ORCHID

Opeth as a band is one I never actually listened. In terms Prog Metal, I am more familiar with Dream Theater or TOOL, but I always at least knew Opeth existed, but I never really, experienced them like many people. But I decided to go ahead and give Opeth a shot, started with their debut, and here are my thoughts.

The first song is In The Mist She Was Standing. It wastes little to no time in establishment of the sound of the album. It's kinda adventurous in the sound, however since Opeth is said to be more in line with death metal, it has some screamo voices. The voice is pretty cool, gives a sorta feeling like this is a tale told by a dead man. It's pretty cool in a way. I also like the quieter bits with acoustic guitars, it really makes this song sound a little more sinister in the wake. I think this is a great start. Next song is Under The Weeping Moon. The sound is still as adventurous in nature, however near the middle with the acoustics, there are some weird noises, probably guitar feedback since that song leads into a pretty guitar section. Still has the screamo vocals. Now after that song, we get to Silhouette, a piano song. The piano is pretty sinister sounding, like a dark knight has entered into a castle and is ready to make plans for the princess' life. Pretty damn cool. Now after that, we got Forest of October. This is a pretty rocking and pretty slow moving in the beginning, and even when the vocals kicked in. Also in some bits, there isn't any screamy vocals and more fluid vocals in there too. They sound pretty nice, I think I dig them more than the screamo. Next song is The Twilight Is My Robe, and this is objectively the best song on the album. The guitar riffs are so fluid and smooth, yet so intense, that awesome bass at the start, the beautiful acoustic guitar in the middle, and how the songs comes back ahead after the middle is over is so awesome. It's like a whole entire adventure. Very damn cool! After that, we got Requiem. Like Silhouette, it's pretty short, and it primarily uses one instrument, being an acoustic. It is a pretty song, and I think it is a good little song to lead into the next song, The Apostle In Triumph. I say this is a very good last song. It ties things up. It establishes the sounds, the heavy death metal, the adventurous sound, the slow moving acoustical parts, and even introduces more folk like elements to in the beginning. It is a very good song, and I thought it was a really good closer for an album like this. Very nice debut.

So in terms of everything, I think this is a very great debut. It introduces some cool sounds in a metal landscape. With some complex instrumentation, awesome vocals, and some stellar work with non traditional metal instruments like acoustics and pianos to really make this some damn good progressive metal. Very nice, very good. Hope their next album is even better.