# Opeth - In Cauda Venenum (New Album 2019)



## Sammy J (May 24, 2019)

https://www.loudersound.com/news/opeth-reveal-new-album-title-tracklist-and-cover-art







"In Cauda Venenum" translates to "The poison is in the tail".

New album will have dual releases, in Swedish and in English. Tracklist is below:

1. Livet’s Trädgård / Garden Of Earthly Delights (Intro)
2. Svekets Prins / Dignity
3. Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör / Heart In Hand
4. De Närmast Sörjande / Next Of Kin
5. Minnets Yta / Lovelorn Crime
6. Charlatan
7. Ingen Sanning Är Allas / Universal Truth
8. Banemannen / The Garroter
9. Kontinuerlig Drift / Continuum
10. Allting Tar Slut / All Things Will Pass

Opeth were one of my absolute favourite bands up until Watershed. I have really struggled to get into their newer, progressive rock direction - finding majority of it largely forgettable. I miss the interplay between their lighter, folkier side and the darker, metal side greatly. The 70's worship really does nothing for me.

While it would be a stretch to imagine them going back to a "prime" style Opeth record, I'd love to hear them bring in some of their earlier influences and have atleast more of a metal record. They have some terrific songs that didn't feature growled vocals, and it'd be great to see them follow more in that direction than this overblown 70's prog rock vibe.

Of course..if they want to bring the death metal back...I'm totally cool with that


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## possumkiller (May 24, 2019)

Yeah I'm not holding my breath. I followed them until Watershed as well. I thought they had something great and unique going with the style they developed from Blackwater Park through Ghost Reveries. I love all the classic early records as well. I liked one track from The Devil's Orchard. Much like Ihsahn, I just find everything since their peak very forgettable and difficult to like.

Edit: Also, the cover art is awesome. Very much a throwback 70s vibe though.


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## Sammy J (May 24, 2019)

Cover art does have a little bit of a 70's look, but it's also a little gothicy and 'Ghost Reveries' vibe to me. There's a few things that make me wonder if this could be a more familiar Opeth album - the name 'the poison is in the tail' makes it sound like there could be some heavier moments, the two toned horses on the cover may be a reference to the contrasting darkness and lightness that they are better known for. Perhaps this is all be being way too hopeful and reading into things though lol.

Can you really have a song called 'The Garroter' and it not be heavy af though? I dunno


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## Empryrean (May 24, 2019)

woohoo! Looking forward to this, I've never meshed well with Opeth but their last album really hooked me in.. I feel the same with Cynic


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## Lorcan Ward (May 24, 2019)

Mikael should have ended Opeth when he wanted to change styles and started a solo project instead. I just listened to Damnation all the way through yesterday, what an album.


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## possumkiller (May 24, 2019)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Mikael should have ended Opeth when he wanted to change styles and started a solo project instead. I just listened to Damnation all the way through yesterday, what an album.


Kinda like Metallica should have just changed their name to something more 90s during their 90s experiments. 


Sammy J said:


> Cover art does have a little bit of a 70's look, but it's also a little gothicy and 'Ghost Reveries' vibe to me. There's a few things that make me wonder if this could be a more familiar Opeth album - the name 'the poison is in the tail' makes it sound like there could be some heavier moments, the two toned horses on the cover may be a reference to the contrasting darkness and lightness that they are better known for. Perhaps this is all be being way too hopeful and reading into things though lol.
> 
> Can you really have a song called 'The Garroter' and it not be heavy af though? I dunno


Looks like a Blue Oyster Cult album cover to me. After wanting Metallica to go heavy again for a decade only to be disappointed with the results, wishing Ihsahn would go back to his roots more, and hoping for an SYL reunion, I have decided to just let them go whatever way they want and enjoy the good music they did make. I doubt I will enjoy anything new they put out as much as I do their classic stuff. 

In the case of Opeth, I think they could do well if they would just mix in a heavy dose of the lighter 70s prog rock style with their heavier style. They have really long songs with many different moods. I think they could do a great job mixing the heavy style with growling vocals and the clean interludes they used to do with some of their current lighter style. I get the feeling Mike just wanted to be more commercial. Average music listeners like the music but can't deal with the growling vocals or really heavy parts.


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## KailM (May 24, 2019)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Mikael should have ended Opeth when he wanted to change styles and started a solo project instead. I just listened to Damnation all the way through yesterday, what an album.



I agree with a lot of the sentiments in this thread so far regarding Opeth's direction change, but especially wanted to comment on Damnation. Outstanding album; probably their softest album -- but somehow it's still more "metal" than anything they did after Watershed (which, I must admit, I liked; just not as much as their previous releases). 

I couldn't care less if Michael does death metal vocals anymore (even though he's one of the best of the best). Just bring back some 'metal' Opeth please. They were probably my favorite band for a lot of years running; going back to their first album. If you took away all the death vocals they'd still be outstanding metal albums.

When Heritage arrived, I tried to like it; I really did. Then Pale Communion arrived and I bought that. Struggled to listen through it. Can't remember anything off it. What boring, rehashed shite. Then the last album came out (can't even remember what it's called). Didn't buy it. Listened a couple times. Forgettable.

I shall remain cautiously pessimistic about this one.


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## KnightBrolaire (May 24, 2019)

the last album was an absolute bore, so I have exceedingly low expectations for this one. If I wanted to listen to good 70s/80s inspired prog I'd go spin more steven wilson/porcupine tree or haken again.


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## Exchanger (May 24, 2019)

KailM said:


> I couldn't care less if Michael does death metal vocals anymore (even though he's one of the best of the best)



I second that



KailM said:


> When Heritage arrived, I tried to like it; I really did. Then Pale Communion arrived and I bought that. Struggled to listen through it. Can't remember anything off it. What boring, rehashed shite. Then the last album came out (can't even remember what it's called). Didn't buy it. Listened a couple times. Forgettable.



I think Pale Communion is quite alright, there are some good moments. Even Heritage has some highlights, eventhough a big chunk of it is...unhappening. I could not get past the production of Sorceress however. I can tolerate certain things when it comes to mixing, but that one just felt extremely suffocating. It's so bad I can't even say if I would like the songs themselves.


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## wankerness (May 24, 2019)

I always listen to their albums and try really hard to like them just cause it's Opeth, decide "that was pretty good," and then never listen to them again. Ugh. If Opeth's name wasn't on them, there's no way I'd ever have listened to them. 

I was a gigantic fan of everything from Orchid through BWP. GR is one of my favorite albums of all time, Watershed felt kind of tired, and then they jumped off a cliff.


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## Lorcan Ward (May 24, 2019)

KailM said:


> I agree with a lot of the sentiments in this thread so far regarding Opeth's direction change, but especially wanted to comment on Damnation. Outstanding album; probably their softest album -- but somehow it's still more "metal" than anything they did after Watershed (which, I must admit, I liked; just not as much as their previous releases).
> 
> I couldn't care less if Michael does death metal vocals anymore (even though he's one of the best of the best). Just bring back some 'metal' Opeth please. They were probably my favorite band for a lot of years running; going back to their first album. If you took away all the death vocals they'd still be outstanding metal albums.



That's exactly it. Early Opeth is one of the almost atmospheric bands I can think of. Its dark and evil with this dreary sound like you're being rained on, doesn't matter if it was slow acoustic sections or heavy growling sections, they retained this consistent sound and vibe no matter how loud or soft. I think I first heard them when I was 13 or 14 and it blew my mind that a band could paint such a vivid picture through music. I've tried the later albums but its just too much of a stylistic shift and purposely trying to play different melodies that don't sound like early Opeth. Every now and then a few snippets slip into a song but the conscious effort is a big turn off.


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## ArtDecade (May 24, 2019)

King Diamond let them borrow an album cover?


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## MetalHex (May 24, 2019)

ArtDecade said:


> King Diamond let them borrow an album cover?


I was going to say this! Cross between Abigail, Them, and Voodoo


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## ArtDecade (May 24, 2019)

That said, I've been telling you guys that Opeth has sucked for the last 10 years. I am glad you are finally getting it. The band ended with Watershed - and half of that album was weak sauce.


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## lurè (May 24, 2019)

Cover art is cool, too bad album is probably going to be a boredom fest.


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## chopeth (May 25, 2019)

Not much to add, just as many here I find everything after watershed boring, tells me nothing.

Still life the biggest masterpiece in my opinion, often behind the shadow of Blackwater Park, sadly.


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## Lorcan Ward (May 25, 2019)

Maybe its because I picked up Still Life first and didn't hear Blackwater park until years later but to me its their best album and doesn't get near enough recognition. The way it tells a story really makes the whole album flow start to finish. I don't get the same vibe from Blackwater Park. That didn't stop me flying to London for the Royal Albert Show to see it live in its entirety.


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## possumkiller (May 25, 2019)

I loved the roundhouse tapes. The thing is I always got a bit of a 70s style prog feel from them to begin with. They had a really great style. Idk why he had to take it to such an extreme with the boring pretentious crap.



KnightBrolaire said:


> If I wanted to listen to good 70s/80s inspired prog I'd go spin more steven wilson/porcupine tree or haken again.



I honestly found this more interesting than any opeth in the last decade. Nice 70s-ish fantasy rock ballad about a dragon. Kicks ass.


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## KailM (May 25, 2019)

True Opeth fans recognize My Arms, Your Hearse for the masterpiece that it is...


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## MAJ Meadows SF (May 25, 2019)

possumkiller said:


> Looks like a Blue Oyster Cult album cover to me. After wanting Metallica to go heavy again for a decade only to be disappointed with the results, wishing Ihsahn would go back to his roots more, and hoping for an SYL reunion, I have decided to just let them go whatever way they want and enjoy the good music they did make. I doubt I will enjoy anything new they put out as much as I do their classic stuff.



I've been a dedicated fan regardless of what they put out. Probably my favorite band of all time. Like everyone else I prefer their heavier affairs, but I thoroughly enjoyed Pale Communion. That was a hell of a good record. Heritage and Sorceress fell short for me, but many of the tunes are really good live. Who knows what this one will contain, however I think we all agree it's probably a continuation to some degree of their current sound. I've just accepted (or succumbed) to the fact they are on a different path. I really doubt it's for commercial appeal. Mike and crew just write whatever the hell they want and they are a bunch of fanboys of that sound and era. Some hate it, some love it. But I don't mind and like Ihsahn, SYL, among others, they'll never come back. 

Mike's death metal vocals are about shot. That's the real reason to me why they haven't returned to any amount of their earlier heavy material. He is one of the all time greats, which is why they are still my favorite band, but after 2010 you can hear his growls going downhill. It wasn't just clips of live shows, it was seeing them live. It started with Bloodbath before he left that project, and I suspect the damage was done there. His growls and fry range have lessened and become mostly monotone. I saw them throughout the 2000s, and Mike had such a powerful and dynamic range of screams and guttural roars. Recent shows I've been to and live clips really display the decline in his voice. He sings well, and it kinda sucks there was only a brief time where he was putting both vocal styles at a polished level together. But shit does happen in life with age and time, and unless he found some super secret squirrel magic method of bringing his old voice back, or got surgery (which might not help at all, nor be necessary and applicable), it's obvious to me that that voice has been laid to rest. He does just enough to get by during live sets but it isn't the same. 

A great example would be comparing the vocals on Ghost of Perdition from The Roundhouse Tapes vs Garden of Titans. I've heard it too on some live Bloodbath tracks, his death vocals struggling a bit. It reminds me of when Jens Kidman was sick for a show with AAL in downtown Orlando some years back and tried to power through a live set, but sounded like hell, almost choked shouting or fake vomiting noises than his normal raspy snarl. They ended on some killer instrumental versions of several songs. Very professional instead of ending the show early. 

We'll never hear something from Mike like My Arms, Your Hearse or Unblessing the Purity again. RIP to one of the greatest growls EVER.


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## wankerness (May 25, 2019)

ArtDecade said:


> That said, I've been telling you guys that Opeth has sucked for the last 10 years. I am glad you are finally getting it. The band ended with Watershed - and half of that album was weak sauce.



Eh, you're in a majority opinion there. I think most fans thought Heritage blew, and the few that checked out the next one either continued deluding themselves (ex, me - I said hey at least it's better than Heritage cause it's not full of empty space!!) or just wrote them off completely since they went in the same direction. Well, besides those that genuinely like the new material, I know those people are out there. Dozens of em! 



Lorcan Ward said:


> Maybe its because I picked up Still Life first and didn't hear Blackwater park until years later but to me its their best album and doesn't get near enough recognition. The way it tells a story really makes the whole album flow start to finish. I don't get the same vibe from Blackwater Park. That didn't stop me flying to London for the Royal Albert Show to see it live in its entirety.



BWP actually got backlash and accusations of "selling out" at the time. It's a LOT slicker than Still Life production-wise, basically didn't introduce any new elements to their sound besides what Steven Wilson brought (piano that isn't on an isolated track, 70s prog noises here and there, etc), and has a lot more repetition, causing people to accuse them of being short on ideas. Still Life was the first album that ever had riffs that came back later in the song at all, but BWP did it everywhere. Like, The Drapery Falls in particular has the lengthy intro and outro that are the same, has a verse-chorus structure in the middle for a while, etc. Bleak has a verse/chorus, The Leper Affinity has a lengthy DS, Harvest almost has a normal song structure, etc. I personally really like the album and put it about on par with Still Life, but can acknowledge all those criticisms.



KailM said:


> True Opeth fans recognize My Arms, Your Hearse for the masterpiece that it is...



Yep, that's my favorite by far, they busted out of the gates right away with a totally new sound from Orchid/Morningrise, and every single album through Watershed was merely variations and refinements on the same thing (well, besides Damnation). Like, those big chordally dense harmonic explosions like the guitar break or outro to When, the raunchy dissonant dense flatted fifth riffs like the third one on April Ethereal, the twisty evul riffs that sounded like no one else like the titular section of Demon of the Fall, none of it's really there on their first two albums at all and it all defined their sound going forward.

MAYH was the first I got into, though, which seems to be a pattern - first you hear is the best!!!

I did hear Morningrise first, but I think I listened to it once or twice and thought "what is this?!" and set it aside till after I got into MAYH. I love it now and put it about on par with their other best stuff (MAYH, SL, BWP, GR).

I'm so old school I remember tons of forum posts on non-Opeth boards saying Opeth turned bad with MAYH and got worse with Still Life and BWP and hadn't released anything good since their classic Morningrise.


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## Ralyks (May 25, 2019)

You'd think I'd like the Heritage-onward direction they took being a big fan of that style of prog, but honestly, nothing has hooked me from Opeth since Damnation. I'll give this one a shot, but I'm not optimistic.


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## possumkiller (May 25, 2019)

The Night and the Silent Water


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## KailM (May 25, 2019)

I mean, it's Opeth -- I really want every album they put out to be great. But we've been here before, and the last three albums were a huge letdown. I don't want to get my hopes up (but I'll probably get my hopes up anyway...)


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## TGN (May 25, 2019)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Maybe its because I picked up Still Life first and didn't hear Blackwater park until years later but to me its their best album and doesn't get near enough recognition. The way it tells a story really makes the whole album flow start to finish. I don't get the same vibe from Blackwater Park. That didn't stop me flying to London for the Royal Albert Show to see it live in its entirety.



I also love Still Life. It’s definitely my fav Opeth album.


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## Bdtunn (May 25, 2019)

TGN said:


> I also love Still Life. It’s definitely my fav Opeth album.



Still like for the win. That’s always been my favourite as well.


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## Zalbu (May 25, 2019)

I'm hyped for this because they're finally releasing original material in Swedish, and if they're releasing material in Swedish then that hopefully means they're making more stuff with influences from Swedish folk music, which Mikael is a big fan of.

They've only made one song in Swedish as far as I know, Den Ständiga Resan, which is a cover. It's one of my favorite Opeth songs because it's much more intimate for me who's Swedish when the lyrics are in Swedish, especially since Mikael has one of the best voices in metal, both growls and cleans.

I'm probably the only person here who's excited for a metal band to add more folk music influences to their sound, though


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## Dyingsea (May 25, 2019)

Zalbu said:


> I'm probably the only person here who's excited for a metal band to add more folk music influences to their sound, though



If they were actually metal still it would be interesting. I love the traditional Scandinavian folk sounds being incorporated into metal. Not the overly cheesy fast "folk" metal that sounds like a pirate jungle island extravaganza but legit acoustic, atmosphere, singing.


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## tribalfusion (May 25, 2019)

I absolutely love the last few Opeth albums. I'm very glad they took the turn they did.


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## tribalfusion (May 25, 2019)

I absolutely love the last few Opeth albums. I'm very glad they took the turn they did.


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## InHiding (May 26, 2019)

I can't really stand the new Opeth albums but all the power to you if you like them. 

There was also a song called Mordet i Grottan (which was by Mikael and Dan Swanö, not Opeth, a part of it was used in the song To Rid the Disease later)


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## p0ke (May 27, 2019)

Well, I kinda like Sorceress (mainly the particular song), but it's just nowhere near the older stuff. What I like most about the old material is the massive contrast between the heavy and mellow stuff - putting a light acoustic part just before something heavy just makes it feel even heavier. They just completely lost that with Heritage.


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## wankerness (May 27, 2019)

The thing they lost imo was all the really interesting and weird chords, and at the same time they did away with those they completely lost any of the big dense harmonic things that were the best part of their music. Ie, the part under the first solo on Ghost of Perdition, the bridge on Bleak, the middle guitar break on When, etc.


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## possumkiller (May 27, 2019)

Yeap. They basically cut out everything that made them interesting and unique.


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## BIG ND SWEATY (May 27, 2019)

Hopefully the music is better than the album art because that cover looks like shit.


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## sakeido (May 27, 2019)

Heritage was hot garbage

Pale Communion was mostly trash but the first two songs were great and I'd go as far to say Eternal Rains is absolutely outstanding - provided you weren't hell bent on hearing progressive metal and are fine with prog rock

Sorceress had a couple good ones on there (title track) but otherwise I thought it was totally forgettable and the mix is tubby af. The vinyl master in particular is crap and I regret buying it, although the sleeve is real nice

who knows what the new one will be like?

usually I'm 100% against fans who complain about bands taking a new direction or even mellowing out in a way that still seems like a logical progression for them, like Mastodon and Slipknot, but Opeth really shoulda wrapped it up and gone with a new name after Watershed. It's such a dramatic departure for their old sound and I can't help but feel there's a weird vibe at their concerts, where everybody is buying tickets to see old Opeth and is just suffering through the new stuff to hear the 3 or 4 old tunes they still play.. which, imo, they don't even do a very good job with anymore 

like, if fuckin John Mayer uses two different names depending on what material he is going to play, I think Mikael probably coulda done the same


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## KailM (May 27, 2019)

wankerness said:


> The thing they lost imo was all the really interesting and weird chords, and at the same time they did away with those they completely lost any of the big dense harmonic things that were the best part of their music. Ie, the part under the first solo on Ghost of Perdition, the bridge on Bleak, the middle guitar break on When, etc.



I attribute that to the loss of Peter Lindgren. I suspect he was more important to their older sound than he gets credit for.

I’m thankful I got to see them when he was still in the band. That was the all-time highlight show for me. Not that Michael wasn’t amazing too, and in his prime, but Lindgren took a lot of the solos and made them somehow better than the studio versions.


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## Sammy J (May 28, 2019)

I can count on one hand the passable tracks they've had in the past 10 years. That ain't good.

Because of how amazing the rest of their discography is though, I will always give their records a chance in the hope they revert to form. I understand and accept that a tilt back towards the more extreme metal end of the spectrum is unlikely, however much that saddens me.

I was listening to Ghost Reveries today, shit was so good. God dammit.


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## p0ke (May 28, 2019)

KailM said:


> I attribute that to the loss of Peter Lindgren. I suspect he was more important to their older sound than he gets credit for.
> 
> I’m thankful I got to see them when he was still in the band. That was the all-time highlight show for me. Not that Michael wasn’t amazing too, and in his prime, but Lindgren took a lot of the solos and made them somehow better than the studio versions.



I managed to see them with that lineup too, in 2006. I don't remember much of it since it was a festival appearance and I saw like 50 other bands that weekend, but I recall it being awesome. I saw them again in 2009, and I felt like they'd already lost a bit of something by then. It was a great show too, but it lacked a little something. Perhaps it was Peter Lindgren, I'm not sure. Fredrik Åkesson is a great guitarist too, but I felt like he is more suited for something like Arch Enemy... In which he played at the same festival where I saw Opeth in 2006. That was one of the best shows I've ever been to, by the way.


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## Sammy J (May 28, 2019)

I saw them in 06/07 on the Ghost Reveries tour too. One of the best live gigs I've ever been to for sure.

Random pop quiz - what would be your 10 favourite Opeth tunes? Hard to rank 'em to be honest.

1. Blackwater Park
2. Ghost of Perdition
3. Reverie/Harlequin Forest
4. Bleak
5. Serenity Painted Death
6. Deliverance
7. The Moor
8. Hessian Peel
9. Advent
10. The Amen Corner

I feel like a traitor to so many bangers now


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## KailM (May 28, 2019)

I can't really rank a "top 10 songs" since I tend to only listen to Opeth albums when I have time to listen to the whole thing, uninterrupted. But some top honors go to; no particular order:

A Fair Judgement
Prologue/April Ethereal
Ghost of Perdition
The Baying of the Hounds
Reverie/Harlequin Forest
The Drapery Falls
Windowpane
Under the Weeping Moon
Forest of October
Hessian Peel


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## vilk (May 28, 2019)

When Opeth first made the switch, I was like "This is OK but it's too bad that they gave up death metal"...

...and now I only listen to their newer albums 

People are all like "it's not metal anymore it's prog rock!"... and, while I get that it's certainly no longer an extremely progressive form of _death metal_, it's still certainly much heavier than any 70s prog rock band I can think of. Or I should say, if someone knows some 70's prog rock bands that are as heavy as Opeth, please recommend them so I can check that shit out!


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## ArtDecade (May 28, 2019)

Sammy J said:


> I saw them in 06/07 on the Ghost Reveries tour too. One of the best live gigs I've ever been to for sure.
> 
> Random pop quiz - what would be your 10 favourite Opeth tunes? Hard to rank 'em to be honest.
> 
> ...



01. Ghost of Perdition
02. Ghost of Perdition
03. Ghost of Perdition
04. Ghost of Perdition
05. Ghost of Perdition
06. Ghost of Perdition
07. Ghost of Perdition
08. Ghost of Perdition
09. Ghost of Perdition
10. Ghost of Perdition


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## Acrid (May 28, 2019)

In no particular order, well after the first two at least

Demon of the Fall
Serenity Painted Death
In the Mist She Was Standing
The Baying Of The Hounds
The Amen Corner
Under The Weeping Moon
Deliverance
Bleak
The Drapery Falls
April Ethereal


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## The Mirror (May 28, 2019)

vilk said:


> if someone knows some 70's prog rock bands that are as heavy as Opeth, please recommend them so I can check that shit out!



Well, rather Krautrock, but the earlie Jon Roth Scorpions had some damn heavy tracks.



Just play the same song with modern amps and guitars and the stuff is still heavy af. 

Especially the main riff from 1:16 forward is a total banger.


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## TedEH (May 28, 2019)

ArtDecade said:


> 01. Ghost of Perdition
> 02. Ghost of Perdition
> 03. Ghost of Perdition
> 04. Ghost of Perdition
> ...


Harlequin Forest > Ghost of Perdition. 



I'm definitely in the camp of mostly preferring the newest material to their oldest material. It's different, sure, but I'd rather a band put out drastically different stuff than just get rehashes of the same material over and over again.


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## wankerness (May 28, 2019)

Top 10 songs is a hard one. I usually listen to them as albums cause I'm listening for the brilliant moments within songs. Often the songs themselves have problems. Ex, that endless intro to The Moor keeps that one off the list, the endless outro to A Fair Judgement keeps that one off the list (I do love the outros to Deliverance and Harlequin Forest, AFJ's just sucks).

Favorite/imo most consistently great songs:

Baying of the Hounds
When
Demon of the Fall
Benighted
Ghost of Perdition
To Bid You Farewell
The Leper Affinity
The Funeral Portrait
Bleak
Godhead's Lament


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## possumkiller (May 28, 2019)

The Mirror said:


> Well, rather Krautrock, but the earlie Jon Roth Scorpions had some damn heavy tracks.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Definitely. I love early Scorpions. The songs were a lot more heavy back then. The debut album with both Schenker brothers (Michael at 16 playing a Les Paul) is badass as well. Like a crazy mix of Sabbath, Zeppelin, and Floyd.


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## Emperoff (May 28, 2019)

Ah, Opeth. I remember I wanted to get the band logo tattooed on my shoulder. Then they released Heritage... 

As for a top 10 list... Kinda hard as like many others I really enjoy hearing the whole albums uninterrupted. But hey, I'll bite.

1 - Hours Of Wealth <- The song that hooked me into them.
2 - Ghost Of Perdition
3 - The Drapery Falls
4 - Bleak
5 - Harvest
6 - Windowpane
7 - Face Of Melinda
8 - The Lotus Eater
9 - Demon Of The Fall
10 - The Night And The Silent Water

And I'm leaving a fuckton of favourite songs behind. Can't stand anything after Watershed (which I love).


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## wankerness (May 28, 2019)

I never could get into Watershed, it felt half-baked. The only song I ever went back to regularly was Hessian Peel. Lotus Eater had that entertaining Castlevania section, I guess that was worth repeat listens too.


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## Xaios (May 29, 2019)

wankerness said:


> I never could get into Watershed, it felt half-baked. The only song I ever went back to regularly was Hessian Peel. Lotus Eater had that entertaining Castlevania section, I guess that was worth repeat listens too.


I didn't really care for Watershed that much at first, but I will admit that it's grown on me a lot over the years. At the same time, I was huge on Ghost Reveries when it first came out (not that I was in the minority on that one, the critical response to that album at the time was basically universal praise), but nowadays I don't think it's the masterpiece that many people do. The highs are just as high as all the best Opeth, but I'll be honest, I think the slow tracks (Atonement, Hours of Wealth, Isolation Years) _really_ drag it down. I know I'm gonna be in the minority on that one.


Sammy J said:


> Random pop quiz - what would be your 10 favourite Opeth tunes? Hard to rank 'em to be honest.


Damn, even picking only 10 songs is hard enough. Ranking them would just be an exercise in cruelty.

- Demon of the Fall
- The Moor
- Benighted
- The Leper Affinity
- The Drapery Falls
- Blackwater Park
- Ghost of Perdition
- Reverie/Harlequin Forest
- Heir Apparent
- The Lotus Eater


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## wankerness (May 29, 2019)

Xaios said:


> I didn't really care for Watershed that much at first, but I will admit that it's grown on me a lot over the years. At the same time, I was huge on Ghost Reveries when it first came out (not that I was in the minority on that one, the critical response to that album at the time was basically universal praise), but nowadays I don't think it's the masterpiece that many people do. The highs are just as high as all the best Opeth, but I'll be honest, I think the slow tracks (Atonement, Hours of Wealth, Isolation Years) _really_ drag it down. I know I'm gonna be in the minority on that one.



I think Atonement and Hours of Wealth's back half definitely are pace-killers, but oh well. I think Isolation Years is fine.


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## vilk (May 29, 2019)

I'm really surprised how much love SSO is giving Ghost Reveries, because I remember when that album came out a lot of Opeth fans were _not_ happy. Being a typical 15yo metal elitist I jumped on the hate bandwagon right away, until my friend who back then rarely ever used the internet was telling me how he thinks it's Opeth's best album. And then after I gave it a fair chance I had to admit it's really pretty good. 

These days, I might even say that it's the best Opeth album from their _death metal_ period. Or rather, that it perfectly bridges the gap between "old Opeth" and "new Opeth", even better than Watershed despite that that album came after.


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## TedEH (May 29, 2019)

I really suspect that it's just the usual push back for doing anything different than what's established. I sort of see three eras of Opeth stuff, and a lot of the fanbases for each don't seem to overlap much.


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## possumkiller (May 29, 2019)

TedEH said:


> I really suspect that it's just the usual push back for doing anything different than what's established. I sort of see three eras of Opeth stuff, and a lot of the fanbases for each don't seem to overlap much.


I like the first two eras. When the keyboardist first came on permanent, I thought they were at their peak and only awesomeness lay ahead. When Peter and Lopez left, they drifted off down a path I don't really care for.


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## Triple7 (May 29, 2019)

possumkiller said:


> I like the first two eras. When the keyboardist first came on permanent, I thought they were at their peak and only awesomeness lay ahead. When Peter and Lopez left, they drifted off down a path I don't really care for.



This pretty much sums it up for me. 

Nothing on Heritage caught my ear. Pale Communion is a pretty good album. Sorceress has some decent stuff on it as well. None of those albums, however, stand up to anything that came before them.


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## wankerness (May 29, 2019)

vilk said:


> I'm really surprised how much love SSO is giving Ghost Reveries, because I remember when that album came out a lot of Opeth fans were _not_ happy. Being a typical 15yo metal elitist I jumped on the hate bandwagon right away, until my friend who back then rarely ever used the internet was telling me how he thinks it's Opeth's best album. And then after I gave it a fair chance I had to admit it's really pretty good.
> 
> These days, I might even say that it's the best Opeth album from their _death metal_ period. Or rather, that it perfectly bridges the gap between "old Opeth" and "new Opeth", even better than Watershed despite that that album came after.



I don’t remember WHY it got hate at the time. I remember being confounded by it. To my ears, it was objectively much more intricate and better-produced than Deliverance at the very least. It was very quickly my second favorite after MAYH. I really don’t see what elements could be objectionable to anyone that made it through D1/D2. Open tuning?


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## fps (May 30, 2019)

KailM said:


> I attribute that to the loss of Peter Lindgren. I suspect he was more important to their older sound than he gets credit for.
> 
> I’m thankful I got to see them when he was still in the band. That was the all-time highlight show for me. Not that Michael wasn’t amazing too, and in his prime, but Lindgren took a lot of the solos and made them somehow better than the studio versions.



I saw them 2 or 3 times with Peter. He was brilliant, BUT I remember them playing Advent and him messing up a clean part in the middle. He had to play it four times as well, and it kept coming round to that bit! He had a bit of a smile each time it came round, the crowd was well with him, really funny and memorable haha.

I don't bother with Opeth any more. They were extraordinary. Now it's a totally different band and it's generic rehashed music from the past.


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## vilk (May 30, 2019)

fps said:


> it's generic rehashed music from the past.



Sorry for being investigatory, but that's just not true. I mean, there's clearly influence from 70s prog bands, but I don't think you could name one that actually sounds anything like modern Opeth. I love 70s prog like Yes, ELP, King Crimson, Genesis etc., but simply put none of those bands get _anywhere even close_ to as heavy as modern Opeth. Now I totally get it that Opeth isn't as heavy as they _used to_ be, but that doesn't somehow mean that they aren't _obviously _much more metal than any of the bands that people accuse them of sounding "just like". It's not generic or rehashed. Or, if you are sure that it is, then maybe you could provide an example? Dudeman above listed that rockin' Scorpions track as an example of 70s rock that was very heavy for it's time, but lets face it that doesn't sound like Opeth.


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## Dyingsea (May 30, 2019)

Reading through all of this and always scratch my head a bit how much Deliverance is overlooked by about well... everyone. Guys go listen to Deliverance, seriously. 

Also I tend to agree it seemed like when Lopez/Peter were in the band there was just some great synergy and those guys just seemed humble and loved music. I think it's something you can realy feel come through with those albums they were on. I hate to say it but Mikael just seems more self indulgent per-se though not to take anything away from him musically as he's brilliant (or was).


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## wankerness (May 30, 2019)

BWP was starting to get repetitive, but deliverance is ridiculous. If they stuck to four repetitions of riffs the songs would be like 3 minutes long. The production is also realllly flat in comparison to BWP and GR.


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## p0ke (May 31, 2019)

wankerness said:


> BWP was starting to get repetitive, but deliverance is ridiculous. If they stuck to four repetitions of riffs the songs would be like 3 minutes long. The production is also realllly flat in comparison to BWP and GR.



Sure, some parts on it repeat a lot, for example the outro of the song Deliverance... I guess it repeats like 64 times or something  It's an awesome riff though and it kinda builds up and breaks back down into A Fair Judgement, so I don't really mind.
And yep, the production is ... different. It doesn't really sound bad, but Ghost Reveries sounds loads and loads better. My main gripe is that all the acoustic parts are really quiet, which sucks when listening in the car.


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## MAJ Meadows SF (May 31, 2019)

wankerness said:


> BWP was starting to get repetitive, but deliverance is ridiculous. If they stuck to four repetitions of riffs the songs would be like 3 minutes long. The production is also realllly flat in comparison to BWP and GR.



Deliverance was deliberately dialed back from the BWP production, intended on sounding older. It did come out a bit thin, but fell in line with Morningrise and Orchid. Different, but something that could be heard in that era. Vocals were too far back though (shocking a guitar player like me is saying that). The remaster that was packaged with Damnation was actually pretty good, presenting the sound better. It's bass heavy, but with a proper studio headset not quite max volume really brings out the hidden stuff. I need that on vinyl. Deliverance for me is actually their 2nd best album, next to MAYH. And I love BWP, but seeing them on the Lamentations Tour at Bogarts in Cincinnati branded that record into my mind and heart. AMAZING. I for one like reoccurring themes and motifs, something I learned in my classical violin days. Opeth definintely hit a stride between BWP and Deliverance with at technique. 

I was not a huge Ghost Reveries fan when it came out. I remember a problem a lot of us had was 1) they signed to Roadrunner... 2) the album felt forced and disingenuous. Why? Again because of the label, which to me felt like it was too close to commercializing, and the edited video for The Grand Conjuration was the nail in the coffin. Watershed continued this a bit, and although shorter than I had hoped at least had a growing feel and logical resolve. Those are at the bottom of my listening rotation (well, Heritage too). 

Top 10 songs? Wut? Maybe at this moment, or what I frequent the most I guess. Mood really depends, but I'll try:

1) Wreath
2) April Ethereal
3) Deliverance
4) The Leper Affinity
5) Demon Of The Fall
6) Night & The Silent Water
7) Under The Weeping Moon
8) Serenity Painted Death
9) Dirge For November
10) Hope Leaves

That was insane, and a totally mean exercise. I usually end up listening to the entire albums at once, especially their first 3 and Deliverance & Damnation. Ranking albums would be a little easier. Someone nailed it stating they lost the long and shifting harmonic passages that gave them such a hauntingly unique sound. Even with their prog rock change, they could continue that, but it seems they don't have the same sense of urgency as they used to. The vibe is completely different.


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## p0ke (May 31, 2019)

MAJ Meadows SF said:


> That was insane, and a totally mean exercise.



I'm not even gonna try  I mean, my favorite albums are Deliverance, BWP and Ghost Reveries, since I haven't really gotten into the older ones and the newer ones are, well... shit. Watershed at least had some great moments, but after that, they are few and far between. But to try to choose the 10 best songs? No can do...


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## MAJ Meadows SF (May 31, 2019)

p0ke said:


> I'm not even gonna try  I mean, my favorite albums are Deliverance, BWP and Ghost Reveries, since I haven't really gotten into the older ones and the newer ones are, well... shit. Watershed at least had some great moments, but after that, they are few and far between. But to try to choose the 10 best songs? No can do...



I seriously suggest getting into their first 4 albums. They are well worth the time it takes to listen through with some quality headphones. Or a long drive at night on a snowy road in the dead of winter. Listening straight through each album is the best way to absorb them. I used to have Morningrise as my #1 record of theirs, and it was only edged out by MAYH because of heavier drumming and thicker overall production. Orchid and Morningrise are super heavy records in their own right, though, and I honestly am afraid of them being fucked up if remastered. It would have to be done right. Like I said MAYH is perfect as is, and shorter tracks make it a little more accessible than the first two. Still Life, as mentioned before, is a masterpiece in it's own right, and usually enjoyed by BWP fans. 

But seriously, you are missing out! Do yourself a huge favor and grab those records in some format if you don't have them already. You'll have more GREATER material to go back to when you hate this new album.


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## Vegetta (May 31, 2019)

After Heritage I basically gave up on them. Tho my tastes changed a bit and I got more into Melodeath and Atmospheric Black stuff. 

At times they sound too much like a jam band.


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## wankerness (May 31, 2019)

p0ke said:


> Sure, some parts on it repeat a lot, for example the outro of the song Deliverance... I guess it repeats like 64 times or something  It's an awesome riff though and it kinda builds up and breaks back down into A Fair Judgement, so I don't really mind.
> And yep, the production is ... different. It doesn't really sound bad, but Ghost Reveries sounds loads and loads better. My main gripe is that all the acoustic parts are really quiet, which sucks when listening in the car.



Most of the songs repeat a lot! I tabbed out “Wreath” and the tab came out about as long as the one to Benighted thanks to the sheer volume of repetition. Same deal with AFJ. And 64x on the end of Deliverance is nothing compared to the 512x (guess, probably big exaggeration) of the main riff in By the Pain I See in Others! That one’s as bad as The Grand Conjuration, which is easily the worst on GR. It did click a bit when I saw them play it live on the GR tour, though.


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## Lorcan Ward (May 31, 2019)

They just announced some more EU dates for later this year. If the setlist is good I'll go since its been years since I've seen them live. 




Bdtunn said:


> Still like for the win. That’s always been my favourite as well.





TGN said:


> I also love Still Life. It’s definitely my fav Opeth album.







vilk said:


> I'm really surprised how much love SSO is giving Ghost Reveries, because I remember when that album came out a lot of Opeth fans were _not_ happy.



I remember people not being happy with Watershed, didn't have the net around Ghost Reveries, funny that. Like when people were annoyed at Dimmu Borgir for Puritanical or In Flames for Reroute, they'd no idea what those bands were going to do on future albums ha.


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## vilk (May 31, 2019)

I just listened to that Scorpions song again and realized that actually it really is like some modern Opeth tracks. Are Scorpions always like that? I should get that album.


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## TedEH (May 31, 2019)

Part of me kind of likes the "ugh, this band sounds too much like this other band" conversations, cause it gives you new stuff to look up and enjoy.


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## p0ke (May 31, 2019)

MAJ Meadows SF said:


> I seriously suggest getting into their first 4 albums. They are well worth the time it takes to listen through with some quality headphones. Or a long drive at night on a snowy road in the dead of winter. Listening straight through each album is the best way to absorb them. I used to have Morningrise as my #1 record of theirs, and it was only edged out by MAYH because of heavier drumming and thicker overall production. Orchid and Morningrise are super heavy records in their own right, though, and I honestly am afraid of them being fucked up if remastered. It would have to be done right. Like I said MAYH is perfect as is, and shorter tracks make it a little more accessible than the first two. Still Life, as mentioned before, is a masterpiece in it's own right, and usually enjoyed by BWP fans.
> 
> But seriously, you are missing out! Do yourself a huge favor and grab those records in some format if you don't have them already. You'll have more GREATER material to go back to when you hate this new album.



Yeah, I have listened to them all but not enough to get into them properly


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## possumkiller (May 31, 2019)

vilk said:


> I just listened to that Scorpions song again and realized that actually it really is like some modern Opeth tracks. Are Scorpions always like that? I should get that album.


They have a lot of typical 70s rock "filler" tracks that you get used to but each of the early albums has at least three or four really good songs. The Taken by Force album has Sails of Charon, We'll Burn the Sky, Riot of Your Time and a couple others. In Trance has the title track, Dark Lady, Robot Man, Life's Like a River. Fly to the Rainbow is good. My uncle is a hardcore Scorpions fan since he was a kid. He wanted to be a drummer but did 20 years in the air force instead. When my cousin and I were getting heavy into Metallica and playing guitar as teens, he wanted to get us into Scorpions and showed us some tapes of 80s spandex concerts filled with power ballads. We weren't impressed. I discovered 70s Uli Roth-era Scorpions completely by accident on YouTube a few years ago and was like why the fuck didn't you play us this stuff instead??




Also, the first couple years I was getting into opeth, I couldn't even name a track. I listened to each entire album like it was a song. I only knew the album names.


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## KailM (May 31, 2019)

As a longtime metalhead, I think there's something to love about every one of the first 8 albums, if I'm being honest. Like someone said above, it depends on what mood you're in (or what mood you _want_ to be in, perhaps).

Still Life never did as much for me, but I still love it. I prefer Blackwater Park, and actually like Deliverance even more than the other two.

I got into them at Ghost Reveries and that album blew me away, so in some ways it's still tied with MAYH for my favorite. As soon as I got into them, I basically went out and bought every previous album and loved every minute of it. Even Watershed is a great album, with lots of strong moments. After that though, what I loved so much about Opeth vanished. I have to say though, and perhaps this is a retraction of earlier statements -- their later work is not "bad music" per se. Just not my cup of tea.


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## Dyingsea (May 31, 2019)

wankerness said:


> BWP was starting to get repetitive, but deliverance is ridiculous. If they stuck to four repetitions of riffs the songs would be like 3 minutes long. The production is also realllly flat in comparison to BWP and GR.



They get into some grooves on that album which they never really did on previous and let some pieces jam out a bit yeah.

It was recorded on analog equipment.i personally like the sound a lot it’s full and warm on good speakers. The drums sound great with the natural room and woody tones. Not sure why anyone is claiming thin the drums or lack of dynamics here. Maybe all of our ears are too used to the digital compressed age.


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## KailM (May 31, 2019)

There is nothing wrong with the production of any Opeth album.


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## fps (May 31, 2019)

Wreath is their most evil song. I love that track start to finish.


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## fps (May 31, 2019)

KailM said:


> There is nothing wrong with the production of any Opeth album.



Except when Serenity Painted Death just STOPS.


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## Dyingsea (May 31, 2019)

KailM said:


> There is nothing wrong with the production of any Opeth album.



Depending on how you like your mid-90's metal tones one could argue the distorted guitar tone on Morningrise is less than stellar considering how clear the drums, bass, and acoustic guitar parts are. Those guitar tones make more sense on a BM record than what Opeth was trying to achieve.


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## wankerness (May 31, 2019)

KailM said:


> There is nothing wrong with the production of any Opeth album.



I guess you haven't noticed the phase cancellations on Still Life, then?  Channels just DROP OUT in a couple places temporarily due to too many layers of guitars being recorded without enough tweaking afterwards (that album was unique in that they recorded a ton of the same guitar tracks with low distortion to build up the heavy sound). The Moor has the most obvious example.


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## Opion (May 31, 2019)

wankerness said:


> I guess you haven't noticed the phase cancellations on Still Life, then?  Channels just DROP OUT in a couple places temporarily due to too many layers of guitars being recorded without enough tweaking afterwards (that album was unique in that they recorded a ton of the same guitar tracks with low distortion to build up the heavy sound). The Moor has the most obvious example.




Didn't they fix this in the remastered version? It sounds miles better quality wise than the original recording. Fun fact, they actually lost some of the original tracks of the original master, so Mikael had to re-record a couple parts for the remaster. You can kind of hear it in the clean parts, but for the most part the songs have the same eerie atmospheric impact that makes that album so incredible start to finish.


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Jun 1, 2019)

I find the tone on Morningrise to be perfect for what they were shooting for. It's clear and cold which supports some of their blackened influences, showing off a musicianship clinic of melodies and bass throughout. The only detriment is the lack of heft to drumming and vocals, but frankly I'm so used to it, the thing would just be wrong otherwise. It's a very bleak melodic record, and the razor blade guitar tone seems to help, IMO. The bass work by John De Farfalla is stunning. It's an entirely separate argument over the lack of structure and ideas flowing into each other without much repeated motif, yet somehow it all resolved because of the melodic conclusion to each arrangement within each song. It's not catchy, so it's the most difficult album to follow, and I definitely understand the production qualms. For me, it works.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jun 1, 2019)

TedEH said:


> Part of me kind of likes the "ugh, this band sounds too much like this other band" conversations, cause it gives you new stuff to look up and enjoy.



I'll never get tried of Children Of Bodom or In Flames clone bands. I've and endless list of melodic death metal bands to check out.


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## wankerness (Jun 1, 2019)

MAJ Meadows SF said:


> I find the tone on Morningrise to be perfect for what they were shooting for. It's clear and cold which supports some of their blackened influences, showing off a musicianship clinic of melodies and bass throughout. The only detriment is the lack of heft to drumming and vocals, but frankly I'm so used to it, the thing would just be wrong otherwise. It's a very bleak melodic record, and the razor blade guitar tone seems to help, IMO. The bass work by John De Farfalla is stunning. It's an entirely separate argument over the lack of structure and ideas flowing into each other without much repeated motif, yet somehow it all resolved because of the melodic conclusion to each arrangement within each song. It's not catchy, so it's the most difficult album to follow, and I definitely understand the production qualms. For me, it works.



Agreed. It’s a very thin, distinctive sound that Swano gave to his other production jobs at the time (Edge of Sanity, Novembre’s early stuff) probably cause it was all he knew how to do since as the years went on he started sounding like every other modern metal album with their sound. But, that thin sound gives every instrument a clean space in the mix and since the first two Opeth albums, especially Morningrise, are practically just three instrument counterpoint sessions a lot of the time the hard-panned rhythm guitar parts and very loud and trebley bass are exactly the best sound. And the weird reverbs vocals give them a mysterious sound that fits perfectly with the songs. I think they’d sound really bad with the modern Opeth production. They kinda sound creakier on their live albums in a way the original albums don’t. Though part of that is Martin vastly dumbing down the Morningrise bass parts since he wouldn’t play on anything more than a four string!


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## p0ke (Jun 4, 2019)

fps said:


> Except when Serenity Painted Death just STOPS.



What's up with that anyway? Was it supposed to fade out and they accidentally cut the fading or wtf  The final acoustic part starts very abruptly too, so maybe it wasn't supposed to be there to begin with?


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## wankerness (Jun 4, 2019)

p0ke said:


> What's up with that anyway? Was it supposed to fade out and they accidentally cut the fading or wtf  The final acoustic part starts very abruptly too, so maybe it wasn't supposed to be there to begin with?



I always assumed it was on purpose? There are plenty of songs out there with abrupt cuts like that.


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## p0ke (Jun 5, 2019)

wankerness said:


> I always assumed it was on purpose? There are plenty of songs out there with abrupt cuts like that.



Sure, it might be, but it just doesn't make any sense.


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## wankerness (Jun 5, 2019)

p0ke said:


> Sure, it might be, but it just doesn't make any sense.



At the end of the song the narrator’s chilling in prison and starting to get used to it and passes out, and in White Cluster the executioners come knocking at his door and wake him up. So, it can be read to be his fitful rest being abruptly ended.

More likely they kinda started writing themselves into a corner with those last riffs on Serenity Painted Death, couldn’t come up with an ending, and Mikael said “let’s just cut it off, not even with a fade-out” and the other guys said lolz.


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## p0ke (Jun 5, 2019)

wankerness said:


> At the end of the song the narrator’s chilling in prison and starting to get used to it and pass out, and in White Cluster the executioners come knocking at his door and wake him up. So, it can be read to be his fitful rest being abruptly ended.



Ah, sure, that's possible. I haven't given the lyrics any thought so I wouldn't know...


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## fps (Jun 5, 2019)

p0ke said:


> What's up with that anyway? Was it supposed to fade out and they accidentally cut the fading or wtf  The final acoustic part starts very abruptly too, so maybe it wasn't supposed to be there to begin with?



Allegedly it's because Mikael didn't want all the last 4 songs on the album to fade out.

But in that case, write an ending? Like -> DU-DU DUH DU-DU DUH. DAH!


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## Descent (Jun 5, 2019)

Not interested at all...they absolutely lost me after Peter Lindgren left.


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## Razerjack (Jun 6, 2019)

I believe Pale Communion would be considered a prog classic and one of Opeth's best work in maybe 10 years time. Seeing them write in Swedish is a breath of fresh air, all positive hopes for this one.


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## The Mirror (Jul 1, 2019)

First small 30 seconds of a new track are in this teaser:



If we are going at this rate in 2 records, tops, we will be back at Prog-Death.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 1, 2019)

It has some slight early Opeth elements in it. I wouldn't guess it was them from hearing but I am getting excited they are going the Bodom route with a throwback sounding album.


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## Descent (Jul 1, 2019)

@Lorcan Ward which Bodom album? Haven't listened to these guys since "Hate Crew Deathroll" as they started repeating themselves and getting super stale. 

Opeth - I wouldn't keep my hopes up until they don't get rid of the keyboardist. As long as there are keyboards there is bound to be some schlock, lets face it, John Lord he ain't


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## The Mirror (Jul 2, 2019)

Descent said:


> Opeth - I wouldn't keep my hopes up until they don't get rid of the keyboardist. As long as there are keyboards there is bound to be some schlock, lets face it, John Lord he ain't



But they had keys on every single record, didn't they? And Ghost Reveries is easily part of their best output (personally best record, anyways) which had the first full time player. 

I have no idea where the problem with keys would be.


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## DLG (Jul 2, 2019)

Morningrise - Blackwater Park is Opeth's golden era. Keyboards were used very sparingly on those records. 

But I wouldn't say that having a keyboardist is their problem. It's more Mike wanting to ape his favorite 70s bands and doing so in rather boring fashion.


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## KailM (Jul 2, 2019)

The Mirror said:


> First small 30 seconds of a new track are in this teaser:
> 
> 
> 
> If we are going at this rate in 2 records, tops, we will be back at Prog-Death.




$10 says these are the most brutal moments on the album.


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## wankerness (Jul 3, 2019)

The Mirror said:


> But they had keys on every single record, didn't they? And Ghost Reveries is easily part of their best output (personally best record, anyways) which had the first full time player.
> 
> I have no idea where the problem with keys would be.



The keyboards really aren't integrated with the rest of the music in any substantial way before Damnation. There's some piano intros/outros on Blackwater Park/Deliverance, there's that organ/guitar solo epilogue and like 3 notes of piano in the intro on MAYH, there's a piano track on Orchid, but there's nothing that remotely sounds like there's a keyboard player as a full member of the band till D2/GR.


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## Triple7 (Jul 11, 2019)

New single's up


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## Triple7 (Jul 11, 2019)

aaaaaaannnnnnnnnddddddd it's gone


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## setsuna7 (Jul 11, 2019)

Still no growl. Still a Camel cover band. FFS Mike, disband Opeth and form another band. You're tarnishing Opeth's legacy and your own.


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## Acme (Jul 12, 2019)

He should hire a second vocalist. His vocals don't fit this classic rock direction he's pushing recently at all.


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## p0ke (Jul 12, 2019)

I thought the new song seemed pretty decent. Will have to give it a few more spins though.


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## The Mirror (Jul 12, 2019)

Does this link work?



I am actually surprised that they decided to release the english version first. I am looking much more forward to the swedish vocals. That might actually give it a decent spin on it.

Otherwise I probably "grew out" of Opeth as I did with Steven Wilson / Porcupine Tree. 70s inspired music doesn't give me much these days. But who knows, maybe in 20 years I'll love it.

Guess I'll buy it for that reason and because I have every other Opeth record in my collection. Don't see myself listening to it much, though.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 12, 2019)

First oOpeth track I've liked in quite a while!


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## Maggai (Jul 12, 2019)

To be honest, doesn't make that much of a difference with the Swedish and English versions. Only listened to each once, maybe I'll hear it in a different light with more listens. The song is pretty good, I guess.I think maybe Mikael is going a bit overboard with the vibrato and the vocal performance overall. Almost sounds pretencious in a way. I kinda miss the more subdued, insecure Mikael a bit from the earlier days sometimes.


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## Exchanger (Jul 12, 2019)

The Mirror said:


> Does this link work?
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Ooooh I really like the writing, definitely Opeth but with new flavors, new twists in the melodies (I'm a sucker for classic prog anyway). Still not a fan of the stuffy mix eventhough it's not as bad as Sorceress.


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## Bdtunn (Jul 12, 2019)

I actually really like this song. If the rest of the album is even somewhat like this I’ll be happy.


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## TheDandy (Jul 12, 2019)

Love it, that’s the most beautiful acoustic section I’ve ever heard. Cool eastern-style lines as well.


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## KailM (Jul 12, 2019)

I don't hate it. Actually, I quite liked it, damn. Might have to give this album a serious look. I just need to keep in mind that this is very likely not going to be a return to classic Opeth form. It's a completely different band.


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## Metropolis (Jul 12, 2019)

Meh, same old 70's diddly widdly prog.


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## Avedas (Jul 12, 2019)

setsuna7 said:


> Still a Camel cover band.


That's hilarious and pretty true when I think about it.


The Mirror said:


> Otherwise I probably "grew out" of Opeth as I did with Steven Wilson / Porcupine Tree. 70s inspired music doesn't give me much these days. But who knows, maybe in 20 years I'll love it.


PT died with Fear of a Blank Planet. Everything after that was so dull, and I was bored of Wilson's solo work from when he dropped his first album. Rush is one of my favorite bands but I can't listen to other 70s prog really.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jul 12, 2019)




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## Zalbu (Jul 12, 2019)

Killer song, easily one of my favorites from the post-Heritage era. But are my headphones just ass or are the vocals too low in the mix/have way too much reverb on them? I can barely make out the lyrics when listening to the Swedish version.


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## DiezelMonster (Jul 12, 2019)

I'm going to pile on here, and for what it's worth (nothing) here is my opinion, I think the direction Opeth took is worse than the one Metallica took with At. Anger.

I REALLY liked Opeth, really liked them. everything from Blcckwater Park and before was amazing. I don't even just mean about the vocals. That is a big sticking point for me but not always a deal breaker, I did enjoy Damnation and Deliverance but everything else has been the biggest snooze fest.

I agree with the sentiment from above, they should have just called the band something else.

Can bands grow and do whatever THEY want, hell yeah. I'll never begrudge an artist changing their style or "growing up" but these are just my opinions as a fan.

Oh well, at least I have all the old stuff.


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## wankerness (Jul 12, 2019)

I was with you on the "they took a worse direction than St Anger" thing until you drew the line after D1/D2? They didn't change styles drastically till after GR at the earliest. And I'd say after Watershed is the much bigger line, that one at least had a couple halfhearted songs that sounded like they'd whipped them up in a hurry to keep their old fans happy (ex Heir Apparent).

This new song is like the last album, I thought "hey that section's cool" a couple times, "hey this almost sounds like Opeth" a couple times, and will almost definitely never get an urge to listen to it again until I end up buying the album and listening to it probably once. I'm a mark.

It sounded too much like Immigrant Song for a while also!


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## VBCheeseGrater (Jul 12, 2019)

New song sounds pretty darn good so far! All i really care about is if it's good. Of the post Watershed stuff, for me Heritage was mediocre, Pale Communion was great, Sorceress pretty darn good.

From this preview track outlook sounds good for this album!


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## GRUNTKOR (Jul 12, 2019)

I like it 

*shrug*

Yeah the Opeth of old is gone but that happened like a decade ago and I'm over it. I like this on its own merits


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## MAJ Meadows SF (Jul 13, 2019)

It's a pretty good track! I enjoyed it. Definitely helps to have good headphones. Mike said all the songs are a bit different, and this was the label selected single because it's the most straightforward. I'm betting that means the others have extended jam sessions. Or, quite possibly, some interestingly composed dynamic shifts and different motifs. Who knows. But I've grown to enjoy their throwback prog worship because none of it is bad, and some of it has been exceptional. The vocals are never returning to arguably the thickest growls and roars heard in death metal; his voice is shot for that and I've made that point earlier. I don't like it as much as anyone else, but I've moved on and closed the chapter. They don't need to change their name or be another band, but I totally get the gripe some have. It's still Opeth, until they release a bubble-gum Swedish pop album or a Euro Dubbstep abortion.

Dubbstep Abortion... need to jot that down for a song idea.


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## DiezelMonster (Jul 13, 2019)

wankerness said:


> I was with you on the "they took a worse direction than St Anger" thing until you drew the line after D1/D2? They didn't change styles drastically till after GR at the earliest. And I'd say after Watershed is the much bigger line, that one at least had a couple halfhearted songs that sounded like they'd whipped them up in a hurry to keep their old fans happy (ex Heir Apparent).
> 
> This new song is like the last album, I thought "hey that section's cool" a couple times, "hey this almost sounds like Opeth" a couple times, and will almost definitely never get an urge to listen to it again until I end up buying the album and listening to it probably once. I'm a mark.
> 
> It sounded too much like Immigrant Song for a while also!




Sorry, what I really meant was that out of D1 and D2 I only like Damnation, even though there is no heavy singing on it, it still felt like sad/cold/swedish Opeth, it didn't sound like King Crimson and Yes like all this other crap.

I didn't like GR or Watrershed really just lost me all together.

But I'm not saying that I'll never listen to it, just that its a bummer.


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## SD83 (Jul 13, 2019)

I might give this song (or the record, once it's out) another try, but... no. Just no. At this point, and I never thought I'd say something like that, it's Mikaels voice more than the music (which, to me, is boring) that puts me off. If they're happy with this record, great for them, I have nothing but respect for them as musicians and artists, but for me... it seems it's pretty much the same as with In Flames or Machine Head. There are a few good or even great songs here and there in the new material ("Sorceress" is amazing, as are "I am above" or "Triple Beam") and I will probably give everything they'll ever put out a try, but that's it.


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## fps (Jul 13, 2019)

SD83 said:


> I might give this song (or the record, once it's out) another try, but... no. Just no. At this point, and I never thought I'd say something like that, it's Mikaels voice more than the music (which, to me, is boring) that puts me off. If they're happy with this record, great for them, I have nothing but respect for them as musicians and artists, but for me... it seems it's pretty much the same as with In Flames or Machine Head. There are a few good or even great songs here and there in the new material ("Sorceress" is amazing, as are "I am above" or "Triple Beam") and I will probably give everything they'll ever put out a try, but that's it.



I don't even give it a try, but the same otherwise.


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## fps (Jul 13, 2019)

DiezelMonster said:


> Sorry, what I really meant was that out of D1 and D2 I only like Damnation, even though there is no heavy singing on it, it still felt like sad/cold/swedish Opeth, it didn't sound like King Crimson and Yes like all this other crap.
> 
> I didn't like GR or Watrershed really just lost me all together.
> 
> But I'm not saying that I'll never listen to it, just that its a bummer.



I really like Deliverance, but totally agree about Damnation, it has the cold sound and atmosphere. More than anything, the atmosphere has been lost, and to me that certainly started with GR.


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## prlgmnr (Jul 14, 2019)

There's actually a chance that I'll want to listen to this track a second time which will make it the first new Opeth song to pass that threshold since *checks* 2003


edit. got to be honest, I made that statement at 4 minutes into the track and now I've reached the "Mikael frolics around in a meadow tossing daffodils over his shoulders" section of the track I'm reconsidering.


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## Emperoff (Jul 14, 2019)

The song ain't bad, but this is not Opeth. Not even the clean vocals sound similar anymore.

"Hey guys, I can't stand this band anymore, but if we do a separate one no one will come to see us live. We'll keep the name so people still come to the shows hoping for a taste of what we were".


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## Metropolis (Jul 14, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> The song ain't bad, but this is not Opeth. Not even the clean vocals sound similar anymore.
> 
> "Hey guys, I can't stand this band anymore, but if we do a separate one no one will come to see us live. We'll keep the name so people still come to the shows hoping for a taste of what we were".



I saw them live couple of weeks ago, and I was more focused on drinking my beer than looking at their show about half of time.


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## fps (Jul 14, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> The song ain't bad, but this is not Opeth. Not even the clean vocals sound similar anymore.
> 
> "Hey guys, I can't stand this band anymore, but if we do a separate one no one will come to see us live. We'll keep the name so people still come to the shows hoping for a taste of what we were".



Honestly, if they got Lopez and Lindgren back I'd be interested immediately.


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## Rotatous (Jul 14, 2019)

Disappointed, just as I expected unfortunately.

I'm all for bands growing and changing, always evolving. This style takes Opeth nowhere new though, nothing we haven't heard from other bands who worship the greats in prog rock/metal. Tonally its just so uninspired and sounding

It has been said to death but "Old" Opeth was special. You could feel the creativity was rich, and the mix of extreme metal and prog was inviting for large array of fans from different musical backgrounds. Not to mention his guttural vocal/growling was (and still is) considered some of the a best in the business. There will be people who love Opeth no matter what they put out, but what this seems like to me a continuation of removing everything about the band that made it truly special and leaving only one or two elements of the band's sound. 

That being said I am curious to hear the rest of the album.


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## Dayn (Jul 14, 2019)

I'm not of a fan of their earli*est* stuff, but their earli*er* stuff I like, with Ghost Reveries being the latest I liked completely. Watershed had a few moments (I love The Lotus Eater), and beyond that nothing has really kept my attention.

So I listened to Heart in Hand. It's alright. It reminds me more of a a less-technical, prog rock version of earlier Dream Theater, to be honest. Which means it's not bad at all - but again, it doesn't feel like Opeth. It's like a side project. If I went into it not expecting it to be Opeth, my preconceived expectations wouldn't affect my judgment as much. But regretfully, I think my interest has finally flatlined.


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## KailM (Jul 15, 2019)

I’m just going to put this out there: I think this new track is better than anything on Heritage or Pale Folklore. I was only able to get through Sorceress one time so Idk how it compares to that, lol.

On my way to a festival yesterday I forced myself to listen to Pale Folklore in its entirety. By the end I was getting legitimately pissed off; a feeling I’ve had before while listening to it. Like others have said, it has NONE of the atmosphere that made the older albums amazing.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the new album might still offer something.


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## Jarmake (Jul 16, 2019)

KailM said:


> I’m just going to put this out there: I think this new track is better than anything on Heritage or Pale Folklore. I was only able to get through Sorceress one time so Idk how it compares to that, lol.
> 
> On my way to a festival yesterday I forced myself to listen to Pale Folklore in its entirety. By the end I was getting legitimately pissed off; a feeling I’ve had before while listening to it. Like others have said, it has NONE of the atmosphere that made the older albums amazing.
> 
> I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the new album might still offer something.



Pale communion, you mean?

I think this new song is the same bullshit that the last 3 albums were. I bought the first one... What was it? Heritage? And was so damn disappointed. Never bought the next ones and never will. I truly love old Opeth, but now Opeth is dead to me. I just wish Mikael had had the balls to quit Opeth and form a new one... Called "The incredibly dull pseudo 70's Mikael Åkerfeldt prog experience" or something like that.


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## Jarmake (Jul 17, 2019)

I am going to have to revise my last comment a bit...

There is one good song on these three newest albums. Era. So damn good.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 17, 2019)

Akerfeldt as a band name and solo project would have been a much better move instead of crapping over everything Opeth meant. He could easily have played opeth songs live to please the audience and would have got way less flac for a drastic change in Opeths sound


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## TedEH (Jul 17, 2019)

Lorcan Ward said:


> crapping over everything Opeth meant


Sweet jebus, remind me never to release anything popular. Changing their sound doesn't destroy all the existing copies of the music they already made.

I get it, they're not the same band they were before, but I strikes me as sort of.... disrespectful? ...I can't find the right word - especially coming from a community of other musicians, to crap on someone for putting out the music they want to play. I'm not saying everyone should just like all Opeth music without question. Have your own tastes, that's fine. But lets at least respect the guy for doing what he wants and finding some success with it. Is that not what most musicians are aiming for?


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## prlgmnr (Jul 17, 2019)

TedEH said:


> Sweet jebus, remind me never to release anything popular. Changing their sound doesn't destroy all the existing copies of the music they already made.
> 
> I get it, they're not the same band they were before, but I strikes me as sort of.... disrespectful? ...I can't find the right word - especially coming from a community of other musicians, to crap on someone for putting out the music they want to play. I'm not saying everyone should just like all Opeth music without question. Have your own tastes, that's fine. But lets at least respect the guy for doing what he wants and finding some success with it. Is that not what most musicians are aiming for?


I think this is all fair, but there's this nagging question - would they get signed doing this? Would anyone be putting out their music if they hadn't first built a reputation doing the other thing? I'm not saying there's an obvious answer to this.

And then of course you get the other thing where a band just puts out the same thing over and over again and no one likes that either.


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## TedEH (Jul 17, 2019)

But does the answer to those questions matter? I think no.

How many times have you had someone come to you and say "man, the stuff you play is alright, but what you should _reaaally_ do is put out a country album instead so that you can make a living, then go back to playing the junk you actually like"? I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets comments like that pretty regularly.

At the end of the day, it's not just the audience that will get bored of the same kind of releases over and over. Consider that they've been playing the same music for 30 years. Would you not want to change things up after that long?


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## prlgmnr (Jul 17, 2019)

TedEH said:


> "man, the stuff you play is alright, but what you should _reaaally_ do is put out a country album instead so that you can make a living, then go back to playing the junk you actually like"? I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets comments like that pretty regularly.



My favourite one I've had recently is "but do you know anything popular?"


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## Emperoff (Jul 17, 2019)

Jarmake said:


> Pale communion, you mean?



He was most likely being sarcastic.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 17, 2019)

TedEH said:


> Sweet jebus, remind me never to release anything popular. Changing their sound doesn't destroy all the existing copies of the music they already made.
> 
> I get it, they're not the same band they were before, but I strikes me as sort of.... disrespectful? ...I can't find the right word - especially coming from a community of other musicians, to crap on someone for putting out the music they want to play. I'm not saying everyone should just like all Opeth music without question. Have your own tastes, that's fine. But lets at least respect the guy for doing what he wants and finding some success with it. Is that not what most musicians are aiming for?



Nobody should have to have respect for an artist who is just using his old bands name to push the drastically different music he wants to play. Chuck Schuldiner said it perfectly when he formed Control denied, he didn’t want to betray what Death meant, as a result death ended on a high note and are revered for that. Mikael has done the complete opposite and as a musician or music lover I think it’s inexcusable and should not be exempt from criticism for doing so. Opeth were one of the most atmospheric bands, now whenever I mention them to anyone there eyes roll and they just have bad things to say about them, it’s twisted peoples view and idea of what opeth is and even was, A mere mention of the band brings a lot of negative feelings to people’s minds. That there is why you don’t do something like that. I can understand not wanting to play metal anymore but at least have the integrity to not sour what you spent years of your life achieving. 

Like I’ve said many times before if he did what Chuck Schildiner did it would have been fine but carrying a new project on under Opeths name was a bad move on a lot of levels.


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## TedEH (Jul 17, 2019)

On a marketing level, sure. But I think people are putting waaaaaaaaaay too much weight behind the "meaning" of a band. A band means whatever it wants to mean. Arguably, bands don't "mean" things, they are a vehicle to perform music. And again, we're talking about a musical entity that's existed for 30 years - it would be ridiculous to expect them to not change.

I mean, a lot of bands or artists do this. We got over the difference between old Metallica and modern Metallica. Look at how different something like really old Porcupine Tree is compared to their more modern releases. Devin Townsend is constantly praised for the huge variety of releases that he puts out more or less under the same brand (as in basically under his own name).

Don't get me wrong, I won't deny that some backlash could have been avoided with a new band/name/etc. But taking the fact that they didn't do this as some kind of insult, or slap to the face of their fans or something, is kinda ridiculous IMO. "It's just entertainment folks."


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## KailM (Jul 17, 2019)

Emperoff said:


> He was most likely being sarcastic.



Nah, I meant Pale Communion. Pale Folklore is an Agalloch album (which you should check out if you haven't -- it's an all-time great). My brain was thinking one thing while my fingers typed another...


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## Zalbu (Jul 17, 2019)

Bands have zero obligation to their fans other than following up on what they put their own words on, like showing up to shows on time and putting in a baseline level of effort. It's not like big bands chose to become popular, they play music for their own sake and if people don't like the new direction a band is going in, then don't go to their shows or listen to their music. The people who do enjoy the music will keep listening to the music and going to the shows.

Also, the "it will piss off older fans" is a weird angle to take as if they're not going to win new fans from people who aren't into death metal with growled vocals but are into 70's influenced prog rock. Is it more acceptable to piss off them by going back to the music they made over 10 years ago?


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## KailM (Jul 17, 2019)

Zalbu said:


> Bands have zero obligation to their fans



Really, _zero _obligation? I would argue that bands have very little obligation to their fans, but not _zero_. As for a theoretical percentage, I don't know. I also think it depends how established they are as well. By the time Opeth put out Heritage, they were very established with a pretty huge fanbase. Up until that album, all of their work was similar/in the same vein, yet pleasantly diverse. Everyone has their favorites and not-so-favorites out of that era, but I doubt many fans of their older sound would say anything pre-Heritage "sucks" or anything like that. Even Watershed holds up to their older material, IMO, though it was starting to shift with songs like Burden.

Then Heritage came along and was completely a 180 from their earlier work. I mean, explore; innovate, but once you're known for a certain type of sound, I'd say you're somewhat limited as a band up to a certain point. If you go too far "out there" -- and that hasn't been a precedent your band set from the beginning, then you're asking your fans a lot to stay on board. Also, who is responsible for keeping a band like Opeth going and producing more music?

Now, certain bands have always released very different albums from one to the next -- these types of bands, IMO, are a lot more free to radically change their sound.

I can see both sides of the coin. In a recent interview, Michael said he no longer considers "heavy" music to be downtuned guitars, loads of distortion; brutal vocals -- but rather he strives to make his subject matter heavy. In a nutshell, I can see his point, but it sort of seems like he's writing off bands that still do that -- and in that regard, I strongly disagree with his stance. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I couldn't care less if Michael does death metal vocals anymore. IMO, some of the best moments from earlier Opeth were moments with clean singing. The orchestration and instrumentation on Heritage and forward are where I get completely bored. It's just trying way too hard to be "prog" -- but they were fine the way they were before. I grew up listening to 60s, 70s, and 80s prog -- when I want to listen to prog, I go back to that material. Opeth should have stuck to what they were good at; atmospheric, progressive METAL.

Just my $.02.

I'm still holding out for this record though. That latest song didn't suck.


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## Zalbu (Jul 17, 2019)

KailM said:


> Really, _zero _obligation? I would argue that bands have very little obligation to their fans, but not _zero_.


Yup, which is what I said as well, but you didn't even finish reading the sentence before deciding to respond


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## KailM (Jul 17, 2019)

Zalbu said:


> Yup, which is what I said as well, but you didn't even finish reading the sentence before deciding to respond



I read your post in full, twice; didn’t catch that meaning out of it. Anyway, not meaning to start an argument. Cheers.


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## Exchanger (Jul 18, 2019)

Lorcan Ward said:


> Mikael has done the complete opposite and as a musician or music lover I think it’s inexcusable



Jeesh...it's ok not to like a band anymore, but y'all act like they were double agents at the height of the Cold War.


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## chopeth (Jul 18, 2019)

All this has to do with the intense and seriously we metalheads take our favourite bands and the music they put out. Some people just hate what their idols become some others just left the boat and (almost) forget that the band even exist. It is normal. Best thing is to jump to something different or more fitting to what you like, not thinking twice too much and avoiding feeling betrayed as much as possible. After all, they do what they want with their bands, even when we feel the change is qualitatively to the worse.

Pop and mainstream addicts usually don't give a shit about this, and have lesser problems in respect to their idols' integrity and coherence.


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## Lorcan Ward (Jul 18, 2019)

TedEH said:


> On a marketing level, sure. But I think people are putting waaaaaaaaaay too much weight behind the "meaning" of a band. A band means whatever it wants to mean. Arguably, bands don't "mean" things, they are a vehicle to perform music. And again, we're talking about a musical entity that's existed for 30 years - it would be ridiculous to expect them to not change.



To me a band and music is so much more than just that. It’s their image, the style of music they’ve grown and nurtured, the atmosphere and emotions they portray, the meaning behind what they’re playing, in metal this is where your genre and styles can really dictate that direction, album artwork, video style, song titles/lyrics etc etc. Opeths earlier musical style was able to paint these incredible pictures, the dark eerie atmosphere they were able to portray is musical(and art) perfection. The complete 180 into 70s prog purposely written to not sound like opeth was a very odd move. As much as in flames, dimmu Borgir, bodom etc modernised or changed things up it’s still unmistakenly them.

I’ve always been able to brush of their change before, I get why he continued under opeth for business reasons but it just really bugged me seeing 90%+ of comments wishing they’d go back to their old style and how anytime I mention them to people eyes roll and they’ve nothing positive to say anymore. No artist has to keep playing a certain style but there’s a point where everything will start to twist and you’ll change people’s view on everything your band has done. 



TedEH said:


> Devin Townsend is constantly praised for the huge variety of releases that he puts out more or less under the same brand (as in basically under his own name).



Devin had to fight for every inch to get to where he is. He’s widely praised now and his fans love how many genres his music crosses but his early albums were not welcomed warmly, some were heavily criticised at the time of release and that was a separate project to strapping young lad, he knew he had to release those under a different name and ended SYL when he felt he wasn’t in the mind frame to persue that direction of music anymore and didn’t want to release an album that wasn’t SYL’s style. It’s just like my example of chuck Death and control denied, forming a new band to peruse a new musical direction. exact same thing with Isahn and how he perused new musical outlets.


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## Exchanger (Jul 18, 2019)

It makes a lot of sense if it's a side project with a different crew, but Opeth didn't change line-up when they changed style afaik (just switched keyboardist after Heritage). It would be weird to come and say "yeah we're the same people but we gonna change our band name".


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## Zalbu (Jul 18, 2019)

Yup, which makes the complaints of how Mikael should just make a solo project even weirder. It's not like the other members in the band are complaining about the change in styles and they aren't exactly being forced at gunpoint to play the music. They could've pulled a HAARP Machine and left the band and let Micke do his prog wankery on his own, but they aren't.


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## TedEH (Jul 18, 2019)

Lorcan Ward said:


> To me a band and music is so much more than just that.


I'd argue that's on you. You've put that weight on the band yourself. Again, there's valid points being made from a marketing point of view, but people are taking it personally in a way that makes no sense to me. A band is not responsible for the personal significance that a fan might grant to their output.



Lorcan Ward said:


> purposely written to not sound like opeth


To my ears, Opeth still sounds like Opeth. I always listened to them for the clean bits, the contrast between the heavy and not, the particular modes or patterns that they write in, etc. There's still lots of Opeth DNA in their new material. Sure, the growls are gone, the guitars have a different texture, and there's a lot of focus on keys and things now, but I still hear similar patterns.



Lorcan Ward said:


> it just really bugged me seeing 90%+ of comments wishing they’d go back to their old style and how anytime I mention them to people eyes roll and they’ve nothing positive to say anymore


What does it matter what others are saying/thinking? Can you not just enjoy a band on your own terms? There's no rule that says if your friends don't like something then you must also dislike it.


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## jruivo26 (Jul 18, 2019)

I gave up on Opeth after Heritage (incredibly disappointing album). Pale Communion had SOME cool moments, but Sorceress and this new single are just straight up boring and uninspired. 
I'll forever remember MAYH/Still Life/BWP/Deliverance/Damnation as some of my life's pivotal albums. But I just can't stand "new Opeth".


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## wankerness (Jul 18, 2019)

They can do what they want and they don't owe anyone anything, I don't care if they keep the same band name, etc. Just, I really wonder how pursuing this path is working out for them. Every time I see any discussion of Opeth, it's always a vast majority of people saying how much they don't like anything post Watershed, saying this is more boring stuff (or maybe "well at least it's better than the last"), and a tremendous lack of enthusiasm for the material or seeing the band live. The band's fanbase MUST have contracted severely, right? Or are there legions of new Opeth fans who got into them with the new stuff that are replacing all of us who jumped ship? If so, why do they seem to have zero visibility on social media/forums? Opeth was really, really popular by extreme metal standards back in the GR days.


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## TedEH (Jul 18, 2019)

wankerness said:


> why do they seem to have zero visibility on social media/forums


I mean, this is the internet. Vocal minorities everywhere. If you've got nothing to complain about, many won't say anything at all.


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## wankerness (Jul 18, 2019)

TedEH said:


> I mean, this is the internet. Vocal minorities everywhere. If you've got nothing to complain about, many won't say anything at all.



While true with some things, this is BS with this case. Most band threads here are exclusively positive. If people were excited about this material they'd say so. Even like, the Metallica threads are loaded with people lining up to say how much they like St Anger songs or are going to see them live, etc.


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## TedEH (Jul 18, 2019)

People are trying to say they still like Opeth here too.


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## brector (Jul 18, 2019)

wankerness said:


> While true with some things, this is BS with this case. Most band threads here are exclusively positive. If people were excited about this material they'd say so. Even like, the Metallica threads are loaded with people lining up to say how much they like St Anger songs or are going to see them live, etc.



I see people crapping on bands as much as they praise them in a lot of the band threads on SSO


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## Musiscience (Jul 18, 2019)

This new song is great. Change my mind.


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## KailM (Jul 18, 2019)

Musiscience said:


> This new song is great. Change my mind.



It’s not bad, I agree. I hope it’s the worst song on the album.


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## Musiscience (Jul 19, 2019)

KailM said:


> It’s not bad, I agree. I hope it’s the worst song on the album.



It's the first time since watershed that I'm excited for an Opeth album.


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## The Mirror (Aug 16, 2019)

To keep up to date:



Sounds exactly like Post-Watershed-Opeth with a tad bit more distorted guitars.

Really no suprises.


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## p0ke (Aug 16, 2019)

The Mirror said:


> To keep up to date:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Hmm, I got genuinely interested at first, but then the clean part came in... Luckily it was short  Heart in Hand/Hjärtat Ved Vad Handed Gör is better IMO.


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## KailM (Aug 16, 2019)

Well so far this album beats the pants off Heritage, Pale Communion, and Sorceress for me. Not to the levels of their former glory, but I'm digging it so far.


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## jruivo26 (Aug 16, 2019)

More of the same.


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## vilk (Aug 16, 2019)

How do I decide if I want the English version or Swedish version? I don't understand Swedish, but I like the way it sounds. Maybe I'll get the English version, and if I really like it I'll get the Swedish one too? Or backwards? I can't decide!!


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## Musiscience (Aug 16, 2019)

The Mirror said:


> To keep up to date:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Akerfeldt's voice has gotten so much better lately. Really strong track vocally. I still miss the pre-Watershed Opeth, but this sounds very good.


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## The Mirror (Aug 16, 2019)

vilk said:


> How do I decide if I want the English version or Swedish version? I don't understand Swedish, but I like the way it sounds. Maybe I'll get the English version, and if I really like it I'll get the Swedish one too? Or backwards? I can't decide!!



The regular CD on amazon is already a digipack with both versions on it. I don't think there will be any problems.


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## prlgmnr (Aug 17, 2019)

vilk said:


> How do I decide if I want the English version or Swedish version? I don't understand Swedish, but I like the way it sounds. Maybe I'll get the English version, and if I really like it I'll get the Swedish one too? Or backwards? I can't decide!!


Scandinavian languages sound great for metal. Finnish even better.


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## Ralyks (Aug 18, 2019)

I.... Really like Dignity? Although that quiet part after the intro REALLY breaks up the flow.


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## KailM (Aug 18, 2019)

Ralyks said:


> I.... Really like Dignity? Although that quiet part after the intro REALLY breaks up the flow.



Me too. I don’t know what happened this time around but I’m actually digging this album. They used a little more gain and the grooves are nice and a little heavier for a change. Mike even *almost* does a growled vocal for a few seconds on Dignity. I’ve had the two songs on repeat.


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## Sammy J (Aug 19, 2019)

Yeah...I still can’t get into it. Just not my thing I guess. I’ve listened to Heart in Hand and Dignity a handful of times and can appreciate it for what it is, but it just makes me miss old Opeth more.


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## Triple7 (Aug 19, 2019)

KailM said:


> Me too. I don’t know what happened this time around but I’m actually digging this album. They used a little more gain and the grooves are nice and a little heavier for a change. Mike even *almost* does a growled vocal for a few seconds on Dignity. I’ve had the two songs on repeat.



The comments on the YouTube video are hilarious. Talking about the "growl". I kept clicking the timestamps and going...this can't possibly be what they are talking about...that's not even close to a growl.


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## p0ke (Sep 27, 2019)

Now that the album is out, I have to say I really like it so far. Though I'm only half way through it, I can already say this is by far my favourite nu-Opeth album. 

FYI: The song "Charlatan" has some low-tuned guitars, sounds like some ERG stuff


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## KailM (Sep 27, 2019)

Eh...It turns out Dignity and Heart In Hand were the best songs on the album for me.

I was hopeful. I’ll listen again, but the rest of the album didn’t do much for me, just like their last three albums. I doubt that’ll change much on the second listen. 

Time to fire up the new Blut Aus Nord album again!


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## Rock4ever (Sep 27, 2019)

KailM said:


> Eh...It turns out Dignity and Heart In Hand were the best songs on the album for me.



Pretty much this....I don't think this album is crap and it's definitely an improvement over Sorceress, but it's like one of those crap comedy movie where all of the funny parts were contained in the pre-release trailers. After 1st listen I couldn't believe the songs released early were the highlights. Everything else just lacks the intensity of those two tracks. Next of Kin, Lovelorn Crime and Charlatan are solid. The Garroter is just weird. it's like a jazz number or something.


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## Bdtunn (Sep 27, 2019)

I really loved the singles and was pumped to listen to it this am. Honestly gave it one spin and went back on a few tracks, but that’s about that for me. Too bad


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## ElysianGuitars (Sep 28, 2019)

Had checked out two of the tracks previously, wasn't feeling them, but now listening to the album as a whole I like this a lot more than anything else post-Watershed.


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## gunshow86de (Sep 28, 2019)

Rock4ever said:


> The Garroter is just weird. it's like a jazz number or something.



I love that track.


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## Xiphos68 (Sep 28, 2019)

I bought and enjoy the album. I found some inspiration in it.

It's awesome how much Fredrik got to solo on this album. Funny enough, one of his solos sounds very much like Petrucci with a Wah. I wonder if he used JP's signature wah on that track.

Mikael's vocals are stellar and the production is fiercely good.

However, I have not listened to the last three albums (based on all of your opinions I probably shouldn't). I was not even remotely interested in Heritage when I heard the first single because the guitars sounded so weak. He could have made a 70's Record with a much better and aggressive tone to achieve what he was going for.

That being said, Opeth needs to return to their former and it's just honest. I love his clean vocals and etc. But I find that even I know I am not the biggest Opeth fan in the world like some of you but I do love them. Their contrast of aggressiveness and soft was what set them so far apart from everyone else. I really think he's gonna have to return to it or he should probably just retire Opeth. Because I don't hear all the things that got me hooked on them in the first place myself.

Every Artist has a mission and feelings, yeah, yeah. But Dream Theater's last three albums have sucked and it took four to finally achieve it what they should have been doing with Mangini to begin with.

Fans matter, Artists matter. Sure everything is subjective but there is also some truth in the matter when something doesn't inspire someone anymore and then there is arrogance. There's a fine line.

Sorry to rant. That's just my thoughts.

Also. Lovelorn Crime is gorgeous.


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## Descent (Sep 28, 2019)

Tried to listen to it yesterday, but besides being a plodding genre mess with barely any musicality I looked hard to find any redeeming qualities. 

Some semi-decent solos, good drumming, a good riff here and there. "Charlatan" for example opened up with a great riff that quickly turned into sh*te. 

At least on older Opeth albums you could see where the complexity and tempo changes and feel changes were leading to, here it is done as "paint by numbers".

I can't stand it...about to hit the "DELETE" button on the whole thing.

Time to get a big name producer that will put this band in line so they'd stop spewing puerile garbage for Porcupine Tree fans.


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## StrmRidr (Sep 28, 2019)

I am not one to diss on the "newer" Opeth, I actually did enjoy quite a few songs from the last three albums, but this one is just not doing it for me. There are so many good albums being released this year, this one is not one of them.


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## ArtDecade (Sep 28, 2019)

I *LOVE* the new album.

My doctor is cutting back on sleeping pill prescriptions because of my rampant abuse, but he can't take away this Opeth album from me! Thanks a lot Mikael... or should I say... _Doctor_ _Åkerfeldt_! Prescribe me a few more albums like this. ZzzZzzZzzz.


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## mikah912 (Sep 29, 2019)

Man, what a tough crowd. I really, really dig the record. "Lovelorn Crime" is a genuine-ass Bond theme...but done by Opeth! Lots of other interesting stuff surrounding some solid-ass rock riffs.


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## ElysianGuitars (Sep 29, 2019)

I listened to it all day yesterday, love it. Been a long time since that's been the case with Opeth.


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## wankerness (Sep 29, 2019)

Descent said:


> Tried to listen to it yesterday, but besides being a plodding genre mess with barely any musicality I looked hard to find any redeeming qualities.
> 
> Some semi-decent solos, good drumming, a good riff here and there. "Charlatan" for example opened up with a great riff that quickly turned into sh*te.
> 
> ...



what did porcupine tree ever do to you?! In Absentia is ten times the record that anything post GR is imho!


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## Descent (Sep 29, 2019)

wankerness said:


> what did porcupine tree ever do to you?! In Absentia is ten times the record that anything post GR is imho!


Porcupine Tree didn't do anything to me, but Akerfeld needs to stop smoking Steven Wilson's rooster. 

Well...actually the reviewers suckered me into buying an absolutely boring and barf inducing Porcupine Tree record "Hand Cannot Erase". Dumb story, blah music...but once upon a time that band just like Opeth was also good, just both are absolutely played out at this point IMO.


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## chopeth (Sep 30, 2019)

I don't like Opeth latter works or SW last, but such an angry and intense point of view, barf inducing... are you 15? Hand Cannot Erase is a great album for some.

By the way, not from Porcupine Tree.


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## Jarmake (Sep 30, 2019)

Hand. Cannot. Erase. Is a great album! Can't say the same about this new opeth, though...


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## wankerness (Sep 30, 2019)

Descent said:


> Porcupine Tree didn't do anything to me, but Akerfeld needs to stop smoking Steven Wilson's rooster.
> 
> Well...actually the reviewers suckered me into buying an absolutely boring and barf inducing Porcupine Tree record "Hand Cannot Erase". Dumb story, blah music...but once upon a time that band just like Opeth was also good, just both are absolutely played out at this point IMO.



Porcupine Tree hasn't released an album since The Incident, the last few Steven Wilson things were under his name, that one included. I happen to like it as well, but it's not a PT record. He did what Opeth maybe should have done and started releasing stuff under his own name when he went off in a direction further removed from what the rest of the band had been.


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## Descent (Sep 30, 2019)

Jarmake said:


> Hand. Cannot. Erase. Is a great album! Can't say the same about this new opeth, though...


Seriously? I thought it was absolute schlock with horribly stupid story line. 

I wanted my money back, it was beyond awful and the reviews hyped it up to high heaven.


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## Jarmake (Sep 30, 2019)

Descent said:


> Seriously? I thought it was absolute schlock with horribly stupid story line.
> 
> I wanted my money back, it was beyond awful and the reviews hyped it up to high heaven.



Well, can't please everyone, I guess...


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## TedEH (Sep 30, 2019)

I've actually been listening to Hand. Cannot. Erase. a lot lately. I like it. Buuuut, so far this newest Opeth hasn't quite done it for me. Maybe it'll grow on me though.


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## Pat (Oct 3, 2019)

I've been playing In Cauda Venenum non-stop since it came out - I love it.

I'll admit it did take a spin or two, but it's so worth it.

There are so many amazing moments on this album - the outro to Next Of Kin is pure Watershed, the solo to Lovelorn Crime is possibly one of the best Opeth solos ever, the creepy outro to Charlatan (made even more creepier when you read the translation), and the epic outro to All Things Will Pass, just to name a few.

I know the Swedish version is the "proper" version, but some of the lyrics on the English version are absolute gold - 
"The river of time flows on blind and ruthless"
"Time won't heal any wounds you bare, a set few years of your life are stolen"
"If everything ends, is it worth to turn back home again?"

Definitely one of my top Opeth albums, and absolutely the best of the 'new era'


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## vilk (Oct 3, 2019)

Pat said:


> I know the Swedish version is the "proper" version



Is it though? All their music up until now has been in English. That's why I'm having such a hard time deciding which one to get.

I want to know which language the lyrics were written in first. That's the one I want. Anyone know?

EDIT: SWEDISH IS THE ORIGINAL. So I guess dudeman was right, it is the "proper" version in this case.

https://metalinjection.net/video/mi...why-the-new-opeth-album-is-in-english-swedish

Mikael only made the English version because he was worried people wouldn't listen to the Swedish. So there's my answer. The vocal melodies were written for the Swedish lyrics.


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## ElysianGuitars (Oct 3, 2019)

Damnation is the album that got me into Opeth, and while Damnation isn't my absolute favorite Opeth albums, it's one of them, and this is right up there with it.


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## Pat (Oct 3, 2019)

vilk said:


> Is it though? All their music up until now has been in English. That's why I'm having such a hard time deciding which one to get.
> 
> I want to know which language the lyrics were written in first. That's the one I want. Anyone know?
> 
> ...


I asked a question on Reddit about this too as I wondered why all the English lyrics rhymed if it was written in Swedish, turns out the English version isn't a direct translation but more or less the same with some words/lines changed to rhyme:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Opeth/comm...lish/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

I'd get the English version unless you understand Swedish - the lyrics are such a big part of the songs I think the songs lose their impact of you don't understand what's being sung. Then when you do listen to the Swedish version after you at least will know the theme of the songs.


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## vilk (Oct 3, 2019)

Pat said:


> I asked a question on Reddit about this too as I wondered why all the English lyrics rhymed if it was written in Swedish, turns out the English version isn't a direct translation but more or less the same with some words/lines changed to rhyme:
> 
> https://www.reddit.com/r/Opeth/comm...lish/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
> 
> I'd get the English version unless you understand Swedish - the lyrics are such a big part of the songs I think the songs lose their impact of you don't understand what's being sung. Then when you do listen to the Swedish version after you at least will know the theme of the songs.



I just got through 6.5 tracks on my lunch break. I don't understand Swedish, but I don't feel that affected my ability to enjoy it. TBH, I've been listening to Opeth for 16 years now and I don't know any of the words to any songs except The Drapery Falls because I used to try to cover it (and I still don't remember _all_ the words), so even if it were in English I don't know how much of a change it would be. I sorta listen to vocals more for the melody and _feeling_ than for the lyrics. 

It is a very enjoyable album so far. IDK if I like it more than Heritage or Pale Communion, but even only a little bit through halfway it already kicks the crap out of the Sorceress.


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## wankerness (Oct 3, 2019)

Lyrics on metal/prog albums are usually an impediment to enjoying them, so the fact there's a version where they can't possibly affect my enjoyment makes me think that might be the version for me!


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## JSanta (Oct 3, 2019)

It's easily become my favorite of their last 3 or so albums. I've probably listened to the Swedish version 2 times and the English version about the same. 

It's a great album, everything just seems to work really well together. Awesome vocals, killer guitar solos, great riffs. It's all there.


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## KailM (Oct 3, 2019)

ElysianGuitars said:


> Damnation is the album that got me into Opeth, and while Damnation isn't my absolute favorite Opeth albums, it's one of them, and this is right up there with it.



Damnation puts this album to shame. But I will concede this is the best album post Watershed.


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## p0ke (Oct 4, 2019)

KailM said:


> But I will concede this is the best album post Watershed.



Agreed. And I don't even like Watershed that much, so I'd almost say this is the best since Ghost Reveries. I need to give it a bunch of more spins to get properly into the last few songs too, so it might go even higher on my list.


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## gunshow86de (Mar 12, 2020)




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## fps (Mar 14, 2020)

People said this was the best album post Watershed (an album I strongly disliked). Of all the post heavy ones, Heritage has become my favourite. New one again does nothing for me, but at least I didn’t buy it this time.


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## Evan89 (Apr 1, 2022)

I had the honor and privilege of transcribing In Cauda Venenum and got to work with the band to ensure that everything is 100% accurate. The tab book is coming out in two weeks via Sheet Happens Publishing! If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer them here and in my transcription thread: https://sevenstring.org/threads/evans-official-transcription-thread.336738/


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## ArtDecade (Apr 1, 2022)

Tell the truth. You actually transcribed a Camel album and just dropped the pitch a few tones for the Opeth album. Two birds, one stone.


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## AMOS (Apr 1, 2022)

I think this is their best work


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## Evan89 (Apr 14, 2022)

The In Cauda Venenum tab book is available now! One of my biggest (or loftiest) goals when I got heavily into transcribing was to make accurate Opeth tabs, and it feels great to have worked directly with the band to make that a reality. Hopefully this is just the first of many collaborations with them. Buy it here: https://www.sheethappenspublishing....n-cauda-venenum-complete-guitar-transcription


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