Opeth: The Clean Vocals Album Poll

[emtee]

What is your preference?

Damnation wins for me.

[Kram]

I'd rank them this way - so yeah Damnation but I did really like the last album

Damnation
In Cauda Venenum
Pale Communion
Heritage
Sorceress

[nick_z]

Yep, it's Damnation for me too.

[Buddyhunter1]

Heritage (underrated and overhated)
Damnation
In Cauda Venenum
Sorceress
Pale Communion

[Zantera]

These would be my bottom 5 Opeth albums but out of them Damnation is the best.

[Kram]

Heritage (underrated and overhated)
Damnation
In Cauda Venenum
Sorceress
Pale Communion

I agree Heritage is underrated.  I just like a few others better.  But it's got a great "feel" to it and Folklore might be my favorite clean era Opeth song.  There's an idea for a thread - top "clean" vocals Opeth songs.

[billboy73]

Went Damnation and would rank them like this:

Damnation
In Cauda Veneum
Sorceress
Heritage
Pale Communion

[Evermind]

Damnation, but it was a toss-up between that and Pale Communion. Heritage is pretty close to these two also, it's excellent.

Sorceress and the new one are far below those three for me.

[Zoom E]

These would be my bottom 5 Opeth albums but out of them Damnation is the best.

Same.

[Mladen]

Damnation, although Heritage is right behind it. I also love In cauda venenum. 

[ProfessorPeart]

Damnation
Pale Communion (closest to a pre-clean vocal era Opeth album to me)
Sorceress (wish it didn't sound like 10 feet of mud was in front of the speakers)
In Cauda Venenum
Heritage (Deserves the hate I give it. Least favorite Opeth album, period)

[wolfking]

Damnation, by miles.

[senecadawg2]

Yeah this one isn't going to be close. Damnation for sure. Although I agree with those defending Heritage too.

[YngVai]

Knee-jerk voted for "Sorceress" before seeing that we're including "Damnation."

[Animal]

I am surprised Damnation dominates this poll so much. I speculate it's, at least partially, due to it belonging to the death-metal era of Opeth, despite being a clean vocals album. Sure, it is a collection of nice songs but it's also kind of boring, unless you are in a rather specific mood.
    I voted for In Cauda Venenum - to me, it feels like they finally found their own original brand of prog. I like Pale Communion quite a lot but it does sound much closer to generic 70's prog.
 I prefer death metal era Opeth but I would definitely rank their best clean vocal albums above their early stuff and, maybe, Watershed and Deliverance.

[Kwyjibo]

Damnation
Pale Communion
Sorceress
In Cauda Venenum
Heritage

The first two I really enjoy from time to time, the rest is just kinda there.

[hefdaddy42]

Pale Communion by a nipple

[Trav86]

I kinda lost interest in Opeth after Watershed. Nothing to do with the shift musically or vocally, that was just a coincidence. But I’ve meaning to try and get into these later albums for years, and I just haven’t. This poll is getting my interest sparked to actually do it.

[Zantera]

I am surprised Damnation dominates this poll so much. I speculate it's, at least partially, due to it belonging to the death-metal era of Opeth, despite being a clean vocals album. Sure, it is a collection of nice songs but it's also kind of boring, unless you are in a rather specific mood.
    I voted for In Cauda Venenum - to me, it feels like they finally found their own original brand of prog. I like Pale Communion quite a lot but it does sound much closer to generic 70's prog.
 I prefer death metal era Opeth but I would definitely rank their best clean vocal albums above their early stuff and, maybe, Watershed and Deliverance.

I can only speak for myself but the reason I like Damnation more than the other ones is that even though it has some of the same weaknesses, I would still say it has the 'atmosphere' of those classic Opeth albums. It's a more chilled out album without the heaviness but most of the songs have a similar vibe to like Face of Melinda or Harvest or A Fair Judgement, or other calm songs from their heavy albums. I don't consider their most recent 4 albums bad or anything but the 70s retro vibe that oozes through all those albums (particularly in the sound, mixing and production) just knocks them down for me. I would like all these albums more (even though there's no growls) if you could remove that whole 70s filter from the sound of those albums. The songs aren't bad but I just don't care for the 70s worship.

[ErHaO]

I kind of wonder how Damnation would be received if it was released in the current era of Opeth. To me it is very sameish and mellow throughout, lacking many aspects I personally enjoy in Opeth. I do like it though.

My vote goes to Pale Communion, but only slightly so. The only lesser album is Heritage, which is still solid.

With the exception of Watershed and Ghost Reveries, which I love, I do prefer clean nu-Opeth, so my Opeth taste is in the minority. The earlier albums are not very enjoyable to me, I am just not about that Death Metal audio production.

When I saw them recently I thought the balance between all of their elements was perfect. I think their current style with a touch of death metal (including vocals) would be the sweet spot for me.

[Kram]

I am surprised Damnation dominates this poll so much. I speculate it's, at least partially, due to it belonging to the death-metal era of Opeth, despite being a clean vocals album. Sure, it is a collection of nice songs but it's also kind of boring, unless you are in a rather specific mood.
    I voted for In Cauda Venenum - to me, it feels like they finally found their own original brand of prog. I like Pale Communion quite a lot but it does sound much closer to generic 70's prog.
 I prefer death metal era Opeth but I would definitely rank their best clean vocal albums above their early stuff and, maybe, Watershed and Deliverance.

I can only speak for myself but the reason I like Damnation more than the other ones is that even though it has some of the same weaknesses, I would still say it has the 'atmosphere' of those classic Opeth albums. It's a more chilled out album without the heaviness but most of the songs have a similar vibe to like Face of Melinda or Harvest or A Fair Judgement, or other calm songs from their heavy albums. I don't consider their most recent 4 albums bad or anything but the 70s retro vibe that oozes through all those albums (particularly in the sound, mixing and production) just knocks them down for me. I would like all these albums more (even though there's no growls) if you could remove that whole 70s filter from the sound of those albums. The songs aren't bad but I just don't care for the 70s worship.

I agree with this.  Loosing the 70's vibe would do wonders IMO.  I keep going back to Watershed (which I love) - songs like Burden and Porcelain Heart had clean vocals - but a much more "kick ass" (for lack of a better term) production and vibe than the newer material. I would like to see them go more towards this direction in the future.

[gmillerdrake]

I 'only' like the clean vocals of OPETH as I personally find the growling/screaming output unlistenable no matter how good the music is. Having said that....I never ventured far into their catalog and didn't realize that there were more 'clear' albums outside of Damnation and Pale Communion....so, looks like I have some listening to do.

[Volante99]

Heritage- and it's not even close.

Their last great album - creepy, atmospheric, jazzy, actually progressive and creative, AMAZING production and still metal.
Truly underrated and it's a shame it gets hate.

Damnation is a somewhat distant second for me. And all of their other clean vocal stuff has been a total snorefest for me.

[LithoJazzoSphere]

Way too much history with Damnation, it came out when Opeth was becoming a huge band for me, and I have far too many memories attached to it.  Heritage is my favorite of the newer ones, with Sorceress being my least favorite. 

[KevShmev]

Close call between Damnation and Pale Communion, both of which are top 5 Opeth albums for me.  I went with Pale Communion, by a nose.

I like Heritage a lot, but it doesn't have any super awesome songs.

The last two are both good, with a few standout songs, but the sound quality of both dropped off badly, hurting the overall quality of both.  A shame how they went from a band whose albums always sounded good to them becoming muddy messes where the volume was cranked too much.

[twosuitsluke]

I voted Damnation, but it's really close. In Cauda Venenum is a very close second, I really love that album.

I've come to appreciate all eras of Opeth, and there really are no bad albums. Full ranking of these would go...

1. Damnation
2. In Cauda Venenum
3. Pale Communion
4. Sorceress
5. Heritage

[gmillerdrake]

I like Heritage a lot, but it doesn't have any super awesome songs.

I listened to In Cauda Venemum last night. Thought it was 'alright'

Listened to Heritage this morning on my hour drive in to work and thought it was pretty boring. Good 'background' music but never heard anything that jumped out to me to get the juices flowing.


I believe you were the one who recommended 'Damnation' and 'Pale Communion' to me for the soft vocal Opeth. Going to listen to the others in this poll as well but right now those two are 1 and 2 for me.

[Buddyhunter1]

I've said this before but it's the darker, more atmospheric songs on Heritage that put it above the rest for me. I love how oppressively dark and desolate songs like Haxprocess and Famine are, and The Devil's Orchard has a bit of that too in the midsection. If Opeth was going to stop being heavy, I appreciated them at least keeping their dark atmosphere. The rest of the 2010s albums don't really have that. Pale Communion is way too "bright" sounding, especially songs like River which just... do absolutely nothing for me. Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum have better songs than Pale Communion and bring a bit of the heaviness back, but outside of like, Strange Brew, they don't capture that dark atmosphere Heritage has either.

[Volante99]

I've said this before but it's the darker, more atmospheric songs on Heritage that put it above the rest for me. I love how oppressively dark and desolate songs like Haxprocess and Famine are, and The Devil's Orchard has a bit of that too in the midsection. If Opeth was going to stop being heavy, I appreciated them at least keeping their dark atmosphere. The rest of the 2010s albums don't really have that. Pale Communion is way too "bright" sounding, especially songs like River which just... do absolutely nothing for me. Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum have better songs than Pale Communion and bring a bit of the heaviness back, but outside of like, Strange Brew, they don't capture that dark atmosphere Heritage has either.

100% in agreement here.

[Kram]

I've said this before but it's the darker, more atmospheric songs on Heritage that put it above the rest for me. I love how oppressively dark and desolate songs like Haxprocess and Famine are, and The Devil's Orchard has a bit of that too in the midsection. If Opeth was going to stop being heavy, I appreciated them at least keeping their dark atmosphere. The rest of the 2010s albums don't really have that. Pale Communion is way too "bright" sounding, especially songs like River which just... do absolutely nothing for me. Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum have better songs than Pale Communion and bring a bit of the heaviness back, but outside of like, Strange Brew, they don't capture that dark atmosphere Heritage has either.

100% in agreement here.

I will agree with this as well.  Heritage has a great "atmosphere" to it, no question it's one of it's appeals to me.

[Zantera]

I see what you guys mean with Heritage and I agree to some extent, I feel like this happens sometimes when bands evolve and every album has some residual elements carrying over from the album before it. So Watershed despite being a bit different from 'classic Opeth' still gets lumped into that era by many fans (I think it's awesome myself) cause it still has enough elements from the previous stuff, just taking a few steps forward. Heritage in a similar fashion drops all the harsh vocals but still has some of that Watershed atmosphere (in my opinion at least) and that is something cool to appreciate about it. This has kinda been washed away on the albums after though but there was definitely a darkness present at moments on Heritage that is no longer around.

[Buddyhunter1]

I see what you guys mean with Heritage and I agree to some extent, I feel like this happens sometimes when bands evolve and every album has some residual elements carrying over from the album before it. So Watershed despite being a bit different from 'classic Opeth' still gets lumped into that era by many fans (I think it's awesome myself) cause it still has enough elements from the previous stuff, just taking a few steps forward. Heritage in a similar fashion drops all the harsh vocals but still has some of that Watershed atmosphere (in my opinion at least) and that is something cool to appreciate about it. This has kinda been washed away on the albums after though but there was definitely a darkness present at moments on Heritage that is no longer around.

Sure, and I think Watershed is one of their best albums ever, so that could partially explain why I like Heritage as much as I do.

[Kram]

I see what you guys mean with Heritage and I agree to some extent, I feel like this happens sometimes when bands evolve and every album has some residual elements carrying over from the album before it. So Watershed despite being a bit different from 'classic Opeth' still gets lumped into that era by many fans (I think it's awesome myself) cause it still has enough elements from the previous stuff, just taking a few steps forward. Heritage in a similar fashion drops all the harsh vocals but still has some of that Watershed atmosphere (in my opinion at least) and that is something cool to appreciate about it. This has kinda been washed away on the albums after though but there was definitely a darkness present at moments on Heritage that is no longer around.

Sure, and I think Watershed is one of their best albums ever, so that could partially explain why I like Heritage as much as I do.

Not going to do a full ranking but I'd agree, Watershed is a top 3 Opeth album for me -

Ghost Reveries
Blackwater Park
Watershed

[emtee]

Ghost Reveries ( possibly my favorite metal album of all time)
Damnation
Watershed

[Nick]

In my attempts to get into Opeth, I generally have grouped them into two era.

The era where the vocals were awful and
The era where the music wasn't very interesting

Only one album broke that mold for me, which was Damnation.