Battle of the Bands Volume 13: Iron Maiden vs Opeth

[DebraKadabra]

*ahem*

floydie left out Death Whispered a Lullaby from the non-growlie list, so I'm taking the liberty to recommend it.

[theseoafs]

*snip*

Thanks for the time, bf. I'll peruse this list thoroughly in the coming days and I'll report back later.

As for right now, I listened to Harlequin Forest because you felt it was good enough for me to listen to in spite of the growls. On the whole, it was very cool. The last four minutes or so were lost on me, but everything before that rocked. As for the section with growls between the introduction and the acoustic middle part, I was generally okay with it because I felt the growls suited the music and didn't try to sound overly evil or aggressive. I'd give it a B.

[senecadawg2]

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! I will definitely check out the albums and tracks you suggested and report back 

[black_biff_stadler]

*ahem*

floydie left out Death Whispered a Lullaby from the non-growlie list, so I'm taking the liberty to recommend it.

I intentionally left out all Damnation tracks from that list cuz I mentioned it as a whole right after it. Death Whispered a Lullaby is probably in my top half of tracks from that album though

*snip*

Thanks for the time, bf. I'll peruse this list thoroughly in the coming days and I'll report back later.

As for right now, I listened to Harlequin Forest because you felt it was good enough for me to listen to in spite of the growls. On the whole, it was very cool. The last four minutes or so were lost on me, but everything before that rocked. As for the section with growls between the introduction and the acoustic middle part, I was generally okay with it because I felt the growls suited the music and didn't try to sound overly evil or aggressive. I'd give it a B.

I agree. The outro is a little tedious in its repetition but I feared mentioning that would deter your willingness to try it. Glad you liked it If you feel you wanna hear more tracks that have that kick-ass vibe of Harlequin Forest and can tolerate small doses of growls I'll gladly keep the recommendations coming.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions! I will definitely check out the albums and tracks you suggested and report back 

Looking forward to it pal

[DebraKadabra]

*ahem*

floydie left out Death Whispered a Lullaby from the non-growlie list, so I'm taking the liberty to recommend it.

I intentionally left out all Damnation tracks from that list cuz I mentioned it as a whole right after it. Death Whispered a Lullaby is probably in my top half of tracks from that album though

Oh - my bad.  Just thought I'd throw in my .02 anyways.

It did take me a while to get used to Damnation, as I became a fan of the growlies kinda right away.

[black_biff_stadler]

No prob bob. I fucking hated Damnation for several months after it cam out but it was awesome once it broke through.

[DebraKadabra]

T'was a grower for me too - listened to it once, only liked Windowpane and didn't think twice about it.  Until Windowpane burrowed its way into my head.    Was a forgone conclusion after that.

[?]

Opeth by miles. I tried getting into Maiden a few years ago, but their music is just too repetitive and uninteresting for me.

[HarlequinForest]

My favorite band, Opeth.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Iron Maiden. I like individual Opeth songs, but making it through an album just is not possible.

[black_biff_stadler]

Iron Maiden. I like individual Opeth songs, but making it through an album just is not possible.

I succeed in this endeavor pretty regularly.

[LieLowTheWantedMan]

Iron Maiden. I like individual Opeth songs, but making it through an album just is not possible.

I succeed in this endeavor pretty regularly.

I don't know, haha. They're really a band I can only take in small doses I guess.

[DebraKadabra]

Iron Maiden. I like individual Opeth songs, but making it through an album just is not possible.

I succeed in this endeavor pretty regularly.

As do I.

[black_biff_stadler]

Iron Maiden. I like individual Opeth songs, but making it through an album just is not possible.

I succeed in this endeavor pretty regularly.

I don't know, haha. They're really a band I can only take in small doses I guess.

I hear ya man. I'm like that with numerous bands myself but if you tell me what you specifically dislike about Opeth I'll gladly mention a few songs for you to try out so that we can remove the laborious nature of full-album listen-throughs from the equation.

[wolfking]

Iron Maiden by far

[ZKX-2099]

Opeth... even after Heritage.

[Jaffa]

I love Maiden, while I like Opeth a lot but not enough to make this even close.

[Lowdz]

Mmm, one I can listen to and one I can't.

Maiden by a mile.

[Jaq]

Iron Maiden. They've both, at times, been my favorite band, but Maiden wins this one on the strength of their 80s work, and their post reunion work isn't too shabby either. Hell, I was going to write a long discourse explaining it, but fuck that. It's fucking Iron Maiden. 

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Blackwater Park beats any Maiden album 

[rogerdil]

I only enjoy a few albums by each, but of those albums I enjoy Opeth more; plus haven't bought a new Maiden album since Powerslave (as opposed to Ghost Reveries for Opeth).

[SeRoX]

Even though I lost my interest I still love Opeth. Their older albums are absolutely amazing. Never tired of listening. Iron Maiden has some cool songs but mostly because Bruce's irritating voice I don't listen them very much. To be honest, I've never cared their newer stuff.

[TAC]

Bruce's voice is irritating, but Akerfedt's is not? Wut!

[SeRoX]

Personal taste, I guess. 

[TAC]

Personal taste, I guess. 

Up until this point you have shown impeccable taste. 

[adace]

Opeth, but IM are pretty darn close.

[MondayMorningLunatic]

One of these bands is melodic. The other is not. That's the deciding factor for me.

[Sigz]

One of these bands is melodic. The other is not. That's the deciding factor for me.

umm... which one?

[black_biff_stadler]

One of these bands is melodic. The other is not. That's the deciding factor for me.

Both bands are absurdly melodic. People are really shitty at expressing their opinions without hyperbole in this thread.

[Ħ]

I can see what he means by saying IM is more melodic.

[black_biff_stadler]

I can see what he means by saying IM is more melodic.

One of these bands is melodic. The other is not. That's the deciding factor for me.

[Ħ]

Well, yeah, that's an overstatement, clearly. But I agree with the sentiment that IM is more melodic than Opeth. Not that that's better - if anything, I think IM is too melodic with not enough sustenance in the other areas of music.

[black_biff_stadler]

IM has a greater percentage of their material centered around melodic motifs but they tend to really use the diatonic 3rd harmony thing to an extent that it makes their melodic body of work less varied than Opeth's since their (Opeth's) music sounds a little more more varied concerning keys as well as things like their extensive use of acoustic guitars and also they had a lot of counterpoint harmonies in their earlier work which generally gives the melodic component more variation and level of intrigue.

I think the people giving Opeth shit about lacking melody have probably listened to a very small handful of songs from them, heard growls and br00tal riffs, and formed a quick and biased opinion about 'em.

[theseoafs]

The issue of "melody" isn't specific to this thread, so try not to get too upset about the misuse of the term. Often on DTF, people say that a piece "does not have melody" when they mean to say that it "isn't as melodic as other types of music" or that it "has a melody that isn't very good or catchy". It's incorrect but widespread.

[Zook]

My brother is a big Opeth fan and I've heard plenty to base a solid opinion. I think they're mostly boring. The songs have a formula which I cannot get into. I do like a couple songs off Watershed, but I rarely want to listen to them. Iron Maiden may have a formula, but the songs are catchy and singalongable and just more exciting. That is, their 80s work mostly. Not to say they don't have their fair share of crap songs though.