Progressive death metal like Opeth

[OrchidForest]

Looking for some progressive death like Opeth, any suggestions?

 

[Lateralus14]

Fact: no one sounds that much like Opeth except a few worthless clone attempts that aren't interesting. Anyone who tries to dispute this is wrong.

That being said, if you want things sorta similar to Opeth that don't suck, you don't look at progressive death (because that's not really what Opeth is since progressive death is Death/Atheist kinda stuff), but usually death/doom with clean parts mixed in (your best bet is Novembers Doom), or just generally sorta progressive metal bands with similar emphasis on the clean/growl/light/heavy contrast (Enslaved and Agalloch are the most popular ones with Opeth fans) or a few random ones (Katatonia's Brave Murder Day, Edge of Sanity's Crimson)

So if I had to suggest some things I would go get:

Dan Swano - Moontower (If you aren't into as much extreme metal, you'll still probably like this a lot)
Novembers Doom - The Novella Reservoir (I have the last 3 and they're all decent but this is the only one I listen to much, I've been meaning to check out To Welcome the Fade when I'm in the mood)
Enslaved - Ruun, Vertebrae, Below the Lights
Agalloch - Pale Folklore, Ashes Against the Grain, The Mantle (The Mantle is most often regarded as their best but Ashes Against the Grain is probably better in a metal context)
Katatonia - Brave Murder Day
Edge of Sanity - Crimson
Gwynbleidd - Nostalgia (This band was heavily influenced by Opeth and their clean parts are pretty good but their metal isn't really that special)

Also I sometimes connect Diabolical Masquerade to Opeth for the heavy/clean contrast and a few similar guitar styles, but so many people still relate them to black metal for some reason so w/e (I really don't see it besides in the vocals). I'd check out Nightwork from them, if I'm remembering correctly that was the one where I noticed the most melodies and contrast, thought Death's Design is good for something different I guess.

Try Cynic too, they aren't similar but a lot of Opeth fans love them.

Edit: It should be noted that Opeth was my first band with distorted vocals and I initially hated extreme metal, and this is, with a few exceptions that I just happened to discover more recently, how I started off getting into more extreme music. So this list essentially proved successful for me and now I'm into more death/black metal so ya if you want to just appreciate metal more....yea...

 

[ASD]

The album "Crimson II" by Edge of Sanity should definately be noted as well. Get this is you like music

Also, Kathaarsys from Spain, Insomnium, and Novembre.

 

[Krow]

Opeth isnt death metal of any sort, imo.

 

[-CC-]

Check out The Project Hate MCMXCIX, they lean a bit on melodic death metal, but they can be very progressive as well..

Opeth isnt death metal of any sort, imo.

.

 

[unknown]

Ikuinen Kaamos
The Morningside (if you're looking for stuff similar to Orchid and Morningrise era Opeth)

 

[metal_wrath]

Opeth has some melodic Death metal elements. There are some Melodeath bands which also have acoustic parts that I would recommend if you like these aspects of Opeth:

In Flames - Lunar Strain, Subterranean
Insomnium - In the halls of awaiting

non-Death metal bands:

Katatonia
Agalloch

 

[General Zaroff]

Opeth isnt death metal of any sort, imo.

x2

I don't get why everyone insists that they are "Progressive Death Metal".

 

[anglocentric]

Ghost Brigade - Isolation Songs

has sort of elements of opeth and katatonia. really enjoying them at the moment.

 

[Lateralus14]

x2

I don't get why everyone insists that they are "Progressive Death Metal".

Well a massive portion of Opeth fans aren't into much extreme metal so they don't understand that vocals don't define genres. No Opeth fan that actually listens to other death metal gives them that tag..

 

[ASD]

I call them "extreme progressive metal" for a lot of their stuff. But their latest stuff (Ghost Reveries, Watershed) is just progressive metal.

 

[evilmoose]

Check out The Fall of Every Season.

Although I'm unsure as to whether they count as a 'worthless clone', I definitely like it.

 

[metal_wrath]

No one cares what genre you think Opeth isn't.

I would ask you what genre you think Opeth is but I don't really care.

 

[Harry Hughes]

I listen to plenty of death metal bands and have no problems calling Opeth progressive death, but oh well.

Not as proggy, but check out Psycroptic.

 

[Krow]

No one cares what genre you think Opeth isn't.

I would ask you what genre you think Opeth is but I don't really care.

well he's asking for progressive death metal like opeth... but opeth isnt progressive death metal, so that creates a conflict in what to rec. Do we rec opeth clones or actual prog death metal?

 

[CF87]

Morgion -Cloaked By Ages, Crowned In Earth. I prefere the first two, but this specific album might be more of what you're looking for.

 

[Caveman Ninja]

If you didn't already try Cynic then get both of their albums.

 

[Einherjar86]

Well, in terms of "death metal" that strays a lot from the genre and employs techniques from lots of "extra-metal" genres (i.e. jazz, progressive, folk, etc.) so much so that it basically isn't even death metal anymore, check out Kalisia.

They're death metal at heart, but they have lots of said "extra-metal" tenets present in their sound; but where Opeth has a very folk-infused sound, Kalisia sounds very sci-fi. Still, their approach to songwriting is similar in some respects.

 

[Xorv]

 

[Eligos]

Ikuinen Kaamos
The Morningside (if you're looking for stuff similar to Orchid and Morningrise era Opeth)

+5 billion for both of these bands.

Plus, The Morningside is free.