Opeth or Edge of Sanity?

[Spiritus Solis]

I was kind of curious what other people thought about this: if Opeth or Edge of Sanity or both should be credited with establishing progressive death metal as a genre? There are of course other bands that mixed death metal with other genres in the '90's (Death, At the Gates [though melodic death metal quickly came to suck], etc.), but it seems to come down to those two at the end. EoS started making albums first and Swano was obviously the producer for the first two Opeth albums, but Opeth seems to have become more popular and has obviously produced more albums (when Swano left EoS after Crimson, EoS wasn't the same till Crimson II, and that was a one-time thing from Swano). Anyway, the point to all this rambling is, it seems like Opeth is fairly popular and a recognizable name, despite the complexity of their music, and few people know of EoS outside of metal circles. So who do you think deserves more credit?

 

[Tumn]

EoS

 

[leprecon]

I really think that CRIMSON II is really great album. It has some memorable moments... no doubt about it. It´s a concept so I really can´t complain about repeativeness it gives to us.

 

[tchocky]

I'd actually credit Opeth with establishing it. The first couple of EoS albums are pretty much straight-up death. It's not until 1994 when Purgatory Afterglow came out that they started to show the prog elements. Orchid was recorded in 1994 also which showed a far more prominent prog element than Purgatory Afterglow.

 

[Alteredmindeath]

I enjoy listening to EOS, but the creative win goes to Opeth, especially for the first 4 albums and Opeth is like a machine beast or Mammoth that can't be stopped... with non stop touring and cd's that keep popping out every 2 or 3 years, this bands still got some life left and some things to prove.

 

[Detric]

opeth are better, but i think eos deserve some more credit for the fantastic albums they have put out

 

[gabaghoul]

inclined to agree with tchocky - EoS' progressive elements didn't flower until a bit later, but Opeth arrived fully formed with Orchid.

however:

if you're going to talk about progressive death on the whole, then I think you also have to point to Death and Cynic. Very different sounds than the European prog-death we're talking about - far more rooted in jazz than in acoustic folk or post-Maiden melodicism - but the structural gymnastics and protean, shifting pace were there in both.

And if you want to go a bit further back, then I guess you have to point to Morbid Angel as a big contributor as well - especially for Opeth, as Mikael has referenced them in the past as an influence along with Camel, King Crimson, etc.

-gg
np: Belphegor - Pestapokalypse VI

 

[i aint play this]

lolthread

 

[all_sins_undone]

opeth and/or EoS establishing "progressive death metal" as a genre is a complete joke.

 

[Spiritus Solis]

opeth and/or EoS establishing "progressive death metal" as a genre is a complete joke.

Well, actually, what I was trying to point out is that Edge of Sanity has gone pretty much unacknowledged outside of metal circles, while most music critics salivate at the mention of the name Opeth. I do think both are influential, and maybe I should've worded the question differently (as Death, Cynic, Morbid Angel, etc., are also responsible for spawning the genre). My question/poll wasn't without a point, i.e. that Opeth are considered a pioneer in metal, while EoS goes mostly ignored, though both deserve credit. I'm not stupid enough to believe that progressive death evolved as a style without influence from other death metal/prog bands.

 

[all_sins_undone]

+1

 

[stefan86]

lolthread

yup

 

[Demilich]

Crimson > pretty much anything Opeth's ever done

and for sure, it blows away anything else EoS ever did

 

[all_sins_undone]

as far as im concerned, crimson is just a long epic song with no cohesion and seemingly random riffs thrown on top of eachother. opeth accomplished this too, with morningrise, but then had the sense to grow away from that style of songwriting. every album of opeth's, from morningrise on is better than crimson.

 

[Detric]

Crimson > pretty much anything Opeth's ever done

pretty much yeh

 

[nadavnaz]

Opeth definatly.Way more creative music

 

[Spiritus Solis]

as far as im concerned, crimson is just a long epic song with no cohesion and seemingly random riffs thrown on top of eachother. opeth accomplished this too, with morningrise, but then had the sense to grow away from that style of songwriting. every album of opeth's, from morningrise on is better than crimson.

Then again, i've heard the same criticism of non-cohesion from people about Opeth (and not just Morningrise). Still Life in particular gets criticized for the seemingly random array of riffs. Not that I particularly believe it, but I don't think Crimson's non-cohesive either (and are you saying that Deliverance is better than Crimson? You said everything since Morningrise. If you believe that, then I wonder about your sanity.)

 

[all_sins_undone]

the song deliverance ITSELF is better than crimson, i actually dont care much for the other songs on that album.

 

[Kenneth R.]

EoS, then Opeth for solidifying it.

 

[Stilgar]

I'd actually credit Opeth with establishing it. The first couple of EoS albums are pretty much straight-up death. It's not until 1994 when Purgatory Afterglow came out that they started to show the prog elements. Orchid was recorded in 1994 also which showed a far more prominent prog element than Purgatory Afterglow.

I'd have to disagree on that statement. The first EoS album was pretty much straight-up death, yes. But with the second album (Unorthodox - 1992), they had already started to "stray away" from "normal" death metal.

EDIT: Oh, and to answer the original question: I've lost count on how many people I've introduced to EoS that have said something similar to "Wow! This is great! Wonder why I've never heard of them before?". So, yes, I do think they deserve more credit. Don't ask me to choose between Opeth and EoS though, since I look at both bands in different ways and don't want to compare them in that way.