The official Opeth thread v. In Cauda Venenum

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Man, that really makes me reminiscent.  First, just extra footage from that making of I watched a number of times back then.  And then secondly, when Damnation came out one of my first memories of it was putting "Hope Leaves" on after finishing a final exam, walking out of the building into a light rain, and eating a Reese's fast break bar.  A memory probably permanently seared into my mind. 

[ProfessorPeart]

My favorite lineup of the band. Lopez is just one of the smoothest drummers I have ever seen. He makes it look so effortless. I so enjoy just watching him play.

[nick_z]

My favorite lineup of the band. Lopez is just one of the smoothest drummers I have ever seen. He makes it look so effortless. I so enjoy just watching him play.

Agreed - it's one of the reasons the performance on the Lamentations DVD is so good.

[Kocak]

My favorite lineup of the band. Lopez is just one of the smoothest drummers I have ever seen. He makes it look so effortless. I so enjoy just watching him play.

IMO he's the perfect drummer for the post-2010 retro-prog era of Opeth too. Just has the right flavour.

[emtee]

Lopez is fantastic. He managed to always create unique and memorable parts. His performance on Ghost Reveries is among my all time favorites.

[SoundscapeMN]

bump.

Ian Anderson to guest on their upcoming album

https://blabbermouth.net/news/jethro-tulls-ian-anderson-to-guest-on-opeths-next-album

[Fritzinger]

I was wondering when the time for a new Opeth album would come. Cauda came out almost 4 1/2 years ago.

BTW I love how Anderson talks about Opeth like they’re a newcomer in the prog scene  “they’re Swedish”, hilarious.

[Kocak]

I was wondering when the time for a new Opeth album would come. Cauda came out almost 4 1/2 years ago.

BTW I love how Anderson talks about Opeth like they’re a newcomer in the prog scene  “they’re Swedish”, hilarious.

You'd be surprised to know how many professional musicians actually have no interest in the general music landscape. A surprisingly small number of them are actually up to date on what's goes on in the industry. I.e. MP is an outlier when it comes to being that dialled in.

[TheHoveringSojourn808]

saw this thread got bumped and got excited for some news lol

ICV remains their best post-Watershed record (IMO) very excited for where they go from here

[Kram]

saw this thread got bumped and got excited for some news lol

ICV remains their best post-Watershed record (IMO) very excited for where they go from here

I would agree with this - with Pale Communion a close second.

[Kocak]

saw this thread got bumped and got excited for some news lol

ICV remains their best post-Watershed record (IMO) very excited for where they go from here

I would agree with this - with Pale Communion a close second.

Eternal Rains Will Come is still one of my favourite album openers. Amazing track.

[nick_z]

saw this thread got bumped and got excited for some news lol

ICV remains their best post-Watershed record (IMO) very excited for where they go from here

I would agree with this - with Pale Communion a close second.

Agree with both

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I was wondering when the time for a new Opeth album would come. Cauda came out almost 4 1/2 years ago.

BTW I love how Anderson talks about Opeth like they’re a newcomer in the prog scene  “they’re Swedish”, hilarious.

You'd be surprised to know how many professional musicians actually have no interest in the general music landscape. A surprisingly small number of them are actually up to date on what's goes on in the industry. I.e. MP is an outlier when it comes to being that dialled in.

And I don't know much about Ian's tastes, but if he was the type who didn't like harsh vocals, Opeth wouldn't even have been something to interest him at all until a bit over a decade ago. 

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I recently came around to The Baying of the Hounds. Probably one of my favorite Opeth songs now. I never disliked it or anything, but I think the beginning of the song is maybe the weakest part, so I was tuning out early. That outro though...

[hefdaddy42]

I recently came around to The Baying of the Hounds. Probably one of my favorite Opeth songs now. I never disliked it or anything, but I think the beginning of the song is maybe the weakest part, so I was tuning out early. That outro though...

That song is awesome.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I recently came around to The Baying of the Hounds. Probably one of my favorite Opeth songs now. I never disliked it or anything, but I think the beginning of the song is maybe the weakest part, so I was tuning out early.

Oh come on now, "I hear them devouring....fresh-made tacos of the earth" is clearly the best part. 

[emtee]

Ghost Reveries represents the single biggest one-eighty of any album in my life. I was new to this genre of music but the people at MP's forum kept raving about Opeth...so I bought GR. First couple minutes and WHAM, I felt like pure evil was pumping out of my speakers. The music though...was beautiful. So I ended up giving my CD to a member, DTD was his handle. Then everybody said, "try Damnation" so I did. And I loved it. Couple weeks later I bought GR for the second time and from then on, I was hooked.

I still don't love the lyrical content so I try not to pat attention to it. But GR is among my top 3 metal albums of all time now.

[twosuitsluke]

Ghost Reveries is possibly a top 10 all time album for me (or very close) so I obviously adore everything about it. The Baying of the Hounds is not often a song that springs to my mind as a favourite, but it is awesome.

As with every song on the album, it's filled with twists and turns, contrasts from heavy to light and changes in pace. I think of all Opeth's albums I love Ghost Reveries the most because of their mastery of these contrasts.

As for favourite bits, the "Everything you believed is a lie" part, as well as the solo just before the 7 minute mark. Yea, just an incredible song.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

The headphone jack in my MP3 player wore out and only outputted audio on one side, so for a month or two of the fall '05 semester before I could save enough for a replacement I went back to my portable CD player on campus, and almost exclusively went back and forth between listening to Ghost Reveries, and Nevermore's This Godless Endeavor. 

[PixelDream]

I hope the production will be any good on their new record. In Cauda Venenum sounds very harsh and unpleasant to my ears.

[Buddyhunter1]

I hope the production will be any good on their new record. In Cauda Venenum sounds very harsh and unpleasant to my ears.

Every album since Heritage has sounded incredibly "brown", if that makes any sense. Especially the last two.

[Lonk]

I recently came around to The Baying of the Hounds. Probably one of my favorite Opeth songs now. I never disliked it or anything, but I think the beginning of the song is maybe the weakest part, so I was tuning out early.

Oh come on now, "I hear them devouring....fresh-made tacos of the earth" is clearly the best part.

DIABOLICAL BEANS!!!!

Yeah that song is great, favorite from the album.

[fadetoblackdude7]

I hope the production will be any good on their new record. In Cauda Venenum sounds very harsh and unpleasant to my ears.

Every album since Heritage has sounded incredibly "brown", if that makes any sense. Especially the last two.

Yeah they need to go back to great-sounding records. Sorceress in particular sounds dreadful. But GR is one of the most well mixed and best sounding metal albums ever. One of the many reasons why it’s my favorite!

[Kram]

Ghost Reveries is possibly a top 10 all time album for me (or very close) so I obviously adore everything about it. The Baying of the Hounds is not often a song that springs to my mind as a favourite, but it is awesome.

As with every song on the album, it's filled with twists and turns, contrasts from heavy to light and changes in pace. I think of all Opeth's albums I love Ghost Reveries the most because of their mastery of these contrasts.

As for favourite bits, the "Everything you believed is a lie" part, as well as the solo just before the 7 minute mark. Yea, just an incredible song.

Ghost Reveries is definitely in my Top 10 albums of all time and is my favorite Opeth album.  Everything about Ghost Reveries KICKS ASS!

[TheOutlawXanadu]

Ghost Reveries is possibly a top 10 all time album for me (or very close) so I obviously adore everything about it. The Baying of the Hounds is not often a song that springs to my mind as a favourite, but it is awesome.

As with every song on the album, it's filled with twists and turns, contrasts from heavy to light and changes in pace. I think of all Opeth's albums I love Ghost Reveries the most because of their mastery of these contrasts.

As for favourite bits, the "Everything you believed is a lie" part, as well as the solo just before the 7 minute mark. Yea, just an incredible song.

Ghost Reveries is definitely in my Top 10 albums of all time and is my favorite Opeth album.  Everything about Ghost Reveries KICKS ASS!

I was watching an Opeth podcast recently where they were ranking the albums. MP was randomly there and he described Ghost Reveries as a fusion of Deliverance and Damnation. I was like... Huh, never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. Great album!

[twosuitsluke]

Oh, I feel an Opeth kick coming on!

[nobloodyname]

This thread inspired me to pop on Ghost Reveries. First time in a while. What an album. Light years ahead of anything that came after it. The music is actually interesting!

[Zydar]

Great to see the love for Ghost Reveries, that's my favourite Opeth album. Feels like a lot of focus goes towards Blackwater Park otherwise, but not enough to GR.

[fadetoblackdude7]

Great to see the love for Ghost Reveries, that's my favourite Opeth album. Feels like a lot of focus goes towards Blackwater Park otherwise, but not enough to GR.

Well said, couldn’t agree more. It’s a masterpiece just as much as BwP in my personal opinion. The stars aligned for them on that one.

[Buddyhunter1]

I don't want to be the one asshole that ruins the GR praise parade, but I'll just say that Watershed hits the same appeal as GR while also being more varied, interesting, and exciting.

[twosuitsluke]

I don't want to be the one asshole that ruins the GR praise parade, but I'll just say that Watershed hits the same appeal as GR while also being more varied, interesting, and exciting.

I wouldn't say Watershed is more varied, interesting, and exciting, but as my second favourite Opeth album I'd say it's almost as varied, interesting, and exciting.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

I still like WS a lot, but it just feels "off" to me, like Mike's jadedness with extreme metal is starting to seep in, and it doesn't have the same atmosphere as their earlier material. 

I was watching an Opeth podcast recently where they were ranking the albums. MP was randomly there and he described Ghost Reveries as a fusion of Deliverance and Damnation. I was like... Huh, never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. Great album!

It works in the other direction too.  The intention was to sort of split their sound from BWP in half, with an album focusing more heavily on each side of them.  That whole four album run of BWP-GR is easily their peak for me. 

[Kram]

OK, here we go (again) lol

1. Ghost Reveries
2. Blackwater Park
3. Watershed
4. Deliverance
5. Still Life
6. Damnation
7. In Cauda Venenum
8. Pale Communion
9. My Arms Your Hearse
10. Orchid
11. Heritage
12. Sorceress
13. Morningrise

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Blackwater Park
Deliverance
Ghost Reveries
Damnation
My Arms Your Hearse
Still Life
Morningrise
Heritage
Watershed
In Cauda Venenum
Pale Communion
Orchid
Sorceress

[twosuitsluke]

I'll bite...

1. Ghost Reveries
2. Watershed
3. Blackwater Park
4. Damnation
5. Still Life
6. In Cauda Venenum
7. Sorceress
8. Pale Communion
9. Deliverance
10. Heritage
11. My Arms Your Hearse
12. Morningrise
13. Orchid