THE OPETH REFERENDUM MMXXI: Results -> Blackwater Park wins again!

JudasMyGuide said:
Also, a friendly reminder to @Onhell @Diesel 11 @The Dissident @Midnight @MindRuler (I know some of you said you might vote sporadically or later, but in case you wanted to get your votes in, it's high time! :D )
Click to expand...
I know! My plan is to listen to them next week once I finish my run-through of Carcass. I’m not terribly bothered by missing out this round because it sounds like intros and interludes are getting the boot first.
 
Listeneding to In Cauda Venenum right now :), will vote once I'm done. Haven't had a chance to listen to sorceress so I'll be ignoring those songs.
 
In Cauda Venenum Votes:
Garden Of Earthly Delights - Not really needed to be its length and doesn't really matter much in the long run.

Next Of Kin - Didn't grab me on listen 1, will likely get another listen in the nearish future.

Charlatan - Takes a little bit before I'm interested in the song itself, the chorus is fairly strong. It is one of the weaker tracks overall

The Garroter - An okay track, doesn't really grab me.

Continuum - I should like this, but for some reason it just doesn't do it for me.

Sorceress Votes:
Voting for the intro and outro track, since as stated above I don't see the point of having them really. Haven't listened to the album but hopefully assisting in saving some time later on.
 
I don't really care about this era of the band so I almost could've picked my votes randomly, as long as Lovelorn Crime and Era were safe. Those songs are really good.
 
Garden Of Earthly Delights - Forgettable intro.

Dignity - Honestly, I detest the AAAAA intro as it's way too happy/cheery for a band like Opeth. The song is pretty boring until the heavy riff at 03:30 kicks in, but even that part would've worked much better with growls; I don't like Mikael's clean vocal lines there at all. Also, the "oh no no"'s are super annoying.

Heart In Hand - This one is cool. Still a tad too cheery, but quite heavy for Newpeth standards.

Next Of Kin - Similar opinion to the previous song. Quite heavy for Newpeth standards, no particularly annoying parts, but also nothing too memorable. Well, Mikael's singing might be a bit too dramatic for my taste.

Lovelorn Crime - Now this one is an instant classic and the best song on the album. Brilliant ballad where they got everything right. Fredrik's solo is probably the best Opeth solo ever.

Charlatan - This all-bass song is pretty weird and dark, and I'll take it over the happy cheery shit that is Dignity's intro. The church music outro is cool.

Universal Truth - Listened to this one 3 times in a row and each time I completely lost focus after a few minutes. I remember that some of the vocals were not good, but not much else. Very forgettable song.

The Garroter - This one is also OK. The keyboard riff is very cool.

Continuum - Same situation as Universal Truth. Just really unmemorable.

All Things Will Pass - Second classic from this album, and second-best song on the album. No happy/cheery moments like on some other songs, and Mikael doesn't overdramatize the vocals. Outro is epic af.
 
I won't be able to write much for the referendum because I have exams coming up over the next few months. That being said, my votes are:

In Cauda Venenum:
Garden of Earthly Delights
Next of Kin
Universal Truth

I quite like Garden of Earthly Delights, but at the end of the day, it's still an intro.

Sorceress:
Persephone
Sorceress 2
Strange Brew
A Fleeting Glance
Persephone (Slight Return)
The Ward

I had trouble deciding whether Sorceress 2 and The Ward deserved my votes. Both songs are nice to listen to, but rather insubstantial. In the end, I voted for Sorceress 2 to speed the game up and The Ward just to tie it with Spring MCMLXXIV. I think Spring MCMLXXIV is the better of the two bonus tracks - if it really does sound like early Deep Purple, then I'd like to listen to some early Deep Purple.
 
Sorry for the delay, guys. I wrote like 75% of a review for Sorceress, saved the draft, went into a meeting and later wanted to finish it but it was all gone. Then I listened to the album again twice, but wasn't inspired to rewrite everything from scratch.

Here's my review from the previous game, it'll have to do. I don't really care for any of the songs from this album anyway and these 2-3 listens solidified my opinion.

Voted for Garden Of Earthly Delights, Universal Truth, The Garroter and Continuum from ICV and Persephone, Sorceress, The Wilde Flowers, Chrysalis, Era, Persephone (Slight Return) and The Ward from Sorceress.
 
tBF6Jyp.jpg


Eliminated after Round 1:
Garden Of Earthly Delights - 9 votes
Persephone (Slight Return) - 8 votes
Persephone - 7 votes
Sorceress 2 - 6 votes
The Ward - 6 votes
 
Lovelorn Crime - a very good ballad, but not quite as awesome as the heavy hitters of the album.

Continuum - like Lovelorn Crime I do like it, but it's somehow one of the most forgettable songs on the album. It is quite proggy so maybe it will just take more listens.
Also, 2:38 sounds very much like the last verse in Porcelain Heart ("rest your head now, don't you cry...")!

Will O the Wisp - very overrated in my opinion. I guess I just don't like those acoustic strumming songs (spoilers, I'm probably voting for Harvest first from BWP...) I like the bridge and intro, but it's too repetitive for me.

The Seventh Sojourn - great instrumental, and very memorable for one. I kind of have a soft spot for it. A lot of great parts. But I still have to vote for it :(

And also, Charlatan, The Garroter, The Wilde Flowers, A Fleeting Glance, and Spring 1974.
 
Voted for Dignity, Next Of Kin, Universal Truth, The Garroter and Continuum from ICV. Would've gone with Heart In Hand too, but didn't have enough votes. The first 3 songs from ICV all blend with each other in my head quality-wise.

And also voting for Sorceress, The Wilde Flowers, Chrysalis and Era from Sorceress. Could've gone with Strange Brew too, but the outro is maybe the most memorable thing on the album so it's gonna stay with A Fleeting Glance and Spring as my Top 3 Sorceress songs.
 
I will be voting for:
Next Of Kin
Charlatan
The Garroter
Continuum

Hoping to get a listen in for Sorceress off of Youtube tonight, to vote for some of those songs as well.
Voting to Keep: Dignity, Lovelorn Crime and All Things Will Pass

Next Day listen:
Included all songs so I know what to do when my copy of the album comes in.
Bold - voted for. Crossed out - previously eliminated. Italics - add to playlist.

Voting to Keep: Chrysalis, Strange Brew and Era

Persephone
Sorceress
The Wilde Flowers
Will O the Wisp
Chrysalis
Sorceress 2
The Seventh Sojourn
Strange Brew
A Fleeting Glance
Era
Persephone (Slight Return)

Voting the bonus track as well.
 
Last edited:
ICV - going for Dignity (the "oh no's and WAAAAAAAOOOOH's" get on my nerves a bit), Next of Kin (again, syncopated vocal parts are a little annoying), and Charlatan (which fails to hold my attention, although it is super heavy and riffy).

Sorceress - going for Spring (a rightful place as a bonus track), Seventh Sojourn (which is honestly really cool, but ultimately feels like filler), Strange Brew (a huge mess and the most Heritage-y song around these parts), and Fleeting Glance (which I do like but doesn't hold up to the other good songs on this record).
 
Nothing against these ICV songs, but I like the others more:

Dignity
Next of Kin
Lovelorn Crime
Universal Truth

Chrysalis - needs grunting
Strange Brew - too weird
Fleeting Glance - too filler
Spring blah blah blah
 
As for what I like about the stuff I didn’t vote for?

Heart in Hand - it’s just solid
Charlatan - heavy and moody
Garroter - jazzy and different
Continuum - that ending, I mean come on
All Tar Sluts Will Pass - best song on album

Sorceress - love it, so heavy, so power
Wilde Flowers - moody, cool grooves
Wisp - sounds like Damnation; perfect
Seventh Sojourn - different and haunting
Era - that chorus… that solo…
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top