WREATH

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The thing about "Wreath" is it's so huge feeling. Like the chorus after the first verse, the part starting at 5:42 going through 7:20, the riffage at 8:32, etc. Lots of moments where the music becomes overwhelming and takes you under.

Also, the softer moments, while not among the best of Opeth's on their own, are probably among the most effective within the context of the song.
 
I really like 'Wreath'. Not entirely sure what it is exactly I like about it, but I really like it. It is a good start to an album. I would probably say if we are talking 'heavy' in a musically dense kind-of-way, then 'Heir Apparent' is probably the heaviest brick of the lot.
 
Contrary to what was said earlier, Wreath DOES have clean vocals.

I believe the only 3 songs with all death vocals, and no clean vocals are:

Under The Weeping Moon
Blackwater Park
Heir Apparent
 
DRRRRR DRRRRR DRRRR DUP DUP DUP
DA NA NA NANA, DA NA NA NANA TWEE DEE DEE, TWEE DEE DEE
DA NA NA NANA, DA NA NA NANA DUN DUN DUN DA DADA DO DO DO DO

Gotta love how it ends with that ascending riff/lick and then immediately ejaculates right in your face with the beginning of Deliverance.
 
i just listened to wreath all the way through for the first time in a while, and that growling near the end is truly epic..

Is this Mike recording his voice twice and putting them together or something? it just sounds so different and completely evil, i love it.
 
Wreath is fucking amazing, definitely my favorite song by Opeth. It is perhaps the most underrated of their songs and I think this is mostly due to it being one of their least accessible (like very much all of Deliverance). I think it is their heaviest, darkest and most intense song, but it is definitely a grower and, like wine, it gets better with time :)

A powerful and imposing intro/outro and deadly riff, two of the best solos from Opeth by both Peter and Mike, the efficient use of repetition to achieve an hypnotizing effect and to signify the cyclical theme of the song/lyrics, a kick ass work on the drums (and bongos!) by Lopez and what is perhaps Mike’s best vocal work to date when it comes to growls (watching him give his all to do the vocals for this beast on the Lamentations documentary was very cool!) make this song a freaking epic. I love the whole nightmarish landscape that the song creates (the wind sounds that come later in the song are cool too) and how unsettling the whole song is. The clean vocals towards the end are also a very nice and subtle touch.

I like it that they are finally playing the song live and I think people will eventually appreciate the song more because of this. Saw it on a video recently and it slays :). I play the song often to shake me up on my way to work and the opening lines:

“Falling inside again
This nightmare always the same”


Very much encapsulate the whole moment :)
 
there are totally clean vocals in wreath at the end, for the last riff before the opening riff.

The drumming on the opening riff it is what makes it heavy for me and only beginning not when they play it again at the end.

This track and the solo section of The Funeral Portrait were major influences in the song i wrote IB on my myspace as far as general feel goes. I kind of stole the part where the first riff comes back in for a second time. The riff just feels very morbid angelesque to me. Covenent Era
 
there are totally clean vocals in wreath at the end, for the last riff before the opening riff.

Yep, there is a very nice play with the growls and clean vocals in the last lines: "Spiritual decay - Still seeking", "Closure to bleak matters - I'm leaving", etc. I like how subtle the clean vocals are done there, fit the whole atmosphere quite well. I think the whole part starting from 7:35 to the end of the song is killer. 7:56 to 9:00 in particular is a definite highlight.


The riff just feels very morbid angelesque to me. Covenent Era

I've heard that some of Wreath sounds similar to a song by King Crimson, but I am not sure which one. I think Master's Apprentices (another brillant song) is one that some consider to be very similar to Morbid Angel. But I am not really familiar with MA's music, so I can't really say :)