Why do Opeth Fans get a bad rap?

[NFU]

you bring up a few good points PoS...but i must differ with you on one thing. To call Opeth "melodic death metal" i dont think is the best description. To call them progressive metal isnt the best description either. I think the closest to the mark in actuality would be "progressive death metal". It eludes to having growls, and heavy extreme guitar work and arrangements...but the term progressive includes all their atmosphere, acoustic arrangements, clean vocals and harmonized vocal parts, and basically all their experimentation and difference which moves them to the side of standard death metal. Besides, ive never really heard a progressive band which wasnt melodic anyway, so to just use the term melodic instead of progressive seems to be understating their sound for obvious reasons....for death metal isnt inheritantly melodic necessarily, but progressive bands of any genre typically are.

just my thoughts.

 

[cthulufhtagn]

decadent, could you recommend some good "suicidal black metal" bands ...i assume of course you're talking about leviathan, xasthur, et al...any others out there in that same musical region you could recommend to me?

 

[Ermz]

I've always reffered to them as 'Progressive Death Metal'. It's a title that fits more than any other, without going overboard. It's just important not to take the genre at face value. Progressive doesn't necessarily assume they sound like King Crimson, nor does Death mean they sound like Deicide.

 

[NFU]

I've always reffered to them as 'Progressive Death Metal'. It's a title that fits more than any other, without going overboard. It's just important not to take the genre at face value. Progressive doesn't necessarily assume they sound like King Crimson, nor does Death mean they sound like Deicide.

:hotjump: you got it man.

 

[PoS]

sorry, i say 'progressive metal' and think 'progressive death metal'. i'm lazy. like i said in the case with opeth, i don't even think of them as belonging to a particular genre anymore anyway. they just 'sound like opeth' if anyone asks me. i don't call em melodic death metal, but i can see and accept why other people can see them as such. ie: i identify with it at least. i reckon that the 'progressive' as it applies to metal didn't really have meaning until after it was slapped onto opeth's description. i actually think it was worked out backwards and once opeth obtained that label, it helped define 'progressive metal' for later bands. i mean when you think about it, the word 'progressive' as it applies to metal is just so vague. out of curiousity 9ftunder, may i ask if you would consider messugah to be a)progressive and/or b)melodic?

 

[deliverance]

meshuggah is under the "awesome" category. also progressive melodic metal? they're hard to say hah,

 

[PoS]

no no no no no! it's just that i would consider them progressive (most do), but not melodic. just referring to something 9" said in one of his earlier posts about never having heard of a progressive, non melodict metal act.

n/m

 

[Inconium Guard]

Hmmm... i always liked the term Forest Metal...so whoever came up with that deserves a handshake.

But since Opeth is the heaviest band I listen to, I wouldn't be able to put them in a death metal, or black metal category since i'm honestly unfamiliar with most other bands with those labels...Don't get me wrong I love metal, but just not too extreme metal heheh. I think the only reason Opeth gets labeled as death metal in the first place is due to the growling vocals, other than that they would definitely just be considered "Progressive Rock/Metal" for sure.

 

[FUBAR]

I always like dthe term Forest Metal aswell, Its so mystical and it fits their music, also hasn't Mike said before something like,
'we're a mystical force that lives within the trees'
don't quote me on that because its wrong but he said smthing similar

 

[PoS]

you never know. he may have said something like that after all. but i don't think he's ever said he's a tree.

 

[FUBAR]

Hey yo, dont laff at me
It wasn't as blatant as;
"I'm a tree"
but he did say something like the above as cheesey as it sounds

 

[Inconium Guard]

I'm not sure if Mike did say that, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did...sounds like something he might say.

But yeah especially with an album like morningrise, there's definitely this "gloomy woods on a cloudy day" feel to it. I rather enjoy that aspect of their music, actually...You don't hear about that kind of place too often.

 

[FUBAR]

Thats one of the main reasons I love them soo much, the fact that their music takes you to a gloomy atmospheric place

 

[Inconium Guard]

And its weird too because people ask me sometimes why I enjoy the general sadness of the music...like "doesn't it make you depressed?"

I usually just answer them by telling them that hearing another's sadness makes me feel happier about my own life, if that makes any sense.

But you're right about the atmosphere as well, its just a unique, very well made sound that you can't really find anywhere else...That's why I listen I guess.

 

[PoS]

ok i'm sorry, i didn't mean that quite the way it came across. forgive me? he prolly did say something like that, but was most likely more referring to the inteded atmosphere he wanted for the cd's. just the way you said it was moderately funny is all.

 

[FUBAR]

I forgive you, hopefully someone else will back me up on this one

 

[Necramentia]

And its weird too because people ask me sometimes why I enjoy the general sadness of the music...like "doesn't it make you depressed?"

I usually just answer them by telling them that hearing another's sadness makes me feel happier about my own life, if that makes any sense.

But you're right about the atmosphere as well, its just a unique, very well made sound that you can't really find anywhere else...That's why I listen I guess.

i know how you feel, it's because happy sounding music does have its place, but often it just sounds like it's forced just for sake of happiness, or it just sounds fake. there's something about beautiful sad music that has this great sublime feeling, it does actually make me feel a lot better, because that kind of emotion reaches me most. i suppose it just varies to the person.

 

[NFU]

sorry, i say 'progressive metal' and think 'progressive death metal'. i'm lazy. like i said in the case with opeth, i don't even think of them as belonging to a particular genre anymore anyway. they just 'sound like opeth' if anyone asks me. i don't call em melodic death metal, but i can see and accept why other people can see them as such. ie: i identify with it at least. i reckon that the 'progressive' as it applies to metal didn't really have meaning until after it was slapped onto opeth's description. i actually think it was worked out backwards and once opeth obtained that label, it helped define 'progressive metal' for later bands. i mean when you think about it, the word 'progressive' as it applies to metal is just so vague. out of curiousity 9ftunder, may i ask if you would consider messugah to be a)progressive and/or b)melodic?

first of all, Opeth did NOT create the "progressive" tag in metal. Refer to bands like atheist, cynic, watchtower, etc....the creativity, the odd time signatures, acoustic elements, keyboards and electronics that were introduced, etc were cutting edge at the time...thats where the original metal platform progression began, with those earlier bands pushing the boundaries and ideals of heavy metal. Opeth just took it one step further later on and added to the tag with their own more rugged elements, and classic progressive rock ideals and influences intertwined.

second of all, i wouldnt say meshuggah is melodic...and i wouldnt call them progressive either. Theyre fairly complex and fairly technical...certainly a different listen than most metal, but that doesnt make them "progressive" at all.

i think a huge problem here is that most metalheads and people in general dont understand what the term progressive really means or stands for. It doesnt describe a particular sound or style of playing, and i think a lot of people assume that it does. Very few "metal" bands are "progressive". Most people would call Symphony X or Dream Theater "progressive metal"...but they really arent, theyre just stuck into that category by people who dont really know what theyre talking about. having complex time signatures, or long solos, or lots of keyboards or longish songs doesnt just make you a progressive band. but this is why typically the term "progressive metal" is nonsense, and thrown around too much and basically has lost most of its meaning in every respect aside from a few bands.

 

[PoS]

we're going to have to work on your people skills.

for the record though, you were right, about the progressive bands preceding opeth at least. we could sit here and argue whether opeth firmly established the genre (as in whether they bought the genre out from the underground) or how common it is for people to term mesuggah as a progressive metal band, but i don't see the point. i'll agree about the redundancy of the use of the expressoin though.

 

[NFU]

we're going to have to work on your people skills.

for the record though, you were right, about the progressive bands preceding opeth at least. we could sit here and argue whether opeth firmly established the genre (as in whether they bought the genre out from the underground) or how common it is for people to term mesuggah as a progressive metal band, but i don't see the point. i'll agree about the redundancy of the use of the expressoin though.

people skills? might i ask what youre talking about? You have a tendency to resort to personal attacks when youre in over their head ive noticed...so perhaps check your own people skills.

and no, we cant really sit here and argue, because you dont seem to know what youre talking about when it comes to this topic.