Sounds good Vorph! One could only hope for a Crimson/Crimson II... orhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Q-QtuaynAII
The Metal Thread
- Thread starter Dr.Retarded
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Celebrindal
Golden Squire
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Went to a Festival yesterday in Brooklyn called Martyrdoom with a chick who used to be the Bass player in my band. She's now a music promoter. Not really into that type of music, but the bands were actually pretty good.
Bibles were burnt and decapitated goats and pigs were being thrown around.
Bibles were burnt and decapitated goats and pigs were being thrown around.
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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That song was so good.. I was really worried they would suck considering how a lot of bands have turned out, but it really has that classic Carcass sound to it. Link down though
I know this thread is quiet because everyone is still busy headbanging their asses off to that Warrior video I posted, but when you're done I suggest moving on to this.
Blakkheim
Karazhan Raider
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I had some catching up to do on this thread and just wanted to throw my thoughts out there on this.
It is both very sad but also very predictable the way they are headed right now. I mean, I get it. Yes, its their band, they built it up to where its at so yes, they have the right to do any damn thing they want with their music. I don't think anyone even disputes this fact. I just don't understand why these band's get so pissed when the fans don't automatically fall all over themselves in love with the latest crap they are putting out.
When Heritage came out, I gave it an honest try. I just can't get into. Before even reading this article, just the other day I decided to go try to give it another try. I figured, what the hell, maybe I just didn't give it enough chance the first go round. I spent half the damn day listening to it over and over. I still can't get into it. It just comes across as derivative, boring, and stale.
Its mentioned in the article that he doesn't understand why people could like Damnation and not like Heritage. Maybe the answer is much simpler than you think Mikael, maybe Heritage just sucks? I'll admit, I have absolutely no problem with Opeth taking on some lighter material. Everything doesn't have to be heavy as fuck death metal all the time. On the other hand, Damnation, to me, was creative and bold, but it also fit perfectly into the style that they are known for.
At this point its just whatever. I've seen this whole thing play out many times with many other bands. James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich still don't understand why most people in the metal scene, with any fucking taste in music, considers everything Metallica has made in the last 20 years to be complete shit. To them, turds like St. Anger/Reload are just as great as Master of Puppets/...And Justice for all.
Oh well, it was nice knowing you Opeth. At least we still have all those great albums to look back on.
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Yeah I mean Damnation essentially took their same writing style from that era and just removed the distortion and growls. You got epic songs that still had dynamics with obvious emphasis on the beautiful part of their style. But the bass still drives and Martin Lopez does his thing.
They were my favorite band for a long stretch of time. The first that really took me away from the dime a dozen Gothenburg bands that were popular at the time (don't get me wrong. In Flames, The Haunted, DT, Dan Swano, etc all still have a place in my heart and I can still put on early Soilwork today and enjoy myself). Still Life was always my favorite. Today Damnation is all I can really go back to. I don't know if I've grown up or just moved on but I honestly feel like there are a lot of bands out there that do the pretty/heavy dynamic better than Opeth ever has. And I really think it just took exposure to stuff outside of the metal realm for me to realize that.
I do miss old Opeth. If Lopez was still in the band I'd probably find a way to enjoy them still. All in all it just isn't the same anymore.
By the way, has Soen been linked in here yet?
Martin's new group. Nothing too innovative as their influences are obvious, but a super talented group of musicians. DiGiorgio is incredible as expected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbWahoNCvVQ
They were my favorite band for a long stretch of time. The first that really took me away from the dime a dozen Gothenburg bands that were popular at the time (don't get me wrong. In Flames, The Haunted, DT, Dan Swano, etc all still have a place in my heart and I can still put on early Soilwork today and enjoy myself). Still Life was always my favorite. Today Damnation is all I can really go back to. I don't know if I've grown up or just moved on but I honestly feel like there are a lot of bands out there that do the pretty/heavy dynamic better than Opeth ever has. And I really think it just took exposure to stuff outside of the metal realm for me to realize that.
I do miss old Opeth. If Lopez was still in the band I'd probably find a way to enjoy them still. All in all it just isn't the same anymore.
By the way, has Soen been linked in here yet?
Martin's new group. Nothing too innovative as their influences are obvious, but a super talented group of musicians. DiGiorgio is incredible as expected.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbWahoNCvVQ
Blakkheim
Karazhan Raider
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I will agree with you to an extent with Lopez. I'm not sure how much influence he had but they sure as hell took a different direction when he left. I'm glad to say I got the chance to see him play on basically his last tour with Opeth, which happened to be my first Opeth concert.
If you have some suggestions for any bands that do the "pretty/heavy dynamic better than Opeth", then I'm all ears at this point. I'll admit, I'm somewhat picky with my tastes. Agalloch was breath of fresh air but I'm having a hard time finding other stuff along this style that seems worth a damn.
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Oceansize and East of the Wall specifically. Oceansize surpassed Opeth as my favorite band a while back. They have had that spot for me for nearly a decade. You wouldn't call them a metal band, but they have metal influences. They don't exist anymore unfortunately but their entire discog is great. Start with Everyone Into Position.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox9Sf...CE99dCpumTjvOW
East of the Wall is a lot more prog than either band. But they're probably my favorite active band right now. Ressentiment is my favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJXII_PxwjU
You may not like this stuff. They aren't along the lines of pretty death metal at all. Oceansize were British and you can hear it. They're a very progressive take on Radiohead. East of the Wall is from Jersey and taken the DEP/Dysrhythmia esque tech genre and made it more epic. The jazz influence you can hear in that genre is even more apparent here.
Neither band has a vocalist that compares to Akerfeldt's talent. Vennert in Oceansize is really good though and the three guys doing vox in EOTW aren't bad. That certainly isn't the strongest part of the band though.
A common thread for me at least is that both of these bands have three guitar players. I was in a group that attempted that a few years back...we didn't do so well.
It's pretty subjective I just think these guys do layering better than Opeth did/does. The grand scheme of Opeth's songs always ended up very dynamic, but there wasn't a ton to their individual song structure and parts. Death metal riff with growls played 8 times, pretty arpeggiated part with singing played 8 times... Lopez added some drive in there when it was needed, just not a ton of layering within the parts themselves. I don't know if that makes sense at all.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts on these two bands either way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox9Sf...CE99dCpumTjvOW
East of the Wall is a lot more prog than either band. But they're probably my favorite active band right now. Ressentiment is my favorite.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJXII_PxwjU
You may not like this stuff. They aren't along the lines of pretty death metal at all. Oceansize were British and you can hear it. They're a very progressive take on Radiohead. East of the Wall is from Jersey and taken the DEP/Dysrhythmia esque tech genre and made it more epic. The jazz influence you can hear in that genre is even more apparent here.
Neither band has a vocalist that compares to Akerfeldt's talent. Vennert in Oceansize is really good though and the three guys doing vox in EOTW aren't bad. That certainly isn't the strongest part of the band though.
A common thread for me at least is that both of these bands have three guitar players. I was in a group that attempted that a few years back...we didn't do so well.
It's pretty subjective I just think these guys do layering better than Opeth did/does. The grand scheme of Opeth's songs always ended up very dynamic, but there wasn't a ton to their individual song structure and parts. Death metal riff with growls played 8 times, pretty arpeggiated part with singing played 8 times... Lopez added some drive in there when it was needed, just not a ton of layering within the parts themselves. I don't know if that makes sense at all.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts on these two bands either way.
Enslaved is another favorite of mine that is similar to Opeth. They started as a Black Metal band, but around the Under the Lights album, they added more progressive elements. Their last couple albums have been top notch progressive death. This is one of my favorite tracks off their Axiom Ethica Odini album. This whole album is killer. Most of their albums are Viking lore themed. They have black metal vox and clean vox
This track off the latest album, RIITIIR, is pretty good too
Gojira is another talented band. They aren't quite the same as Opeth with soft/hard vocals, but they are awesome. They have a pretty unique sound and I love the drumming.
This track off the latest album, RIITIIR, is pretty good too
Gojira is another talented band. They aren't quite the same as Opeth with soft/hard vocals, but they are awesome. They have a pretty unique sound and I love the drumming.
Astennu
Lord Nagafen Raider
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For any fans of Savatage (probably just the old timers here) Jon Oliva just released a solo record that includes the last remaining music he and his brother Criss wrote together. Criss was one of my favorite guitar players back in the day. Glad I got to see him live before he died. Music is not very metal, but more prog rocky. I like it--very cool and relaxed. Also can't post about Savatage without including one of the most cheesy videos ever made, but for one bad ass song.
I haven't been to a show in a long ass time (burned myself out over my first 3 years in Austin) but holy shit this looks awesome. Slayer, Gojira, Subhumans, Cro-Mags, Descendants and Black Flag? That's one hell of a day (day 3 is in black):
Vorph
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
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It's pretty hard to find "better than Opeth" if you're talking about "Still Life/MAYH/Blackwater Park" Opeth. There are only a few albums I've heard that can stack up to that, and all of them involve Dan Swan?.
Edge of Sanity - Crimson / Crimson II / Purgatory Afterglow
Dan Swan? - Moontower (more prog, less death, but still fantastic)
I listen to a ton of melodic death/doom metal that has the pretty/heavy thing going, but very little of it contains any of the prog influences that Opeth has. Stuff like Draconian, Callenish Circle, Amorphis (Black Winter Day era, not the shit they put out now), Novembers Doom, etc. are all good examples, but I wouldn't really compare them directly to Opeth or Edge of Sanity.