Upcoming Opeth record

[osum]

The drums an Watershed are just (as most Bogren drum mixes)

 

[colonel_claypoo]

songwise and atmosphere-wise nothing beats the first four albums, especially My Arms, Your Hearse and Still Life for me an I'd love to see opeth go back go that style.

 

[mva801]

I love everything Opeth have done. If Michael wants to experiment, go ahead. There are a few songs on heritage that I love.

My favorites are Ghost Reveries and Deliverance & Damnation. I've always loved Opeth's softer weirder stuff, so it doesn't bug me at all when they depart from the norm. I've also been getting REALLY bored with metal nowadays so it's actually kind of nice to see bands like this explore other sounds.

AFAIK didn't he kind of produce Heritage himself as well? they had that older guy engineering and Wilson mixing, but I think he was able to kind of put the music together how he wanted.

 

[osum]

songwise and atmosphere-wise nothing beats the first four albums, especially My Arms, Your Hearse and Still Life for me an I'd love to see opeth go back go that style.

Yup, don't know how many times I heared Still Life forwards and backwards, the atmosphere is just beautiful.

 

[ATLA]

Mayh and Still Life all the way. I love almost all of their stuff but these albums are what got me into this band.

 

[DanLights]

songwise and atmosphere-wise nothing beats the first four albums, especially My Arms, Your Hearse and Still Life for me an I'd love to see opeth go back go that style.

I see what you mean, but if you've been paying attention, Mikael has said a million times he doesn't believe in the whole "going back to your roots" bullshit, and I agree with him in a way. Those albums are those albums because of who they were at that time, just trying to go back and do something like that because people would like to hear it will only end up a train wreck, cause they are not who they were back then, both band and fans would be dissapointed. So enjoy those albums like we all do

 

[colonel_claypoo]

yeah, alright. I agree with you and mike saying that and I think it makes sense.
perhaps it's just wishful thinking of a fan who loves the older stuff.
anyway, I believe the new record is going to be very good.

what do you guys think about mike's voice? I don't know the facts but is his voice basically unable to produce growls anymore or doesn't he want to do them or less of them?

 

[mva801]

He just doesn't want to do them. I saw them in the last year or two and they played The Grand Conjuration at the end. Sounded fine to me.

I also saw them on the heritage tour (right after the album came out) and he didn't growl once. A few people were screaming "play some metal!". He said "I've been playing metal every day for 20 years"

I just don't think that stuff excites him anymore. I can understand why. I can hardly listen to metal anymore either.

 

[osum]

what do you guys think about mike's voice? I don't know the facts but is his voice basically unable to produce growls anymore or doesn't he want to do them or less of them?

Well, the growls on the Royal Albert Hall concert were imho pretty bad in comparison to his other performances and I think he had some problems that time and the time after the heritage release, but:

I think he's still able to do them (again), see here, that's from 2013.

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

I saw them in 2012 and they did Demon of the Fall, Drapery Falls, and Ghost of Perdition. Mikael sounded fine on all of them.

 

[abt]

I've seen them three times. The last time Mikael said some thing like "we don't do screams any more" he did (and they sounded fine). He went on to say something along the lines that it's all been done before and is cliché. A serious cop out if you ask me. It's just an excuse because he doesn't want to sing that way any more. What about double kicks? What about insert genre specific "cliché" here? Is he going to stop doing those too?

The last time I saw them the concert was really strange too. The set list made no sense. It just jumped around all over the place. It felt like is never really started. The other shows I've seen they played a few new songs then mellowed for a while with some quieter stuff then blasted us with all the favourites. The other time I saw them they did the whole mellow first half followed by heavy last half.

 

[He's Dead, Jim]

I feel like Mikael is a little bitter over fans' reactions to Heritage, and I'm sure playing live is less enjoyable as a result. When I saw them he told a story about some guy in Chicago who was giving them the finger literally the entire show, then they played Deliverance at the end and he made the metal horns instead. It was a funny story, but he seemed very tired and sick of the whole thing. I don't blame him, but I think there are people who wouldn't have minded Heritage as much if it had been more "together," for lack of a better word. It's not as bad as Watershed in the BTBAM-esque jumping around to random parts department, but it isn't very good, either.

But I Feel The Dark/Lines In My Hand/Folklore are really great, so idk. Steven Wilson's abandonment of Porcupine Tree also annoyed me, since I don't like his solo work very much at all for some of the same reasons Heritage wasn't that good.

 

[ATLA]

about his current growling. i believe it was after GR that he started using in ears and it totally messed up the way he growls. its starting to sound a bit better now than it did then judging by recent live videos however i dont think it will ever sound like it once was :/ maybe he just hates the way his growl sounds now and thats why he dislikes doing them now.

 

[osum]

Well, Mike's gonna do what he thinks is good. Nevertheless I would be pretty sad if there will be never again any growls on a new song

 

[DanLights]

He can still growl. Saw them at Brutal Assault last August, played Deliverance, Ghost of Perdition, Blackwater Park and other growlers and it was awesome, unlike that horrible Bloodbath DVD where he sucks more than my little sister screaming, and in the Royal Albert Hall DVD he was definitely worse than other live shows, but still decent, nowhere near as bad as Bloodbath in Bloodstock. He blamed the in-ears for that. Whatever it was, it's gone.

And the dude who said he doesn't like Steven's solo stuff. I love Porcupine Tree, and never got much into his solo stuff before last year, found it random and boring, but I was absolutely blown away by The Raven That Refused to Sing, one of the best albums of last year, and with Leprous' Coal and Haken's The Mountain definitely the best prog album, far ahead of DT's boring self-titled I hope will be forgotten soon enough. The amount of feeling and musicianship and structure in TRTRTS is something I've never heard before, but it definitely works as a whole, just one song will leave you a bit lost, but the whole album (even if you don't get the concept, I haven't listened to it along with the lyrics so I don't really get what it's supposed to be about), the music itself definitely ties the concept together. It's all subjective of course, my wife has always been a bigger PT and SW fan than I am and she still can't get into The Raven, while I enjoy it more than anything the man has put out in the past.

 

[Ermz]

It's almost a stretch of the imagination to think back and remember that I originally came to UM because of Opeth and their official forum. They were my favourite band for most of the 2000s.

Where they've been headed ever since Watershed is really uninteresting to me though, and I've barely spun any Opeth records in years now. Heritage wasn't so much a shock stylistically, as we all knew Mikael was heavily influenced by prog, it was mostly a shock in the sense that the quality of songwriting was so poor compared to their prior, seminal records. The record just diddles on ceaselessly. I understand the desire to play prog, but Heritage is re-treading ground that was done better by bands over 40 years ago. It just makes no sense to me. Above all, I can't understand why it was released under the 'Opeth' moniker. It could just as easily have been a side project. If Mikael is truly over the growls, over the metal etc. then maybe it's time to call it an end to Opeth and pursue his tastes through other avenues.

Needless to say, I'm not really piqued for Opeth's upcoming record in the least. It doesn't really matter though, because looking back through their body of work there is so much quality that it rounds out a great career. They've had a much better track record than most bands which last for 20+ years. If you feel the same way I do you can just bust out MAYH or Still Life every couple of months and marvel at how creative and inspirational metal music actually was at one point. Those records really just get better with age.

 

[DanLights]

It's almost a stretch of the imagination to think back and remember that I originally came to UM because of Opeth and their official forum. They were my favourite band for most of the 2000s.

Where they've been headed ever since Watershed is really uninteresting to me though, and I've barely spun any Opeth records in years now. Heritage wasn't so much a shock stylistically, as we all knew Mikael was heavily influenced by prog, it was mostly a shock in the sense that the quality of songwriting was so poor compared to their prior, seminal records. The record just diddles on ceaselessly. I understand the desire to play prog, but Heritage is re-treading ground that was done better by bands over 40 years ago. It just makes no sense to me. Above all, I can't understand why it was released under the 'Opeth' moniker. It could just as easily have been a side project. If Mikael is truly over the growls, over the metal etc. then maybe it's time to call it an end to Opeth and pursue his tastes through other avenues.

Needless to say, I'm not really piqued for Opeth's upcoming record in the least. It doesn't really matter though, because looking back through their body of work there is so much quality that it rounds out a great career. They've had a much better track record than most bands which last for 20+ years. If you feel the same way I do you can just bust out MAYH or Still Life every couple of months and marvel at how creative and inspirational metal music actually was at one point. Those records really just get better with age.

I agree their old albums do get better with age, but I disagree with the rest of your post. To say they should've released it with another name is just pigeon-holeing bands into a certain style and that if they do something different they should just call it quits and make a new band. That's just not practical on all ends. If the band dies, you will never get the chance to hear those classic songs live, even if in many cases with the new "touch" of the current band. Also, telling a songwriter/band leader what he should do with HIS project is also a bit insulting (I'm not saying you are insulting Opeth or Mikael, I hope you get my point with this) because he has no reason to give up the moniker that spelled succes for him/them and start over, with short setlists, smaller attendances, etc.

Also, it's a very personal opinion, but most of my favorite bands are bands that have changed over the years to a point where they easily could've changed name more than once in their career. Opeth, Paradise Lost, Anathema, Katatonia, Mayhem, Carcass, and many others are prime examples of this. I love when bands do different and unexpected things, I end up getting bored of bands doing the same thing every album even if they were favorites at one point, like has happened to me with once favorites Nile, Cannibal Corpse, and other (mostly extreme metal) bands, which I still very much enjoy, but can't really spin as much as I used to.

And Heritage IMO is awesome. To say that it's something many bands did better 40 years ago I think is not quite true, of course there's that huge influence from those bands, but there's also the strong Mikael Akerfeldt trademark in the songwriting, voice, lead and rhythm guitar playing that can be traced back to their older albums but now in a completely different environment, it's what I love about those bands, like Paradise Lost. When playing Doom/death, electro pop, goth rock or Hard hitting Gothic metal you always had the trademark songwriting and lead playing of Greg Mackintosh but in different environments, along with the lyrics and vocal melodies and harmonies of Nick in all the different "eras" of the band. And you can't forget in Heritage you also have the immensely powerful input of all the other members, be it Axe, Mendez or Fredrik. I think Per, as much as I admire his playing in previous albums, he was obviously under the strict control of Mikael for this one, specially cause everyone already knew he was leaving, so he pretty much went with the flow on this one, not to say it isn't still an outstanding performance, cause it is, but I feel he put in much more of his trademark sound and execution in Ghost Reveries and Watershed than in this one. I could be wrong of course, it's just how I sense it.

That was a long (not really a) rant.

 

[Ermz]

Heritage is a divison point for many fans. I've borne witness to many discussions going back and forth, and ultimately nothing that someone says is going to sway the musical tastes of another person. That being said, as far as my own perception of the qualitative aspects of music goes, 'Heritage' has been done better by other bands in the past. I would much sooner put on a Camel or King Crimson record. Or even Mike and Dan's old prog sideproject, 'Sorskogen'. Perhaps it's a hard point to make in this day and age where a vast majority of metal releases are highly derivative and formulaic. I suppose Heritage could seem like an Oasis in the desert.

Regarding the Opeth moniker, it's essentially just semantic. Mikael is the only original, founding member. Mendez is the only other guy who has been there for a significant length of the band's lifespan. It's Opeth in name only. It has nothing to do with pidgeonholing based on genre aesthetics. It's about recognizing the end of something and calling it what it is. If Mikael is no longer interested in metal or growling (as his numerous recent interviews continue to allude to) then he is not of the same mindset he was throughout the vast majority of the band's existence. Opeth always seemed to be about striking a balance between metal and progressive elements to create something truly unique. Once Mikael decided to ditch the metal elements and rehash his favourite prog records, it effectively stopped being Opeth. It would be sort of like looking at Metallica circa 'Ride the Lightning' and then comparing it to 'Lulu'. It's almost an insult to the fanbase to have released both records under the same band name. I tend to respect bands like Emperor who see the end of something and call it as such. They felt they had done their thing after Prometheus and just called it a day. Likewise, whether or not Mikael continues to use the band name, it's quite obvious that Opeth as most of us have known them over the last 2 decades is also spiritually dead. Ultimately it's his business, his trademark and his choice what he decides to do with it. I just happen to be of the belief that it would be a courtesy to the fans to not continue to release records like Heritage under the Opeth name.

 

[Melb_shredder]

Heritage is a divison point for many fans. I've borne witness to many discussions going back and forth, and ultimately nothing that someone says is going to sway the musical tastes of another person. That being said, as far as my own perception of the qualitative aspects of music goes, 'Heritage' has been done better by other bands in the past. I would much sooner put on a Camel or King Crimson record. Or even Mike and Dan's old prog sideproject, 'Sorskogen'. Perhaps it's a hard point to make in this day and age where a vast majority of metal releases are highly derivative and formulaic. I suppose Heritage could seem like an Oasis in the desert.

Regarding the Opeth moniker, it's essentially just semantic. Mikael is the only original, founding member. Mendez is the only other guy who has been there for a significant length of the band's lifespan. It's Opeth in name only. It has nothing to do with pidgeonholing based on genre aesthetics. It's about recognizing the end of something and calling it what it is. If Mikael is no longer interested in metal or growling (as his numerous recent interviews continue to allude to) then he is not of the same mindset he was throughout the vast majority of the band's existence. Opeth always seemed to be about striking a balance between metal and progressive elements to create something truly unique. Once Mikael decided to ditch the metal elements and rehash his favourite prog records, it effectively stopped being Opeth. It would be sort of like looking at Metallica circa 'Ride the Lightning' and then comparing it to 'Lulu'. It's almost an insult to the fanbase to have released both records under the same band name. I tend to respect bands like Emperor who see the end of something and call it as such. They felt they had done their thing after Prometheus and just called it a day. Likewise, whether or not Mikael continues to use the band name, it's quite obvious that Opeth as most of us have known them over the last 2 decades is also spiritually dead. Ultimately it's his business, his trademark and his choice what he decides to do with it. I just happen to be of the belief that it would be a courtesy to the fans to not continue to release records like Heritage under the Opeth name.

+ infinity!!!!!!

It's one thing to change style etc, but then as mentioned already, Mikael is really the only remaining original member and it's noticeably become more and more the Mikael show as time has past. He continuously points out how over the 'metal' stuff he is, so be it... But that (in my opinion) has also translated live. Their visit to AU before heritage was memorable, and the time before was even more epic. Their show here after heritage was released... Flat, lifeless. Opinion is opinion I know, but I can't help but agree with ermz entirely. If he's really that over it, continuing as 'Opeth' with that attitude is shit for the fans

 

[DanLights]

Heritage is a divison point for many fans. I've borne witness to many discussions going back and forth, and ultimately nothing that someone says is going to sway the musical tastes of another person. That being said, as far as my own perception of the qualitative aspects of music goes, 'Heritage' has been done better by other bands in the past. I would much sooner put on a Camel or King Crimson record. Or even Mike and Dan's old prog sideproject, 'Sorskogen'. Perhaps it's a hard point to make in this day and age where a vast majority of metal releases are highly derivative and formulaic. I suppose Heritage could seem like an Oasis in the desert.

Regarding the Opeth moniker, it's essentially just semantic. Mikael is the only original, founding member. Mendez is the only other guy who has been there for a significant length of the band's lifespan. It's Opeth in name only. It has nothing to do with pidgeonholing based on genre aesthetics. It's about recognizing the end of something and calling it what it is. If Mikael is no longer interested in metal or growling (as his numerous recent interviews continue to allude to) then he is not of the same mindset he was throughout the vast majority of the band's existence. Opeth always seemed to be about striking a balance between metal and progressive elements to create something truly unique. Once Mikael decided to ditch the metal elements and rehash his favourite prog records, it effectively stopped being Opeth. It would be sort of like looking at Metallica circa 'Ride the Lightning' and then comparing it to 'Lulu'. It's almost an insult to the fanbase to have released both records under the same band name. I tend to respect bands like Emperor who see the end of something and call it as such. They felt they had done their thing after Prometheus and just called it a day. Likewise, whether or not Mikael continues to use the band name, it's quite obvious that Opeth as most of us have known them over the last 2 decades is also spiritually dead. Ultimately it's his business, his trademark and his choice what he decides to do with it. I just happen to be of the belief that it would be a courtesy to the fans to not continue to release records like Heritage under the Opeth name.

Nah. Couldn't disagree more. There are few things music fans (and definitely happens more with metal fans) do that I find less annoying and childish than the whole "after XXX they are dead to me" attitude, adding "spiritually" to the equation doesn't help to make it sound less whiny. No offense intended towards you, I'm just trying to get a point across. Then Paradise Lost, Carcass, Mayhem, Katatonia, Anathema and many more should've just started new bands too, it just doesn't make sense. And if you believe a band's name is only semantics, I just can't believe a guy like you doesn't see the power behind an established band's name.

He's the only original member, well not even that cause apparently he joined cause the original singer was a friend of him and then everyone left or something like that, but OK, he's clearly the main driving force and the only original member from their first album, but it's still his name and band. Again, calling it quits would make no sense to him (if it did, he would've done it). They still play songs from all albums live (the Heritage tour was clearly a nice exception, saw them on that tour as well and loved it despite the lack of growls in the setlist), they still are Opeth. As I said, there's still Mikael's sound on everything, and every member's contribution as well, denying that would be a bit crazy IMO. There's tons of clean guitar licks and leads and riffs that definitely have the Opeth flavor, and there's extreme departures as well, but that only makes it interesting, at least to me. If I want to listen to Camel I will, and if I want to listen to old Opeth I will, but I love Heritage as well, I also love the unexpectdedness of it, and I realize how after Watershed he felt things were just starting to feel like the same over and over. They had a fresh and new formula that they were really turning into a rut after so many albums with the same "death metal long songs with clean passages and vocal melodies, unusual chords for distorted guitars, repearing long winding riffs/licks 4 times before changing to the next one" thing, so he decided to turn things around, and I'm really curious to hear how they turn it around again if they do so at all.