This was brought up by... someone... in another thread, and I found it very interesting, so I thought I'd move the discussion out here to where it's more accessible to everyone. Why do 'dark' bands like Opeth (and Katatonia, and leagues of others that many of us are fans of) appeal to us so much?
I'll give my 2 cents:
I live a pretty happy, normal life. My parents are pretty happily still together, we have a pretty good income, a nice house, and everything else is going pretty well. It may be that though this is the preferable way to live (for me), I do want to escape to something else, to experience things 'otherwise'. Music has always been a means of escapism for me, so the dark and fantastic themes in a lot of metal appeal to me. And on the occasion that I am feeling down, the dark music and lyrics of bands like Opeth strike very close to home and I identify with them on an entirely different level.
What do you guys think?
I'll give my 2 cents:
I live a pretty happy, normal life. My parents are pretty happily still together, we have a pretty good income, a nice house, and everything else is going pretty well. It may be that though this is the preferable way to live (for me), I do want to escape to something else, to experience things 'otherwise'. Music has always been a means of escapism for me, so the dark and fantastic themes in a lot of metal appeal to me. And on the occasion that I am feeling down, the dark music and lyrics of bands like Opeth strike very close to home and I identify with them on an entirely different level.
What do you guys think?