Opeth has always worked with the greatest -- or better to say, with the most suitable -- producers to help them discover new sonic soundscapes. I think the first Opeth albums mixed by Dan Swano still remain the band's darkest and most atmospheric releases in their catalog. Morningrise has layers of lucid atmosphere surrounding the compositions and I've yet to hear another Opeth disc that can come close.
With the noted producer, Fredrik Nordstrom, they perhaps created their most groundbreaking album ever: Still Life. It is also still my favourite Opeth along with Morningrise, but I can't say I'm a huge Nordstrom fan. I however have to give it to him that he knows his job. Whatever he touches turns to amazing from good. He also produced Pagan's Mind's Celestial Entrance and while I think the album is a good one, it simply became phenomenal due to Nordstrom's touch.
Finally we have Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. I have spoken to lots of people in the prog genre when I was doing interviews and a good many of them said Porcupine Tree may be the most amazing band of the 90's (Arjen Lucassen was one of them). I love PT and I love Wilson's production work with Opeth. I vividly remember hearing BWP on its day of release and while the music seemed like a logical continuation of SL I thought it had this thick PT vibe and I might mention BWP as the best Opeth production ever. Deliverance and Damnation clearly follow the same musical path but since it was BWP that introduced us to Wilson's vision sonically I have a soft spot for that release.
I know the next Opeth will be done by Wilson again and I am perfectly fine with it because Mikael and Wilson have a very good chemistry going on together. I however wonder what it would be like if metal's madman Devin Townsend were to produce an Opeth disc in the future. Devin has already worked with a million bands and he also produced Soilwork's Natural Born Chaos (the album sucked but its production kills EVERY other Soilwork release easily). His work with Lamb of God was also killer.
If anyone's heard Terria, then you know the amazing wall of sound Devin creates around the music and the listener has to break that wall to get into the overall flow of the music. Somehow I always felt that this could be an excellent amalgam of the atmosphere on Morningrise and wall of sound on BWP with Devin's demented and wicked approach to songwriting and mixing.
I'd like to know what the average Opeth fan thinks of Devin and what you think an Opeth album would sound like if he were to handle the duty.
With the noted producer, Fredrik Nordstrom, they perhaps created their most groundbreaking album ever: Still Life. It is also still my favourite Opeth along with Morningrise, but I can't say I'm a huge Nordstrom fan. I however have to give it to him that he knows his job. Whatever he touches turns to amazing from good. He also produced Pagan's Mind's Celestial Entrance and while I think the album is a good one, it simply became phenomenal due to Nordstrom's touch.
Finally we have Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. I have spoken to lots of people in the prog genre when I was doing interviews and a good many of them said Porcupine Tree may be the most amazing band of the 90's (Arjen Lucassen was one of them). I love PT and I love Wilson's production work with Opeth. I vividly remember hearing BWP on its day of release and while the music seemed like a logical continuation of SL I thought it had this thick PT vibe and I might mention BWP as the best Opeth production ever. Deliverance and Damnation clearly follow the same musical path but since it was BWP that introduced us to Wilson's vision sonically I have a soft spot for that release.
I know the next Opeth will be done by Wilson again and I am perfectly fine with it because Mikael and Wilson have a very good chemistry going on together. I however wonder what it would be like if metal's madman Devin Townsend were to produce an Opeth disc in the future. Devin has already worked with a million bands and he also produced Soilwork's Natural Born Chaos (the album sucked but its production kills EVERY other Soilwork release easily). His work with Lamb of God was also killer.
If anyone's heard Terria, then you know the amazing wall of sound Devin creates around the music and the listener has to break that wall to get into the overall flow of the music. Somehow I always felt that this could be an excellent amalgam of the atmosphere on Morningrise and wall of sound on BWP with Devin's demented and wicked approach to songwriting and mixing.
I'd like to know what the average Opeth fan thinks of Devin and what you think an Opeth album would sound like if he were to handle the duty.
