The official Opeth thread v. Bring on the new album!

[KevShmev]

With the previous one at 100 pages, I think it is time for a new Opeth thread!

 

NP: Famine

I'd just like to say that while Heritage wasn't one of their best albums, I really like where they went on it, and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.

[DebraKadabra]

Just got done listening to Blackwater Park (the song).
 
Yes, folks - Debbie is STILL on her Opeth binge.

[Gadough]

Ghost Reveries is the greatest album ever.

[SystematicThought]

I heard rumor about another Katatonia/Opeth tour this fall in North America. I need that to happen! Songkick.com has a few dates listed, but no announcement yet

[KevShmev]

Just got done listening to Blackwater Park (the song).
 
Yes, folks - Debbie is STILL on her Opeth binge.

 

Ghost Reveries is the greatest album ever.

How can that be the greatest album ever when it isn't even their greatest album?

Hint: Still Life is better. 

[Gadough]

lol

you're funny

[Zydar]

Ghost Reveries is the greatest Opeth album ever.

Fix'd for teh Zydar.

[Perpetual Change]

Still Life is the Best Them

[Gadough]

Did anyone hear the rumor that Mikael Akerfeldt is secretly a member of Ghost? I don't believe it, but I want it to be true. That would be wicked awesome.

[Dark Castle]

I feel like he'd have no time for that, and even if he was, Ghost is ALL about the Undead Pope 
I love that guy.

[SystematicThought]

Did anyone hear the rumor that Mikael Akerfeldt is secretly a member of Ghost? I don't believe it, but I want it to be true. That would be wicked awesome.

I know who the lead singer is and I'm pretty sure the other members are associated with the lead singer's other bands. Check out my Subdivision thread somewhere here in the GMD

[black_biff_stadler]

So what's the word on the new Opeth album? I've heard nothing regarding any plans about it and seeing as how Storm Corrosion surely kept Mike busy for a bit I'm guessing we're still at least two years away since the last two albums were spaced in 3-year increments.

Also, do y'all think Mikes growling is on its deathbed or have any DM singers ever been able to recover their Satan?

[DebraKadabra]

Also, do y'all think Mikes growling is on its deathbed or have any DM singers ever been able to recover their Satan?

I hope the growlies aren't gone.

[Sketchy]

There's a new Opeth album being worked on? EXCITED

[black_biff_stadler]

There's a new Opeth album being worked on? EXCITED

No, there ain't as far as I know. I just didn't word my post clearly enough. I basically meant "whatever their next album happens to be, whenever it happens to come out" when I referred to it as "the  new Opeth album."

[Sketchy]

Ah. ok.

[Zantera]

I'm hopefully seeing Opeth unplugged in December. Haven't gotten tickets yet, but my birthday is coming up fairly soon so I might wish for tickets.

[?]

So what's the word on the new Opeth album? I've heard nothing regarding any plans about it and seeing as how Storm Corrosion surely kept Mike busy for a bit I'm guessing we're still at least two years away since the last two albums were spaced in 3-year increments.

Also, do y'all think Mikes growling is on its deathbed or have any DM singers ever been able to recover their Satan?

In this interview from June he says he hasn't really worked on new songs but he thinks the next album will be a bit more "hard rock". I assume this means we'll hear more energetic up-tempo songs like Devil's Orchard, Slither and The Lines in My Hand.

[Jirpo]

Meh... doesn't sound so interesting to me. I'm sure it will end up being good though.

[black_biff_stadler]

Meh... doesn't sound so interesting to me. I'm sure it will end up being good though.

Count me out. It was a humongous letdown to have my first 6-8 months of owning Heritage be a "growing" period that, as of now (11 months), has plateaued at a half-hearted "it's pretty good." Opeth is one of the very few bands where I actually like the vocals and the possible permanent omission of growls coupled with what looks like possibly saying goodbye to metal altogether is borderline heartbreaking for me musically speaking.

I understand that the album that comes out after the upcoming one could feature some of their familiar style from earlier albums but that outlook is gloomy at best when you consider this will be their third straight album where the old style is basically being abandoned (Heritage), halfway abandoned with definition of the word "familiarity" being stretched a good bit (Watershed), or tentatively abandoned (upcoming album based on the hard rock mention in the interview that ? linked.)

I miss Opeth.

[Zantera]

I'll still be following Opeth, but if they're going for a more "Hard Rock"-sound then it's not very appealing to me. I guess it depends on how they do it, but a song like "Slither" for example was one of my least favorites from Heritage, and I'm not really that interested in Hard Rock because a lot of the genre feels very plain for me.

Still, I love Åkerfeldt and I love Opeth, and I will obviously check out what they do.

[Lynxo]

Hey gais. Is the new album still streaming?

[?]

I'm not a fan of hard rock either but I don't think they'll go all Whitesnake! I enjoy Heritage and my favorite songs are Famine, Folklore and I Feel the Dark so I hope they'll concentrate on stuff like that instead of songs along the lines of Slither and The Lines in My Hand, but if he means that the next album will be a bit more rough-edged and energetic overall, I'm ok with it.

Who knows, maybe after 1 or 2 more non-metal albums Mikael might feel the death metal spark again. However, it doesn't seem like Opeth is going back to growls and heavy riffs anytime soon - Mikael seems extremely happy with Heritage and I just can't see him going back to metal right now, especially after all those comments about his lack of interest in the genre. To be honest his growls haven't been that great lately and I wouldn't mind if he never growled on any new Opeth song again. The worst thing to do would be a crowd-pleaser album written without any real passion or enthusiasm just to win the metal fans back. I mean, you can listen to the old songs from the albums or go to a concert hoping they'll play some classics or simply find a good new proggy death metal band to follow, for example Barren Earth (who are great, by the way!).

All in all, I'm curious to see what they will do in the future and hopefully I'll like it, like I enjoyed Heritage.

[senecadawg2]

I still haven't listened to a couple Opeth albums. I think I'm still trying to let the ones I have heard sink in.

[kirksnosehair]

Interestingly enough, Opeth is the ONLY "death metal" band I've ever gotten into.  I've tried a few others and I just never could find an appreciation for them.  For some reason, with Opeth, especially the run of albums from Still Life >> Blackwater Park >> Deliverance >> Damnation >> Ghost Reveries >> Watershed

I think I started appreciating the growling more when he started doing it less.  I think it has more impact when it's used sparingly.  That's probably why Watershed is my favorite Opeth album. 


I bought Heritage, I listened a few times, but I find it to be rather "meh" for the most part.


Bands change over time, and Opeth is obviously no exception.  I'll enjoy their previous material for years to come, but I think I'll be hopping off the Opeth bandwagon if they're going to make "hard rock" now.  It's just not something I'm interested in.

[Pockets17red]

I heard rumor about another Katatonia/Opeth tour this fall in North America. I need that to happen! Songkick.com has a few dates listed, but no announcement yet

Well, they were trying to get dates after Katatonia's tour with Devin Townsend (Sept 24) and before they go to Europe (Nov 2). Two of the dates showed up on Ticketmaster a couple of weeks ago and are now listed as cancelled. Don't know if they were cancelled because the tickets went up on sale too early or they cancelled the tour. We will have to wait and see.

[Mladen]

Should I be ashamed that I'm getting into Opeth just now?

I'm going by discography. I didn't really care for Orchid, Morningrise had quite a few great moments, My arms your hearse had few great moments, and Still life blew me away. I'm listening to Blackwater park right now, I'd say it has potential. 

[Ben_Jamin]

Should I be ashamed that I'm getting into Opeth just now?

I'm going by discography. I didn't really care for Orchid, Morningrise had quite a few great moments, My arms your hearse had few great moments, and Still life blew me away. I'm listening to Blackwater park right now, I'd say it has potential. 

I feel the same way about those albums.

[Ravenheart]

WHITE FACED
HAGGARD GRIN
THIS SERENITY PAINTED DEATH
WITH A HALO OF BITTER DISEASE
BLACK PARAGON IN LINGERING BREATH

[DebraKadabra]

WHITE FACED
HAGGARD GRIN
THIS SERENITY PAINTED DEATH
WITH A HALO OF BITTER DISEASE
BLACK PARAGON IN LINGERING BREATH

Should I be ashamed that I'm getting into Opeth just now?

Hell no, dude - I just got into them SRSLY HARDCORE this year, so don't be ashamed at all.    Oh, and Still Life is awesome (it's REALLY been kicking my ass the last few weeks).  As is Blackwater Park.  AND Ghost Reveries (happy Drew? ).

Meh... doesn't sound so interesting to me. I'm sure it will end up being good though.

Count me out. It was a humongous letdown to have my first 6-8 months of owning Heritage be a "growing" period that, as of now (11 months), has plateaued at a half-hearted "it's pretty good." Opeth is one of the very few bands where I actually like the vocals and the possible permanent omission of growls coupled with what looks like possibly saying goodbye to metal altogether is borderline heartbreaking for me musically speaking.

I understand that the album that comes out after the upcoming one could feature some of their familiar style from earlier albums but that outlook is gloomy at best when you consider this will be their third straight album where the old style is basically being abandoned (Heritage), halfway abandoned with definition of the word "familiarity" being stretched a good bit (Watershed), or tentatively abandoned (upcoming album based on the hard rock mention in the interview that ? linked.)

I miss Opeth.

If that's true, then I really don't know how to feel.  When my "OMG OPETH!!1 " binge started, I was definitely more of a fan of the growlie stuff than the clean stuff.  Case in point - it took me longer to get into Damnation than it took for Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries and Watershed.

I really really hope the growlies aren't permanently gone.

[KevShmev]

I think it is easy to say, "I don't want hard rock," or, "I want growls," or, "I want metal," but what if the next album is hard rock, no metal and no growls, but is, in 80s terminology, totally awesome?   I suspect most of you would change your mind real quick about what you want the most out of Opeth.

In other words, don't get too hung up on what the label is of what they are doing and see if you enjoy it for what it is.

[Ravenheart]

I'm fine with whatever direction they want to take in the future. All I expect is quality.

[Ryzee]

I think Mikael is a tremendous musician.  I love his clean voice, his harsh voice, his guitar playing style, songwriting style, everything.  His whole deal totally speaks to me.  Therefore whenever he releases anything, whether it's under the Opeth name, something else like Storm Corrosion or an Alan Parsons cover album called The Mikael Akerfeldt Alan Parsons Project Project, I will definitely check it out and most likely enjoy it to some degree.

[darkshade]

I've been personally been getting back into Opeth recently, listening to Morningrise right now. I have all their albums, but haven't listened to them regularly for the better part of the last 6 years, aside from the occasional listen. I got into them during the Deliverance era, when I was in high school, but my first new album as a fan was Ghost Reveries; after just graduating high school, and it became my favorite of theirs, and still is, in fact, I think it's their best one. When I got into more prog rock and jazz-fusion, I lost a lot of interest in metal, and even coming back to metal in recent years, I never went back to any death/black metal bands. I checked out Watershed when it came out, but I was not in the mood for that music.

But I always remembered how much I liked Opeth in high school, and when I heard Heritage was coming out, I listened to a couple albums here and there, and bought Heritage when it came out, and actually enjoyed it a lot. Only recently have I been digging back into their other albums again. As I said before, I'm listening to Morningrise right now, probably the first time I've listened to it in 6 years or more. I forgot how good Deliverance and Damnation were as well, along with Still Life. I re-visted Watershed, and I can't believe I panned it back when it came out. I'm re-visiting their albums, and still have to go through more of their albums like Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, MAYH, and Orchid, but it's all been good. Strange that this is happening in the middle of summer, as I recall enjoying their music in the fall, and I've been listening to jam bands a lot, which is the opposite of Opeth's music hah.

Sorry for going on a tangent there.

[DebraKadabra]

I think it is easy to say, "I don't want hard rock," or, "I want growls," or, "I want metal," but what if the next album is hard rock, no metal and no growls, but is, in 80s terminology, totally awesome?   I suspect most of you would change your mind real quick about what you want the most out of Opeth.

In other words, don't get too hung up on what the label is of what they are doing and see if you enjoy it for what it is.

Good point.  Like I said - I don't know how to feel about this, because it's still purely hypothetical/conjecture at this point.

I'm fine with whatever direction they want to take in the future. All I expect is quality.

Another good point.