The great Opeth exaltation

[ditches]

You might remember me for my mock-infomercial post. Where to begin? Let's see...

I'm the roommate of Shadowthrone, who (along with several others) introduced me to metal. I'd always longed for something deeper than the American mainstream ever since I first heard Master of Puppets as a kid, and bands like Therion and Nightwish appealed to my artistic sense.

And then I was shown Morningrise.

Now, to give you a little context of my musical taste, Opeth is about as far into death metal as I can stand. Shadowthrone's piles o' black metal are too much for my poor Christian sensibilities.

So you can imagine that sitting through Advent for the first time was a very interesting experience. One thing and only one thing got me through the entire album...

THE MUSIC~!

It's easy to say "yeah, they're great". It's quite another to fully express exactly how talented a band Opeth is. I like to use the term 'high-end' a lot to describe things I like, but Opeth goes beyond that. They do so many different things musically without being spaced-out, painful or just plain mediocre; they do all things, and nail it every time.

Eventually I came to not simply tolerate, but outright enjoy the death vocals. Yet I still don't like ANY other death metal! Granted, a lot of that is just quirk, but there's also the music factor. Most other death bands don't have quite the refined sound, let alone the softer interludes between brutality.

[quick reference of my Opeth preferences, starting at the top: Still Life, Blackwater Park, Deliverance, MAYH, Morningrise, Orchid]

In a year, Opeth went from being one of my 20 favorite bands, to top 10, to top 5. They solidified that status with their Toronto concert this year, which was beyond mindblowing DESPITE a godawful sound mix that turned the bass up by like 190%.

Here's the point to all this.

To me, Opeth stands alone. Very few 'progressive' bands are at their level, let alone with such consistency. To what extent has Mikael & Co. raised the bar for other metal? How much will they influence new acts? How long will they keep producing music at this quality?

 

[Schism]

Well said, I am in total agreeance

My order of preference is the same as yours, and I cannot top the sheer majesty of Opeth with any other band, I find I must listen to them everyday and when I am not listening I am craving their presence in my ears

I think I am in love LOL

 

[Cutter]

Nice post, and well said. I too am fairly much disillusioned with most other metal music, and most other music in general for that matter. There's so much garbage out there, and when you finally stumble upon a truly progressive and unbound metal act such as Opeth. It gives you pause. I'm at the point where I enjoy individual acts within many genres of music, but am a disciple of no one particular genre. As far as metal go's, Opeth is at the pinnacle IMO. Its hard to post to a board like this without sounding gushy and fan-boy like, but I can only say how I feel.

I also find myself listening to them, practically every day, as I don't find myself tiring of them like I do so many other bands. I'm not sure what it is...none of my friends really listen to Opeth, they weren't popular when I got into them, metal is generally frowned upon in my social circle, but yet, I kind of see past all that and go straight to the core. To what its all about. The music. Leaving all the other shit behind.

 

[Static]

More people need to listen to Maudlin of the Well.


Anyways...you sir, are correct, Opeth are bloody brilliant.

 

[ditches]

I'm reminded of another question I wanted to ask...

Does anyone know how many copies of the various albums have been sold?

 

[Syndrome]

hello Ditches, welcome to this board
hope you will have a nice time here..

"Shadowthrone's piles o' black metal are too much for my poor Christian sensibilities. "

holy shit that was the most funniest thing I've heard today

 

[squeegee your third eye]

Since I'm not a christian, I have no such sensibilities to be offended by black metal. Still, most is hard to listen to, beyond initial morbid curiosity.

I can relate to your post Ditches. My defining metal moment was in high school, when the first guitar grenades of "Damage Inc." pummeled my head. "Master of Puppets" was THE album of the 80's.

Being a late 80's thrash man, I can enjoy most death metal. My only dislike is really low, gutteral growl, like Nile. I prefer screaming and shrieking, like Kreator, that conveys anger or metaphysical torment. A bit campy at times, but effective. Just a preference. Singers who try to sound "evil" (i.e., low growling belch) usually make me laugh.

Opeth, however, breaks these rules. Akerfeldt's death vocals are diverse and effective at conveying many different testures and feelings. It's not all about sounding evil. At first, they were an aquired taste, but now I enjoy them without apology. Especially "Still Life's" vocals.

Opeth is one of the few metal bands with depth.

 

[Lacent]

well to me opeth is one of those things that has to grow on you, i have been a fan for 5 years, but out of those 5 years they have only held number 1 for the past 2.5, i first had to get into dream theater which helped me into the prog sideof them and then into pantera which helped me with the vox ( i know phil isnt death growls but his screams are incredible) anyway, just as it has grown on me tremenously in the past 5 years, they have grown on the music scene as well, gaining respect from DT and many other largely famous bands that have heard them, i predict its only a matter of time before they are quite a well known band in the death metal scence (much well known than now, somewhat like inflames or morbid angle) anywho, when you look at the size of their shows, from 42 people in topeka kansas two years ago to over 1000 at shows now its pretty amazing how quickly they are blowing up, its really awesome too