What's with the Opeth backlash??

[mortal treason]

i love opeth, but i also love other metal bands, like celtic frost, testament, kreator is awesome, venom who is still metal after all these years, wintersun who should be known, is awesome, i love metal and of course emperor

 

[Perdition's Light]

They're good. You should. I know everyone has their own tastes and opinions, but I just can't grasp not enjoying quality.

They just really don't do anything for me. I don't enjoy their music's atmosphere, I don't like the pacing or structures of the songs, and I find the riffs boring. THAT'S JUST ME THOUGH OF COURSE.

(but yes the bass is pretty boner inspiring)

 

[Thraxz]

Opeth is so highly regarded, masturbated over and identified with by a bunch of retarded fanboys that I want to hurl even thinking about them whether or not their music is decent.

 

[VampyrRose]

Opeth is getting popular. Not radio-friendly popular, but they're 5 or 6 times as big as they were when I first heard "Still Life". In all actuality, and contrary to almost every post you'll read here, Opeth's current work is of almost uniform quality with their early albums and every album they've released since. The songs are still ten minutes long, Mikael still loves 70's prog, and they still have great bass parts.

What was I saying...

Oh yes. Opeth is awesome, and the hate for them is probably the most blatant example of "I liked them when they weren't famous, but now I think they suck cause famous bands suck" I've ever witnessed. Opeth is one of the very few bands I can think of who've maintained their creative vision over the whole of their career. Opeth, in my eyes, is a prime example of a band that does not suck.

Anyone want to share an example of why they think otherwise?

This is somewhat similar to the CoF & Dimmu Borgir situation. People think that because the band is getting popular, they must autmaticaly labelled "poser Sell-outs." Top that off with that fact that Opeth (like CoF) is signed to Roadrunner Records. The only difference is that Opeth doesn't have the 'image appeal', ties to the black metal scene and excess of narrow-minded people incessantly pissing on them.

 

[Teh Grimace]

Opeth is so highly regarded by a bunch of retarded fanboys that I want to hurl even thinking about them whether or not their music is decent.

Yeah, and a bunch stupid fat 40 year old losers love Black Sabbath. Doesn't make Black Sabbath anything but awesome.

 

[mortal treason]

when they signed i didnt think anything about the roadrunner, i mean i dont think mikael would change the way he writes his music for anybody

 

[MasterOLightning]

Well, they had finished the album before they signed to Roadrunner, so obviously that would have no bearing on their quality. As has been said, creatively they remain very similar to what they were before. The newest one was much more similar to Still Life than anthing recent.

People don't shit on them necessarily because they're popular. I really think it's the annoying newb fans. I don't like them much either, but who of us wasn't just floored by some metal band at one point in time? Everyone has gushed over a band. It just so happens that many people find Opeth before other bands of high quality.

Unfortunately, they seem to get the Dimmu/Cradle treatment too often for the quality of their material. At their best no one can top them. No one did dual guitar melodies quite like they did. The first two are totally unique in that sense to the best of my knowledge. People criticize the structure, but would you rather have verse/chorus? I will gladly take a rough transition here or there in exchange for that. Opeth's vocals, singing and lyrics have always been rather good. Production-wise, they've been successful. They have many great songs in their recent material, but do tend to me a bit more hit and miss than in the past. Still, one of the better bands of the last 10 years or so.

 

[mortal treason]

yeha i know what you mean, i knew they wrote the album before they signed to roadrunner, but i think the next one will be just as good, i could be wrong but i will wait to see, still life is one of my favorite albums from them, so in all i agree with you, but i lvoe alot more other metal bands as well

 

[Perdition's Light]

People criticize the structure, but would you rather have verse/chorus? I will gladly take a rough transition here or there in exchange for that.

That's the problem, though. Rough transitions aren't the only way to avoid a formulaic verse/chorus structure. Surely you're aware of that. I just feel like it could be done a little more tastefully. As always though, whether or not you think Opeth's transitions and structures sound "good" is completely a matter of opinion. If it sounds good to you, that's great, but just because it doesn't really jive with me doesn't mean there's something I'm not "getting".

 

[mortal treason]

yeah it all comes down to whats good for you

 

[MasterOLightning]

But the transitions aren't even that bad at all, especially after Morningrise. My Arms, Your Hearse is rather tight in that regard. Look at April Ethereal. That song progresses just as well as you'd expect any other song of that length with so many riffs to. A song like Demon of the Fall, which has rather dramatic dynamic changes, isn't bad either. I haven't heard anyone else manage that level of dynamic change in a better way.

Even on Morningrise, Black Rose Immortal is 20 minutes, but it clearly has three distinct parts. I don't think that they should be criticized for having multiple segments within one piece rather than breaking them up, especially since they needed to remain together to maintain the relevance of the lyrics, which if taken separately would have not amounted to nearly as much. A two second pause within a song is no different than a division between tracks.

 

[Crimson Velvet]

I like Opeth, but I've realized that everything they've done after "Still Life" is redundant. Still, they released four quality albums, and I respect them for that. I wish they'd quit now, though, before they tarnish their legacy even further.

 

[CF87]

Opeth is a stunning band.

Regardless there is plenty of shitty metal bands or overrated bands(that should be mentioned before).... say At The Gates,Deicide,Six Feet Blunder,etc..... i'm so sick of overrated or actual shit bands not getting any shit & someone can not even mention Opeth. I think it's a shame.

 

[CAIRATH]

I pretty much agree with MasterOLightning. I think a lot of the hatred for Opeth isn't caused by the band itself but the way a portion of their fanbase acts. I'm an Opeth forumer (and have been for 4 years) so I've seen it all really. There are a lot of people who are not really open to metal beyond what Opeth has to offer and are quick to proclaim that Opeth is the best band ever and act as if they are on a higher level than people who listen to 'normal' metal without really knowing what they are talking about. I can definitely see how that pisses people off.

Personally I still love Opeth just as much as I did 5 years ago when I first got into them. Albums like MAYH and Still Life absolutely floored me then (and yes I was a bit of a fanboy for a while, but I got over it) and they still do that to me now. As far as I'm concerned their only lapse in quality was the whole Deliverance/Damnation fiasco. Recording two albums at once like that was just altogether a bad idea and both albums suffered tremendously if you compare them to the rest of their output. But Ghost Reveries is a great album again apart from one mediocre track.

 

[Frostangelstorm]

Actually it has a lot to do with that a substantial amount of their fans don't listen to metal besides Opeth, and most seem to think that Opeth is unquestionably the greatest band ever.

Opeth is an entry level band, and this means their fans aren't very knowledgeable. At least at first. Then they grow up and become like GoD.

Are you fucking kidding me?

1. EVERY single thread on ANY Opeth forum named along the lines of "name your favourite albums of all time" results in most entries being 100% metal, and other lists being dominated by the same genre.

2. Even on the official Opeth forum, there are users with encyclopediac(don't know the spelling) knowledge of metal, classical, jazz and prog rock.

So, don't be speaking out of your ass.

Everyone has a right to not like and even despise any band, but arguments about the fans being retarded/stupid/horrible educated is wrong in this band's case. We're not talking about "t00l", sorry.

 

[Carcassian]

I don't dislike them to adhere to some bullshit metal "trend", (after all, I profess to liking COF in public, which makes my opinion as popular as a dog shit sandwhich), I just think at best they're average, and at worst horribly dismal.

That isn't to say your opinion is wrong: horse for courses, and all that.

 

[Mitton]

I think Opeth are a great band ,they are original, tallented and great to listen to but I dont think the sun shines out of Mikael ass.

 

[Blinded By Blood]

Some of you people are fucking retarded. Who decides their taste of music based on how mainstream/how well liked a band is? God forbid a band with talent gets signed and sells records, they're obviously not "tr00" and therefore they suck, no matter what type of music they put out

fucking idiots

 

[myra]

The reason why they are getting popular is because they write quality music. Their fanbase has grown over the years with NO RADIO PLAY, NO VIDEOS
(except for just recently), AND NO BAM MARGERA.

 

[skeptik]

The reason why they are getting popular is because they write quality music. Their fanbase has grown over the years with NO RADIO PLAY, NO VIDEOS
(except for just recently), AND NO BAM MARGERA.

Horrible causation skills.

Also the guy with the church in his avatar is a fucking idiot.

So too is the Blashyrkh guy.

Opeth wrote some interesting material and then became a parody of themselves. They sucked at transitioning and properly juxtaposing musical ideas in a coherent form for a while, but largely grew out of it. Finally, verse/chorus is not inherently a bad thing. Some of the greatest (and even most "sophisticated") Metal music ever written was done in verse/chorus form, so don't think of it as the devil. There's many things one can do in such a formula.