I feel kinda bad for Mikael though. If he and his family received death threats over Heritage, that kind of shit probably won't stop if Opeth continue down the line making albums like this. It's a shame because he's a musician and he should be able to make the kind of music he wants. It's one thing for us to discuss it, and some people might not be happy with the direction or the result, but when you get to the stage of death threats, that's just messed up.
Agreed. It's ok to be passionate about a band, but being obsessed to the point of threatening to kill a musician, when he writes music that doesn't please you, is just sick.
EDIT:
Proshot footage of the Rock am Ring show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rsZdjGzOpA
Looks like Mendez shaved his head
Mikael's growls sound pretty good, although he avoids the higher screams.
I get the feeling that their next tour will be similar to the first couple Heritage tours... i.e. all clean stuff with maybe one or two growly songs at the end.
I don't think so... I mean, obviously they'll be promoting the new album, and I doubt there won't be anything from Damnation or Heritage, so of course most of the songs won't be death metal, but I think a third or so of the set will be stuff with growls, because they did a growl-free tour already. Songs like When and Serenity Painted Death haven't been played in over 5 years, so this would be a good time to bring them back. Perhaps they'll even premiere Beneath the Mire?