omg i discovered opeth this week

[AnonymouseUser]

One of my favorite bands, great variety and Mikael is one of the greatest vocalists ever. Saw them in October and would love to see them again on April 12th, though I may pass and see Steven Wilson a few days earlier (April 9th). Decisions, decisions!

 

[SlitheryDee]

Having never listened to them before, I went to Youtube, and I gotta say that they have promise...some of the instrumentals are great...but they're ruined by the growling "singing".

Listening to Face of Melinda and it's pretty good, but many of their others are just vulgar in the growling and would be better if the lyrics were as melodic as the music.

I prefer my metal to be the other way round...give me loud, screaming, fast guitar with well-sung lyrics. I guess I just prefer speed metal.

It seems that they have loads of songs with clean vocals if that's your thing. Personally I prefer the longer songs where they change it up several times from hard music and growling to soft music and clean and back again.

I've also gotten accustomed to the growling in my music from listening to in flames a lot. I actually still hate the vocal style in flames uses, but the music is awesome enough for me to look past it.

 

[Malfeas]

Hey nice find. I had them confused with OTEP, and thought the OP had poor taste until I went to youtube and watched Harlequin Forest.

 

[Zeze]

Hey nice find. I had them confused with OTEP, and thought the OP had poor taste until I went to youtube and watched Harlequin Forest.

Told you that song is absolute face rape.

 

[Pheran]

This is one of those bands that varies between awful growling vocals and normal vocals. Thus far it's been too much trouble to separate out which songs are which, so I haven't bothered with them.

 

[Zeze]

This is one of those bands that varies between awful growling vocals and normal vocals. Thus far it's been too much trouble to separate out which songs are which, so I haven't bothered with them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrGu6hkgno4

It will ease you into it. Amazing clean vocal first half and growling just fits in well.

 

[Pheran]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrGu6hkgno4

It will ease you into it. Amazing clean vocal first half and growling just fits in well.

Sorry, but I absolutely despise growling vocals, I can't listen to anything with more than a few seconds of them. The only song I can even think of that I like with any growling vocals is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin, and it only has a few brief moments.

 

[Nintendesert]

Sorry, but I absolutely despise growling vocals, I can't listen to anything with more than a few seconds of them. The only song I can even think of that I like with any growling vocals is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin, and it only has a few brief moments.

Same problem for me. Any growling and I turn it off. If I want growling I'll go to the fucking zoo.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Pretty much every Opeth track from every Opeth album is awesome.
$20 will get you a 3CD box set of their first 3 albums .... at under $7 per album, I consider it a pretty badass deal.
http://www.amazon.com/Candlelight-Years-Opeth/dp/B0027GWVIO

Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms Your Hearse are all great albums, if you like the not so clean vocals. My personal favorite album of theirs is Morningrise, however, Blackwater Park is VERY close.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Sorry, but I absolutely despise growling vocals, I can't listen to anything with more than a few seconds of them. The only song I can even think of that I like with any growling vocals is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin, and it only has a few brief moments.

I'm the type of person who never pays attention to the vocals of any song. They tell me that Opeth has some awesomely poetic lyrics, but my ear is so accustomed to tuning out the lyrical content that I couldn't tell you a single one, even though I've listened to the three songs in the OP a dozen times each by now. The growling comes across as a somewhat jarring sound effect and they might as well be playing a saxophone in the clean portions for all that I hear the words. It's all about the music to me, and listening to how they transition from slow and soft melody to hard power chords to dissonant off-key, from fast hard tempos to masterful off-beat percussion stuff gives me chill bumps it's so good.

Like you, I can't really see anyone actually preferring the growling type of vocals. I greatly prefer clean vocals, but it's possible for me to look past them if the music is there.

 

[Zeze]

Sorry, but I absolutely despise growling vocals, I can't listen to anything with more than a few seconds of them. The only song I can even think of that I like with any growling vocals is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin, and it only has a few brief moments.

I don't blame you. I'm a recent metal listener myself and Opeth is the first band got me into it.

I couldn't get over it. It's so 'fake angry' and who growl-sings like that in real life? I would burst out many times in laughter because it comes across as trying too hard.

But I couldn't not deny the sheer musical talent of Opeth, their sick arrangements, various instruments, and amazing guitar solos and double-drums.

Then I found myself not minding the growling so much.

 

[hans030390]

Opeth has plenty of music without growling vocals. For those that are turned off by growling, it is TOTALLY worth sifting through their collection to pick out songs you like. Their latest album has NO growling (though, it's also not really metal). Either way, you're missing out on great music if you can't look past the growls.

Even then, Akerfeldt's growls are amazing. He sounds like Satan himself, haha! Makes other metal vocalists look like babies, and then he busts out his clean vocals...

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Personally I prefer the longer songs where they change it up several times from hard music and growling to soft music and clean and back again.

I like to call this "bipolar metal", and I love it. Mikael is the master of that transition, and The Grand Conjuration is one of their best "bipolar" songs.

If you just want their clean vocals, start with Damnation and Heritage, both are pure prog rock. The other albums are a mix, so you'll have to sift through.

 

[SP33Demon]

I like Opeth for when I'm relaxed and want to chill out, and I like their creativity and strings. However, I usually prefer metal/metalcore technical insanity like Between the Buried and Me or August Burns Red.

 

[AFurryReptile]

I like to call this "bipolar metal", and I love it. Mikael is the master of that transition, and The Grand Conjuration is one of their best "bipolar" songs.

Agreed. That has got to be the darkest song I've ever heard. There is a particular background guitar in the the "Eyes of the devil, fixed on his sinners" lyric that gives me shivers every time. It's so perfectly evil - I love it.

I'd also recommend Watershed. It's a bit different, and some people don't like it, but it's a lot cleaner than their other albums, while still remaining pretty heavy.

 

[SirStev0]

Aren't they touring with Mastodon this summer?

 

[gorcorps]

Ghost of Perdition is one of my favorite tracks. That got me hooked as well. I think that entire album is great, so if it's cheaper you might as well get the whole album.

 

[Crono]

I had a similar sense of discovery when I first heard Nightwish and Within Temptation.

Thanks, OP. I'm listening to some Opeth songs right now. My musical tastes are so broad that I tend to miss a lot of good artists/bands in every genre.

 

[AFurryReptile]

I had a similar sense of discovery when I first heard Nightwish and Within Temptation.

Nightwish is great if you want to some of the most epic music ever created.

 

[PricklyPete]

For the love of God...what kind of music is this. It sounded like a death shriek when I started listening to the first 10 seconds.

 

[SlitheryDee]

For the love of God...what kind of music is this. It sounded like a death shriek when I started listening to the first 10 seconds.

Which song were you listening to? If you want something that'll kinda break you in to the growling, yet also give you some cleaner stuff to massage your palate, I recommend Ghost of Perdition. In fact, as hard as that song starts, I bet that was the one you tried, no? You have to listen to the whole thing...two or three times. Just get your ear used to the harsh vocals and you'll be glad you gave them a shot. Whatever you do, don't give up on an Opeth song in the first 10 seconds. They all get way kickass as they progress.

 

[basslover1]

When. 'Nuff said.

I've probably heard that song 500+ times and still get goosebumps every time I listen to it.

Opeth isn't easy to get into if you don't already enjoy metal, other than Damnation and Heritage of course. Otherwise their music is outstanding from a purely creative/technical point of view but I also enjoy the music for what it is as well.

OP: I would stay away from anything off Morningrise or Orchid until you hear everything else first. While they aren't bad, on the contrary they're spectacular, but their first two releases don't have much in common with what they're doing now. I recommend Forest of October as a good first step though if you're interested. I must say though, that their bassist for those two albums was wonderful.

If you're OK with a more metal sound, look into Scar Symmetry, their earlier stuff. It's heavier than Opeth and with much less creativity but their vocalist (Christian Älvestam) has excellent vocal range as well. Stick with Holographic Universe, Pitch Black Progress and Symmetric in Design. Anything other than those three albums have new vocalists (yes plural), they needed two guys to cover the range of Christian after he left.

 

[zinfamous]

The only thing I know of Opeth, I think, is when someone here posted a gif of Opeth's lead singer--again, iirc--where his head jumps out of the water like a shark, or some kind of ghost or something.

I never could find it again, but I LMAO when I saw it, even having no clue who that was.

...what is this guy's name, btw?

ah, the glories of google--searching for "Mikael Arkewahtever gif" points me to a frozen gif of Roy Schieder chumming up the water in Jaws, the link takes me to an ATOT thread from 2009 "Official animated gif thread!" but the gif is disabled by bbzzdd.

other searches for whatshisname Jaws show the same gif, but Sam Jackson from Black Snake Moan popping out of the water. lol.

 

[zinfamous]

Haha, found them

 

[Fingolfin269]

Thanks, listening to Harlequin Forest now.