Monday Metal Madness: Opeth – Old or New
Opeth is a band that is constantly progressing their sound forward. If you were to compare their latest album Heritage to their debut Orchid you can spot the stark differences as clear as day. Personally I celebrate their entire catalog, but, truth be told there is one era of Opeth I gravitate towards more when grabbing an album of their to spin. Also in my ventures though this wild thing called the internet I’ve seen a lot of Opeth fans have their favorite eras of the band and are quite passionate about it.
For this poll I will split Opeth up into 3 eras. Old, middle, and new. Old era Opeth consists of Orchid, Morningrise, My Arms Your Hearse, and Still Life. Middle era will consist of Blackwater Park, Deliverance, Damnation, and Ghost Reveries. New era, Watershed and Heritage. So, go vote away and let us know why you picked your choice. Enjoy! Peace Love and Metal!!
Posted on July 31, 2012, in Monday Metal Madness, Polls and tagged entertainment, metal, Music, Opeth, Polls, Progressive Metal. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
It must be the hardest question ever! I too enjoy all their works, but tend to lean towards their older stuff. I’d say Morningrise – My arms, Your Hearse – Still Life – AND Blackwater Park. Hehe. But that’s not in your categories….
But then again, Blackwater Park is better than all the other albums, so I guess I have to choose the middle category.
Likewise, I enjoy it all. Standout albums for me though are Still Life, Ghost Reveries and Heritage.
All are awesum….
But to choose 1 id say… The middle category
This is a tough one since I absorbed Opeth all at once after Watershed came out. Some of my favorite songs of the band are definitely old, but collectively I am going to go with….the middle. This was really tough; great poll!
Well Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries are my favourite albums overall (I was lucky to see them perform BP at the Albert Hall XX Anniversary show) so it has to be middle for me just for them. I’m not quite so keen on Damnation, although I think Deliverance is better than many give it credit for. Watershed is a great album, but I really haven’t warmed to Heritage at all: not because Akerfeldt has dialed back the heaviness – indeed, the most ‘rockin’ song, Slither, is probably an all-time Opeth low – but because it seems to lack direction and dynamism to my ears. Too much aimless noodling. Still Life never really grabbed me for some reason. As for the first three albums, I like what I’ve heard but that’s not much, just a few tracks on YouTube. I really must get around to picking up that Candlelight Years box-set.
Bit of advice if you are going to buy the Candlelight Years Box Set. There are 2 versions out there. If you are a collector as myself, you probably want the best version. The easier one to find is the one released for Japanese markets and the craftmenship is terrible. Thin plastic jewel case, minimal liner notes, etc. Be wary and check photos. There’s a US/EU copy that was discontinued so it’s harder to find, it is better made and has all the liner notes and booklets from the original albums intact. It will pop up on Amazon here and there. Easiest bet (and probably cheapest, I got them off of Amazon UK for around 5 pounds a pop), just grab the 3 albums which have been remastered and include bonus tracks.
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