Opeth

By Request, Part 1 - Orchid:

  • Total voters
    10
It might be a bit too much on the heavier side for a gig (and too long) and Mikael would blow his voice for good, but sequenced properly...

1. The Moor
2. Deliverance
3. Harvest
4. Bleak
5. The Baying of the Hounds
6. The Leper Affinity
7. Beneath the Mire (/ Hope Leaves)
8. Godhead's Lament
9. A Fair Judgement
10. Moonlapse Vertigo
11. By The Pain I See in Others
12. The Drapery Falls
13. Blackwater Park

14. Reverie/Harlequin Forest
15. Ghost of Perdition


There's no Damnation track - I love the album, but no song gets really that high for me individually, I guess. I think that Beneath the Mire, which came out last, could have been substituted by Hope Leaves or To Rid the Disease or something like that.
 
I like the Hammond-Uriah Heepisms in the verse and that subdued section after 3:30 is one of my favourite "quiet Opeth" moments, the atmosphere, the subtle, almost spoken-word quality of the vocals and - most of all - the jazzy riff (4:08) are hauntingly beautiful together.

But I admit I might overrate the song as a whole because of these particular parts. The second half in particular feels rather hodge-podge and the ending is underwhelming.
 
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Personally I’d replace Harvest, Hounds, and Mire with three of the following:

Serenity Painted Death
Windowpane
Hope Leaves
To Rid the Disease
Master’s Apprentices
The Grand Conjuration

I’d love to see an Opeth tour called “The Middle Years” or “Opeth Strikes Back” or similar. I love the first three albums, but Still Life is where the band found their sound. I also like Watershed and beyond, but it was the album where they transitioned from a spectacular band to merely a “good” one.

JudasMyGuide said:
I like the Hammond-Uriah Heepisms in the verse and that subdued section after 3:30 is one of my favourite "quiet Opeth" moments, the atmosphere, the subtle, almost spoken-word quality of the vocals and - most of all - the jazzy riff (4:08) are hauntingly beautiful together.
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These are definitely the strongest parts of the song, as the rest (aside from the intro) doesn’t really hold my attention.
 
I randomly wandered to the Metal Archives page of the band and was confronted with this photo of the band I've never seen before, which they used as a main one.


38_photo.jpg

I absolutely love it. The wine, the candle, the cat, the Nosferatu poster in the background, that poor plant there, it's just... perfect.
 
Completed by annual Opeth fall/early winter discography run, this time listening in backwards order (something I've never done with Opeth). Rankings are as follows:

01. Still Life - 10.0
02. Ghost Reveries - 9.1
03. Blackwater Park - 9.0
04. Pale Communion - 8.7
05. Watershed - 8.7
06. Damnation - 8.5
07. Deliverance - 8.5
08. In Cauda Venenum - 8.4
09. Orchid - 8.1
10. Morningrise - 8.0
11. My Arms, Your Hearse - 7.8
12. Sorceress - 7.1
13. Heritage - 7.0

Top album notes:
  • My top 5 Opeth albums have never changed in over 10 years.
  • Still Life has always been no. 1 and Ghost Reveries has always been no. 2
  • Blackwater Park and Pale Communion have made occasional swaps for no. 3 and no. 4.
  • Watershed has always been no. 5.
Biggest positive changes:
  • Deliverance finally clicked with me a lot this time around. Wreath is still an incredibly unfortunate opener as it is far and away the weakest, most uninspired song on the album.
  • Watershed also clicked with me a lot more this time, though I still believe it takes a massive nosedive after Burden.
  • ICV is a good album. I still fail to connect with it (either version) the way some have, but it is certainly the best thing Opeth have done in their new iteration save for the fantastic Pale Communion.
  • Morningrise hasn't risen by a ton of points, but my estimation of its value has. Definitely a good record with more specific songs than Orchid, though I still enjoy Orchid more as an album.
Biggest negative changes:
  • My Arms, Your Hearse really fell off for me. I listened to this album more than any other album this time (except for Ghost Reveries, which I just couldn't get enough of this year) and it just never leaves much of an impression. Unlike the two albums below it in my rankings, there is nothing outright bad about MAYH, besides the production and lack of a bass player, but the whole thing is just very one-note. It feels muddy, underbaked, and the songs never reach the same catchy heights of Akerfeldt's best songwriting. There are a few all-time best riffs scattered throughout, but no song except Demon of the Fall manages to transcend into the classic realm.
  • Every time I listen to them I like Sorceress and Heritage less and less.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
01. Still Life - 10.0
02. Ghost Reveries - 9.1
03. Blackwater Park - 9.0
04. Pale Communion - 8.7
05. Watershed - 8.7
06. Damnation - 8.5
07. Deliverance - 8.5
08. In Cauda Venenum - 8.4
09. Orchid - 8.1
10. Morningrise - 8.0
11. My Arms, Your Hearse - 7.8
12. Sorceress - 7.1
13. Heritage - 7.0
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Bro you crazy.

Pale Communion is my favorite Nupeth album, too, but #4? Above Damnation? And Watershed at #5? Are you feeling okay?

Here's mine:

01. Blackwater Park
02. Damnation
03. Still Life
04. Ghost Reveries
05. Morningrise
06. Deliverance
07. Pale Communion
08. Orchid
09. Watershed
10. My Arms, Your Hearse
11. Sorceress
12. In Cauda Venenum
13. Heritage
 
Detective Beauregard said:
Bro you crazy.

Pale Communion is my favorite Nupeth album, too, but #4? Above Damnation? And Watershed at #5? Are you feeling okay?

Here's mine:

01. Blackwater Park
02. Damnation
03. Still Life
04. Ghost Reveries
05. Morningrise
06. Deliverance
07. Pale Communion
08. Orchid
09. Watershed
10. My Arms, Your Hearse
11. Sorceress
12. In Cauda Venenum
13. Heritage
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Says the guy with ICV worse than Sorceress and Morningrise in his top 5!

At least we both know what the worst Opeth album is.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
(even though Steven Wilson doesn't).
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To be fair, Steven Wilson was saying for years that Porcupine Tree was over and it turned out they were working on an album the whole time. I get the sense he isn't going to talk openly about a project until there's something to show people. Not that I'm that invested in another Storm Corrosion album though.

I want to be excited about this album but I am just so over Newpeth. I really liked Pale Communion and Heritage was fine enough, but it just doesn't feel like they are pushing any new boundaries with this throwback prog sound. I would love to hear them take more krautrock influences and do more keyboard driven stuff, or even go all in on a folk-y kinda direction, but the last couple albums are kinda stuck in this bland watered-down spooky hard rock thing that is just kinda boring. Honestly I think King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard has released several proggy albums that are way more successful at pursuing the same sort of throwback prog sound that Opeth have been going for since Heritage.
 
Mosh said:
I want to be excited about this album but I am just so over Newpeth. I really liked Pale Communion and Heritage was fine enough, but it just doesn't feel like they are pushing any new boundaries with this throwback prog sound. I would love to hear them take more krautrock influences and do more keyboard driven stuff, or even go all in on a folk-y kinda direction, but the last couple albums are kinda stuck in this bland watered-down spooky hard rock thing that is just kinda boring.
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I absolutely love Pale Communion and I think ICV has some great moments that hint at a shift towards heavier instrumentals...but I agree with you.

I'd be super happy to hear a new record that was more folky in nature, contrasting with heavy, keyboard-driven spooky rock riffs. I think that would bring back the dynamics that I miss so much in Opeth's music. All of their sonic dynamics since Heritage have simply been contrasting volume levels, not necessarily musical textures of softness and hardness (something that Opeth used to be masters at).
 
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