Porcelain Heart

Here's my two cents, and this is my first post on the Opeth forum...

I bought Blackwater Park when I was about 15 years old, I'm 21 now so I've been into Opeth for quite a while. Blackwater Park blew me away with the intricacy of the musicianship, and the atmosphere the music created (good production I feel). All the songs were excellent!

When Deliverance came out, the songs were really well written, but I felt they were a bit more simplistic in terms of composition than the songs on BWP. And also the production on Deliverance didn't have as much atmosphere to it as BWP (it did in some parts but overall I felt it was lacking). In a way I felt the Deliverance production was slightly too clean... I think some of the guitar effects were done in pro-tools etc, this might have been different to the recording techniques for BWP. Damnation came out, and it really was brilliant, the production was spot on and the songs were great.

When Ghost Reveries came out, I did enjoy the experimental side of it, but I felt that like Deliverance, the composition in some songs was simpler than usual for Opeth, and the production felt kind of similar to Deliverance (but with more atmosphere). Baying of the Hounds was an excellent track, but apart from the addition of keys (which sound very effective), I don't think that Opeth had progressed their sound forward (I mean they had definitely shown a more experimental side, but the overall sound of the band wasn't progressing significantly, which isn't necessarily a bad thing anyway).

And along come these two new tracks off Watershed, and all I can think to myself is "YES! This is the stuff!!!!" It feels like this album is the next logical step after BWP. It has the dark atmosphere of BWP, but still has some great evolution to it (Mike's vocals and the keys, and the oboe). It feels like BWP, but with tasteful hints of experimentalism (if thats even a word) thrown in. The composition no longer feels simplified, in fact it's probably more complicated... But the music is very dynamic this time. 10/10.
 
Actually, the only thing I expect from this record is to grow on me.
I don't know how to explain it but, it took me a certain time to appreciate every record that came out before Blackwater Park.
BWP was an instant hit (and still is), but from Orchid to Still Life, I learned to like them with time ; I wasn't amazed at first but Still Life is my favorite now.
Ghost Reveries was the exact opposite, the first time I listened to it, I was, like, "now this is killer", but after a month or two, I didn't like it that much anymore.

Well, for now, I keep on listening to Porcelain Heart and The Lotus Eater, and actually I've already listened to it more times that any song off of Ghost Reveries, so I guess Watershed can be an amazing record if the other songs are on the same level than those two.
 
Ok. One simple question: where in hell can I buy the damned single? Amazon only accepts US, 7digital has only UK, so where the heck can I get it from, if I'm from neither US or UK?
This really pisses the living daylight out of me!
 
The Grand Design: Judging from the songs I have heard, I agree 100%.

So far the songs seem much more dynamic, 'atmospheric' and interesting than deliverance or ghost reveries. I love the 'old' feel of the new songs, by this I don't particularly mean the bands old sound (but it does remind me more of their older material) but the feeling of agelessness. I felt this with their past but I just didn't get it with the last couple of albums. I think part of this is the more real sounding acoustics and less obvious prog rock influences (don't mind prog rock influence but I can only take it in small doses and in interesting ways). VERY tasteful keys and orchestral arrangements on these new songs - These parts now add so much to the music as opposed to the last cd where they kind of felt... tacked on to me. It all sounds more full and multi-dimensional.

The last couple of CD's sounded like a band trying to acheive or prove something so far this sounds like a band DOING something. When I listened to deliverance and GR, I could picture a band in the studio writing the songs, where as their older songs... I just feel like the songs always were and I was just hearing them for the first time.

I'm so happy to be blown away for the first time in a long time.

Different strokes I guess, some people really dig last couple far more than anything else. Perhaps this album will bring the best of both worlds.
 
I was iffy on this song, at first. My first reaction was to hate it, but since it's Opeth, I decided to give it a lot of spins before jumping to that conclusion. I really like the song now.

Why did I hate it at first? Well, there's that Grand Conjuration similarity, and it pops up not once, but twice. There's the fact that the best part of the song, the "I see roots beneath my feet," followed by the gorgeous synth, is so very short. And then there's all that silence between every transition, something I hated about the Morningrise album in general.

Oh, and it reminded me a bit of "A Fair Judgment," in tone, my most hated Opeth song ever. It ruined the Deliverance album for me. Well, that and the intro to "By the Pain I See in Others." Great song, that, but the fade-in noise intro is so outdated 80's shit. Retro, but in a bad and overused way. I was surprised that Wilson, being the effects wizard that he is, couldn't think of anything better to kick off the song.



Back to Porcelain Heart. After about 10 spins, the last last few of which I had the sound pumped up to a loud volume, I dig it a lot. The drum fill... does its job. I'm not super crazy in love with it, but it did what it needed to do, and I think the song sounds better with it than if Axe had just continued like he was going for the rest of the section.

The reuse of the "Conjuration" thing no longer bugs me. I started listening to how the other guitar interacted with it (sounds a bit like "Cry of Mankind" from My Dying Bride, no?), weaving in and out of the melody, and the keyboard is doing some cool stuff there too. It makes it interesting and fresh.

The silent transitions don't bug me anymore, either. Unlike all the crappy, abrupt transitions in the middle of "A Fair Judgment," they actually make sense here. Nothing seems cut short.

I listen to it as more of a mood piece now. Before, I was listening to it as a rock piece, which is why I wasn't getting it. The song isn't supposed to have a clever structure or neat hooks. It's supposed to take you on a visual journey, and nothing more. Kinda like the purpose of an ambient track.

For what it is, I think it's a great song. These types of songs are best in small doses, though, so hopefully it's the only one of its kind on Watershed.
 
It certainly does have some beautiful passages. The way the song is structured just doesn't sit right with me.

Cheers.
 
Hi,

This is my first post although I've been lurking here for a couple of years now. I'm so impressed with Porcelain Heart and the opening riff is simply to die for. Based on this tune and The Lotus Eater I think this will be a special Opeth album.

--jaded