OPETH Frontman: 'We've Never Jumped On Trends Or Chances To Make Money' - Sep. 5

[Korlich]

Ok for you people who say this isn´t a metal album, get your fucking facts straight. No this isn´t black metal it is not Dimmu Borgir (thank God), but by all means this is STILL metal, it is even Prog/Symphonic/melodic Death metal.

If you wanted Black metal, yeah you didn´t get it, but Mike never said he would make a BM album. He said BORDERING to BM. And at least one song TGC does remind me of BM.

 

[dorian gray]

The wait ends, GR emerges. And what does it sound like? DAMNATION PART II. NO BLACK METAL INFLUENCES AT ALL

i second this.

 

[Minion520]

Quit your fucking bitching, the album is great and you fuckin know this. Besides, Mike's comment on bordering black metal could have meant lyrically because it was quickly followed by the comment of his intention to use an occult theme. There is no evidence saying he was supposed to use a black metal style musically.

 

[steel102]

Mikael keeps on going on about how roadrunner was an awesome metal label "back in the day," BUT THINGS ARE DIFFERENT NOW. Probably totally new people work there, and their whole philosophy is way different then what it might have been. gah!

 

[OGM]

Am I the only one who believes that Mikael was fucking around when he mentioned that the new album was going to contain some Black Metal characteristics?

 

[Dhalaren]

Am I the only one who believes that Mikael was fucking around when he mentioned that the new album was going to contain some Black Metal characteristics?

Your not the only one, I never took Mikael seriously when he said that. That was a while back, it was probably a thought going through his head at the time. And in no way are they appealing to the mainstream of young teens or those mall goth/core people someone was talking about earlier. Those kids don't want to listen to progressive rock influenced music, they would say something like "That's the kind of music my parents listen to".

If Opeth in any way went towards the mainstream, I don't believe it was purpously. Mike just created another Opeth album, and in no way is Ghost Reveries a Damnation part II. The soft songs have some influence because Mike is a huge prog fan, but how can you call it Damnation part II when over half the songs are heavy and considered "metal" to most metalheads.

I may be only 17, but I know what metal is and I've heard that Black Metal speech stated above I don't know how many times. My friend was and still is a huge fan of black metal, I've heard it all before. But there is no way you can't consider this a Progressive Metal album with of course Prog Rock influence.

 

[Blackhorse_Experience]

Who cares. This album is good and the majority of Black Metal sucks anyway. If you want to hear Bathory/enslaved/emperor-like music, then go listen to Bathory, enslaved or emperor.

Lamentations was taped how long ago? Maybe that "bordering black metal" idea was just one of the many floating in his head but then when he started writing something totally different came out.

I've been a fan since MAYH and I can honestly say that I am not the least bit disappointed in this album. I think it is fuckin great.

 

[TheApostle]

^ agree


screw this forum, im going to the one with the real fans....

 

[BreathingShadow]

hey hubster, maybe he wanted to make a more black metal album a year or two ago when he said it but maybe he changed his fuckin mind...weird...

 

[Korlich]

There´s one thing I gotta say about opeth and GR, though, today I saw a normal looking woman in the 30´s who bought GR, I must say that shocked me! I´m not saying they´ve sold out, but that was just weird. This record is deff. bigger here in Denmark than any previous Opeth record.

 

[aestusmaris@hotmail.com]

Basically, as Mike said (but in my words) on the journal on Opeth.com, they've been playing awesome music for 15 or so years now, and released some of the best metal to grace my eardrums, including Ghost Reveries, and then they join Roadrunner, they got the best deal with them, they'll be able get the music out to people who wouldn't normally listen to it, and release the album in countries where they wouldn't have been able to get it had they gone with another record label. Personally, I don't give a flying fuck if they go with Island Records and start wearing nike gear, as long as the music is priority, that's all that matters. And the black metal idea Mike had for GR, it was an idea, and one I don't think would have done Opeth justice. So you can whinge and bitch all you want, but be grateful there is a band around like Opeth.

 

[Rocky Raccoon]

Face the music people - they have SOLD OUT. The only thing heavy on the record is about 2 mins of Ghost of Perdition and the fact that Mike is the best growler on the planet.

The other day I was at my local metal store and saw tonnes of mallcore kiddies with brand new Opeth tee's on.

While all of this stuff is good for the band and their career, the music itself has suffered.

However, there's also a flipside... Metal is making a MASSIVE comeback: the other day I dropped in on a friend who runs her own clothing design business, and she had a European fashion magazine which I was flipping through... and GASP! - I saw two reviews of metal albums in that mag!

While Opeth are becoming mainstream, it's good for the genre as a whole.

//shrugs

If you call an album with 10 mintute plus songs on it "selling out" then your an idiot plain & simple...

 

[Man In Black]

Face the music people - they have SOLD OUT. The only thing heavy on the record is about 2 mins of Ghost of Perdition and the fact that Mike is the best growler on the planet.

The other day I was at my local metal store and saw tonnes of mallcore kiddies with brand new Opeth tee's on.

While all of this stuff is good for the band and their career, the music itself has suffered.

However, there's also a flipside... Metal is making a MASSIVE comeback: the other day I dropped in on a friend who runs her own clothing design business, and she had a European fashion magazine which I was flipping through... and GASP! - I saw two reviews of metal albums in that mag!

While Opeth are becoming mainstream, it's good for the genre as a whole.

//shrugs

I guess you would consider me a mallcore kiddy since I wasn't born in the 70's. I'm going to wear my GR shirt proudly and smash the face of anyone who dares to call me a poser or a mallcore fag.

 

[gatedropper]

GR is Damnation II? Damnation sucked major ass guys. GR kicks major ass. Better jump on the GR bandwagon or it will leave you (know nothing about music guys) behind.

 

[dorian gray]

Quit your fucking bitching, the album is great and you fuckin know this.

haha! you bastard!

 

[amaranth]

This topic is pointless to debate, since there are different listeners of Opeth:

People who worked their way along chronologically
Orchid, Morningrise etc etc

And others who joined recently or listened to the albums out of order. My point of stating this is that however you begun to listen to the band, your opinion on their work is influenced by this.

I listened to the band for the first time 4, or was it 5?, years ago from orchid onwards.

I think that GR and also Deliverance, are good albums in the whole of their metal scene (hey look at what In flames are doing? ) but for Opeth, they have strayed far from their way.

Ah well, just my two cents

 

[Man In Black]

There´s one thing I gotta say about opeth and GR, though, today I saw a normal looking woman in the 30´s who bought GR, I must say that shocked me! I´m not saying they´ve sold out, but that was just weird. This record is deff. bigger here in Denmark than any previous Opeth record.

Just because someone's over 25 doesn't mean they can't like metal. :Smug:
Also, just because you look "normal" doesn't mean you aren't a metalhead. Metal doesn't require a costume to go along with it.

 

[Metalloid]

Good luck to them, they do it well. It's a shame they (seemed to) abandoned their metal roots for more accessible music to (I speculate) gain sales.

that's an interesting conclusion to reach considering the fact that Mikael is an absolutely huge fan of progrssive rock (or what you would call more accessible music). he has a huge collection of obscure prog records, it is no wonder that these have led him to where he is now. and by the way, the black metal comment was made shortly after the recording of D and D, and he was only speculating, he really didn't know what direction he was going to take.

 

[Minion520]

haha! you bastard!

yea im talkin to you dorian, you whinny women (and for the ladies i mean that in the least sexist way possible) u just gotta take a break from the album for a couple of months and go back to it, that always works for me, sometimes it takes me over a year after I buy an album to realy love it.

 

[dorian gray]

minion, i had fun with you at that Dave Matthews Band concert this summer. good times!