I love Kage for directly throwing down the gauntlet in this thread. Although I don't regard orchid and morningrise as harshly as he does I'm definitely on his side of the spectrum.

In regards to Ghost Reveries hate:

Ghost Reveries is a refined, polished, and cohesive album that is a culmination of opeth's musical progression. Sure some aspects of opeth have been shed along the way, most apparent being the acoustic sections of the first albums that I feel is what endears so many mxers to the early albums. But that's what happens with progressive music--it evolves. Ghost Reveries is an album that is still ultimately grounded in opeth's sound, its stylistically and quintessentially opeth, yet it takes the band to another level by implying that there is further progression and experimentation to come(Beneath the Mire is probably the best evidence of this). The combination of these facets not only make gr a great album but also a landmark one in their discography.

Opeth's last two efforts primarily serve to flesh out the heavy and soft styles that were realized on Blackwater Park--a detour that focused on refining an already existing sound. Ghost Reveries polishes that sound even further while taking a big step forward musically ushering a potentially new era of opeth music and that is what differentiates it from D&D. To get straight to the point, disliking the direction that opeth's music is heading towards is something I can understand, but by no means is Ghost Reveries a *BAD* album.

and of course the disclaimer stating the obvious; This is my intrepretation of opeth's work and it is also therefore my opinion.

No, Ghost Reveries is not a bad album. Its just not up to par with the others, the songs go nowhere IMO, and the instrumentation is.. a bit boreing... except the keyboards.

I guess I should probably state my bias & backround. My first opeth album was Blackwater Park and I got that in 2002. I would say that and ghost reveries are currently my favorite. As of right now, I do own and have listened to all of opeth's albums.

[QUOTE=Darkness Of Greed]No, Ghost Reveries is not a bad album. Its just not up to par with the others, the songs go nowhere IMO, and the instrumentation is.. a bit boring... except the keyboards.[/QUOTE]

This one is correct.

For me, Ghost Reveries is somewhere in the middle. Not the best, but not bad. Of course, for me, nothing beats Still Life, I doubt anything ever will.

What does everyone think of Mike's vocals on the Ayreon album Human equation?

I think it is amazing hearing all those artists singing together, I especially like Devin Townsend's vocals, James Labrie is amazing too.

I've not heard any of The Human Equation, but I really want to.

[QUOTE=PIGS(1 different one)]What does everyone think of Mike's vocals on the Ayreon album Human equation?

I think it is amazing hearing all those artists singing together, I especially like Devin Townsend's vocals, James Labrie is amazing too.[/QUOTE]

I think they're the best on there, and not just because I'm an Opeth fanboy. They add a dark tone the album needs. However, him and Townsend are the only two vocalists on there that really do anything for me. Now, I like Dream Theater, but I've always found LaBrie to be a bit...soft? whiney? can't really think of the right term, but they never really clicked. And that hurt the album some for me, seeing as he's the main vocalist on there.

For some reason I enjoyed Labrie a lot more on that album than any Dream Theater album. I guess it's the balancing of good vocalists on there. ;)

[QUOTE=PIGS(1 different one)]For some reason I enjoyed Labrie a lot more on that album than any Dream Theater album. I guess it's the balancing of good vocalists on there. ;)[/QUOTE]

Meh, I never really liked him in Dream Theater, either. But the rest of the band is good enough to keep my attention, even if I don't really like the vocals.

[QUOTE=Kage]I think MAYH is the first truly good album they made. Orchid is horridly cheesy and sounds plain bad, Morningrise is mediocre to say the most. I mean, there are some good moments, even good songs, but Opeth didn't start making true quality music until midway in their career. Still Life and Blackwater Park were their first true masterpeices, and Ghost Reveries is the third.

I don't understand not liking an album because it's not heavy or technical enough. That's stupid to me.[/QUOTE]


Oh C'mon.Orchid and Morningrise are masterpieces.If anything, I see MAYH as a step backwards from them.The great thing about both of them is the fact that there are guitar harmonies most of the time, you can choose to listen to only the left channel, the right channel, or both.Each of those show a different identity.Giving both those albums more than one face.

Orchid is possibly one of the best debut cds by any band, ever.

Morningrise is just godly.It has the best acoustic material of Opeth's career.Where is there a better soft song than "To Bid You Farewell"?

[QUOTE=Darkness Of Greed]Awesome, awesome opener to an awesome, awesome album. :thumb:



Same, I hope this is just a bit of a phase they go through, and return to metal madness on the next cd. :D Its still ok, but man Deliverance & ****[I]a[/I]tion were just so awesome that this was... not awesome.[/QUOTE]

I personally thought Ghost Reveries was the natural progression from both those albums, only it had alot more focus and precision.It has alot of the staccato riffs and amazing drumming from Deliverance, as well as the clean vocals, keyboards, and simplified solid melodies from ****ation.

I thought D+D was the weakest point in Opeth's career.****ation came out ok, but Deliverance lacked.IMO Ghost Reveries is much better than both of them.

Personally, Ghost Reveries is one of the heaviest Opeth albums, but at the same time, the softest besides ****ation.One can't deny that the heavy parts on it are possibly the heaviest moments in the bands career.Not to mention the lyrics which have never been so dark and sinister.I get chills while reading the lyrics to The Baying of the Hounds.

Might I add that The Baying of the Hounds continues to own my face.Quite possibly my favorite song at the moment.

[QUOTE=PIGS(1 different one)]What does everyone think of Mike's vocals on the Ayreon album Human equation?

I think it is amazing hearing all those artists singing together, I especially like Devin Townsend's vocals, James Labrie is amazing too.[/QUOTE]

Marcela Bovio, Heather Findlay, and Devon Graves really blew me away on that album. The Human Equation was also what got me into Opeth, as hearing Mikael sing cleanly made me give them another chance and helped me get over the "ooooh growling cookie monster hahaha" phase.

*glances at avatar* Yeah, I've come a long way. :lol:

<3 Ayreon - Day Two (Isolation) The female vocalist in that song is just awesome.

After listening to this CD a million times, I've decided that Ghost of Perdition is definitely one of the most well written songs I've heard in a long time.

[QUOTE=relliK]I personally thought Ghost Reveries was the natural progression from both those albums, only it had alot more focus and precision.It has alot of the staccato riffs and amazing drumming from Deliverance, as well as the clean vocals, keyboards, and simplified solid melodies from ****ation.

I thought D+D was the weakest point in Opeth's career.****ation came out ok, but Deliverance lacked.IMO Ghost Reveries is much better than both of them.

Personally, Ghost Reveries is one of the heaviest Opeth albums, but at the same time, the softest besides ****ation.One can't deny that the heavy parts on it are possibly the heaviest moments in the bands career.Not to mention the lyrics which have never been so dark and sinister.I get chills while reading the lyrics to The Baying of the Hounds.

Might I add that The Baying of the Hounds continues to own my face.Quite possibly my favorite song at the moment.[/QUOTE]

I think that GR is their best album. The lyrics are so dark and beautifull!!
But if iI had to vote for their heviest album then MAYH wins the race
(When and Demon of the Fall come automatically to mind :evil: )

[QUOTE=PIGS(1 different one)]What does everyone think of Mike's vocals on the Ayreon album Human equation?

I think it is amazing hearing all those artists singing together, I especially like Devin Townsend's vocals, James Labrie is amazing too.[/QUOTE]
What exactly is Ayreon? I almost picked up an album over the weekend dispite not knowing anything about them.

I went with Dredg's new album and DT's Scenes From A Memory though.

[QUOTE=StormRider VS IronMan]I think that GR is their best album. The lyrics are so dark and beautifull!!
But if iI had to vote for their heviest album then MAYH wins the race
(When and Demon of the Fall come automatically to mind :evil: )[/QUOTE]

Not to mention the outro of Karma. :p

MAYH, is truly amazing. my fav.

MAYH took a while to really grow on me. Now I really love it, but it was the Opeth album that took the longest for me to truly enjoy.

[QUOTE=Creeping_Deth]MAYH took a while to really grow on me. Now I really love it, but it was the Opeth album that took the longest for me to truly enjoy.[/QUOTE]

I enjoyed it the very first time I heard it, but then again, it is heavier than their other stuff (as stated above) and I was graced with listening to the likes of Cryptopsy, Behemoth, Decapitated, Demigod, Lykathea Aflame, Necrophagist, Gorguts, and a bunch of other Brutal/Technical Death Metal bands before I got it 2 months ago :p.

It's not that it was heavier, it just didn't click with me the same way the other albums did.

That's because the man in your avatar likes other men.

...

I did say I like it now.

Halford rules.

[QUOTE=The Flabbit Rides High]Not to mention the outro of Karma. :p

MAYH, is truly amazing. my fav.[/QUOTE]
Or April Etheral (AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHRRR!!) :thumb:

Yeah, the intro of April Ethereal is one of my favorite intros ever. When the drums kick in, all is right in the world.

[QUOTE=Creeping_Deth]...

I did say I like it now.

Halford rules.[/QUOTE]

I know you said that, and I know Halford rules, he's still a homo though.

[QUOTE=I Am Vikingcore]I know you said that, and I know Halford rules, he's still a homo though.[/QUOTE]
You are free to do whatever you want with your d ick

And he is the metal god!!

[QUOTE=Flynn]Welcome to the one-and-only Opeth Thread!
So, what do you think of Still Life and Blackwater Park? They're both epic albums. You should save up to get My Arms, Your Hearse next :D But that's just my recommendation. :thumb:[/QUOTE]

I love SL. The only song which I think is weak is Moonlapse Vertigo. That song just rele doesn't do anything for me. BWP is good, but I just dnt think that its rele on par with SL. It has lots of good moments, but the middle is just so forgetful.

My day got COMPLETELY depressing today...

I had high hopes of going to the Opeth show last night...even forced myself to stay up to listen to Still Life, which I hadn't listened to all the way through.

I went into school today, and my friend (who wanted to go too) told me that the venue was 18+ ONLY. :evil:

This would've been one of the best concerts ever...Opeth AND Nevermore. And I can't go because I'm only 15. Tis bull****. :angry:

Wow, that sucks. Most venues in the US don't seem to do that.