnow]

It's cool how so many people got into metal through rock and roll greats.

Oh, and pieless is a list bitch.

 

[Spod2508]

Hmmm...memory portion of brain damaged by beer, cannot retrieve files

Anyhoo, got into metal in the late 80's. A friend of mine gave me Seventh Son and that was it. Very big into AC/DC and Metallica at the time as well. Had a brief fling with Death Metal before becoming disillusioned with the whole "I want to kill you and eat your guts" crap so I kinda dropped off the scene for a year or so.

Came to my senses and had to go to the bother of re-buying the catalogue that I had gotten rid of. Metallica, Pantera, Maiden quckly established themselves as the faves again.

About 2 years ago, some mates of mine went to London to see Dimmu Borgir and they came back raving about this band called In Flames so I picked up Clayman. Loved so I got the back catalogue. Then from talking to other IF fans, I heard of Opeth. In Ireland, it's pretty tough to find death metal stuff but I managed to get my hands on the BWP digipack and that was me sold. I think it was the contrast between the growling and the clean singing that sold me. Had to work hard to complete the back catalogue though.

So at the moment, fave bands are (not in any order)

In Flames
Soilwork (we'll miss you Henry)
Arch Enemy
Metallica
Pantera (if they're actually still around)
Opeth
Slipknot
Morbid Angel
Iron Maiden

 

[WinterSolstice]

Queen is my favorite band of all time - hands down.

As for metal history:

I like

Savatage
Iced Earth
Nevermore
Sanctuary
Sinergy
In Flames
Forbidden
Tyrant
Gamicide
Wrath
Pantera
Down
Crowbar
My Dying BRide
Candlemass
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Metallica
MEgadeth
Dark Angel
Immortal
Emperor
Arch Enemy
Testament
Dea7H
Cynic
Aghora
Premonition
Hibernus Mortis
Deceiver....

Lots more, lots more...

 

[smylex]

My introduction to Opeth was only a few weeks ago on Danzig's Blackest of the Black Tour. Being that I live near Los Angeles, finding anything of quality on the radio is near impossible and the only station that does play any kind of Metal in Southern California that I can receive on the radio is usually so bogged down with commercials that it makes listening to them for any length of time dreadful, so if they are playing Opeth on the air, I'll never know because I'm not listening. About the only way that I find out about new bands is through their live performances. (Don't yell at me about the wonders of the Internet and that you can download material from bands to sample what they sound like. The Net is a great promotional tool but my computer sucks and I'm amazed that I can even type up this long-winded post right now. ) Anyway, it was seeing Opeth performing live at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles that got me into them. I have 3 of their discs and would have more except for the lack of financial funding.

Now, my introduction to Metal began in 1977 when I was 6 years old and I first heard Kiss. I asked for and received an album by them for my birthday the next month and soon owned all their albums. The next year, my grandmother got me into Deep Purple (accidentally. My grandma isn't that cool. She was actually giving away a few of her son's records to me without his knowledge or consent and Deep Purple was in the batch of records that I listened to and was the only record of the batch that I kept. All the other records I tossed). It remained Kiss, Deep Purple, Neil Diamond (yes, I said Neil Diamond) and various Classical for a few years. The next decade arrived and I got into Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Ozzy, Black Sabbath and others thanks to friends in high school and a new station called MTV. (Did you know they used to play music? Shocking! ) Thrash Metal arrived to the school soon after and thanks to the tape trading going on, I was turned on to Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus, Anthrax, Dark Angel and others through various friends. Things haven't slowed down since then and I currently have 800+ CDs in my collection.

 

[Divine_intent]

I agree with this thread very much.
But this forum is not worthy my list of favorite bands.

I only listen to Orchid,Morningrise and sometimes my arms your hearse.The other Opeth albums can go to hell.

 

[Pieless]

It's cool how so many people got into metal through rock and roll greats.

Oh, and pieless is a list bitch.

You just moved up two spots in my top 50 friends list*



































Ok I'm not THAT obssesive.

 

[Mercury]

I am pretty old school.

This is my first post, and I must say that I am probably one of their older fans.

My first metal concert was Dio with Accept in 1986. Later that year I saw Metallica open for Ozzy. Then my first small stage show. Metal Church opening for Anthrax. It was the Among the Living tour. Not NOT) ...

I went to the first 3 milwaukee metalfests, so my likes are old.

I USED to like:
Helloween
Overkill
Sanctuary
Flotsam and Jetsam
Celtic Frost
Voi-Vod
Kreator
Sacrifice
SOD
Testament
Anthrax
Ministry
Lard
Revolting Cocks

I have seen all of the above bands at least once.


I didnt listen to any kind of metal for over 10 years, until I saw a review of Blackwater Park in an issue of College Music Journal. Since then I have purchased their entire catalog <love it all, though my wife doesnt)>. I just saw them with Lacuna Coil in Milwaukee and was stunned at how all the people at the show looked exactly as they did when I used to see shows in the 80's when Thrash was big.

Most of what I listen to now is indie pop: Doves, The Wrens, Pinback, The Shins, John Vanderslice, Minus the Bear, Neko Case, Voyager One, Calexico

 

[FourDegreesWarmer1331]

Bands I listen to:

Arch Enemy
Cryptopsy
Dream Theater
Fozzy
Hatebreed
Katatonia
KoRn
Metallica
NIN (although they're not really metal)
Ozzy
Pantera
Revolution (local band, meh, just in case anyone reading this is from Calgary)
Superjoint Ritual
Tool (they're not metal either, but widely considered to be)

I got into Opeth by um... oh, I know, I heard they had a 20:14 song (Black Rose Immortal) and I was like, whoa, awesome... so I downloaded that and a bunch of other random songs, finally went out and bought Deliverance, was pretty impressed but not enough to buy any new albums, then I saw Blackwater Park at the store one day and decided "Why not?" So I bought it just for fun in hopes that I would really like it. And I was absolutely blown away.

 

[Static]

I agree with this thread very much.
But this forum is not worthy my list of favorite bands.

I only listen to Orchid,Morningrise and sometimes my arms your hearse.The other Opeth albums can go to hell.

 

[‡Ärdor‡ Thë Dëströyer]

I haven't been 'really' into Metal that much for long, like I am now...But I know some history of it.

A few bands I listen to are:

Amon Amarth

Grave Digger

Lacuna Coil

Dark Tranquillity

Symphony X

Nevermore

I got into Opeth last summer, where a few peeps I knew had first started telling me and others about a band called Opeth, and I didn't really pay much attention but eventually got interested, then later a friend of mine sent me Demon Of The Fall over MSN and that was it...However, after listening to so many other bands, I am afraid to say Opeth has probably even dropped off my top 10 list.

 

[IanDork107]

I care not about metal history. I check bands out that seem interesting in every genre from every era and if they're good enough to keep my attention, I listen to them.