Opeth: Watershed

I don't get the Opeth thing...try as I might...just can't.

You are not alone! And I have tried!

:dopey:
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Damn college kids...:lol:
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J-Dub... just wondering, what do you have against (or not like about) Opeth?

I'm generally anti-cookie, with Mercenary & Moontower being 2 VERY rare exceptions. Nothing against them personally (like Danny G.)
There was a guy on a list Jax & I were on that really dug Opeth, and I have checked out every cd they ever put out, and disliked all of them. I don't see what the fuss is all about/ I always said if they went instrumental, they'd be much more enjoyable to me...:heh:


Dammit!!! Quit flinging around the D word!:lol:

Jdubya, you had some legendary POS rants in the past and I'm surprised to see a band like Opeth topping them. I'm also curious to hear why you don't like them.;)

No rants on Opeth, just don't care for 'em. Don't worry, I'll never go soft on PoS, no matter how "soft" their music currently makes me. :Spin: Every time I hear PoS, I gain more raning material, the more Opeth I hear, the more of their music I like, but the cookiewrecks everything....Bad combo, IMO...
 
Well I prefer to see a band playing complex material live, and standing still, than seeing them chugging on 1 string and throwing themselves around... :rolleyes:

And i prefer bands that play good songs and have some energy and enthusiasm for their music than a fucking clinic onstage. Both Opeth and Dream Theater are guilty of having the worst live shows on earth (though opeth has great between song banter). no self respecting metal band ever "chugs on one string". Ever.

Maiden, Priest, All bands on Paganfest... they all have movement on stage, shows, and still play songs that require a bit more than an education in nu metal.

Oh yeah... :rolleyes:

It's a fucking show dude. If you want to have people stand there, you might as well sit at home with an instructional dvd or a cd.
 
To be honest, it really bored me (watershed). I've tried for months to get into Opeth, and listened to all of their albums more than once but to no avail. I saw them live on the Prog Nation tour a few days ago and that sealed the deal for me. They were loud to the point of pure noise, and every song sounded like every other (except the one song they did from damnation). Everyone I know who saw the show said the same exact thing...and I just found myself sittin' there wishing that 3 were still playing, or that Dream Theater would start.
 
dream theater :erk:

Opeth and the cookie are acquired tastes. And even then, you either like it or you don't. I'm in the first camp. Cookies are mad tasty. They aren't the best death/prog band out there (at all) but I dig em.
 
dream theater :erk:

Opeth and the cookie are acquired tastes. And even then, you either like it or you don't. I'm in the first camp. Cookies are mad tasty. They aren't the best death/prog band out there (at all) but I dig em.

Harsh vocals are an acquired taste, but at this point I tend to enjoy them a great deal as long as they aren't the overly gurgly/brutal variety. :loco:

And I tend to think of Opeth as more of a strictly prog band, as they don't have much of a connection to death metal beyond Akerfeldt's harsh vocals.
 
dream theater :erk:

Opeth and the cookie are acquired tastes. And even then, you either like it or you don't. I'm in the first camp. Cookies are mad tasty. They aren't the best death/prog band out there (at all) but I dig em.

Heh. DT have certainly slacked off in terms of good music ever since like 2001-ish, but the set I saw included Erotomania, Metropolis, Beyond This Life, etc. The only city that got a better setlist than we did I believe was Detroit? (one city got Strange Deja Vu AND Fatal Tragedy, and Surrounded).

Still, its not that i didnt like them because of the cookie monster vocals. Ayreon has growls at times and I dont mind that at all (when it fits the music and/or lyrics), its just that to me Opeth sounded really bland live, as some poster above me also said. And I cant get into the music on CD either , because a lot of times it really seems like theyre trying to be prog for progs sake. I feel like the songs just don't go anywhere interesting. When I listen to Porcupine Tree, or Symphony X, or Ayreon, or Savatage or Dream Theater I feel like the music takes me somewhere, if that makes any sense, but with Opeth I just feel totally disconnected from it.
 
From the brief listen I gave it, I enjoyed it for the most part. I don't like the new drummer and some songs could have been edited down quite a bit without me missing anything. I'll be buying it though for sure.
 
Well I prefer to see a band playing complex material live, and standing still, than seeing them chugging on 1 string and throwing themselves around... :rolleyes:

Well, unless you're standing against the stage, you need some crowd appeal to pull the listener in...at least some interesting banter between 15 minute songs.

I go for a show, not to try to follow someone's fingers. I got past that stage many moons ago.
 
And i prefer bands that play good songs and have some energy and enthusiasm for their music than a fucking clinic onstage. Both Opeth and Dream Theater are guilty of having the worst live shows on earth (though opeth has great between song banter). no self respecting metal band ever "chugs on one string". Ever.

Maiden, Priest, All bands on Paganfest... they all have movement on stage, shows, and still play songs that require a bit more than an education in nu metal.

Oh yeah... :rolleyes:

It's a fucking show dude. If you want to have people stand there, you might as well sit at home with an instructional dvd or a cd.

C'mon, I know that, I was making a point by using an extreme exaggeration... ;)

dream theater :erk:

Opeth and the cookie are acquired tastes. And even then, you either like it or you don't. I'm in the first camp. Cookies are mad tasty. They aren't the best death/prog band out there (at all) but I dig em.

I agree, for the most part I don't like cookie vocals, but done well and used for dynamic contrast as opposed to "zomg wez r br00tal!!1! I really like them, and Opeth are a great example of that imo

Harsh vocals are an acquired taste, but at this point I tend to enjoy them a great deal as long as they aren't the overly gurgly/brutal variety. :loco:

And I tend to think of Opeth as more of a strictly prog band, as they don't have much of a connection to death metal beyond Akerfeldt's harsh vocals.

Me too, they're prog, especially moreso now than ever!



Well, unless you're standing against the stage, you need some crowd appeal to pull the listener in...at least some interesting banter between 15 minute songs.

I go for a show, not to try to follow someone's fingers. I got past that stage many moons ago.


Mikael Akerfeldt is great in between songs with banter...
 
...Stage presence doesn't always have to mean running around like Bruce Dickinson or having the crowd chant the chorus. Opeth's music, even the heavy stuff, has a dark and mellow vibe. I think their show completely fits their sound. *shrug* I've seen them twice and had no complaints.
 
...Stage presence doesn't always have to mean running around like Bruce Dickinson or having the crowd chant the chorus. Opeth's music, even the heavy stuff, has a dark and mellow vibe. I think their show completely fits their sound. *shrug* I've seen them twice and had no complaints.

I haven't seen them live, but have seen the Lamentations dvd and I'd agree there. Can't wait til September then I'll be able to judge properly... :D
 
...Stage presence doesn't always have to mean running around like Bruce Dickinson or having the crowd chant the chorus. Opeth's music, even the heavy stuff, has a dark and mellow vibe. I think their show completely fits their sound. *shrug* I've seen them twice and had no complaints.

Didn't say that's my idea of stage presence...just telling you I thought they were boring...so yes, you're right the show fits the sound:lol: Just kidding...To each his own.
 
having seen both bands live multiple times in multiple locations, my conclusion is that dream theater tends to stand in place, occasionally headbang, or step on monitors. they rely on the glitzy light show for their stage presence, and between tracks hardly say much at all. this was 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007

by comparison, opeth, when i saw them in 2005-2006, they never really had anything in the way of lights/fireworks/screens. maybe a banner, sometimes not. but they had a lot of interaction with the audience, shouting back and forth and telling jokes. at the Oxford gig, some girl screeched like a banshee and mikael was taken aback. throughout the gig he kept pointing at her at random times to make her do it again while laughing. the members of the band tend to move around a lot more (except for mike obviously, when he has to be near the microphone. overall they had more presence, despite the much smaller stage budget.

seeing opeth live is entertaining, seeing dream theater live is only slightly different than watching them on a dvd because most shows are the same.
 
Opeth are one of my favourite bands... if not my favourite (I think SX still holds #1 for me) I love pretty much every single thing they do. They just connect with me perfectly. I won't listen to any of the album until I pick it up on release day (special edition). I'm pretty confident that I'm going to love this album.

Eyeballkid: The unpredictable song structures are one of my favourite Opeth traits. The songs usually branch off, not forcefully, and have connecting/reoccuring parts when necessary. I find their songwriting brilliant.

One thing I am not too sure I'll like is Axenrot's drumming. Lopez was perfect for the band. Somebody who likes Opeth, how does Axe do? Does he branch off from the standard "metal" drumming and do some more feeling-oriented playing? I hope so.