the MENDEZ thread!!!

[worldwide_suicide]

^that'd be nice, having mendez smashing thing with his head!!

but no, really, something i really like about GR is that you can hear the bass better than before... also it's my opinion that Damnation wouldn't be the same without those amazing bass fills Bass Player does. But yeah... Mikael needs to acknowledge what a great bass player he has and let him shine more...

 

[Forest-of-October]

How right you are. I think Mendez has a lot of potential, he certainly showed it on Damnation, especially on Windowpane! I think if Mike gave him more parts to let him really shine through, and let us actually hear what he's got, people would probably show him a little more consideration. Perhaps give him a little bit more parts like, back on the intro to Face of Melinda.

On a completley seperate note, Im listening to the solo in the Amen Corner and it's fuckin good!

 

[worldwide_suicide]

I'll be honest here... I think Akerfeldt is really, really into guitars and doing stuff with them and exploring and stuff... sometimes it looks like he just wants the bass as a base on where to put his solos and leads and stuff... when he could really USE and ABUSE Mendez and his bass, that would just make opeth an even better band than it already is.

 

[Mr Samsara]

Mendez certainly pwns all the N00bs. I liked in the Lamentations documentary when he was trying to do that fill in Deliverance and finally got it after a bunch of tries. Honesty! He's still great, though.

Actually... I believe you witnessed Mendez being taught the fill on camera. If you actually listen to what they are saying in the doc or most interviews that touch on the recording of D&D that much of it was written in studio and recorded without any rehearsal. I was actually impressed with his couple of tries to learn it... then bangs it right out... then it's recorded. Bass Player... Sometimes good things DO come in small packages!

Out.

 

[Forest-of-October]

Agreed. Opeth really does have a talented bass player on their hands they just need to give him a chance. Im just re-listening to some of the tracks on GR now, and you can definetley hear him a little better, especially on the mellow parts, it's a subtle, yet pleasing touch. Perhaps this is just a sign of Mendez's future use?

EDIT: Samsara you blasphemer! Get that post outta my way
Naw I agree with you too. I thought his ability to learn that complicated little fill so quickly was actually quite impressive. Especially because he wasn't really taught any of the notes, he just watched Mike play it, and picked it up that way.

 

[in limbow]

Yeah, Mendez kicks ass. I think a lot of people regard his playing as boring or nothing special compared to Johan. But he comes up with a lot of great, catchy basslines just as Johan did. Listen to the bass in the chorus of "Harvest", the verses and piano part of "To Rid the Disease", or of course near the end of "Blackwater Park"... he's a great bassist, an essential member of Opeth.

 

[worldwide_suicide]

Agreed. Opeth really does have a talented bass player on their hands they just need to give him a chance. Im just re-listening to some of the tracks on GR now, and you can definetley hear him a little better, especially on the mellow parts, it's a subtle, yet pleasing touch. Perhaps this is just a sign of Mendez's future use?

EDIT: Samsara you blasphemer! Get that post outta my way
Naw I agree with you too. I thought his ability to learn that complicated little fill so quickly was actually quite impressive. Especially because he wasn't really taught any of the notes, he just watched Mike play it, and picked it up that way.

TRUE.

Also, some people use that part of the DVD to misjudge Mendez thinking he doens't come up with his own parts. BS!!! that's a part that needs to follof what the guitar is doing, that's why Mikael is teaching him.
And he picked it up real quick, and no, it's not that easy.

But still.. i think there's much more in that tiny little box we call Mendez!!!

 

[RiffBoy]

...Mendez --- a great bassist, an essential member of Opeth.

Absolutely! His playing is so full of little details which helps bringing Opeht music to bloom...

Just a tiny beautiful example:

Listen to the beginning of "Reverie..."
It starts with guitar and vocals the first two seconds of the song.

Then Mendez enters with a descending gliss - and then plays a couple of notes (4-5 during exactly two seconds) just prior to playing THIRD degree of the second chord (at 5 sec into the song)! Here he shows how intelligent and talented he really is!!

(All of this elegant bass action occurs during Mike's singing the word "trees".)

It discretely sets the mood, of this intricate and varied song, and puts my attention to his playing even more! There is SO much to find for those who listens for it.

Please note - I'm not talking about the speed of his playing or anything:
My discussion here is about the finesse and elegance of his bass lines, that is another factor (apart from all other aspects) that lifts Opeth music SO much higher musically above any other death metal (or any rock) band.

 

[Satyros]

mandaz rulez! and short :] almost like me

 

[worldwide_suicide]

that's exactly what i was thinking.

Bass Player's groove and elegance is what makes him my favorite band member!!!

*plays Reverie/Harlequin Forest*

 

[worldwide_suicide]

LOL, Kiko Lindgren looks like a child porn dealer and you're his VICTIMS!!!

does someone know how tall Mendez is? cause i'm also really short and i want to know. thank you.

 

[Forest-of-October]

Absolutely! His playing is so full of little details which helps bringing Opeht music to bloom...

Just a tiny beautiful example:

Listen to the beginning of "Reverie..."
It starts with guitar and vocals the first two seconds of the song.

Then Mendez enters with a descending gliss - and then plays a couple of notes (4-5 during exactly two seconds) just prior to playing THIRD degree of the second chord (at 5 sec into the song)! Here he shows how intelligent and talented he really is!!

(All of this elegant bass action occurs during Mike's singing the word "trees".)

It discretely sets the mood, of this intricate and varied song, and puts my attention to his playing even more! There is SO much to find for those who listens for it.

Please note - I'm not talking about the speed of his playing or anything:
My discussion here is about the finesse and elegance of his bass lines, that is another factor (apart from all other aspects) that lifts Opeth music SO much higher musically above any other death metal (or any rock) band.

Yes, it's very faint but I too can hear it. The other thing you noted is speed. Thats something that has never made a differnce to me. It's like comparing Mike's solos to Jeff Loomis's solos. Loomis obviously plays a lot faster in his solos, but I prefer the emotion that Mike puts into his solos over anything Loomis has ever done. Thing is Mendez may not play the fastest but his sound is more beautifull then any ripping fast bassist I have ever heard.

 

[Valerie]

i want to make a blanket out of his hair, and sleep under it


and then you'll be all

Jesus Akerfeldt! Where'd it go!

 

[Satyros]

i think hes somthing like 1.65

 

[Forest-of-October]

LOL, Kiko Lindgren looks like a child porn dealer and you're his VICTIMS!!!

does someone know how tall Mendez is? cause i'm also really short and i want to know. thank you.

I too was wondering this. It's kind of a pointless question, but I would like to know. Im only 5' 10'' but I'm pretty sure I tower over bass player. Except when he gets up there... when he gets going he's bigger then anyone else on that stage.

I uhhh... want that guys shirt (the one by Lindgren) but yeah, comparing him to Peter (who doesnt appear to look very happy), the guys just a little gaffer. I think had I never seen the guys from Opeth before and I saw him wandering around, I'de probably just disregard him as a small child with a beard.

 

[worldwide_suicide]

^sorry but NO. he would look like shit doing his headbanging thing and being all bald.

And also... it's SICK.

 

[worldwide_suicide]

So fucking true Forest-Of-October,... he's THE presence onstage, definitely!! when baging he's more like a horizontal human being than a vertical one i think.

and wow i'm 1.65 so if he's that short then we're the same..COOL!!!

 

[NicholasDWolfwood]

Absolutely! His playing is so full of little details which helps bringing Opeht music to bloom...

Just a tiny beautiful example:

Listen to the beginning of "Reverie..."
It starts with guitar and vocals the first two seconds of the song.

Then Mendez enters with a descending gliss - and then plays a couple of notes (4-5 during exactly two seconds) just prior to playing THIRD degree of the second chord (at 5 sec into the song)! Here he shows how intelligent and talented he really is!!

(All of this elegant bass action occurs during Mike's singing the word "trees".)

It discretely sets the mood, of this intricate and varied song, and puts my attention to his playing even more! There is SO much to find for those who listens for it.

Please note - I'm not talking about the speed of his playing or anything:
My discussion here is about the finesse and elegance of his bass lines, that is another factor (apart from all other aspects) that lifts Opeth music SO much higher musically above any other death metal (or any rock) band.

Personally, I love Mendez, but I think the only thing Johan did that was better than any of Mendez's stuff is the bass sliding bit in Advent. I absolutely jizz at that part.

Other than that, yeah, Mendez is a great bass player who stays in the pocket most of the time and provides the groove. Most of Damnation is a great example of this, the groove Mendez has is really astonishing, because he's a "Satan talking about how he hates god and he'll sacrifice virgins" (death metal) bass player, albeit prog death, and you normally don't expect death metal bass players to have such groove (I can actually only think of two or three, one being Mendez, one being Sean Malone, and one being Steve DiGiorgio...Malone and DiGiorgio don't really show their groove in their metal projects though)

 

[Nuk3m]

Man you guys can just shut up about him being short, its a fundamentle in being a good bassist. Its right up there next to side burns, Dont you people know anything?

 

[Forest-of-October]

So fucking true Forest-Of-October,... he's THE presence onstage, definitely!! when baging he's more like a horizontal human being than a vertical one i think.

and wow i'm 1.65 so if he's that short then we're the same..COOL!!!

What is 1.65, help me out, Im Canadian...
If anyone knows it in feet and inches that'd be grand.