Porcelain Heart

[mental paralysis]

I'm getting really tired of everyone comparing to past records. If they were aiming for that sound, THEY WOULD JUST RE-RECORD THE RECORD.

Stop - STOP comparing to Deliverence, GR, BWP, or any of them.

It's a NEW Opeth record. Not the same old shit.

As for the musical arrangement:
They had months to record the record, I'm sure they did what they did on purpose. You have to assume the responsibilty of an audience member and instead of pciking it apart, observe the overall composition and try to consume it as the composer saw it.

END OF RANT

The Lotus Eater: blew me the fuck away. Amazing arrangement and transitions. The circus-jazz doodle midway through is probably my favorite thing about the track.

Porcelain Heart: Well written and absolutely beautiful instrumentation. And the drum fill is awesome. It adds amazing dynamic to the song.

I'm looking forward to the full record, it will be interesting to see how the band has evolved with the one.

And to Mikael, is there a reduction in the amount of growls and scream on this record? If so, was it intentional or did it just not fit all of the time?

 

[mental paralysis]

My comment about past records doesn't necessarily apply to this thread.

 

[sevenmilestones]

Just heard the studio version of Heir Apparent from a finnish radio station. I think it's the bleakest Opeth song ever. It's a big ugly dirty monster !!!
The whole broadcast can be streamed from the internet but I don't know if it's oaky to give the direct link ?

please link!

 

[Acronomic]

Porcelain Heart was awesome from the first listen, and I can say it was actually a better experience when I wasn't watching the video. I guess that's just how I'm used to listening to music, I just want to use my own imagination.

The original track isn't out yet, is it? I'm getting the feeling the music video version is an edit.

----

OK, I found the original version. [ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=No15x3EcO64&feature=related[/ame]

I like.

 

[Nakrophile]

Another new Opeth song which I don't particularly care for. It is better than Lotus Eater, but it's still nothing spectacular.

 

[Acronomic]

Try a bit of patience. I wasn't trilled at the first listen, but after 10?

 

[Godhead59]

I was thinking of the actual "aaah" singing, not the riff.

That's what I'm talking about. The singing reminds me of the GC main riff.

 

[ometh]

After listening to Porcelain Heart about 20x, I can say a few things. I like the general tone and feel of the song, and I can see what Mike was going for with the ambience. I like the drum fill, and the main heavy riff of the song is dissonant and definitely adds to the mood of the piece. However, the song is definitely too simple in terms of structure and songwriting. I always expect Opeth to be at the top of their game as far as interesting, varied riffs with many dynamic time changes, accoustic parts that hit me deep, death vocals that make me shudder, melodies that take me back to memories, and variation that takes 10+ listens to fully appreciate and understand. PH has none of these elements, and I feel like I'm listening to a different song than everyone here. Its odd to feel alienated on a death metal band's board by complaining how the death metal isn't even metal anymore. Don't chastise me im drunk

Got to agree with you there. I also feel it doesn't flow as naturally as other songs.

 

[gtr4ever]

is it a legal stream on a legal radio station. if it is, i am sure you can mention the radio station by name.

Just heard the studio version of Heir Apparent from a finnish radio station. I think it's the bleakest Opeth song ever. It's a big ugly dirty monster !!!
The whole broadcast can be streamed from the internet but I don't know if it's oaky to give the direct link ?

 

[The Don]

I'm getting really tired of everyone comparing to past records. If they were aiming for that sound, THEY WOULD JUST RE-RECORD THE RECORD.

Stop - STOP comparing to Deliverence, GR, BWP, or any of them.

It's a NEW Opeth record. Not the same old shit.

As for the musical arrangement:
They had months to record the record, I'm sure they did what they did on purpose. You have to assume the responsibilty of an audience member and instead of pciking it apart, observe the overall composition and try to consume it as the composer saw it.

END OF RANT

No shit. Just because a musician achieved his intent, or intended to make it a certain way doesn't make it good. If I wrote a piece with the intent of boring my listeners, I can't argue that it's a good piece because they were bored. Again, what I said was I could see Mikael's intent with the piece, but the means in which he achieved it were particularly dull.

And don't say "don't compare this to other opeth albums its new". That's what I like best about Opeth, every album has a unique progression and you can draw similarities and differences. I can say whatever the fuck I want. You're not the moderator. Don't get butthurt over negative opinions or unfair comparisons. It's a fucking message board.

 

[Acronomic]

I can agree that Porcelain Heart doesn't flow very well. I think it's a very unusual Opeth song, because Opeth has always managed to produce varied songs, but they were always practically seamless.

Porcelain Heart on the other hand, breaks off very strongly several times, and contains two extremes - the initial (very evil) riff/blastbeating riff, and the acoustic/clean vocal bit. Opeth has always been progressive, and this song is pretty extreme.

I don't know. It's broken into pieces, but I don't really care as a listener. I've gotten used to the broken up structure, so to me, it's not really a problem.

"Well, in my opinion, getting used to the new stuff, or better put, letting it grow on you, is part of the wonder of it all! That's what makes it progressive. Constantly changing and keeping you on your toes. Too many times, there have been bands that put a song out that I immediately go nuts over, only to end up bored shitless later on. A good song has to grow on you. Otherwise you end up with the same old bullshit any other band will puke out at you. No different from the last lie forced on you. The more straight-forward a song is, for me, the less of a song it is."

Nicely put! I can't tell you how much better The Mars Volta's newest album got after a bunch of listens. I was indifferent the first listens, and headbanging a few days later.

 

[DirTh]

Any one notice how much it sounds like TCG?

 

[Lachybob]

^ A similar riff and the aahs are also similar to the riff in tgc, but the song has a completely different feel to it, so it doesnt bother me in the slightest

 

[DirTh]

Yea true, just something I noticed, great song otherwise.

 

[cide]

I think that was the whole point of that section, for Axe to show off a little bit.

I'm not sure if its really showing off. I think everything he was doing was intended to be is it is for the progression of the song to a like cataclysmic like ending of the part but it never came to that which is why its sick. An easier way of understanding it would be a big train going really fast about blow up then silence. But thats just my take on it.

 

[nox-Hand]

Well, I guess some of you simply don't understand the Axe fill here. It's meant to be chaotic, not a "nice" fill. The effect when it goes back into the verse to me is amazing, and that's what we're looking for. I guess everyone can't have the same vision as we do and there'll always be complaints.

Cheers people
Mike

I'd like to thank Mikael for clearing that up, for as I hear it in that light, I totally love it. Before that, it almost ruined the song for me

Cheers

 

[Shezmen]

Anyone else think that the "aaah" part sounds like system of a down a bit?
Don't hit me

yea i agree absolutely! i had the same dejavu when i heard it the first time! also lotus eater has a "system of a down" vocal part, at 1:52 seconds, like the chorus of malakyan and tankian in a lot of their s.o.a.d albums, i think that mikael probably knows well s.o.a.d style..

 

[HessianOmega]

Man it's kind of disgusting how much ball-sucking is going on over these two songs. Porcelain Heart is shit. It's 8 minutes long and has 4 parts to it. 4 drawn out, slow, boring parts. Riffs are uninteresting, structure is forced, and the transition into the last chorus is laughable. The Lotus Eater is pretty good, but that part at 5:50 just makes me chuckle at how gay it is. I hope Watershed has some heavy moments because I would hate to see Opeth get lost in this "less is more" pattern. On that note, I'll leave before the fannies make a page or two about how dumb I am.

you can dog on them being heavy all you want, and you can call their music boring now. But don't say the band's gay because their supposed to make just heavy music. Because they haven't, and their Progressive metal too. Just sad to see so many people not like new opeth licks because they're not distorted or heavy.

 

[Metalstrm]

That fucked up drum fill is actually one of the few highlights of the song in my opinion.

 

[The_Yeti]

Oh hell yeah dude. The drum fill makes that part so much more interesting. That riff is pretty "samey" as far as most Opeth riffs are concerned. I think it adds a lot to the part.