Originally posted by Autumn Rust
Of course incredible skill is necessary to get you from a to b. But if you can't use it emotionally, like Spiral Architects stuff, which is hella complex but sounds 'cold'.. so whats the use of that when you can't make peoples mind cum like Opeth. 
I agree. I felt spiral architect was a little silly for that reason. They spin their tires and do all sorts of instrumental masturbation while Mikael can convey more depth and range of emotion in a few simple notes or words/screams. I think the same goes for dream theatre and helloween and fates warning.
I think the "thing" with these prog hair metal bands is that they are musicians but not artists. Some bands are artists but not musicians (ie. ac/dc, kiss, neil young) and personally I'd rather listen to an artist than a musican cuz that's the bloody point of music to me, I listen to it for it's artistic expression, not it's musicianship only, I need both to get my brain to spew huge wads of ejaculate on the inside of my cranium (there's a mental picture eh). I love prog because I feel prog is much better at expressing art, but not all prog is inspired art.
I feel that when a great musican sits down and thinks "hmm, I think I'll write a song now" then the result is complete shit like spiral architect. Real art isn't "written", it's discovered as it spews from the penis of the heart/mind. Great song writers don't actually write, they just let the music flow out of them and record it for later use. Mikael doesn't sit down and write, he just plays and every so often he comes up with something cool. Sometimes he writes entire tunes in a few minutes. Either way, it is inspired and it comes from his heart. This is why opeth sounds real and inspired and so incredibly emotional. Dream Theatre sounds like they are trying too hard, if you think too much while writing your mind gets in the way of the art and doesn't allow it to come out. I write drums and poetry and for me the best way to do either is by telling my brain to shut the hell up and just let it flow while being "in the moment" rather than "observing the moment". This is where true art is born. Real ART cannot be manufactured cuz it is a living breathing thing. Attempting to simulate art by "thinking" about it creates crap like dream theatre or uzeb, which, though technically proficient, is less artistic than a blowing leaf in autumn cuz it isn't *real*, it's fake and forced.
I noticed that many great musicians aren't artists (like most music teachers who are so uninspired it's pathetic) and that many great artists aren't musicians. Fortunately for us Mikael is BOTH an artist and a musician and he is extremely good at both and his skill and artistic edge feed on rather than hinder one another.
He's fucking brilliant and such a good player, and that voice, damn! He's not human!
Satori
