Opeth - Two Styles

[Novembers Paul]

Here's a thought. With two CD's being released, one heavy, and one soft, lets say the softer CD sells 5 times as many copies, and Opeth see's this as a way to actually live comfortably from their music, and decided that the softer style was the way to go. So many loyal Opeth fans would turn their backs on them, and call them sell-outs, some of us would stick by them, loving the softer material, but this also opens up new doors that are much more accessible to the mass market.

So my question is this... If Opeth gave up on the heavy style, and ONLY released softer material, how many of you would still support them, honestly?

I for one think the bonus tracks on BWP are stunning, and would LOVE a full CD like this, and if they chose this to be the "new" style, I would be sad, but I wouldn't feel like they sold-out, because the element has been there from day one.

 

[StorTroll]

Hmm, unlike to happen so I don´t say a word...

 

[Sengir*Buendia]

Holy mother of God! How can one be so dumbass????????
They will never follow Damnation's path! It's easier for the band to split than that

 

[Rusty]

Even though I can't see it happening, I will still answer the question.

It would depend on how good the soft/mellow music is. If it is good, original, varied etc. then I would definitely buy more. If it is unoriginal and boring then I'm not sure if I would bother or not. But I would probably still check out any future mellow albums.

But I am sure that Opeth will remain heavy !

 

[warsofwinter]

I hope the mellow CD is more inaccessible than the heavy CD with fucked up time sigs and everything else so Mike can prove all you fools (who think Opeth are gonna sellout) wrong

 

[Slipknot_isn't_metal]

Yes i would still support them.

Now keep in mind that this will probably never happen because Mikael said it often times : Opeth is not about commercial success.

If they chose to go soft style because THEY feel it suits them ...then by all means i will support them because they're my favorite band and that isn't ever going to change (i highly doubt it will at least...)

 

[Mayh]

If it´s good music I would problalby buy it...

 

[CAIRATH]

I would still support them. I have a broad musical taste and I listen to all kinds of music (synth pop, industrial, metal, grunge, prog rock, etc) and I love both the heavy Opeth and the mellow Opeth.

I would be sad not to see them making new heavy albums, but I would respect their decision and I would definitely continue to enjoy their more mellow/progressive efforts.

People who call musicians "sell-outs" under whatever circumstances are usually idiots and should mostly be ignored.

 

[Bloody B]

If they would make interesting mellow music I would probably still buy it, but one of the reasons that I find making Opeth so great is the huge contrast within their music, so I would be really very disappointed when that would happen. But maybe they will manage to create even greater contrasts in the mellow music than they've created this far, in that case it could be very interesting.

But wtf am I (are we) bothering about, I don't believe it's going to happen anyway. As Mike said; Heavy as Hell

 

[bleedingskeptic]

i don't think opeth would switch to mellow to make money, they could however switch because they enjoy making the mellow stuff more. but akerfeldt has always said that his vision for opeth was to balance light and dark, and without the dark his vision wouldn't really be the same, now would it?

opeth would actually make less money, i think, if they did that. think about it. those who like opeth just because they are heavy and call the soft stuff "gay" would just stop supporting opeth. and those who like commercial crap wouldn't then check into opeth because all they'll know about them (if anything) is that they growl. so all opeth would be left with is those of us who really appreciate their music.

and if switching from dark, meloncholic music to soft, mellow music meant instant commercial success wouldn't katatonia and anathema be popular by now?

however, if opeth's mellow album were (for some crazy reason) nu-metal then they could POSSIBLY gain commercial success *cough* in flames *cough*. bottom line is that opeth won't be playing nu-metal if they switch syles, they'd be a prog-rock band in the vane of porcupine tree, and i think we could all live with that.

 

[Mayh]

"however, if opeth's mellow album were (for some crazy reason) nu-metal then they could POSSIBLY gain commercial success *cough* in flames *cough*. bottom line is that opeth won't be playing nu-metal if they switch syles, they'd be a prog-rock band in the vane of porcupine tree, and i think we could all live with that."
-bleedingskeptic

Indeed

 

[Morningrise]

Opeth is always going to be Opeth. Though the songs on the bwp release were a bit too large of a step, it was lacking a bit of Opethness, I have no doubts that these albums will be spectacular, and full of suprises. And it is actually the suprises I am looking MOST forward to. I actually see them eventually changing to a sound based on mellowness, it just seems kind of evident that that will eventually happen. Bwp is much more comparable to Katatonia whereas the earlier stuff is more focused on metal.

 

[MadTinus]

Just like other people, if only it's good, you won't hear me complaining... And since Opeth are damn good at the mellow stuff, I'm pretty confident I will remain a fan...

 

[Hondo]

Well, I know it wouldn't happen, but it's interesting to think about. Naturally I'd keep supporting them, but I'd be sad.

What I wonder more, is what they'll do after this. More mellow CDs? You can't get the same feeling otherwise. But it seems like a great pain to do that many albums. And how in hell will they tour for D-2... they'll need to drag Steve along to play keys, heheh.

 

[Novembers Paul]

Originally posted by Hondo
Well, I know it wouldn't happen, but it's interesting to think about.

That was EXACTLY the point to the question.

 

[ColdDarkNord]

I don't care about "true" side of the story and will buy all albums if they will have a good music.

 

[Novembers Paul]

Originally posted by Sengir*Buendia
Holy mother of God! How can one be so dumbass????????
They will never follow Damnation's path! It's easier for the band to split than that

Well, I guess you can, seeing as this was a hypothetical question, which most got, and you jumped on the defense like a good little sheep.

 

[demon talented]

I think Opeth could make an excellent "mellow" band also. I heard he wants the CD (Damnation) to be dark/experimental. I think even if it was only lighter music, it'll still be darker than say Porcupine Tree. Mikael is probably capable of writing in different styles as he chooses. I'm glad they are changing, and I look forward to hearing what they come up with.

So, yes, I would certainly listen to their new material even if they gave up death metal vocals, etc. (such as Amorphis did).

 

[Sfarog]

There is no doubt in my mind that Opeth can write good mellow music, and their mellow stuff would be very appealing. I dont question their musical ability.

On the other hand I listen to Metal. It is my own personal choice to explore metal music as opposed to lets say soft rock or country, or jazz. I don't care what ever little site projects and experiments Opeth do, as long as they stay metal. And yes, for me, BWP was not metal enough. This is MY OPINION, based on MY preference. And please dont give me the Opeth will never sell out, and Opeth will always be the best crap, because we quite well know the story of Metallica, Amorphis, and In Flames. Had anyone told me in '89 that Metallica would release such a radio friendly cd as Load and Reload i would laugh in their face.

This is exactly why I would love to but never will tattoo the "O" logo on my arm. You just never know. I do have plenty of hope for the new albums though.

Sfarog

p.s. Mikael, no offense, I haven't lost my faith in you yet

 

[Ermz]

I feel that if Opeth were to drop the heavy side of the music, they would be losing the essence of what is Opeth. Opeth is the contrast, they are the blending of all these different styles that make us all come together here and have not one of us able to categorize their music correctly .

If they were to go down the mellow path I know that I would definately still support them if the material was of quality, but it wouldn't be Opeth anymore.

The occassional mellow song (or mellow CD ) is good but if they were to keep it as their style I think that they would get a bit monotonous, despite Mikael's amazing ability to write layered music.

So yeah... stick with the \m/... but be mellow aswell ... Opeth forever!