Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation - Fav and least fav Opeth album?

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Fav and least fav Opeth album?

Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=134018
Printed Date: December 22 2024 at 19:12
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Topic: Fav and least fav Opeth album?

Posted By: Zappastolethetowels
Subject: Fav and least fav Opeth album?
Date Posted: December 07 2024 at 16:26

You heard it in the subject! Post... Smile

Replies:

Posted By: Junges
Date Posted: December 07 2024 at 17:10

My favorite is the obvious one, Blackwater Park.

My least favorite from the "good" era is Damnation.

My least favorite from the "bad" era is... any. Well.. probably Pale Communion and In Cauda Venenum are the least worst. I couldn't care much for the rest, including their latest.

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Posted By: Zappastolethetowels
Date Posted: December 07 2024 at 19:15

Junges wrote:

My favorite is the obvious one, Blackwater Park.

My least favorite from the "good" era is Damnation. Interesting

My least favorite from the "bad" era is... any. Well.. probably Pale Communion and In Cauda Venenum are the least worst. I couldn't care much for the rest, including their latest. I didn't think much of their latest either

Posted By: Zappastolethetowels
Date Posted: December 07 2024 at 19:17

^ So you are all in on the Cookie Monster?

Posted By: Mellotron Storm
Date Posted: December 07 2024 at 20:56

I haven't heard the new one, or some of their early records, but my favourite is their unique one called "Damnation". I'm also a huge fan of "Blackwater Park" and "In Cauda Venenum" the Swedish version.
Least favourite has to be "Sorceress". I just felt like some of the new stuff they tried didn't work.

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"The wind is slowly tearing her apart"

"Sad Rain" ANEKDOTEN

Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: December 07 2024 at 23:53

I can't really answer that properly, as I haven't bothered giving any album more than one listen after Watershed (which is my least favorite "growl-era" album of theirs). Its not that I need those growls, but I do think Opeth's music is less memorable, less unique as a "normal" Prog Rock band without them. To me Åkerfeldts "pretty" vocals and their vocal harmonies had a greater effect on me when they were contrasted with sinister growls. The material comes off as a little samey and unengaging - like they've lost more than just the growls in the process. Ive only heard two songs from The Last Will and Testament. While it was pleasing to hear the "return to form" none of the songs exited me very much. Ill give the full album a listen soon.

Blackwater Park is my favorite (followed by Deliverance) and from memory I remember thinking Sorceress was a little extra underwhelming. But as I said that's based on checking it out once and dismissing it, so it's not really "a fair judgement".

Originally posted by Zappastolethetowels

Zappastolethetowels wrote:

^ So you are all in on the Cookie Monster?

Growls aren't any different than any other use of the human voice to me. Some appeal to me, others dont. In Opeths music growls have a place and function. In their peak-era, Åkerfeldts delivery is very melodic and rich anyway. Never grating on the ears imo. Beautiful even. That's why he is typically the first growler many listeners coming from "regular progrock" or "classic metal" are ok with.

Posted By: Starshiper
Date Posted: December 07 2024 at 23:56

Whatever they do, being that death metal or "prog," Opeth's music has always been one-dimensional and dull to me. An extremely overrated band, in my opinion.

Posted By: GuruCan
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 00:01

Starshiper wrote:

Whatever they do, being that death metal or "prog," Opeth's music has always been one-dimensional and dull to me. An extremely overrated band, in my opinion.

I'll second that!

Posted By: Zappastolethetowels
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 00:12

To me they are like the Flower Kings: album after album of sameyness until one comes off unique and somewhat enjoyable like Damnation, Still Life, or PC. I quite like Morningrise as well.

Perhaps a little overrated

Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 00:40

Zappastolethetowels wrote:

To me they are like the Flower Kings: album after album of sameyness until one comes off unique and somewhat enjoyable like Damnation, Still Life, or PC. I quite like Morningrise as well.

Perhaps a little overrated

Personally I think they did their thing really well from 1995 up to about 2005. They've sort of perfected a certain fusion of styles and ideas. Anyone open to-or interested in a mixture of Progressive Metal/Death Metal in combination with traditional Progressive Rock and Folk - which quite a few bands do combine - would be hard pressed to find albums surpassing Still Life or Blackwater Park (I enjoy all their early albums to an extent, even Orchid, but it's a different beast). I think they are rated just fine. Some of their albums are generally considered weak/mediocre, while others as pretty great - for their style and genre. I mean I wouldn't rate any of their albums higher than a four out of five, but I only have a passing interest in this style of music. I've seen them live three times, and they've always delivered on stage, so I'm sure those positive experiences play a vital part in my appreciation of them.

Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 00:43

They've never released a bad album.

Least favorite - Watershed.

Favorite - Damnation

I also love the early Opeth.

Posted By: David_D
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 05:10

What I can tell here is that I like Damnation.

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quality over quantity, and all kind of PopcoRn almost beyond

Posted By: mellotronwave
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 05:16

Not a fan of this kind of rock nevertheless I like Windowpane (a nice track full of mellotron)

Posted By: Lewian
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 07:08

I have heard six of their albums. I like Heritage a lot. OK it didn't exactly revolutionise prog, but it's just an album I like to listen to. Some of their earlier albums like Morningrise and Blackwater Park are very good, although I tolerate the growls more than I like them. I didn't like their first album. (I realise Heritage and Sorceress, the two more recent albums I know, are lowest rated among their later stuff, so I should probably check out some more of that.)

Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 17:40

I'm not a fan of grunting, but I think my favourite of their classic albums was Watershed (I guess exactly because it had less grunting than previous albums)... though my favourite song is definitely The Drapery Falls (live version from Lamentations), despite it having growling. I find Sorceress very enjoyable too, and I appreciate In Cauda Venenum being sung in their mother tongue.

Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: December 08 2024 at 18:42

Saperlipopette! wrote:

I can't really answer that properly, as I haven't bothered giving any album more than one listen after Watershed (which is my least favorite "growl-era" album of theirs). Its not that I need those growls, but I do think Opeth's music is less memorable, less unique as a "normal" Prog Rock band without them. To me Åkerfeldts "pretty" vocals and their vocal harmonies had a greater effect on me when they were contrasted with sinister growls. The material comes off as a little samey and unengaging - like they've lost more than just the growls in the process. Ive only heard two songs from The Last Will and Testament. While it was pleasing to hear the "return to form" none of the songs exited me very much. Ill give the full album a listen soon.

Blackwater Park is my favorite (followed by Deliverance) and from memory I remember thinking Sorceress was a little extra underwhelming. But as I said that's based on checking it out once and dismissing it, so it's not really "a fair judgement".

Zappastolethetowels wrote:

^ So you are all in on the Cookie Monster?

For the first time I watched a bit of Opeth live from Bloodstock. I find what Arkefeldt does quite remarkable. It looks like a magic trick how he can just do the death growls whenever he wants. I presume he must have a vocal coach. I did also wonder whether he took a break from them to protect his vocal chords. We know a lot of rock singers can destroy their voice by generally overdoing the delivery (not just death growls).

Generally I've never been an Opeth fan. I do have all 4 'Newpeth' albums and can barely remember anything accept the fantastic track Sorceress. It has a very original twidly guitar/ keys intro followed by an amazing riff. I love that. I get the feeling that they like do a concept album, something I'm not all that bothered by and never have been accepting Aphrodite's Child remarkable 666 but that's another thing altogether. Not big on prog metal either although this year I've quite enjoyed the albums by Wheel, Turbulence and Night Verses but they seem to occupy a very different space. A lot of what I've heard from Opeth sounds 'sludgy' as well. I don't like this sound in general. I'm not as bothered by the death growls as I used to be. I'm still listening to the most recent album but it's just not resonating yet with me on any level.

Posted By: Zeph
Date Posted: December 13 2024 at 01:12

My favorite is probably the ome I’ve played the most, Ghost Reveries. Blackwater Park, Still Life and Deliverance are probably the other contestants for me.

Least favorite is more difficult, but since I don’t listen much to death metal more, Orchid may take that spot. I’m not crazy about the Heritage-to-In Cauda albums, but much more likely to play than the first two.

Posted By: Zeph
Date Posted: December 13 2024 at 01:20

richardh wrote:

For the first time I watched a bit of Opeth live from Bloodstock. I find what Arkefeldt does quite remarkable. It looks like a magic trick how he can just do the death growls whenever he wants. I presume he must have a vocal coach. I did also wonder whether he took a break from them to protect his vocal chords. We know a lot of rock singers can destroy their voice by generally overdoing the delivery (not just death growls).

He’s stated that he didn’t think the growls fit the music of that period. They still played songs with growls live, so it’s not like he stopped growling for all those years.

In an interview with Loudwire, Åkerfeldt was asked about growling, and if he is more adept at using them for various purposes and intents in his music, having established his clean vocals on the past few albums. Åkerfeldt said he couldn't find space for growls for more than a few years, as they didn't fit the music:

"I think we were there before this record. I never felt outside pressure on where we should go. Of course, I too have heard whispers about 'Opeth used to be great' and 'Make Opeth great again. Make Opeth growl again.' But for the last four records, there was no room for that type of vocals."

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/opeths_mikael_kerfeldt_explains_why_he_quit_growling_for_a_long_time_the_music_just_didnt_call_for_it.html

Posted By: A Crimson Mellotron
Date Posted: December 13 2024 at 01:26

Easy one for me! Evil Smile

Least favorite: Orchid/Morningrise

Most favorite: Ghost Reveries/Deliverance

Honorable mentions: Blackwater Park/In Cauda Venenum/Watershed

Posted By: Jared
Date Posted: December 13 2024 at 02:52

I've heard a couple of Opeth albums in the past...

... I wouldn't care to repeat the trauma...

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Music has always been a matter of energy to me. On some nights I believe that a car with the needle on empty can run 50 more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. Hunter S Thompson

Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: December 13 2024 at 04:15

I've listened to the latest Opeth a couple of times. It's nice, solid. But something is missing. I can't put my finger on it. Atmoshpere? Memorable songs? Loved §4 btw.

Posted By: MaestroQC
Date Posted: December 21 2024 at 12:43

I absolutely loved ALL their albums from Still Life to Pale Communion. They are all very well made (musically and production-wise) and you can easily be transported into their universe (or just create your own special one Wink

) while listening to them, which is what I do prefer in music. Their releases became too cerebral for my taste after that. I think Opeth now kind of lack that wonderful feeling they had in the 2000's and i'm disappointed by their last release, which is still pretty good.

So to answer our question : Tongue

Fav: Watershed

Least : In cauda venenum

Posted By: Zappastolethetowels
Date Posted: December 21 2024 at 14:43

my fav: Damnation

least fav: I cannot get into Ghost Reveries, In Cauda, or LWaT

Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: December 21 2024 at 15:27

Favorite - The Last Will and Testament #2 Pale Communion

Least- Orchid... penultimate album... Sorceress

Posted By: zwordser
Date Posted: December 21 2024 at 22:37

I've only heard 4 of their albums. They are my introduction to growling vocals, which I first heard on Watershed (which I fished out of a bargain bin after seeing Opeth high rated on PA and was curious to hear them). Took me years to get to like the vocals, but now I quite love the sound.

Heard Watershed the most, (including recently on a road trip, and thought it was good enough to play twice through), so I guess I'd go with that album.

Least Fave?, yeah I dunno, have to listen more.

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Z