Opeth

[hippietim]

Re: Opeth

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"Just because someone doesn't have monster chops or depth in music theory doesn't mean their music is not good. "
and just because some bands don't do the whole 80s "i have no balls" vocal style it doesn't mean their music isn't good.
PERIOD.

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Whoohoo! We agree on something.

[toejam]

Re: Opeth

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Check out Damnation. Even if you never buy another Opeth CD, that one is worth having

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Yes, buy the Damnation cd immediately and then come back here with your review of how great Mikael's voice really is and how great Opeth really is. DO IT NOW!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Fragle]

Re: Opeth

"Whoohoo! We agree on something. "
nobody ever said we couldn't [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/toast.gif[/img]
i mean, who cares? so john does not like death metal. FINE. no worries. i for what it's worth do not like nu metal and hardcore/screamo/emo....who cares!
bottom line: listen to the music you enjoy, and don't let anybody tell you what's "cool" or "good" in general....

[horns666]

Re: Opeth

I love Opeth...Put on a awesome show a few years back..amazing!!!

They put on a HORRIBLE show when I saw then with John with Nevermore..who was amazing!

I liked Opeth since '98..have all their stuff..

It was the three Killswitch CDs I chucked at the CD trade in store.. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I didn't mind the KE riffs..it was those Tone Deaf, whining vocals I couldn't take..and to make matters worse..no solos!

"Fooooo Solace...Fooooo Comfert"....OMFG!!!...Kill me now oh great one!! [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Yeah, I'm REALLY fusy with my metal...as long as I like it ..and find musical "value" in it..that's all that counts..others opinions means nothing to me..unless its for praise of my awesomeness!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

I for one think Mike Akerfeldt has a great death metal voice..which is pretty similiar to Dan Swano to my ears...

[sevser]

Re: Opeth

Yes...they both have great clean voices to. Edge of Sanity's Crimson II is one of the most underrated metal discs to come out in the last couple years.

[Chrisb]

Re: Opeth

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That is one of the silliest things I've ever read. Who measures music like that?

At this point I feel I should point out that I hate pretty much all modern rap myself. I am a big fan of some of the very early rappers such as Grandmaster Flash and Sugar Hill Gang - those guys had some fantastic players and arrangements too.

bitch

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Arranging music is not creating music. You can praise rappers abilities to loop beats and come up with great fake grooves all you want but the reality is that these guys aren't playing shit. Its not stupid its not silly, its just the truth. If you don't care about the fact that there is no musicality involved, well shit thats fine by me but you can't compare rap with even the crappiest of musicians because even they are creating something. It may be something horrible and sucky but its still something.

[horns666]

Re: Opeth

Jeff Loomis has never studied theory and NOBODY can play like him!!

maybe I'm getting close..or want to be...because I never studied theory too..nor want to.

I rely on my own ears / brain / influences / abilties..and regurgitate what I LOVE about metal with my music..be it power/thrash/black/death and so on...it works.

If it works....don't F with it!

BTW Rap is shit IMO..People call monkeys finger painting "art" too...same shit to me!!! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[sevser]

Re: Opeth

I had to get into theory just to "get" the fundamentals of music. Some just "Get" it. Loomis must have fell into this category...But, he does know theory...he knows what mode and what key, what progression will go with whatever melody I'm sure.

My "Theory" point was to qualify my humble opinion. I do have a pretty good grasp on what is going on when I listen to a song, whether its Metal or Rap...

and for Rap to be compared to even the most primitive of Death Metal or any music for that matter is something I find too absurd for words...Although I do try.

[VitaminG]

Re: Opeth

[ QUOTE ]
Arranging music is not creating music. You can praise rappers abilities to loop beats and come up with great fake grooves all you want but the reality is that these guys aren't playing shit. Its not stupid its not silly, its just the truth. If you don't care about the fact that there is no musicality involved, well shit thats fine by me but you can't compare rap with even the crappiest of musicians because even they are creating something. It may be something horrible and sucky but its still something.

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I'm not a huge fan of rap so I don't feel any great impetus to defend it, but you are making sweeping generalizations about a whole genre based on your perception of the tiny slice of it that MTV and commercial radio is pushing.

While much rap is made by recycling samples, there are a number of very good bands playing with rap artists. It's not all samples, loops & synths. Bands like Spearhead, The Roots, Arrested Development, Mos Def, Grandmaster Flash and the Sugar Hill Gang all feature 'real' musicians, and just happen to have a rapper out front rather than a singer. FWIW ace session bassist, and current member of Living Colour, Doug Wimbish, actually played on those early Grandmaster Flash sessions.

[VitaminG]

Re: Opeth

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Again... I like the music. I just don't get the vocals. They sound horrible to me and they ruin the killer music they are singing on.
I think I have come to figure out why I just don't get the death metal vocal style.

I feel music is based on notes and the interaction between them. Death metal vocals (the gutteral screams and the subharmonic bellowing) are not about notes. They are about feelings. Death metal vocalists express themselves through how their vocals make their fans feel and that is the fundemental problem I have with them. You see... I am a note and melody guy. If a singer isn't singing notes I can't relate to it. If the interaction of those notes has no melody I can't relate to it either. That about sums it up.

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That is exactly why a number of us have recommended you check out Opeth's Damnation CD. You can check the band out without the death vox. Mikael sings clean only on the entire album

[Chad]

Re: Opeth

I used to hate growl vocals. I even hated Phil from Pantera for awhile....I used to say the same thing you guys are saying.....I hated the vocals, but loved the music, so I tolerated the vocals. And Phil was/is so tame compared to the death growlers.

I'm not exactly sure when, but at some point I started becoming more accepting of screaming and eventually got to the point where I became interested in death growls. I've always liked music that isn't popular and was attracted to death metal for its "out there" extremes, which includes the growls. As time has passed, I actually began to ENJOY and appreciate growl vocals. I do prefer it when bands mix it up a little and do clean, screams, growls, etc. for variety, but I can handle pure growls too. Not sure I have a point with those comments....just that tastes can change and a person can grow to find value in things they once despised. By the way...

Do you people who hate growls see any talent at all in it? Can you make sounds like that? More importantly, could you do that for an entire gig without losing your voice and be able to chat with fans afterwards? I'm not a big fan of Opeth, but I'm amazed that a person can growl like that, then do clean, then back again.

[horns666]

Re: Opeth

Rap...Hardcore.. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

One of the highlights of my career was personally beating the living shit out of Bone, Thugs and Harmony..

putting one of their heads thru a Candy vending Machine and eating a Baby Ruth while booking him..

You want hardcore...I gotcha hardcore.. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Oh..the "theory" thing..Jeff told me he gets a riff or idea in his head..and just "goes for it"...That's his theory his whole career!

He feels like a dick not knowing theory because he has a GW column now...so he feels obligated to learn the basics ..just so he can attempt to explain what he is doing a little better I guess..

[horns666]

Re: Opeth

I was just like Chad and alot of you guys...

Coroner changed it all for me!

My wife HATED death vox...now she thinks most power metal clean vox sound.."ghey"...it's just not "angry" enough..

aggressive music..should have aggressive vocals..

Metal should be aggressive...Metal is supposed to piss off old people and Rappers stuck in traffic with you!

Not something your mommy can hum to...that's not metal..that's ghey! [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Just like power metal or any other genre of metal..some death metal singers truly RULE and some suck total ass...it's always great when you hear a good one..

Right now, I'm working with my dude that excels at both singing styles..Halford/Chuck Billy/Akerfeldt..that's right, doing Bed Of Nails again! [img]/images/graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[hunter1970]

Re: Opeth

I think OPETH are killer.
But this is not about who sucks and who don't everybody has an opinion.If you like Opeth then hell yeah.
Why waste time and effort bashing someone else's music unless you can record something that compares.
Although I must admit I love a lot of Black Metal and Death Metal bands but I also love all kinds of Metal period.Its the reason I started playing guitar.But I also like other types of guitar based music and some other wacky stuff like Mr. Bungle,Painkiller,Naked City.

[markb]

Re: Opeth

jg cable: there are many many bands who fit the category you are speaking of... you would like the music (or parts of it) but cannot adjust to the vocals..Disarmonia Mundi, Burst, Opeth, Demonoid, Yyrkoon, Into Eternity and many others. The talent level in many of these bands is often very high, and the death vocals are part of the package. "Cookie monster vocals" are no longer "extreme metal". They are the norm now. Few new bands do not have death or at least metalcore style vocals, or a hybrid of some sort. But it is not the vocals that are the problem. It is the aggression and the overall spirit of the music that you cannot tap into. The drive behind the music is aggressive, underground (at its roots), subversive, nihilistic, angry...to varying degrees.
Opeth uses the vocal style to expand their sonic range...they go from brutal to symphonic to mellow in a single song all the time. The dark/light contrast is part of their signature. They are not a true death metal band, never have been. They are a hybrid band, with black metal, death metal, 70's progressive roots, but it all kinda fits into a cohesive package. They would be a far lesser band without the death vocals. If you just like a few of their riffs you are not really seeing where the band is coming from as a whole.

If there are some riffs and whatnot in some of the music that you like etc, that is just coincidental. It is the spirit behind the music as a whole, not just the parts, and the roots of where it came from that is alien to you.

Decapitated rules [img]/images/graemlins/band.gif[/img]