opeth C or D

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On my second listen and I'm really loving it, can't wait to hear the whole album. This is hitting my prog-loving sweet spot right now.

jon /via/ chi 2.0, Thursday, 4 August 2011 03:02 (twelve years ago) link

almost tediously stop-start, but there's some great stuff going on in there somewhere. really nice guitar solo right at the end.

charlie h, Thursday, 4 August 2011 03:17 (twelve years ago) link

four weeks pass...

loving "nepenthe" and "haxprocess." i've been waiting for songs like this since 'damnation'

reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 3 September 2011 13:12 (twelve years ago) link

interesting move for them. didn't realize heritage would be a throwback record from hearing "the devil's orchard" but wow is it ever. good stuff though.

borntohula, Saturday, 3 September 2011 15:50 (twelve years ago) link

The more I hear about this album, the more excited I am. I mean, it pretty much makes 100% sense for them to just go ahead and do a full-on prog throwback album at this point.

jon /via/ chi 2.0, Saturday, 3 September 2011 18:41 (twelve years ago) link

yeah, it does make sense. the problem though is that sound-wise this album isn't too far removed from the mellower parts of the last couple of opeth records. so, it's not so much a progression or departure as a more detailed exploration of sounds they've touched on previously. stylistically, this album probably has more in common with watershed than damnation -- i think i was hoping these songs would have more precise structures or something. i'm not particularly enthused by the vocal lines here either, which are really sounding recycled and cursory by this point. still these are earlier days, and it could all yet grow on me...

charlie h, Saturday, 3 September 2011 20:55 (twelve years ago) link

the instrumentals that book-end the album are gorgeous, however.

charlie h, Saturday, 3 September 2011 21:29 (twelve years ago) link

Listening to the live CD attached to the new issue of Rock Hard magazine. Pretty great. I'm gonna go see them (for the first time since 2003 or so) when they play NYC later this month.

that's not funny. (unperson), Monday, 5 September 2011 12:36 (twelve years ago) link

two weeks pass...

should I go see opeth and katatonia in October, or go see belew and levin touring with their respective bands and apparently playing all of Discipline? these are on the same night. it is my week of prog, kicking off with the Musical Box doing the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Ending with Portishead though so not really.

akm, Friday, 23 September 2011 05:51 (twelve years ago) link

Thats a tough call, if it were my choice I'd probably go with the Belew and Levin thing, it seems less likely to happen again soon than another Opeth tour.

Anyway, I'm still not sure how I feel about the new album. I do love how full-on prog it is, but on the first two full listens I've found myself wishing for some more upbeat moments to spice things up a little. Its striking me all as a little too pretty and safe I guess, even if the musicianship is wonderful.

jon /via/ chi 2.0, Friday, 23 September 2011 14:58 (twelve years ago) link

What a video:

http://www.pitchfork.com/news/44090-video-opeth-the-devils-orchard/

This is a real surprise, Opeth had never made good videos before.

A. Begrand, Friday, 23 September 2011 15:02 (twelve years ago) link

it's a good album but it's also kind of dull, to me.

akm, Friday, 23 September 2011 15:37 (twelve years ago) link

Show last night was excellent. The three acoustic songs mid-set ("Throat of Winter," "Credence" and "Patterns in the Ivy II") was received with a mix of bafflement and appreciation. What's really interesting is hearing them Heritage-ize their older songs. They're really working hard to put the new material into context of their whole history, and I think it's working.

that's not funny. (unperson), Friday, 23 September 2011 17:35 (twelve years ago) link

I'm psyched to see them for the first time in a couple of weeks. Heritage is where I hoped they would go after the last record and I don't miss the death metal trappings at all. A beautiful, autumnal record hitting at a perfect time.

EZ Snappin, Friday, 23 September 2011 17:39 (twelve years ago) link

that is an amazing week of music akm. portishead has gotten pretty prog imho, at least third . . . and barlow's involvement in crippled black phoenix and beak

thanks for that video. that is awesome

reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 23 September 2011 17:40 (twelve years ago) link

Here's some video I shot of Opeth's NYC soundcheck last week...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcTQcKM6MqU

that's not funny. (unperson), Monday, 26 September 2011 15:37 (twelve years ago) link

Seeing them for the first time tonight. Still psyched.

EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 5 October 2011 22:12 (twelve years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe65yrvlEDo

that's not funny. (unperson), Thursday, 6 October 2011 19:30 (twelve years ago) link

That Devil's Orchard video is sweet!

Saw them a few nights ago at Stubb's in Austin. It was a good time, though I personally could have done without the acoustic set and with a bit more hard rocking. Both Opeth and Katatonia have very congenial stage presences as far as metal acts go.

Moodles, Saturday, 8 October 2011 05:34 (twelve years ago) link

two years pass...

Only just caught up on Deliverance, pretty good! Might be tied with Ghost Reveries as my favourite.

the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Monday, 7 July 2014 13:30 (nine years ago) link

A Fair Judgement is massive.

the joke should be over once the kid is eaten. (chap), Monday, 7 July 2014 13:47 (nine years ago) link

the new one sounds awesome, straight up complex and intricate, unabashedly progged out, way more what i was expecting from 'heritage', which i think half-stepped it a bit. just a few listens and already this is edging into motorpsycho 'death-defying unicorn' decade highlight territory

reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 18 July 2014 00:35 (nine years ago) link

Ghost Reveries was the last one I loved, but i didn't hear Heritage.

Neanderthal, Friday, 18 July 2014 00:41 (nine years ago) link

New one's fantastic.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 18 July 2014 01:41 (nine years ago) link

"goblin" lives up to such a tall name. the versatility of these guys is really kind of staggering

reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 18 July 2014 15:24 (nine years ago) link

where are you hearing this? it's not out yet is it?

odd proggy geezer (Moodles), Friday, 18 July 2014 15:27 (nine years ago) link

It's not out until August 26, but it leaked yesterday.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Friday, 18 July 2014 15:38 (nine years ago) link

it is available. sound quality is no good though. this is gonna sound enormous legit

reggie (qualmsley), Friday, 18 July 2014 17:20 (nine years ago) link

The problem is that Opeth are both brilliant and shit, usually in the same song, since Mikael Akerfelt's way of writing a prog 'epic' is to sling disparate and unconnected riffs/parts together until he has 10 minutes worth of music. Or at least that's what it sounds like to me a lot of the time.

I love a lot of prog but Heritage was not a good example, it was just bloated and disjointed in all the bad ways. I'll still give this new one a listen, but my hope aren't high.

ultros ultros-ghali, Friday, 18 July 2014 22:16 (nine years ago) link

lol my favourite opeth song is 'the baying of the hounds' but that's basically because of its 7 only vaguely connected parts about 5 or 6 are absolutely brilliant, their best strike-rate imo

i'm elf-ein lusophonic (imago), Friday, 18 July 2014 22:18 (nine years ago) link

Akerfelt's way of writing a prog 'epic' is to sling disparate and unconnected riffs/parts together until he has 10 minutes worth of music. Or at least that's what it sounds like to me a lot of the time.

to be fair, this is pretty much what constitutes 95% of current "prog"

Bus Sex Teen Busted After Queef Beef (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 18 July 2014 22:19 (nine years ago) link

depends what you mean by ""prog"", mayne

i'm elf-ein lusophonic (imago), Friday, 18 July 2014 22:22 (nine years ago) link

I'm not even sure I know what I mean by """prog""", I just know that digging into the current bands that get hyped in places like the progarchives, a huge percentage of the bands are really bad at composing "epics" for the very reasons you suggest. I was just trying to say it isn't a trap that only Akerfelt falls into. The good thing about him is that his highs are so fucking high that it covers for the lackluster bits, for the most part.

Bus Sex Teen Busted After Queef Beef (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Friday, 18 July 2014 22:24 (nine years ago) link

that's fair

i'm elf-ein lusophonic (imago), Friday, 18 July 2014 22:26 (nine years ago) link

Album with the most highs per song = Blackwater Park, for me

And jon/via/chi I'm sure I'd be in agreement if I listened to more modern *prog* prog, as it is I prefer the more avant/RIO-leaning stuff that's bloated and disjointed in GOOD ways, y'know? (OK not all the time)

ultros ultros-ghali, Friday, 18 July 2014 22:33 (nine years ago) link

blackwater park title-track and the drapery falls are up there yeah

ultros otm, the best 'prog' usually chooses to not define as such

i'm elf-ein lusophonic (imago), Friday, 18 July 2014 22:37 (nine years ago) link

I think "Lotus Eater" is a brilliant assemblage of different segments, one of their best songs.

Robert Adam Gilmour, Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:39 (nine years ago) link

yeah Watershed's a good record. I quite like Opeth!

i'm elf-ein lusophonic (imago), Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:43 (nine years ago) link

I've always thought the "omg Opeth is nothing but Frankenstein-ish melding of parts that don't go together for ten minutes" accusation was greatly overstated. Not that I'm saying there's zero truth to it, but it isn't as if they sounded like a bunch of dorks in a guitar shop dicking around for a half hour.

They managed to write compelling songs and over time, streamlined their sound and honed their songwriting skills considerably (hell, "Still Life" and ongoing often have traditional song structures!).

I still love old Opeth too though - even when it's all over the place at times.

Neanderthal, Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:49 (nine years ago) link

My Arms, Your Hearse through Blackwater Park is a pretty astonishing run. always thought they dropped off significantly after that, perhaps even getting progressively worse with each album. this new one seems a step up from Heritage though.

charlie h, Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:50 (nine years ago) link

and not all of their stuff has been particularly disjointed. take a listen to Moonlapse Vertigo, for instance. that thing's a 10-minute opus and it flows gorgeously.

charlie h, Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:53 (nine years ago) link

"April Ethereal" is one of my fav songs by them as well

Neanderthal, Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:55 (nine years ago) link

she faced me in AWWWWEEEE

charlie h, Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:56 (nine years ago) link

When could be my favourite Opeth song. the second half of that song is incredible.

charlie h, Saturday, 19 July 2014 00:59 (nine years ago) link

The second song on the new album starts in one mode and stays there for the entire run. In fact, their guitarist Fredrik Åkesson joked about it in a recent interview - he said it was the first of their songs not to have a "forest-y part" in the middle.

Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Saturday, 19 July 2014 01:02 (nine years ago) link

people who were disappointed by the last one might be more into this new one

reggie (qualmsley), Saturday, 19 July 2014 14:54 (nine years ago) link

two years pass...

Saw them the other night on tour, fuck they are great live. I love their albums but I have to say that live it all kind of washes past me; he's doing much more growl-voice live than I expected. Anyway Sorceress is very good, I like it more than Pale Communion and maybe more than Heritage. That is all.

akm, Thursday, 27 October 2016 23:56 (seven years ago) link

Massive C. Every decade has its bad metal, but all this gentrified middlebrow "smart" "artistic" metal for Hillary voters makes me kinda nostalgic for the bad metal of the 90s.

punksishippies, Friday, 28 October 2016 00:35 (seven years ago) link

I mean D.

punksishippies, Friday, 28 October 2016 00:35 (seven years ago) link

..............

Anyway, I tried to give Sorceress a go the other day but only got like three songs in. They just make me want to go and listen to some actual good prog, you know? Even their buddies Anekdoten do the retro-prog thing much more convincingly.

ultros ultros-ghali, Friday, 28 October 2016 13:55 (seven years ago) link


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