weenur
Loving gloomy Phoenix
I don't know. They were pretty amazing live. I think that whatever they lose texturally they make up for in energy and just flawless performances.Evil Ernie said:
The Opeth Thread
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Metal Immortal
Guardian of the Blind
I see that earlier there was a skirmish about people against the album Damnation. Well, damnthe Damnation album rules. It's the only Opeth album I dare buy; it's very good as far as music of that album's type goes. The first three songs kick ass all over hell and back, while the other five... continue kicking ass. What can I say? I love it! It's nice to blast my brains onto the floor with distortion, but sometimes some calm music is required to get some balance going. MY friends made fun of me when I bought that album: "When the fuck are they hitting the distortion button?!" God. I hate those assholes. Slowly... my plot to kill them all shall begin.
Evil Ernie
Ungodly freak, defiler
weenur said:
Yeah they put up a really good show, but songs or song sections are so hard to play live that sometimes it sounds a little weak. Harvest on the DVD comes to mind.
Rose Immortal
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It also seemed to me, on the DVD, that Mikael and Per Wiberg were having a bit of trouble handling the vocals. I can understand that playing as Mikael does and trying to sing at the same time could be very challenging, but he does seem to have a little bit of trouble staying on key. I definitely like him as a vocalist, but I couldn't help noticing it in places like "Closure". It also seemed like Per was undermixed, and because of that the wonderful harmonies from the studio album got lost a bit because you couldn't hear the high part.
koolboee cdmo87
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I wholeheartedly agree with you, and actually Mikael says that the album was written after his beloved grandfather died, and it (in his words) "tainted" the album and its themes (coincidentally, his grandmother's death "tainted" the ending of Damnation). So even if Morningrise is in the context of the characters on the Opeth albums, it's quite autobiographical... and I noticed that it's really the only album that doesn't have a concrete plot, it's almost all psychological. Another interesting thing is Mikael's later feelings on the album... he still loves it for the time he was going through, but it sort of makes him cringe to hear it because he's grown so much since then. It reminds me of when I look at my past works, and I realize and appreciate their merit, but I'm slightly embarrassed by them because it's almost like a different person made them. In fact, I've found that other people value them more than I do. That's something that Mikael has stated before, as well... Morningrise is a (quote) "fantastic album", and he loves the fact that it has a fanbase and has moved so many people... even if he has a tinge of dislike for it, since he's moved on (both lyrically and even his musical ability).Rose Immortal said:
Morningrise is a great album, even if I can't say it's one of their very best. The production is bone-dry, which is a bit irritating, but the writing and playing on here is really amazing. Despite his personality, Johan de Farfalla is an incredible bassist (although, sadly, Mikael had to play the majority of it for him by then as it turns out), and he really shines on some very odd (and admirable) riffs. Anders is a competent drummer, even if he's by no means an exceptional one... his work is good, just not great. Like Rose Immortal has said, I find his drumming to be too train-like (take the opening of "Advent" for example)... as has been admitted many a time, Anders is more of a keyboard player, and it's unfortunate that the keys collected some dust on this album. Glad to see that Nordstrom and Wilson have stepped in to add keys on later albums, and it's about time the band hired a keyboardist (Per really added even more life to the already-great past songs). I still find Mikael's death vocals to be too shrill (his more recent gutteral vocals are amazing), and even if his soft vocals (and his understanding of English) still had a way to go, that was a pretty admirable first stab. "To Bid You Farewell", I think at first is too (to quote Rose Immortal) "Weather Channel-like", but it picks up steam eventually and makes for a great closer (unless you have the reissue with the awful demo on it).
Back to what Rose Immortal was saying... "Black Rose Immortal" is an interesting piece. It's obviously they're longest, and one would think that that would make it its best. There's a lot of movements to it. In my opinion, though, the movements don't flow together well at all... the individual sections are good enough, but shouldn't have been lumped together for one song. Nonetheless, I admire what's happening on the lyrics very much... the character obviously has suffered much psychological torment since his loss, and things like the nightmares in "Nectar" certainly indicate so. To me, "Black Rose Immortal" is about trying to find that inner peace... something that is not easy to do, which I suppose is why it's so shockingly long.
I discovered this album a couple years after having to experience a truly devastating death of someone I loved... so I can't appreciate it as much as maybe I could have, had I known the album when the death happened. I know a couple people who have mentioned that it was a great help to them during such a time. Still, I can certainly relate to it and I find it intriguing.
I saw them last February, and they put on an incredible show. The heavy stuff is definitely sick, and the soft stuff is hypnotic. A true assault on the senses. What makes their shows even better is the connection that they make with the audience, all 4 (now 5) of them establish one quickly into the show. I saw them on the Lamentations Tour, when they were exhausted (in fact, Martin Lopez was still recovering from a mental illness)... despite their seeming rather frail, they were still in good spirits.
I have mixed feelings on "Silhouette". It was an on-the-spot improvisation, and it's technically very impressive indeed. It also has a surge of emotional power at first... but I think it starts to lose it by the song's end, where it starts becoming more random. One of the things that makes Orchid so unique is the atmosphere... even if the production is still kind of low-budget and shabby, the sound is DRENCHED in reverb... which really aids the listener in imagining the cold, yet serene environment that the character is in. When one is dying, they experience a kind of "fading-away" feeling, and sounds are softer... and Swano definitely captured that kind of effect.
If you're really only a metalhead, you shouldn't be introduced into Opeth with Damnation. You'll probably only come to appreciate it after you grow a liking for their past work. The first three albums sound a little too grainy, Still Life is too finessed, Deliverance is too one-sided... the best album to introduce yourself into Opeth is Blackwater Park. That's also the only album with no consistant concept, so it's just easier to break into... and it's very balanced between soft and heavy (and so is Still Life), whereas the others range.
Someone brought up "The Moor" and "Godhead's Lament"... and I also love these two songs. "The Moor" is, simply, perhaps their best song. "Godhead's Lament" doesn't really get flack per se, but it never really gets any accolades either... and I think the energy and force of it is HUGE. One of their most overlooked songs.
As for Damnation... I have to admit, I fucking love this album. The shortness and slight simplicity of the songs do grate on my nerves a bit... but I just can't help but love the album. Every single song.
"Windowpane" is a classic, and deserves a mention in particular. I remember that that was one of the first Opeth songs I heard (the very first being "The Drapery Falls"), and it was on a gloomy snow day... but the song was perfect for that kind of weather, I was simply awe-struck when I heard it. That outro gets me every time, too. It's got a real good groove to it too.
Say what you will about Damnation as a whole... you've got to admit, "Windowpane" is irresistable. It's not my favorite on there (that is probably "In My Time of Need"), but it's definitely the best.
What's unusual about Damnation is not just the fact that it's almost-entirely soft, because if that was the only thing about it I think just about every fan would love it. It's the fact that it's actually very different from even their past soft work... fans were highly anticipating the album to be chockful of gems that they literally referred to as "Benighted"s and "Harvest"s. What they received was VERY different... and perhaps if I had been a fan before the album came out, I would've been shocked and not sure what to think of it. The pre-Damnation soft work was more acoustic and folk-like, where everything's sort of stripped down... whereas Damnation is mostly electric and sort of elaborate in a way. Yet, the album is still able to convey Opeth's mysterious, quaint atmosphere that a fan expects from them. It really WAS a unique experiment.
That IS rather unusual, because musically those two albums are polar opposites. My Arms Your Hearse is by far their heaviest record, but it still has its quick moments of soft work... Damnation is by far their softest record, but it still has its quick moments of heavier work. I just don't think they could be more of exact opposites. IMO, that's what makes Opeth great though.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the show!
I think you bought the wrong album, though. Although I like Deliverance, it is my least-favorite. Conceptually, the album is brilliant and it makes for a great partner to its twin Damnation. However, it was just plagued with problems from the start, and due to lack of more financial and time resources, it didn't reach its potential. I think that it's too one-sided, the mixing is poor (bad studio), and the riffs are too repetitive and drawn-out. The band went through HELL trying to cut this album, so I have to cut them a lot of slack. The lyrics are certainly unique, but they're very sinister (with the exception of "A Fair Judgement", where the "evil" side of the character shows a little bit of his conscience). Deliverance is a good album, but I think people should 1.) have their other albums as well and 2.) have a good understanding of the album's theme and its relationship with Damnation. I think had it not been for those two factors, I wouldn't care for the album all that well.I also liked that set, but I think it should've been a little more mixed. The entire album all at once is rather tiring... they should've mixed the other softer songs that they were playing on that tour (e.g. "Benighted", "Face of Melinda", etc.) into the live set rather than playing all of them as an encore.
I do disagree with the live performance of "Ending Credits" though... I think it was a highlight, actually. They did something very different from that one. The majority of the songs on the album sounded great live, although I do think "Hope Leaves" falls short as a live song (even if I love the song itself and it's one of the best on the album). The other songs had either a GREAT live atmosphere ("Windowpane, "To Rid the Disease", "Weakness"), fan interaction ("In My Time of Need"), or an interesting new spin on them ("Death Whispered a Lullaby" and "Closure").
That's something else that strikes me about Damnation. The lyrics are extremely open and brutally honest. One would think that their softest album would be their lightest... but ironically, it's their darkest.
You're exactly right. Plus, Per added arrangements to the earlier songs that were interesting to hear.
koolboee cdmo87
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BTW, I'm interested in hearing peoples' feelings about these particular songs... I have my reasons for picking these certain ones.
"The Twilight is My Robe"
"Dirge for November"
"By the Pain I See in Others"
"Weakness"
"The Twilight is My Robe"
"Dirge for November"
"By the Pain I See in Others"
"Weakness"
I love Dirge for November, the change from slow to heavy is great.
The lyrics remind me of Aztec history
The lyrics remind me of Aztec history
Rose Immortal
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SilentRealm
Member
theyre the most 'death-metal' i can handle..
Well he isnt a BRILLIANT singer, he is a brilliant death metal vocalist and thats good enough.. most singers have a bit of trouble staying on key anyway, thats very normal, and handling everything he handles at the same time on stage, you cant expect his vocal performance to be absolutely flawless as well. he is only human after all. Even Russell, and Tobias of Edguy I've noticed sometime slip, or dont sound the best on stage.
Rose Immortal
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It's very interesting that you'd think that. I remember a lot of people at the Opeth board thought that it was a suicide--but a friend of mine and I were thinking more along the lines of an execution.
I read a description once of a public execution by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in his book The Idiot. Dostoyevsky himself was tortured with a mock execution. He believed with an absolute certainty that he was going to die. When he described the experience, through the mouth of one of his characters, he said that the most horrible part of it was being completely bereft of hope, that even a person who's being assaulted by thieves has some tiny hope of living through it. (And I might add that even a person trying to commit suicide may not have absolute certainty what they're doing is going to work.) But the person led to an execution has none at all. And that kind of hopelessness definitely seems to be in the song.
I read a description once of a public execution by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, in his book The Idiot. Dostoyevsky himself was tortured with a mock execution. He believed with an absolute certainty that he was going to die. When he described the experience, through the mouth of one of his characters, he said that the most horrible part of it was being completely bereft of hope, that even a person who's being assaulted by thieves has some tiny hope of living through it. (And I might add that even a person trying to commit suicide may not have absolute certainty what they're doing is going to work.) But the person led to an execution has none at all. And that kind of hopelessness definitely seems to be in the song.
Cephalopod
The Secrecies of Horror
It's hard to pick favorites, but I'll go with MAYH and Still Life. April Ethereal and Demon of the Fall (the ULTIMATE encore song, IMO) are my favorites on MAYH. As for Still Life, Godhead's Lament and Serenity Painted Death are my choices.
Interesting thought you had with the execution, I've never thought of it that way, if it is like you are saying about the hope of the one about to die then the first four lines of the song discard the suicide theory
koolboee cdmo87
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I COULD understand where one would assume "Dirge for November" is about suicide... there's the first line "lost, here is nowhere" which kinda sets it up for that... and then the line "this firm slit", which would have a negative connotation with suicide.
But the thing is, one has control over their suicide. Look at the line "The omen showed, took me away...", that right there indicates that it's being done against her will. "Preparations are done... this can't last!"
I think the first movement is when she is in her prison cell, or wherever her holding location is... and once she's brought out, that's when the heavy part starts, and then when they're preparing her for the death... obviously, she's freaking out inside, although she seems sort of reserved on the outside... and then there's those last power shreds as the deed is being done and *blackout*... very powerful.
Rose brings an interesting idea from her source... I myself have been on the critical brink of death once, but there WAS still that faint feeling of hope that I could make it. Being in the victim in question's situation, I wouldn't have even that.
Which brings me to my point. That last verse, she notices her wounds... and then as the final preparations are being implemented, she seems to be in a sort of prayer. "GRANT me sleep, take me under..." I find it interesting that Mikael used the word "grant", as if this was a great gift. But if you think about it, it really is. This is her only ray of hope in this situation, that the death will be quick... because whatever happens, her death is still imminent. The tearjerker moment is at the very end of the verse, when she's grateful for her bleak little hope coming true... "like the wings of a dove, folding around, I fade into this tender care."
Any thoughts?
But the thing is, one has control over their suicide. Look at the line "The omen showed, took me away...", that right there indicates that it's being done against her will. "Preparations are done... this can't last!"
I think the first movement is when she is in her prison cell, or wherever her holding location is... and once she's brought out, that's when the heavy part starts, and then when they're preparing her for the death... obviously, she's freaking out inside, although she seems sort of reserved on the outside... and then there's those last power shreds as the deed is being done and *blackout*... very powerful.
Rose brings an interesting idea from her source... I myself have been on the critical brink of death once, but there WAS still that faint feeling of hope that I could make it. Being in the victim in question's situation, I wouldn't have even that.
Which brings me to my point. That last verse, she notices her wounds... and then as the final preparations are being implemented, she seems to be in a sort of prayer. "GRANT me sleep, take me under..." I find it interesting that Mikael used the word "grant", as if this was a great gift. But if you think about it, it really is. This is her only ray of hope in this situation, that the death will be quick... because whatever happens, her death is still imminent. The tearjerker moment is at the very end of the verse, when she's grateful for her bleak little hope coming true... "like the wings of a dove, folding around, I fade into this tender care."
Any thoughts?
I'm gonna voice my opinion and leave. 
I don't like un-clean vocals so much, and I couldn't stand a whole spin of Blackwater Park...
I don't like un-clean vocals so much, and I couldn't stand a whole spin of Blackwater Park...
Rose Immortal
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Believe it or not, that was my opinion too, when I first got into Opeth and got Blackwater Park. You never know what would happen if you kept playing it over and over...maybe the same thing as me, and you'll grow to like it? 
