Opeth's Orchid is 12 years old

JayKeeley

JayKeeley

Be still, O wand'rer!
Apr 26, 2002
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Considering the enormity of this band throughout the 90's, will Opeth be remembered as an important milestone or merely a passing trend?

If the vast majority of people think Opeth's best years are behind them, then can they redeem themselves? Celtic Frost, Bathory, and even Judas Priest all released total stinkers and then later returned to earn back some respect with Monotheist, Nordland I & II, and Painkiller respectively.

Or is the damage irreversible? Think In Flames and Metallica. Both practically four letter words at this point. Have Opeth sunk to that depth yet? Or is there still a glimmer of hope........
 
The band had "enormity" in the 90s? What? Where? When?
They will definetely not be remembered as a milestone. If they were truly a milestone, they would have been considered to be one already.
 
JayKeeley said:
Considering the enormity of this band throughout the 90's, will Opeth be remembered as an important milestone or merely a passing trend?
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It's interesting that you chose to post this today.

As I made mention of in another thread, I've completely reworked the genres on my iPod to make them more suitable for shuffle play. Yesterday at the gym, two different Opeth tracks queued up (Serenity Painted Death and Blackwater Park). After the complete let down that was DAMNATION, the tediousness of DELIVERANCE and the "what the fuck" aspect of GHOST REVERIES, I had been turned off to even Opeth's back catalog. However, those two tracks reminded me just how few bands have ever been on Opeth's level.

JayKeeley said:
If the vast majority of people think Opeth's best years are behind them, then can they redeem themselves? Celtic Frost, Bathory, and even Judas Priest all released total stinkers and then later returned to earn back some respect with Monotheist, Nordland I & II, and Painkiller respectively.
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Certainly. While I don't think we'll ever get a return to form in terms of style, I think a return to quality is at least 50/50. I'd go so far as to say, I don't think something monumental is beyond their reach.

JayKeeley said:
Or is the damage irreversible? Think In Flames and Metallica. Both practically four letter words at this point. Have Opeth sunk to that depth yet? Or is there still a glimmer of hope........
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Not at all. Metallica and In Flames made conscious decisions to be more marketable. Opeth simply evolved artistically.

Zod
 
Orchid is the only one I feel like returning to these days. It's frickin amazing. Too bad it's scratched as hell. Anything from Blackwater Park and beyond seemed like a bore, though the newest one definitely has it moments (Harlequin Forest anyone?)
I can't understand how some people here adore Agalloch but can't connect to Opeth's earlier material... they breathe the same air.
 
In all seriousness, I think the talent is still there (I mean, it's all Akerfeldt at this point so let's not kid ourselves), but yeah, I haven't heard anything since Still Life that warrants icon status, save for the stray song here and there. Their first four albums on the other hand sound legendary upon revisiting them, with Morningrise of course still being my favorite album ever.

Having said that, I still think once Akerfeldt went in a different direction with My Arms, Your Hearse, their ultimate downfall was inevitable because I just don't feel there is a lot of room for evolution in their more straightforward post-Morningrise sound. Listen to Morningrise closely and hear just how jaw droppingly creative and varied the music on that album is. The boundaries were endless back then. Now that they're somewhat locked into a formulaic sound, the passion just doesn't feel the same anymore.

Jason
 
Yeah, Dark One pretty much got it there.

I remember listening to Ghost Reveries for the first time and being bored out of my mind.

Certainly great musicians, but once they locked into that one groove, it's been just like Iron Maiden making the same album since 1986.
 
The only ones I kept were the first two. The band will seriously have to drop their formulaic mode (good call Dark One) and go back to just jamming and almost free-form style they had to get me interested again.

Are they a milestone band? No. They were once probably something special to a lot of undergrounders (I discovered the band after MAYH), but now they are more like a gateway band for newcomers who claim to have found the Holy Grail. Sad, but true.
 
JayKeeley said:
If the vast majority of people think Opeth's best years are behind them, then can they redeem themselves? Or is the damage irreversible? Think In Flames and Metallica. Both practically four letter words at this point. Have Opeth sunk to that depth yet? Or is there still a glimmer of hope........
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Right now, I think Opeth has become one of those bands that consistently releases solid albums without doing anything groundbreaking, and have avoided any credibility killing moves, at least not on the level of Metallica. I think they will certainly end up leaving some legacy, especially among fans of progressive metal who haven't outgrown them yet, but the question is whether the first two or the MAYH through BWP period will hold up more.
 
Dark One said:
I posted a link to this thread in the Opeth forum, because I want to see some objective, well thought out opinions on this topic.
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rofl

i'm not sure if this was a joke actually, but hilarious nonetheless

edit: yeah never mind, this is clearly a joke...man i wish i could rep that
 
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