The Beginner's Guide to... (dancing, blues, house, rock, albums)

LoathsomePete · 10-17-2010, 09:59 AM

My last one for a little bit.

Beginner's Guide to Opeth

Opeth are a progressive death metal band from Sweden that I hold very close to my heart. The band began 20 years ago but in that 20 years, only Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained in the lineup, as vocalist, guitarist, and even bass on one album. Heavily inspired by the progressive rock bands of the '60's/'70's (Camel in particular) Opeth are known for their long song lengths, rapid shifts in tone and dynamics, and a heavy use of acoustic passages. Åkerfeldt also utilizes some of the best guttural vocals I have ever heard, but can also sing better than most everybody else. In 2001 they really took the metal world by storm with the release of their 5th studio album Blackwater Park, which began a partnership between the band and English musician Steve Wilson, of Porcupine Tree fame. With his expertise working the production board, the band has only further honed their sound, experimenting with more prog and less death metal on certain albums, but always leaving enough to satisfy even the most finicky metalhead.

I chose at least one song from each of their studio albums to show their progression from kids with an idea to masters of that idea. As they are a prog band, their earlier albums were concept albums, so the songs may not make as much sense lyrically, but are still worthy of even the stuffiest s prog-fan's archive. It is not easy just taking bits and pieces from each Opeth album, because there are no casual Opeth fans, you either like the albums or you haven't listened to them. This is just a guide for people who may have been curious about the band, but didn't know where to start, or was turned off because they're metal. Yes they are metal, but since when was that a bad thing? This is a band I can keep revisiting no matter how many times I listen to them, a band that transcends the bar set by many other metal bands.

01. "Advent" - Morningrise (1996)
02. "Demon of the Fall" - My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
03. "In My Time of Need" - Damnation (2003)
04. "Forest of October" - Orchid (1995)
05. "Dirge for November" - Blackwater Park (2001)
06. "Burden" - Watershed (2008)
07. "Benighted" - Still Life (1999)
08. "Isolated Years" - Ghost Reveries (2005)
09. "Would?" - Burden Single (2009) (Alice in Chains cover)
10. "By the Pain I See in Others" - Deliverance (2002)

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10-17-2010, 09:59 AM	#11 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	My last one for a little bit. Beginner's Guide to Opeth Opeth are a progressive death metal band from Sweden that I hold very close to my heart. The band began 20 years ago but in that 20 years, only Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained in the lineup, as vocalist, guitarist, and even bass on one album. Heavily inspired by the progressive rock bands of the '60's/'70's (Camel in particular) Opeth are known for their long song lengths, rapid shifts in tone and dynamics, and a heavy use of acoustic passages. Åkerfeldt also utilizes some of the best guttural vocals I have ever heard, but can also sing better than most everybody else. In 2001 they really took the metal world by storm with the release of their 5th studio album Blackwater Park, which began a partnership between the band and English musician Steve Wilson, of Porcupine Tree fame. With his expertise working the production board, the band has only further honed their sound, experimenting with more prog and less death metal on certain albums, but always leaving enough to satisfy even the most finicky metalhead. I chose at least one song from each of their studio albums to show their progression from kids with an idea to masters of that idea. As they are a prog band, their earlier albums were concept albums, so the songs may not make as much sense lyrically, but are still worthy of even the stuffiest s prog-fan's archive. It is not easy just taking bits and pieces from each Opeth album, because there are no casual Opeth fans, you either like the albums or you haven't listened to them. This is just a guide for people who may have been curious about the band, but didn't know where to start, or was turned off because they're metal. Yes they are metal, but since when was that a bad thing? This is a band I can keep revisiting no matter how many times I listen to them, a band that transcends the bar set by many other metal bands. 01. "Advent" - Morningrise (1996) 02. "Demon of the Fall" - My Arms, Your Hearse (1998) 03. "In My Time of Need" - Damnation (2003) 04. "Forest of October" - Orchid (1995) 05. "Dirge for November" - Blackwater Park (2001) 06. "Burden" - Watershed (2008) 07. "Benighted" - Still Life (1999) 08. "Isolated Years" - Ghost Reveries (2005) 09. "Would?" - Burden Single (2009) (Alice in Chains cover) 10. "By the Pain I See in Others" - Deliverance (2002) Get at this