new Opeth album "Watershed"

[Ryuda_69]

"holy progressive metal batman"... i have just found my album of the year. i recommend ANYONE whose a fan of metal or even melody for that matter to feast there ears to this new album by one of my fave bands of all time. This whole album is perfect from beginning to end with some of the best crushing grooves and melodies i've heard in a long time. do yourself justice and give this album a full listen from beginning to end, and enjoy the musical journey that is this album.

I also saw Opeth last week along with dream theater and between the buried here in newyork city, and it was the best show i had been to in a very long time. catch these guys on tour if you can... you won't be disappointed. the tour was labeled "Progressive Nation" which i hope is the first of many to come.

Also... i highly recommend the new Meshuggah album titled "obZen". in my opinion it's the best material they have put out since "Chaosphere" and "I". have fun =D

[Aslanna]

Based on this post I just did a search and downloaded it. The first song 'Coil' was nice and pleasant. Then came the growliness of 'Heir Apparent' and I didn't even bother to make it through the rest of the song. I can't stand 'vocals' like that where it sounds like they're just making a bunch of growling sounds and you don't know wtf the actual lyrics, if it even has any, are. So sorry to say I'm not able to "give this album a full listen from beginning to end." Just not my cup o tea.

I've since deleted it so please don't turn me into the RIAA!

[Fairweather Pure]

I've since deleted it so please don't turn me into the RIAA!

I think you're obligated to see them in concert and buy a t-shirt now.

[Funkmasterr]

Based on this post I just did a search and downloaded it. The first song 'Coil' was nice and pleasant. Then came the growliness of 'Heir Apparent' and I didn't even bother to make it through the rest of the song. I can't stand 'vocals' like that where it sounds like they're just making a bunch of growling sounds and you don't know wtf the actual lyrics, if it even has any, are. So sorry to say I'm not able to "give this album a full listen from beginning to end." Just not my cup o tea.

I've since deleted it so please don't turn me into the RIAA!

I probably won't bother listening to this based on what you have said, and that kind of makes me a bit sick.

But more on point, I think there is more talent in heavy metal bands than most people give credit, however that talent is not in the vocals. There is nothing talented about shouting shit (usually the words, if you can find them and read them somewhere, are completely worthless even if the best vocalist in the world sang them at the top of their game) that isn't discernible to 99.9% of the worlds population.


To be fair, I listened to two of their songs. "Heir Apparent", which Aslanna mentioned above, firmly plants itself in the category I described above. The other, I can't remember the name, had a lot less grunting, yelling and screaming so was definitely a step above it, but I still didn't care for it much. Anything goth in any way should be promptly dismissed, imo.

[Drinsic Darkwood]

Based on this post I just did a search and downloaded it. The first song 'Coil' was nice and pleasant. Then came the growliness of 'Heir Apparent' and I didn't even bother to make it through the rest of the song. I can't stand 'vocals' like that where it sounds like they're just making a bunch of growling sounds and you don't know wtf the actual lyrics, if it even has any, are. So sorry to say I'm not able to "give this album a full listen from beginning to end." Just not my cup o tea.

I've since deleted it so please don't turn me into the RIAA!

I'd say you (and Funkmasterr) missed out on a few gems. Akerfeldt has some of the best clean vocals of any singer I listen to, I just wish he'd use them more often. Try these two, both from Watershed. There's no cookie monster vocals to be found in either.

Opeth - Burden
Opeth - Porcelain Heart

[Aslanna]

I'd say you (and Funkmasterr) missed out on a few gems. Akerfeldt has some of the best clean vocals of any singer I listen to, I just wish he'd use them more often. Try these two, both from Watershed. There's no cookie monster vocals to be found in either.

Opeth - Burden
Opeth - Porcelain Heart

I did scan a few of the other songs on the album and they seemed not of the growly sort. But overall not enough to keep me interested due to those that did. I'm fine with a few gems being thrown out with the bathwater. I'm not saying it sucks... Just not something I'd want to listen to.

[Funkmasterr]

I'd say you (and Funkmasterr) missed out on a few gems. Akerfeldt has some of the best clean vocals of any singer I listen to, I just wish he'd use them more often. Try these two, both from Watershed. There's no cookie monster vocals to be found in either.

Opeth - Burden
Opeth - Porcelain Heart

I did scan a few of the other songs on the album and they seemed not of the growly sort. But overall not enough to keep me interested due to those that did. I'm fine with a few gems being thrown out with the bathwater. I'm not saying it sucks... Just not something I'd want to listen to.

What it said.

[Drinsic Darkwood]

I tried!

[Truant]

Heh.

At the beginning of your post you said this was your album of the year for progressive metal. My first thought was, "Wtf, Meshuggah put out a killer album this year!"

But then I saw you mention it at the end of your post, so all is well.

obZen just fucking wrecks. But then again, that's what Meshuggah does, so that shouldn't surprise any metal heads.

[Taison Earbiter]

Watershed is a solid album, but far from Opeth's best. They're one of the few bands that just seem incapable of putting out a "bad" album.

It's interesting to listen to them as I'm generally not a fan of 'death metal' styled vocals, but for some reason Mikael Akerfeldt does them so damn well. I find it kind of funny when people hear him sing and think he does it because it's the style of music or he just can't do real vocals (they did a cover of Deep Purple's 'Soldier of Fortune' if you want to hear a good vocal performance by him that's done cleanly - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEP3TClmGDs).

Generally Opeth's albums are concept based and are actually one long song that tells a story (generally some sort of tragedy) and a lot of the time the "death" vocals show up as a way to express anger/frustration and when they reach points of sorrow or misery he'll use a softer clean singing voice. They're obviously not the happiest band in the world but they do what they do so damn well without becoming a cliche as so so many metal bands today are.

If you are just insistent that the harsh vocal style isn't for you, then check out their album Damnation, it's an acoustic album with all 'clean' vocals.

[redeemed]

I absolutely 100% love Opeth.

and ryuda I miss you