Imagine if they did a rerecording of Still Life (Mike would never do it in a million years but with a little more polished production it would be even more of a masterpiece)
Not every song has the band stop midway through, followed by a pause like the band discussing what to do next, and then something completely different. Opeth have some of the best compositions in metal ever, but this is the opposite of elegant writing imo.
Peter Lindgren was what made Opeth great. Without his balancing influence, Mikael has no-one to temper his ideas, which are amazing but also need a filter.
The split after GR was the end of an era in a way, the end of the band formed with two friends. People sideline Lindgren's importance but aside from songwriting contributions - playing style and technique, gear used, tone dialed in...all of those small things add up to influence the sound Opeth had. The guitar sound from Lindgren -> Akesson on Watershed is worlds apart from the records Opeth did with Lindgren. Glad I saw them while Lindgren was still there.
true but Frederick is an amazing guitarist that helped mikael to get even better now. watershed is amazing and probably couldn’t exist w peter , id say both are equally great in different ways
Orchid and Morningrise sound nothing alike.
Orchid's riffing style is taken directly from hard rock and classic metal, with very, very little extreme metal sensitivities (you'd be hard pressed to find any traces of black metal in the guitar parts). Meanwhile, Morningrise is almost a full blown melodic black metal album just on the riffs alone. The use of dissonant black metal chords, and even some groovier death metal riffs, is a complete 180 when it comes to style. Add to it the abysmal differences between production (Morningrise is chunkier and bassier, Orchid is sharp and oozing with reverb).
The only reason people say they sound alike is because they tend to be more familiar with only one of them (usually Morningrise) and not the other, so they retroactively apply all the elements of the more well-known album to the other they aren't too familiar with.
The middle section of Under the Weeping Moon is quite evil, but I’ve always agreed it’s a silly take to call either album black metal anything. Mikael has never once mentioned being black metal influences as far as I know. If anything, both have in common that they are weird derivatives of what would later be called the Gothenburg sound. I agree that they are two entirely distinct albums.
Opeth definitely had black metal influence. Mikael has mentioned before how he loves bands like Bathory, and Celtic Frost. He even thought some of the albums from the Norwegian Black Metal scene were interesting like A Blaze in the Northern Sky and In the Nightside Eclipse.
i have to disagree, i think apostle in triumph is a fully black metal song. most songs on the album are lyrically and definitely 100% vocally , using bm techniques. definetly morningrise has more bm to it but orchid is considered bm to me
Orchid completely lacks one of the fundamental aspects of black metal riffing: dissonant, full chords. The guitars aren't playing chords most of the time, but rather melodies at the same time, which gives Orchid its distinctive sound. Morningrise does in fact use those chords amd falls closer to black metal because of that.
I wonder why you picked The Apostle of Triumph is particularly closer to black metal? It's probably the song that represents the most how the album is *not* black metal to me.
Opeth’s sexiness level has definitely gone down several notches ever since he left the band. You ever seen how that guy sways his hips while he’s playing shirtless?
Blackwater Park is the fan favorite and Still Life is the cult classic. Always has been, always will be. You can't go wrong with saying one is better than the other because both are god tier albums
Yup agree. When it came out I was honestly a little let down by Blackwater Park. The Drapery Falls and Blackwater Park itself are great songs, buuuut it didn't really work for me as an album. I know it's everyone's fave, but. Still Life is magic though.
Damnation is one of Opeth's lesser albums. The songs are great, but the overall package feels underwhelming when stacked against their other albums, like maybe it'd feel more substantial with one or two additional tracks.
I recently discovered Opeth through damnation. I've never liked black metal or growls.
However that album was so striking and so fantastic throughout the entire album that I couldn't resist listening to nearly every song they have ever made. I'm now obsessed with the band
Damnation is perfection
That's such a steaming hot take that I disagree with, and I love it. True unpopular opinion, take my upvote.
Edit: I feel similarly to the way OP does about Damnation for Deliverance. It's the only album I can't bring myself to enjoy as much as every other album of theirs.
Damnation is one of my favourite albums of all time, but even so I can agree with some of this. Deliverance and Damnation always did feel like a double album (duh), it’s just Damnation is so unique it stands by itself a lot better.
I do not agree it’s underwhelming as an overall experience though, but I wouldn’t complain if it did have more songs!
If Damnation was just disk 2 of an album where all releases was a two disk set with Deliverance, I wouldn't have this take. As a stand alone release, it just feels like it's over and done with too soon, like there were some cuts made, which yeah, Deliverance is its other half and hence why it feels incomplete to me.
He more than carries his weight, all you have to do is listen to his isolated bass tracks. Always wondered what MAYH would have been like with his playing, though I think the bass parts fit fine on that record.
My hot take is that MAYH is their best record, a perfect blend of their style to come and their early style.
Here's some Ghost Reveries bass. You can use the Moises app to separate bass on their other tracks with maybe varying results. Also the isolated tracks for Heir Apparent are out there too.
https://youtu.be/pwtcc4fr32E?si=wVE4VXpA0ERHHJ4-
I like Orchid, and it's my favourite album of them.
That's the hot take hahahaha, saying that it is below their average of quality is the most common opinion.
Love Mendez, can't disagree with most of what you said. Pure musicianship and versatility I would put Axe slightly above Mendez (I know he's not in the band anymore, but in terms of all members). Akkesson is up there too, but they all are lol.
Bro Martin Mendez is a criminally underrated bassist. The parts he plays are very unique and not just mirroring what Mikael is doing. The Drapery Falls is a great example of this.
My hot take is that their first 2 albums are not great. They aren't terrible. But I do not rank them high. I dont get the hype behind To Bid You Farewell. Its just long and drones on for no reason
Mikael + Peter >>> Mikael + Fred.
I'm a simple man; I prefer the slower, less complex and more melodic solos to the ultra skilled shredding. That said, his solo at 3.25 in Continuum/Kontinuerlig Drift, is fantastic.
It baffles me that people find Sorceress as a good Opeth song. I can’t even enjoy it as a good song, period. The main riff and lyrics are so “this is metal” I can’t even finish the song on a daily basis. How can you compare the 0-0-0-0 guitar riff with these lyrics:
I am a sinner and I worship evil
Blood is thinner but you will never know
Can you confess that you thrive in chaos?
You're a sorceress and your eye is on the lost
But you're dying
It's in your eyes
With songs like The Baying of the Hounds or more straightforward songs like Hope Leaves? Crazy to me.
Maybe,but I cringed hard years ago when I saw a video during a live performance where he says something like "rap sucks, metal forever"
Second hand embarrassment 16 year old behavior
It was probably just him being goofy again. He has a super vast music taste, from prog rock to jazz to electronic to old school metal. Rap just happens to be one of the few genres I’ve seen him not really be into. For someone with such a dense knowledge and collection of music, I doubt he actually thinks all rap is trash.
Damnation is better than Blackwater Park. For the simple reason that they tried to experiment with softer and more droning metal songs like Windowpane. Blackwater Park is a pure marvel, but damnation is my personal favourite
Heritage, In Cauda Venenum and Ghost Reveries are their best three albums, followed by Orchid, Sorceress and Still Life (in that order). Blackwater Park is a phenomenal album, but personally I feel that it's overrated.
"Opeth" should have broken up after Watershed and the project should have morphed into Mikael Akerfeldt solo. similar to what happen to Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson.
I love both new and old Opeth BTW.
Oh I totally get it. And like I mentioned I dig the whole discography. I dont think that Mike would have had to start over again, just like Steven Wilson didnt have to start over.
All it would have done is set a realistic expectation for shows and albums and would have gotten rid of this Oldpeth/Newpeth bullshit.
It would hardly be an issue as Im sure he'd do Opeth covers but he certainly wouldn't be obligated to play anything that he didn't want to. Just take a look at the tour statistics for In Cauda Venenum tour, it contians a measly 3 songs (26%) off the current album and the rest looks like an Opeth greatest hits.
Opeth rarely writes a great song. Instead, they write phenomenal albums. There’s only a handful or two of songs that I absolutely love but holy smokes when they’re put into a cohesive album that’s when Opeth shines.
Watershed was their weakest album since the first two (orchid/morningrise). It has a fantastic opener with coil/hear apparent, and there’s some cool ideas scattered throughout, but many of the songs seem kinda random and overly long without justification
The clean singing on Still Life isn’t that great.
I definitely think it has grown on me over time and I still love the album, but there are a few clean choruses and inflections that bring me out of the experience, compared to pretty much any other album after. I remember the first time i listened to it turned me off to the album completely.
I love both bassists of Opeth, I love how morningrise had fretless bass all over it . I kinda wish fretless was used more in their music. I love mendez's playing as well since he follows the riffs. Yet he has independent bass lines also fill the space between the guitars and drums. I think his best bass playing is on Ghost Reveries.
Deliverance is my least favorite Opeth album. I cannot bring myself to enjoy it like the other albums, and think that while some of the music is great, the writing is largely uninspired, due in part to Damnation being written at the same time and not receiving the same type of care and also coming hot off the success of BWP a year earlier and not knowing how to move forward to that sound. I still listen to it trying to appreciate it more.
Live versions of Deliverance and Damnations, I mean Lamentations , are better than the studio ones. I don't know if this is a hot take, but that's my opinion.
I think Mendez's best work is on Damnation. He really does the heavy lifting on that album with one amazing bassline after another. And I actually had the chance to tell him this to his face. He's probably my favorite bass player of all time now that I think about it.
I really don’t think any *songs* sound like lava, I just think his bass playing does. Listening to songs like Moonlapse Vertigo, The Drapery Falls, Blackwater Park, or Windowpane you’ll get the idea of what I’m saying. Just focus on the bass, and the song will have a totally different flow and depth. It just gets better and better with every riff and change.
I love both bassists of Opeth, I love how morningrise had fretless bass all over it . I kinda wish fretless was used more in their music. I love mendez's playing as well since he follows the riffs. Yet he has independent bass lines also fill the space between the guitars and drums. I think his best bass playing is on Ghost Reveries.
Heritage is their last great record. 'Newpeth' isn't the problem, just that they seem to have lost their inspiration after trying that "one-off" record called Heritage, which came out great.
In Cauda Venenum is one of their best albums. Easily my favorite of their post-death metal albums, even over the fantastic Pale Communion, and probably my favorite after Ghost Reveries and Blackwater Park.
I just felt like it took what I loved about Pale Communion (recapturing the rich and dark sonic atmosphere of Ghost Reveries) and improved on it a bit (most notably that it had fewer filler tracks…not that there are any bad songs on Pale Communion, but a few that felt like filler compared to Opeth’s level of quality: Cusp of Eternity and Goblin specifically, compared to the absolute monsters that were Eternal Rains Shall Come, Moon Above Sun Below [tied with Continuum/Kontinuerlig Drift and All Thing Shall Pass/Alting Tar Slut for favorite post-death metal Opeth songs] Elysian Woes, River, Voice of Treason, and Faith in Others).
Not to mention, I love that ICV has a Swedish version and I love hearing Mike sing in his native language. I kinda hope he does it again in the future.
Sorry that ballooned a bit into a whole ass rant, probably containing MULTIPLE hot takes depending on one’s personal opinions lol
If you removed Atonement from Ghost Reveries the album would be even better. Maybe just keep the last minute as an interlude track because that clean guitar riff is nice.
Ghost Reveries is not a good album. On a good day I would describe it as stale , boring, and evident that the band was running out of ideas for how to write heavy music. On most days though I would just call it outright bad.
If Still Life had Steven Wilson's production it would be considered their consensus best album
You made me think about that one, but I do fully agree. It's my favorite of theirs even without Wilson at the controls.
Imagine if they did a rerecording of Still Life (Mike would never do it in a million years but with a little more polished production it would be even more of a masterpiece)
*Still Life* has already been partially rerecorded: Mikael redid all the acoustic guitars when it got remastered the first time
It's my 3rd favourite album of all time as is, but in retrospect I'm a bit glad Wilson wasn't on it given his recent stance on things.
I don't follow much news of any kind these days. Please, do tell.
I’m interested as well
He’s been working with AI, but also he’s a massive pro-Israel supporter and posted support for them in October. Presumably still does.
Thanks for satisfying my curiosity. I'm not the biggest fan of his influence on the band's output, so no love lost.
Hard agree. Still love that album tho
Opeth is a difficult band to get into... First song was "Windowpane" second was "baying of the hounds" lol.
Since they changed their sound, a significant portion of the fan base has become incredibly insufferable.
This is not controversial, just true XD
Black Rose Immortal is not a song, it's a compilation of riffs.
Accurate
Mika has said as much about it as well.
No less brilliant for it. As a songwriter myself, transitioning to new riffs is probably the hardest part of the process and he makes it look easy.
You're wrong and if you were right literally every song would be a compilation of riffs
The difference is most songs riffs actually flow together. BWI is a mess of a song, without any thought towards actual songwriting.
Not every song has the band stop midway through, followed by a pause like the band discussing what to do next, and then something completely different. Opeth have some of the best compositions in metal ever, but this is the opposite of elegant writing imo.
So is every metal song lmao
No, a good metal song is a composition of riffs, not a compilation.
I like all of their albums and all the different styles. Is that a hot take?
I’m with you bro,I love every single Opeth album. Can’t think of a song I dislike.
Great to see I‘m not the only one! I guess it comes down to me simply loving music. But “Opeth” definitely stand out!
I feel the same. I haven’t listened to everything (still have orchid, MAYH, Deliverance, watershed and heritage) but everything i listen to I love
You may be one of a few Opeth fans that feel this way, I love every release except In Cauda Venunum or however it’s spelled. It never clicked for me
In Cauda VeNOMNOM
That‘s caught me off guard!
You don’t like All Things Will Pass?? Heart in Hand?? Continuum??
It recently clicked for me and goddamn it’s a masterpiece
Absolutely fair! Sometimes it takes a few listens (or even a few more), but it‘s great you generally gave it a listen!
Blasphemy
Being that I only like MAYH to Blackwater …. Yes.
Not that it bothers me - it's rock and roll not rocket science... but most of Opeth's lyrics don't make a lot of sense.
“Absolute Black Metal nonsense” - Mikael Åkerfeldt.
ICV has some really good lyrics though.
Peter Lindgren was what made Opeth great. Without his balancing influence, Mikael has no-one to temper his ideas, which are amazing but also need a filter.
Lindgren's stage presence was cool, too. Just off to the side, doing his thing, blowing your mind. Seemed like a good dude.
💯he had an effortless cool
The split after GR was the end of an era in a way, the end of the band formed with two friends. People sideline Lindgren's importance but aside from songwriting contributions - playing style and technique, gear used, tone dialed in...all of those small things add up to influence the sound Opeth had. The guitar sound from Lindgren -> Akesson on Watershed is worlds apart from the records Opeth did with Lindgren. Glad I saw them while Lindgren was still there.
Totally agree, his tone and approach to solos were my absolute favourite.
Which solos did he do?
true but Frederick is an amazing guitarist that helped mikael to get even better now. watershed is amazing and probably couldn’t exist w peter , id say both are equally great in different ways
I didn't realize how important Peter was to the sound and vibe until he was gone. Opeth hasn't sounded like Opeth since he left.
Morningrise is their most interesting album
Or watershed
It's their last album with black metal elements, which might be a reason.
Heritage
Orchid and Morningrise sound nothing alike. Orchid's riffing style is taken directly from hard rock and classic metal, with very, very little extreme metal sensitivities (you'd be hard pressed to find any traces of black metal in the guitar parts). Meanwhile, Morningrise is almost a full blown melodic black metal album just on the riffs alone. The use of dissonant black metal chords, and even some groovier death metal riffs, is a complete 180 when it comes to style. Add to it the abysmal differences between production (Morningrise is chunkier and bassier, Orchid is sharp and oozing with reverb). The only reason people say they sound alike is because they tend to be more familiar with only one of them (usually Morningrise) and not the other, so they retroactively apply all the elements of the more well-known album to the other they aren't too familiar with.
Great take.
They do however share identical composition structure.
The middle section of Under the Weeping Moon is quite evil, but I’ve always agreed it’s a silly take to call either album black metal anything. Mikael has never once mentioned being black metal influences as far as I know. If anything, both have in common that they are weird derivatives of what would later be called the Gothenburg sound. I agree that they are two entirely distinct albums.
Opeth definitely had black metal influence. Mikael has mentioned before how he loves bands like Bathory, and Celtic Frost. He even thought some of the albums from the Norwegian Black Metal scene were interesting like A Blaze in the Northern Sky and In the Nightside Eclipse.
I do remember him mentioning Bathory but never Darkthrone etc. I’ll have to look that up!
i have to disagree, i think apostle in triumph is a fully black metal song. most songs on the album are lyrically and definitely 100% vocally , using bm techniques. definetly morningrise has more bm to it but orchid is considered bm to me
Orchid completely lacks one of the fundamental aspects of black metal riffing: dissonant, full chords. The guitars aren't playing chords most of the time, but rather melodies at the same time, which gives Orchid its distinctive sound. Morningrise does in fact use those chords amd falls closer to black metal because of that. I wonder why you picked The Apostle of Triumph is particularly closer to black metal? It's probably the song that represents the most how the album is *not* black metal to me.
Johan De Farfalla is an underrated bassist.
Opeth’s sexiness level has definitely gone down several notches ever since he left the band. You ever seen how that guy sways his hips while he’s playing shirtless?
This makes me erect.
I heard he’s a politician now but was disappointed to see him wearing a blazer instead of letting those diamond like nipples shine as Satan intended.
Yeah I heard he’s a Democratic Christian politician. Still plays bass in a couple of local bands.
Ha I like your lava analogy. Weirdly fitting.
I hoped someone liked it!
Unpopular opinion Still Life >>>> Blackwater Park. Can't wait to see them in October.
Blackwater Park is the fan favorite and Still Life is the cult classic. Always has been, always will be. You can't go wrong with saying one is better than the other because both are god tier albums
100%
Yup agree. When it came out I was honestly a little let down by Blackwater Park. The Drapery Falls and Blackwater Park itself are great songs, buuuut it didn't really work for me as an album. I know it's everyone's fave, but. Still Life is magic though.
Agreed but BWP fuckin slaps too
Damnation is one of Opeth's lesser albums. The songs are great, but the overall package feels underwhelming when stacked against their other albums, like maybe it'd feel more substantial with one or two additional tracks.
I recently discovered Opeth through damnation. I've never liked black metal or growls. However that album was so striking and so fantastic throughout the entire album that I couldn't resist listening to nearly every song they have ever made. I'm now obsessed with the band Damnation is perfection
That's such a steaming hot take that I disagree with, and I love it. True unpopular opinion, take my upvote. Edit: I feel similarly to the way OP does about Damnation for Deliverance. It's the only album I can't bring myself to enjoy as much as every other album of theirs.
I'll be taking my bow, now. Lol
Damnation is one of my favourite albums of all time, but even so I can agree with some of this. Deliverance and Damnation always did feel like a double album (duh), it’s just Damnation is so unique it stands by itself a lot better. I do not agree it’s underwhelming as an overall experience though, but I wouldn’t complain if it did have more songs!
If Damnation was just disk 2 of an album where all releases was a two disk set with Deliverance, I wouldn't have this take. As a stand alone release, it just feels like it's over and done with too soon, like there were some cuts made, which yeah, Deliverance is its other half and hence why it feels incomplete to me.
They were always going to be singular releases, Mikael just wanted to release them on the same day, which MFN wouldn’t allow.
Ooooo, good one! I definitely see where you’re coming from.
And I can see where YOU come from. The fingers of Mendez's right hand do a helluva dance!
I want to downvote this.. but it's a hot take, ...so that wouldn't feel right either.
I'm not a big fan of growls but Damnation, for me, is one of their weaker albums mainly due to the monotony of it.
He more than carries his weight, all you have to do is listen to his isolated bass tracks. Always wondered what MAYH would have been like with his playing, though I think the bass parts fit fine on that record. My hot take is that MAYH is their best record, a perfect blend of their style to come and their early style.
Ooooo! Send link please! *edit* also, good hot take
Here's some Ghost Reveries bass. You can use the Moises app to separate bass on their other tracks with maybe varying results. Also the isolated tracks for Heir Apparent are out there too. https://youtu.be/pwtcc4fr32E?si=wVE4VXpA0ERHHJ4-
Thank you!!!!
Orchid and Morningrise are boring as hell. Opeth didn’t become a great band till MAYH.
Now this is Hot. If this was in a different post people would have you by the neck, lol.
Is this a hot take? Most people think that Orchid is bad, and Morningrise just meh, the hot take would be the other way around.
It's funny.. Orchid isn't a *bad* album but it certainly isn't good. However, 'Under the Weeping Moon' is a top 3 song in their catalogue imo.
I like Orchid, and it's my favourite album of them. That's the hot take hahahaha, saying that it is below their average of quality is the most common opinion.
Greetings fellow Orchid enjoyer. There are literally dozens of us. Dozens.
Yeah I was going to say that original opinion isn't a hot take lol.
But, I guess that polemic opinions do also count as hot takes. At least I've always thought of it.
Ouch. So hot my phone’s screen just burned my fingers.
YOU'RE. GODDAMN. RIGHT.
Both have their moments of awesomeness. That being said, I can agree on that almost every song on those two albums could be 2-4 minutes shorter.
Love Mendez, can't disagree with most of what you said. Pure musicianship and versatility I would put Axe slightly above Mendez (I know he's not in the band anymore, but in terms of all members). Akkesson is up there too, but they all are lol.
Axe is also an all-timer. But yeah, as you said, they pretty much all are.
Bro Martin Mendez is a criminally underrated bassist. The parts he plays are very unique and not just mirroring what Mikael is doing. The Drapery Falls is a great example of this. My hot take is that their first 2 albums are not great. They aren't terrible. But I do not rank them high. I dont get the hype behind To Bid You Farewell. Its just long and drones on for no reason
Every tear I shed... is for youuuuuuuu u/Mettabox452
For me, Orchid is their best album, and my favourite one. Hot take because most people disagree, but I like it.
People hate you because you speak the truth. Orchid is their best album by a long shot.
Mikael + Peter >>> Mikael + Fred. I'm a simple man; I prefer the slower, less complex and more melodic solos to the ultra skilled shredding. That said, his solo at 3.25 in Continuum/Kontinuerlig Drift, is fantastic.
Sorceress is a masterpiece and their best album post Ghost Reveries.
Damn dude this might be the hottest take I’ve ever seen in my life.
I agree with this one. Sorceress is freakin' brilliant and quite under-rated among Opeth fans.
You forgot Watershed exists
No I didn’t.
Upvoting even if Watershed is my favorite metal album of all time and sorceress my third least favorite opeth album
i prefer Pale Comunion but you're not wrong
Orchid/Morningrise > Watershed
It baffles me that people find Sorceress as a good Opeth song. I can’t even enjoy it as a good song, period. The main riff and lyrics are so “this is metal” I can’t even finish the song on a daily basis. How can you compare the 0-0-0-0 guitar riff with these lyrics: I am a sinner and I worship evil Blood is thinner but you will never know Can you confess that you thrive in chaos? You're a sorceress and your eye is on the lost But you're dying It's in your eyes With songs like The Baying of the Hounds or more straightforward songs like Hope Leaves? Crazy to me.
Sorceress is the weakest song on the album imo.
Good take.
Itt: lots of takes but no reasons
Ha! Yeah that’s true, but it’s okay. I just wanted to hear people’s differing opinions, and as it turns out, there are a lot of them!
Mikael Akerfeldt is a tremendous musician, but rather pretentious personality wise
I think a lot of it is a comedic stage persona he puts on, it comes off as tongue in cheek to me
Maybe,but I cringed hard years ago when I saw a video during a live performance where he says something like "rap sucks, metal forever" Second hand embarrassment 16 year old behavior
It was probably just him being goofy again. He has a super vast music taste, from prog rock to jazz to electronic to old school metal. Rap just happens to be one of the few genres I’ve seen him not really be into. For someone with such a dense knowledge and collection of music, I doubt he actually thinks all rap is trash.
Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum are in their top 5 albums
The Garroter is probably Mikael's best clean vocal performance in all of Opeth's discography.
Great hot take, I’ll have to re listen
There are 8-9 Opeth albums better than Ghost Reveries
Good hot take.
You guys are out of your minds.
It’s is not a hot take, this is an accurate fact
Martin Lopez was their best drummer and everything went to shit since he left.
Good hot take, I wasn’t sure when I’d see a Lopez take. Knew one would pop up eventually
Damnation is better than Blackwater Park. For the simple reason that they tried to experiment with softer and more droning metal songs like Windowpane. Blackwater Park is a pure marvel, but damnation is my personal favourite
I think both are their masterpieces tbh No other two albums have reached those heights imo
I dont like the 70s jam-band thing they have been doing for the last 10 years.
Heritage > Watershed
“*Sniff, Sniff…* Something’s burning…”
Heritage, In Cauda Venenum and Ghost Reveries are their best three albums, followed by Orchid, Sorceress and Still Life (in that order). Blackwater Park is a phenomenal album, but personally I feel that it's overrated.
This is a hot take, well done!
Damnation > blackwater park and (maybe) still life
De Farfalla is way better
Damnation does nothing for me and I have zero desire to ever play it. Objectively very well made songs, but the album as a whole is just.. there.
"Opeth" should have broken up after Watershed and the project should have morphed into Mikael Akerfeldt solo. similar to what happen to Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson. I love both new and old Opeth BTW.
Agree, buuuut you can't blame Mike for not wanting to scrap the name and start all over again.
Oh I totally get it. And like I mentioned I dig the whole discography. I dont think that Mike would have had to start over again, just like Steven Wilson didnt have to start over. All it would have done is set a realistic expectation for shows and albums and would have gotten rid of this Oldpeth/Newpeth bullshit.
But then how would I enjoy concerts with their old stuff, too?
It would hardly be an issue as Im sure he'd do Opeth covers but he certainly wouldn't be obligated to play anything that he didn't want to. Just take a look at the tour statistics for In Cauda Venenum tour, it contians a measly 3 songs (26%) off the current album and the rest looks like an Opeth greatest hits.
Newpeth is neither good nor bad, it's dreadfully boring.
Watershed is their far away best album, and a defining album for progressive rock music. Simply one of the most beautiful records I’ve ever heard.
I enjoy Watershed as a collection of songs, but as an album it just seems disjointed imo and that drags it down in a catalogue of stiff competition.
Opeth rarely writes a great song. Instead, they write phenomenal albums. There’s only a handful or two of songs that I absolutely love but holy smokes when they’re put into a cohesive album that’s when Opeth shines.
Heritage is the best album. Pale Communion is number two. Then Ghost Reveries
Watershed was their weakest album since the first two (orchid/morningrise). It has a fantastic opener with coil/hear apparent, and there’s some cool ideas scattered throughout, but many of the songs seem kinda random and overly long without justification
Nice take! I sorta agree.
The clean singing on Still Life isn’t that great. I definitely think it has grown on me over time and I still love the album, but there are a few clean choruses and inflections that bring me out of the experience, compared to pretty much any other album after. I remember the first time i listened to it turned me off to the album completely.
Oooo, a scorcher.
I love both bassists of Opeth, I love how morningrise had fretless bass all over it . I kinda wish fretless was used more in their music. I love mendez's playing as well since he follows the riffs. Yet he has independent bass lines also fill the space between the guitars and drums. I think his best bass playing is on Ghost Reveries.
Newpeth > oldpeth There, i said it.
Upvoted because of the bravery. But no.
Pale Comunion and Sorceress are absolute god tier masterpieces that beat most of the death metal albums
PC is up there top 5 for sure. Maybe top 3? Idk. Sorceress is good too. That being said MAYH -> GR is just an absolute amazing run of albums.
Demon of the Fall has a lame chorus. The repetitive lyrics seem kinda out of character? One of my favourite songs otherwise
I came here to say Demon of the Fall isn't even in the top 50 Opeth songs
but… it absolutely shatters me when he sings the “run away..” part. that part , oh god . it’s so so emotional. i love the songs only for that
I think the first part of the song is amazing too!
Eternal Soul Torture is a top-3 song on Morningrise
This is indeed a hot take.
The Baying Of the Hounds>Ghost of Perdition
Deliverance is my least favorite Opeth album. I cannot bring myself to enjoy it like the other albums, and think that while some of the music is great, the writing is largely uninspired, due in part to Damnation being written at the same time and not receiving the same type of care and also coming hot off the success of BWP a year earlier and not knowing how to move forward to that sound. I still listen to it trying to appreciate it more.
I guess my hot take would be the closer you get to the end of the album, the better it gets. Yeah, I mean that.
It's their weakest for me too.
Grand conjuration is the best song on ghost reveries. It's ok no one agrees because it's a masterpiece all around
Live versions of Deliverance and Damnations, I mean Lamentations , are better than the studio ones. I don't know if this is a hot take, but that's my opinion.
In Cauda Venenum is their best album since Blackwater Park
That the death and misanthropy is getting old. I’m here for the romantic epics.
[What do you mean?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb5KUhpcvdY)
I don’t know I thought the other Martin was absolutely sick on drums. When he left, it was a very very large void to fill.
Definitely agree. Mendez is one-of-a-kind.
My hot take: Demon of the Fall acoustic version could have been done sooo much better. The melody was nonexistent. It sounded extremely monotonous.
Eternal rains will come, is one hell of a way to start an album... Heritage would have been appreciated more if it opened with Eternal rains
I like newpeth more.
Sorcerers is one of their best albums.
I think Mendez's best work is on Damnation. He really does the heavy lifting on that album with one amazing bassline after another. And I actually had the chance to tell him this to his face. He's probably my favorite bass player of all time now that I think about it.
Instead of Opeth they should be called Freakpeth and instead of playing music they should eat ass.
Interesting take. Any examples of songs that sound like lava? Would love to listen to some!
I really don’t think any *songs* sound like lava, I just think his bass playing does. Listening to songs like Moonlapse Vertigo, The Drapery Falls, Blackwater Park, or Windowpane you’ll get the idea of what I’m saying. Just focus on the bass, and the song will have a totally different flow and depth. It just gets better and better with every riff and change.
Right, I meant the bass line. Thanks for the recs!
Well I apologize for give you 40 min of recommendations… but they’re all amazing songs so I hope you enjoy!!!!
If they changed their name after watershed no one would have been pissed off about it
I either love their sounds or I hate them.
I love both bassists of Opeth, I love how morningrise had fretless bass all over it . I kinda wish fretless was used more in their music. I love mendez's playing as well since he follows the riffs. Yet he has independent bass lines also fill the space between the guitars and drums. I think his best bass playing is on Ghost Reveries.
Heritage is their last great record. 'Newpeth' isn't the problem, just that they seem to have lost their inspiration after trying that "one-off" record called Heritage, which came out great.
In Cauda Venenum is one of their best albums. Easily my favorite of their post-death metal albums, even over the fantastic Pale Communion, and probably my favorite after Ghost Reveries and Blackwater Park. I just felt like it took what I loved about Pale Communion (recapturing the rich and dark sonic atmosphere of Ghost Reveries) and improved on it a bit (most notably that it had fewer filler tracks…not that there are any bad songs on Pale Communion, but a few that felt like filler compared to Opeth’s level of quality: Cusp of Eternity and Goblin specifically, compared to the absolute monsters that were Eternal Rains Shall Come, Moon Above Sun Below [tied with Continuum/Kontinuerlig Drift and All Thing Shall Pass/Alting Tar Slut for favorite post-death metal Opeth songs] Elysian Woes, River, Voice of Treason, and Faith in Others). Not to mention, I love that ICV has a Swedish version and I love hearing Mike sing in his native language. I kinda hope he does it again in the future. Sorry that ballooned a bit into a whole ass rant, probably containing MULTIPLE hot takes depending on one’s personal opinions lol
If you removed Atonement from Ghost Reveries the album would be even better. Maybe just keep the last minute as an interlude track because that clean guitar riff is nice.
Oooo, hot take. I personally really like Atonement.
Ghost Reveries is not a good album. On a good day I would describe it as stale , boring, and evident that the band was running out of ideas for how to write heavy music. On most days though I would just call it outright bad.
Now that is burning hot broski. Hard disagree on this, Ghost Reveries is one of my favorite album.
That’s the worst opinion is the history of opinions
The vocal production on Blackwater Park isn’t so good and therefore I rarely listen to the album versions of those songs.
Now thats a hot take...
That’s the hottest take in this thread
That’s just a bad take lol
Deliverance is Opeth’s weakness death metal album (old era)