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

[black_biff_stadler]

I'm surprised that particular song got picked, I'm not too crazy about it.

+1

I like rocking out to it but two of Opeth's biggest aspects aren't well represented in it:

1. Their acoustic passages: I like it but yeah it does drag on somewhat.

2. Mike's clean vocals: I fucking adore some of their songs that have zero clean vocals but I'd have to really think it over to be confident in choosing a song of theirs without 'em to be the representative song of their discography.

[Buddyhunter1]

What makes the acoustic passage in Blackwater Park so great is that it makes the rest of the song after it sound even more brutal than it already is. The moment when the calm section ends and the bombastic BUH DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUUH riff bursts in is one of the greatest things ever.

[DebraKadabra]

Like my rankings for Still Life and Blackwater Park, just because a song is in last place doesn't mean I don't like it/it sucks/etc.  So, now that I have that out the way...

Death Whispered a Lullaby
Hope Leaves
In My Time of Need
To Rid the Disease
Windowpane
Weakness
Ending Credits
Closure

What makes the acoustic passage in Blackwater Park so great is that it makes the rest of the song after it sound even more brutal than it already is. The moment when the calm section ends and the bombastic BUH DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUUH riff bursts in is one of the greatest things ever.

[Jirpo]

What makes the acoustic passage in Blackwater Park so great is that it makes the rest of the song after it sound even more brutal than it already is. The moment when the calm section ends and the bombastic BUH DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUUH riff bursts in is one of the greatest things ever.

The live version on Royal Albert is incredible!

[Buddyhunter1]

Especially because of the fail-tastic audience clapping during the calm bit.

[?]

What makes the acoustic passage in Blackwater Park so great is that it makes the rest of the song after it sound even more brutal than it already is. The moment when the calm section ends and the bombastic BUH DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUUUH riff bursts in is one of the greatest things ever.

For me it's the other way round: I think the acoustic section comes too early on and kills all the momentum the song had built up to that point. When the distorted guitars and drums finally come back, I've already lost my attention and interest.

I like rocking out to it but two of Opeth's biggest aspects aren't well represented in it:

1. Their acoustic passages: I like it but yeah it does drag on somewhat.

2. Mike's clean vocals: I fucking adore some of their songs that have zero clean vocals but I'd have to really think it over to be confident in choosing a song of theirs without 'em to be the representative song of their discography.

Yeah, this is exactly why I can't think of it as THE Opeth song or even one of their best.

[DarkEternalNight]

Is the second leg with Katatonia not happening?

[SystematicThought]

Apparently not, and it makes me a sad guy...

[ddtonfire]

Just rediscovered Blackwater Park last night. Can't stop listening!

[fadetoblackdude7]

I was just listening to Still Life the other day and I seriously think they need to perform it in its entirety when it reaches an important anniversary.....it's one of their most well-balanced albums for sure.

[adace]

I was just listening to Still Life the other day and I seriously think they need to perform it in its entirety when it reaches an important anniversary.....it's one of their most well-balanced albums for sure.

This x 1,000,000

[DebraKadabra]

I was just listening to Still Life the other day and I seriously think they need to perform it in its entirety when it reaches an important anniversary.....it's one of their most well-balanced albums for sure.

[black_biff_stadler]

I was just listening to Still Life the other day and I seriously think they need to perform it in its entirety when it reaches an important anniversary.....it's one of their most well-balanced albums for sure.

I completely agree. It regularly occupies the spot of being my favorite album by them. Such a warm uplifting vibe to much of it (clean vocals in The Moor's first chorus, acoustic section in Godhead's, clean-sung bridge near the end of Moonlapse) while still delivering excellent dosages of heaviness (first roar during The Moor's intro, blood-curdling roars between the mellow section and the solo of Serenity.)

I love your idea but I think if it were to have to be tied to any milestone, our best bet would be the 15th anniversary in 2014 at a time when Mike has no preoccupying involvement with Storm Corrosion and has yet to fully dive into writing the new Opeth album. He may already be free from any obligations to SC already since he's highly dismissed the feasibility of playing SC's stuff live given how many people would be necessary to pull it off as well as the fact that I've heard nothing about a followup as of yet.

If it doesn't happen in 2014, and Mike was only interested in doing it as an anniversary show in the first place, I'd sadly think it'd never happen since Mike's death metal voice has been moderately to almost badly in decline for some time now and by 2019 (20th anniversary), it'd be nothing short of miraculous for him to be able to pull it off unless he was actively working on rehabilitating it. Given his very low interest in making brutal music these days, I'd be surprised if he was addressing that issue at all.

Hopefully he'll just do it for the fuck of it at some point in the near future while he still has some gas in the tank.

Anyhoo...

Ghost Reveries rankings!

1. Reverie/Harlequin Forest
2. Hour of Wealth
3. Ghost of Perdition
4. Beneath the Mire
5. Baying of the Hounds
6. The Grand Conjuration
7. Isolation Years
8. Atonement

[Buddyhunter1]

1: Reverie / Harlequin Forest
2: Ghost Of Perdition
3: The Baying Of The Hounds
(These top three could be switched around pretty easily)

4: Beneath The Mire
5: Isolation Years
6: Atonement
7: The Grand Conjuration
8: Hour Of Wealth (Would be much, much higher if the 2nd half was as good as the 1st half)

[The King in Crimson]

1. The Grand Conjuration
2. Ghost of Perdition
3. Reverie / Harlequin Forest
4. Beneath The Mire
5. Isolation Years
6. Atonement
7. Baying Of The Hounds
8. Hours Of Wealth

God, that was hard to rank. 

[ddtonfire]

1. Baying of the Hounds
2. Isolation Years
3. Atonement
4. Reverie/Harlequin Forest
5. Ghost of Perdition
6. The Grand Conjuration
7. Beneath the Mire
8. Hours of Wealth

[?]

I was just listening to Still Life the other day and I seriously think they need to perform it in its entirety when it reaches an important anniversary.....it's one of their most well-balanced albums for sure.

Yeah, Still Life is a great album although not one of my favorites. However, a full performance of that album is pretty unlikely as Mikael has said the reason they don't play much SL material live is that the songs are so technical and hard to play. He also dislikes Moonlapse Vertigo, saying it should've been scrapped.

My GR ranking:

1. Harlequin Forest
2. Ghost of Perdition
3. Hours of Wealth
4. Beneath the Mire
5. Baying of the Hounds
6. Isolation Years
7. The Grand Conjuration
8. Atonement

[MK_Ultra]

1. The Baying Of The Hounds
2. Harlequin Forest
3. Ghost Of Perdition
4. The Grand Conjuration
5. Beneath The Mire
6. Hours Of Wealth
7. Atonement
8. Isolation Years

[Zantera]

1. The Baying of the Hounds
2. Isolation Years
3. Ghost of Perdition
4. Harlequin Forest
5. Beneath the Mire
6. Atonement
7. The Grand Conjuration
8. Hours of Wealth

[fadetoblackdude7]

Ghost Of Perdition
Reverie/Harlequin Forest
Beneath The Mire
The Baying Of The Hounds
Hours Of Wealth
Atonement
Isolation Years
The Grand Conjuration

Btw, Favorite Opeth album by far!

[Onno]

Reverie/Harlequin Forest
Ghost of Perdition
The Baying of the Hounds
Isolation Years
The Grand Conjuration
Atonement
Hours of Wealth
Beneath the Mire

[Mladen]

1. The Grand conjuration
2. Isolation years

3. Reverie/Harlequin Forest
4. Hours of Wealth
5. Ghost of Perdition
6. Beneath the Mire
7. Atonement
8. The Baying of the Hounds

One of my lesser favorite Opeth albums. It's okay, but it doesn't have that something that makes me go back to it again and again. Or maybe it's a grower, we'll see...

[darkshade]

The Baying Of The Hounds
Ghost Of Perdition
Hours Of Wealth
Beneath The Mire
Atonement
The Grand Conjuration
Reverie/Harlequin Forest
Isolation Years

[fadetoblackdude7]

I was just listening to Still Life the other day and I seriously think they need to perform it in its entirety when it reaches an important anniversary.....it's one of their most well-balanced albums for sure.

Yeah, Still Life is a great album although not one of my favorites. However, a full performance of that album is pretty unlikely as Mikael has said the reason they don't play much SL material live is that the songs are so technical and hard to play. He also dislikes Moonlapse Vertigo, saying it should've been scrapped.

Moonlapse Vertigo is a great song! Seriously, Mikael is his own worst critic way too often.

[DebraKadabra]

That makes me very sad that Mikael thinks Moonlapse Vertigo should have been scrapped.  I that song.

Anyhoooooo... on to my rankings for Ghost Reveries!  The Top 3 are sometimes interchangeable btw... and same as Still Life, Blackwater Park, and Damnation, last place don't mean shit.


The Baying of the Hounds
Ghost of Perdition
Hours of Wealth
Reverie/Harlequin Forest
The Grand Conjuration
Beneath The Mire
Isolation Years
Atonement

[Elite]

4th favourite Opeth album for me, behind Blackwater Park, My Arms, Your Hearse and Still Life.
Rankings nobody will be happy with:

1. Harlequin Forest
2. The Grand Conjuration
3. Ghost of Perdition
4. Atonement
5. Hours of Wealth
6. Isolation Years
7. The Baying of the Hounds
8. Beneath the Mire

[Jirpo]

1. Harlequin Forest
2. Ghost of Perdition
3. Beneath the Mire
4. The Baying of the Hounds
5. Isolation Years
6. The Grand Conjuration
7. Hours of Wealth
8. Atonement

[Ben_Jamin]

Beneath the Mire
Ghost of Perdition
Harlequin Forest
Isolation Years
Baying of The Hounds
Hours of Wealth
The Grand Conjuration
Atonement

[Gadough]

1. Ghost of Perdition
2. Harlequin Forest
3. Isolation Years
4. Beneath the Mire
5. Hours of Wealth
6. Baying of the Hounds
7. The Grand Conjuration
8. Atonement

[Zydar]

My favourite Opeth album.

1. Harlequin Forest
2. Isolation Years
3. Ghost of Perdition
4. Baying Of The Hounds
5. Atonement
6. The Grand Conjuration
7. Beneath The Mire
8. Hours of Wealth

TGC would be higher up if the 2nd half was as great as the 1st.

[Jirpo]

TGCs middle section is the best part of the song for me. THEEEE GRAAAANNNDDDD COOOONNN JUURRRR RAAAAA TTIOOONNN

[Onno]

TGCs middle section is the best part of the song for me. THEEEE GRAAAANNNDDDD COOOONNN JUURRRR RAAAAA TTIOOONNN

^this

[black_biff_stadler]

My favorite part is the seemingly intentional reference to the Pit stage's music from the original Mortal Kombat for Genesis/Mega Drive:

The Pit

The Grand Conjuration

[Onno]

My favorite part is the seemingly intentional reference to the Pit stage's music from the original Mortal Kombat for Genesis/Mega Drive:

The Pit

The Grand Conjuration

Ohlol, that is cool.

[Elite]

My favourite part of it is the whole song. It's just that Harlequin Forest is a bit more solid altogether that makes me like it a bit more. Basically, for me, both songs slay.

oh, _floyd, that's awesome, I didn't know that