Theory On Opeth As A Gateway Band

[Ermz]

I think it's just the fact that everybody is trying to carve up their little piece of the underground. A few years ago, hardly anybody had heard of this fantastic band called 'Opeth'. I felt I stumbled onto a real gem when I heard their music, and was surprised so little other people knew about them. Since that Blackwater Park explosion though more and more people got into Opeth, and the old crew felt alienated so they 'moved on' into more obscure realms that the metal mainstream hasn't caught up to yet.

 

[PoS]

hey mikey! i thought you'd made your point well enough. though it must suck being an elitist snob. where have ya been anyway?

 

[drowssap]

Nobody knew who Opeth was when i discovered them

Thank you Christopher Columbus

 

[FUBAR]

^ haha classic

 

[deliverance]

hahaha

 

[Hejira_Omeed]

I don't know about Opeth being a "gateway band" they weren't for me, and i don't think they were for anyone i know, but that might just be us. The first metal band i started listening to was Metallica and then from there i found Iced Earth, then Blind Guardian and In Flames, and just kept going and found Opeth along the way

 

[cthulufhtagn]

Thank you Christopher Columbus

burn!

 

[mot-]

They were my steppingstone into heavier music, too. But that was about 4 years ago.

 

[ViCyniC]

I went from Linkin Park to Opeth. No transition needed. Around early 2001. Just by chance, Harvest was the first Opeth song I've heard...followed by the rest of the album out of sheer curiosity. After that, it was all a blur.

Oh, and I'm all suited up. Flame away. :hotjump:

 

[Vrykolakas]

My Dying Bride was the most influencial extreme band for me. Scholomance and Paramaecium also. n00b to the forum but not a n00b to progressive, doom or death metal. Suck my n00b.

 

[deathbearer]

Considering my age, my first introduction into real underground metal was Slayer and Metallica bak in 84. Then some Bathory, Exodus, Testament, and Death in the late 80's.
Then death metal came into my life with Morbid Angel, Deicide, Entomed, Grave, Napalm Death in the 90's.
Then other great bands such as Opeth ect and the black metal boom of the 90's.
Opeth is a gateway for some, for me, they were/ARE a good death/progresisve doom band.
There are plenty of other great death metal bands. Check out Necrophagist, Arsis, Cepharnaum if you can.

 

[Demilich]

Thank you Christopher Columbus

Haha, owned.

 

[Draehl]

Where do you define the gateway? I didn't listen to music before Bush, is Korn metal or just a gateway to it? Is Metallica extreme or just my gateway to it? In Flames was my gateway to stuff like Opeth and Soilwork, but Opeth has gotten me into more obscure stuff like Agalloch, Falkenbach or Finntroll. Are In Flames or Opeth exactly "death metal"? What are we gatewaying to exactly? Metal, extreme metal, obscure metal, or obscure music in general(Opeth > Caravan/Camel)?

 

[Vrykolakas]

I'm soooo happy I don't have to say Metallica or Iron Maiden were my introduction to METAL. Fucking DIO!!!!

 

[ThePhilosopher]

The biggest problem with n00b Opeth fans is that they think Opeth is the most brilliant and innovative band in the world. For a while there I'm pretty sure the drummer in my band thought Opeth was the first extreme metal band to use an acoustic guitar or clean vocals. The problem is that Opeth is not only a gateway band, but especially for those who've gotten into them in the past 18 to 24 months, the place where exploration of the metal scene actually ends. The only solution to this problem is to make a concentrated effort to show "n00bs" that there's more to metal than Opeth, and that they are not the most original band out there.

 

[coolsnow7]

Hey, they aren't the most original band out there, but they are pretty up there. Otherwise I know personally I would slaughter anyone who started a thread like "MIKE IS JESUS OPETH 4 RULZ!~1" (if they were serious) and I think most of the people here would too. There definetely is plenty more out there, but give Opeth some credit.

As for me, yea I found about Opeth around February of...well this year, but I had, over the course of the preceding 3 months, given myself quite the metal background for someone involved for, well, 3 months. I still consider them amazing, though I never feel like listening to them, unless it's a particularly upsetting/winterlike day. Come January I'm willing to bet Still Life will be on 90% of the time...

Recently I think they are the newest "gateway" band. If I were to be selfish I would say "this sucks n00b, I wish they would all leave and leave the underground undergrounded" but this may well be a good thing. Even though it hasn't happened yet and it's not likely to either, maybe eventually we will get some n00bs who don't do what the other guy mentioned, only respect the Britney Spears aspects of Opeth. Like the majority of people here, I completely disregarded progressive music as a whole until I heard them. Funny because I heard the term thrown around a lot, but I never liked it or paid attention until I heard Opeth, and said to myself "this is progressive...." Anyway, yeah I think Opeth is becoming quite the gateway band, and between them and Children of Bodom, and the recent thousands of rap/bm/grindcore/UNORIGINAL bands out there, I fully expect this stuff to eventually be played on the radio, and not even the underground stations or shows. I can see this stuff, eventually going into full rotation. Of course it won't be bands similar to Opeth in complexity, more in the use of blast beats and growls, and not pertaining to Opeth, stunted rhythms and vocals. Won't be much better or worse really, except that when I say my favorite band is Death I likely won't get non-metal people to give me strange looks and whine about how I'm "messed up, retarded, need help, disturbed."

 

[Vrykolakas]

You are dillusional if you think Opeth will ever be played nationwide on the radio in the USA.

 

[ViCyniC]

Opeth has no marketing association with US radio, so of course they won't be played on it. The US radio is just a marketing device.

 

[Inconium Guard]

As for me, yea I found about Opeth around February of...well this year, but I had, over the course of the preceding 3 months, given myself quite the metal background for someone involved for, well, 3 months. I still consider them amazing, though I never feel like listening to them, unless it's a particularly upsetting/winterlike day. Come January I'm willing to bet Still Life will be on 90% of the time...

Funny you mention Still Life. That reminded me of the thought about Opeth's albums I had yesterday. I was thinking of the imagery present in the music and lyrics, and it occurred to me that Opeth's "sound" seems to fit perfectly in an autumn setting, except for Still Life, which has a different sound to it, like winter. The whole sound of the album makes me think of being in this dark, gloomy castle by a huge fireplace in the dead of winter. I might also say Damnation has a wintry feel to it, as opposed to the traditional Opeth autumn sound, but that might be stretching it.

Just thought I'd share that for some reason heheh

 

[audiophileguy]

My cd collection before opeth had little metal in it and the metal cds I had weren't that entertaining(RIB, puppets, god hates us all :/) so I mostly listened to radio rock. The first time I heard about opeth was during chats online with people I gamed with. They raved about opeth all the time, but that didn't really push me to listen to them. One night I decided to go to the wherehouse and pick up some cd. Well, they didn't have it, so I picked up BWP instead. I wasn't sure who opeth really was, but the name sounded familiar. I sat down and listened to the cd, I couldn't stand the growling at all. I did enjoy the singing and some of the guitar work tho. Eventually I downloaded some mp3s out of curiousity and made a cd. I took that Cd to school and started listening to BRI. I was blown away, I had never heard anything like that in my life. From that point on I started to enjoy growling, it's like something clicked in my head. I do think opeth is a gateway band, they play beautiful music and mix death/clean vox very well.

I rarely listen to opeth now because I played their songs to death. I'm currently enjoying trash, trad., and power metal. I plan to get into death metal and black metal next. ty opeth getting me out of mainstream music.