Opeth Live: Lopez era vs. Axenrot era

[RollMyCoaster13]

Ok, i might get bashed for this, but is it just me, or do live recordings of Opeth sound MUCH tighter with axenrot drumming as opposed to lopez?

dont get me wrong! i LOVE Lopez. hes one of my favorite drummers, and in the studio, hes nothing short of amazing. Live however, i feel that some of his tightness gets comprimised. Many songs are rushed, and almost sloppy due to him rushing some fills, etc.
Axenrot, however, is very tight. We havent heard him much on studio recordings yet, so we cant judge in that area, but if you compare Lopez on Lamentations to Axenrot on Roundhouse Tapes, the difference is huge. The band as a whole sounds much tighter. The songs are at more of a locked in tempo, and they sound overall better. Im sure this is also because theyve been touring so much lately, but the difference in drumming performance is very evident. What do you think?

 

[Weakness]

I have my first cold of winter.

 

[Alteredmindeath]

Actually when I saw Opeth live for the first time with Axe, I knew Lopez wasn't present. Lopez had a certain flawlessness, and tightness you could tell Lopez had the songs down to the bone. Axe is new and worthy replacement thou, he is the man now and Im sure he has plenty of time to perfect the parts like Lopez had them.

 

[chrisdoig24k]

plz not this again...

 

[IamReptar]

How can you compare Lamentations to the Round house tapes when the only same song thats played is Windowpayne(which IMO is so much slower and butchered)?

Some songs sound great with Axe(The Grand Conjuration, white Cluster, among others), while some are absolutely butchered(The Leper Affinity, Drapery).

Two different styles, two different people.

Oh and old.

 

[the opeth affinity]

With the ladys tighter might be better but with drumming its not necessarily the same. It has to be said Lopez's snare work is much more loose and free, slighty jazzier and imo its sounds better than Axe. Wish i had caught Lopez live, but oh well, this topic seems to piss people off even though its one of the biggest line-up changes in the band in recent years, id better 'say old topic fuck not this again'

 

[affinityband]

agreeing with the threadstarter here. Ive got a few bootlegs with lopez on and generally (while the drums sound more his own) he never really keeps a straight tempo. Where as Axe does.

 

[Davling]

I have to agree. I love Lopez's drumming in studio, but live he can't really stay in time. Like on The Drapery Falls on lamentations, he rushes as fuck in one part.

Well.. Axe is a hellalot tighter and so, but I doubt that he can come up with as intricate stuff in the studio that Lopez could/can.

Regards,
Davling.

 

[opetcityofthemoon]

I personally don't care if so/how much tighter axenrot may be, Martin Lopez was the best drummer opeth will ever see in my opinion. Axenrot comes off like a strictly metal drummer which i'm afraid might sound too mechanical like a drum machine on the next album, whereas Lopez incorporated elements of jazz/latin percussion/etc. and was an over all 'great drummer', and i myself have noticed both live and on lamentations that he gets a bit off on timing in some places but i just look at it as being a live show with live people playing these incredible songs and if it speeds up a tad or sounds a little different than thats cool, that's just the live experience.

 

[RollMyCoaster13]

I personally don't care if so/how much tighter axenrot may be, Martin Lopez was the best drummer opeth will ever see in my opinion. Axenrot comes off like a strictly metal drummer which i'm afraid might sound too mechanical like a drum machine on the next album, whereas Lopez incorporated elements of jazz/latin percussion/etc. and was an over all 'great drummer', and i myself have noticed both live and on lamentations that he gets a bit off on timing in some places but i just look at it as being a live show with live people playing these incredible songs and if it speeds up a tad or sounds a little different than thats cool, that's just the live experience.

i completely agree with you. lopez was the best drummer opeth has ever seen. Im a much bigger fan of lopez's style than axenrot's. im strictly commenting on how the live performances differ though. i agree that if there are some tempo changes and differences in the live songs, it makes them more interesting, but when you're losing 20-25 bpm, it really distracts the listener from the feeling of the song, and instead they start to feel uneasy and notice that the song is speeding up or slowing down.

let it be known that i am NOT bashing lopez. I absolutely love him, and im a little disappointed that i realized that axenrot is tighter live, because i dont want to admit it to myself.

 

[affinityband]

yawn no one has even heard axenrots style yet, On tour he was just playing lopez's beats how they were on CD (cept face of melinda, granted that did not sound good).

 

[RollMyCoaster13]

yawn no one has even heard axenrots style yet, On tour he was just playing lopez's beats how they were on CD (cept face of melinda, granted that did not sound good).

um yeah...true...but this thread is about the tightness of the drumming. you know, keeping a steady tempo, etc...

 

[Id]

thomas pridgen is better than jon theodore

no he isnt

ya he is

 

[griev0r]

I think Lopez was flawless on Lamentations. Axe was good on the tapes but that same snare roll every other hit got really old fast. Also, his sound is very generic to me.

 

[themaster]

I have never seen Lopez live other than on Lamentations, however i have seen Axe twice and although his style is different to Lopez and less complex he makes up for it with solid delivery and i would expect consistanty each night so for a touring band that is very important,the drummer is the powerhouse keeping it all going.
Having said that it sems to me to be like Camel, Andy Ward was the funkest most amazing drummer but inconsistant, when he was on form he had very few peers, when he left it took nearly 20 years for Camel to find a drummer who could match his skill, although not quite so funky or quite such a good use of incidentals and grace beats the current drummer is solid, able to very closly match Andys parts and then on top provide more power when needed so in my opinion they are both as good, but on a long tour i think the new drummer would be my preffered choice as a fan and also if i had to play in a band with him.
likewise with axe , but in studio then lopez every time i think
but then perhape axe will blow us all away with the new album, if its darker then perhapse his style will fit very well.

looking forward to Brixton gig

 

[affinityband]

um yeah...true...but this thread is about the tightness of the drumming. you know, keeping a steady tempo, etc...

Im a much bigger fan of lopez's style than axenrot's.

Hush your gums.

 

[RollMyCoaster13]

Hush your gums.

style and technique/accuracy are two different things

hush your gums:Smug:

 

[affinityband]

Look moron, i was replying to that statement that YOU made, not the thread title as i had already replied to that. Jesus christ.

 

[Amonoperth]

Ice only seen Opeth with Gene Holgan and Axe.....so I dont have a good perspective to compare live....though on Lamentations Lopez sounded A+....i didn't hear anything wrong...!!!...PEAC EOUT

 

[affinityband]

Ok lets just sum up, Axe actually makes the band seem more together live. But Lopez was a creative genius on the drums, there we go.