full new Opeth album leaked

[critter cam]

[deadwrong666]

Well, I got through it......I think I have to be in a certain mood to listen to this one.
Maybe a few more listens will help. I think I need more cookie, cookie, cookie.

Good muscianship all around though.

I think these guys will eventually tune out the demonoid vocals within 2 albums. Hope I am wrong..deadwrong.

BTW I found Hessian Peel to be my opeing fav.

[thinkpad20]

OK, I'm most of the way through it now, and here's my off-the-cuff impression.

 

Overall, this album met my expectations, which is to say, I expected some weird and/or interesting parts, but no real harmonic progression from any of the previous albums. I expected Axenrot would essentially mimic Lopez' style on the kit. I expected overly long songs without any real structure or progression, constructed of meandering acoustic/piano/mellotron sections and "heavy" riffs that get repeated 200 times. Quintessentially Opeth, no question. It has the extra instrumentation, occasional blast beats, that weird detuning acoustic part... but they are still using the same harmonies, the same song structures (or lack thereof). Opeth has expanded their arsenal of sounds but the ideas are still pretty much the same. At the same time, it's much more proggy, in terms of how it sounds. It really sounds closer to prog rock than metal. There's the occasional double bass part, blasting part and/or growling part, but they rarely last very long and the album spends much more time in prog rock territory. Even the more "brutal" parts seem very light. Perhaps it's because the production is SOOOO slick, seriously this album is on par with Pink Floyd in terms of production.

 

All that aside, I think the album has some very unique parts to it, if mostly in the instrumentation and not so much in other aspects of it. I'm sure it will please fans of Ghost Reveries and other later Opeth works. It's a quality album, and if they were a new band, or they hadn't already written so many similar albums, I might even call it groundbreaking. But for me, it's neither particularly original nor moving. The album falls kind of flat. My brief review. I'm not looking for flames; feel free to respond but if you do so please try to keep things civil.

 

FWIW, I think that Akercocke's recent works are much better at joining prog, ambient and electronic elements with what is still undeniably a death metal underpinning. I think Augury also does this.

[Valtiel]

OK, I'm most of the way through it now, and here's my off-the-cuff impression. Overall, this album met my expectations, which is to say, I expected some weird and/or interesting parts, but no real harmonic progression from any of the previous albums. I expected Axenrot would essentially mimic Lopez' style on the kit. I expected overly long songs without any real structure or progression, constructed of meandering acoustic/piano/mellotron sections and "heavy" riffs that get repeated 200 times. Quintessentially Opeth, no question. It has the extra instrumentation, occasional blast beats, that weird detuning acoustic part... but they are still using the same harmonies, the same song structures (or lack thereof). Opeth has expanded their arsenal of sounds but the ideas are still pretty much the same. At the same time, it's much more proggy, in terms of how it sounds. It really sounds closer to prog rock than metal. There's the occasional double bass part, blasting part and/or growling part, but they rarely last very long and the album spends much more time in prog rock territory. Even the more "brutal" parts seem very light. Perhaps it's because the production is SOOOO slick, seriously this album is on par with Pink Floyd in terms of production. All that aside, I think the album has some very unique parts to it, if mostly in the instrumentation and not so much in other aspects of it. I'm sure it will please fans of Ghost Reveries and other later Opeth works. It's a quality album, and if they were a new band, or they hadn't already written so many similar albums, I might even call it groundbreaking. But for me, it's neither particularly original nor moving. The album falls kind of flat. My brief review. I'm not looking for flames; feel free to respond but if you do so please try to keep things civil. FWIW, I think that Akercocke's recent works are much better at joining prog, ambient and electronic elements with what is still undeniably a death metal underpinning. I think Augury also does this.

 

Well put.

 

Im still downloading right now but its nice to see someone with a different perspective. In terms of their song structures, I was always fond of the more "linear", as I like to call it, progression of things. Not really repeating riffs a whole lot in the sense of traditional "Verse/Chorus" but just flowing from riff to riff. So what you would call "meandering" which I would assume is used in a more negative context I see as something different and more positive.

 

EDIT: ROFL!! The first download was Grant Mclennan disguised as Opeth!

[blargh]

OK, I'm most of the way through it now, and here's my off-the-cuff impression. Overall, this album met my expectations, which is to say, I expected some weird and/or interesting parts, but no real harmonic progression from any of the previous albums. I expected Axenrot would essentially mimic Lopez' style on the kit. I expected overly long songs without any real structure or progression, constructed of meandering acoustic/piano/mellotron sections and "heavy" riffs that get repeated 200 times. Quintessentially Opeth, no question. It has the extra instrumentation, occasional blast beats, that weird detuning acoustic part... but they are still using the same harmonies, the same song structures (or lack thereof). Opeth has expanded their arsenal of sounds but the ideas are still pretty much the same. At the same time, it's much more proggy, in terms of how it sounds. It really sounds closer to prog rock than metal. There's the occasional double bass part, blasting part and/or growling part, but they rarely last very long and the album spends much more time in prog rock territory. Even the more "brutal" parts seem very light. Perhaps it's because the production is SOOOO slick, seriously this album is on par with Pink Floyd in terms of production. All that aside, I think the album has some very unique parts to it, if mostly in the instrumentation and not so much in other aspects of it. I'm sure it will please fans of Ghost Reveries and other later Opeth works. It's a quality album, and if they were a new band, or they hadn't already written so many similar albums, I might even call it groundbreaking. But for me, it's neither particularly original nor moving. The album falls kind of flat. My brief review. I'm not looking for flames; feel free to respond but if you do so please try to keep things civil. FWIW, I think that Akercocke's recent works are much better at joining prog, ambient and electronic elements with what is still undeniably a death metal underpinning. I think Augury also does this.

considering that I REALLY don't like death metal in general and bands like akercocke, I doubt I'll agree much on anything musically, but I don't really understand what you're expecting. It's still the same band, they can't throw out their signature style completely. I think they've changed drastically over the last few albums for what can be expected in the span of 3 albums or so... maybe not for the better, because none of them were as cohesive and brilliant as BWP in my opinion, but they've definately changed their melodic approach.

[thinkpad20]

Well put. Im still downloading right now but its nice to see someone with a different perspective. In terms of their song structures, I was always fond of the more "linear", as I like to call it, progression of things. Not really repeating riffs a whole lot in the sense of traditional "Verse/Chorus" but just flowing from riff to riff. So what you would call "meandering" which I would assume is used in a more negative context I see as something different and more positive.

I'm totally a fan of linear songwriting. The writing I do for my own band is in this vein; riffs/parts rarely appear more than once, but instead the focus is on the flow and progression. Many if not most of my favorite bands write in this fashion as well. So I don't have a problem with not repeating riffs or returning to prior sections, it's more just the way Opeth goes about it. To me it doesn't seem like there's a purpose to many of their parts. It's hard to put into words but yes, I think "meandering" describes it best. Perhaps if I get more time to think about it I can spell out my thoughts more precisely.

I want to stress that I don't think it's a bad album; Akerfeldt writes some beautiful parts and melodies, and some of the stuff is quite interesting. Nonetheless, the album didn't "grab" me, and although I won't make any guarantees, I don't think that repeated listens would change that (as it does for some other albums).

I'm interested to hear what you have to say about it.

[Valtiel]

I'm totally a fan of linear songwriting. The writing I do for my own band is in this vein; riffs/parts rarely appear more than once, but instead the focus is on the flow and progression. Many if not most of my favorite bands write in this fashion as well. So I don't have a problem with not repeating riffs or returning to prior sections, it's more just the way Opeth goes about it. To me it doesn't seem like there's a purpose to many of their parts. It's hard to put into words but yes, I think "meandering" describes it best. Perhaps if I get more time to think about it I can spell out my thoughts more precisely. I want to stress that I don't think it's a bad album; Akerfeldt writes some beautiful parts and melodies, and some of the stuff is quite interesting. Nonetheless, the album didn't "grab" me, and although I won't make any guarantees, I don't think that repeated listens would change that (as it does for some other albums). I'm interested to hear what you have to say about it.

Well so far my attempts at downloading have failed. There is only one on MU and its definitely not Watershed.

I dont use Torrents either so I guess im SOL.

[thinkpad20]

considering that I REALLY don't like death metal in general and bands like akercocke, I doubt I'll agree much on anything musically, but I don't really understand what you're expecting. It's still the same band, they can't throw out their signature style completely. I think they've changed drastically over the last few albums for what can be expected in the span of 3 albums or so... maybe not for the better, because none of them were as cohesive and brilliant as BWP in my opinion, but they've definately changed their melodic approach.

 

I'm not asking them to throw out their signature style; they're Opeth and that's not going to change. And obviously there are new sounds on the new album. However, to my ears, there's not much new going on in the way of melodies or harmonies, or in the way of song structure. There are new riffs, but they don't sound particularly different from the old riffs, except perhaps that something might include a piano or string part where it would have been an acoustic guitar before. Similarly with the song structure. And the drumming style, with the exception of the occasional blast beat, is disappointingly familiar. Axenrot is clearly just trying to keep on doing what Lopez was doing, and while I was a big fan of Lopez' style, I was hoping that a new drummer would breathe some fresh new energy into their sound. Instead, it seems like they've lost energy.

 

If you're not into death metal, this might not be very helpful, but if you get a chance, check out the discography of Death. Although each album is unmistakably Death-sounding, each has its own character, each builds on certain aspects of the previous albums while introducing new ideas. In particular, listen to Human, then Individual Thought Patterns, then Symbolic, then The Sound of Perseverance. A wonderful string of amazing albums, all very different and yet similar (in a good way, not a repetitive way).

 

BTW, I want to stress I'm not critiquing the album for not being "brutal" enough or something. I love my music brutal but I also love lots of non-brutal music. So that did not affect (or not significantly, anyway) my opinion of the album.

 

Unfortunately, I must sleep now (actually, the GF just called me... she can't get to sleep hehehe) so I've gotta go. But my thoughts are out there to be dissected should anyone wish to.

[thinkpad20]

Well so far my attempts at downloading have failed. There is only one on MU and its definitely not Watershed. I dont use Torrents either so I guess im SOL.

Not completely... check ur PMz:p

[Valtiel]

Not completely... check ur PMz:p

[Occam]

I bet I can sum it up for everyone.. *slowed down Dream theater riff....then go into heaveybrootalz riff...then steal somemore DT slow riffs...........Play next song same way*

 

 

You mean Camel? Opeth has taken a hell of a lot from them in the past, not dream theater.

[Valtiel]

Ok now that ive listened through once ill give my impression.

 

I have to jump straight to the fact that Burden is a {censored}ing incredible song. Mikael really has taken his clean vocals to the next level. The production is amazing as well. More organic than Ghost Reveries which IMO was too polished. Its very powerful and clear with a lot of atmosphere. Everything about Mikaels vocals seems to have improved. His clean singing is more emotive and soulful and the growls are more intense, although that mostly has to do with the delivery. The songs themselves do "meander" a good amount throughout the album. After listening to it I agree with you thinkpad20, that seems to be a pretty accurate way of describing it. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your tastes. To those who enjoy it, it will grow on you no doubt. To those that dont it will probably seems aimless and tough to get into. This album is definitely more prog rock less death metal which I think is a really nice addition to their discography.

 

I really like Axe's drumming, and the new guitar player obviously has some serious chops. The solos are epic as usual in typical Opeth fashion. Lots of dynamics throughout the disc. All in all the music really isnt what I would have expected but the album left me with the feeling that I did. I wish the album was a little longer, and some parts seem maybe a little unfinished. The last half of Hex Omega comes to mind. But other than that, very solid. An awesome addition for sure.

[-todgemistro-]

I hated the first track to start with, but now I've been listening to it more I think its awesome

[shooto]

LINK?

[EdgeOfDarkness]

You mean Camel? Opeth has taken a hell of a lot from them in the past, not dream theater.

 

 

Camel ?

I will have to check them out.

[Exocaster]

The heavy sections actually sound heavier to me because of Axenrot's drumming. His playing seems more aggressive to me than Lopez's. I felt the same after hearing The Roundhouse Tapes, compared to Lamentations and when I saw them, so I don't think it's just this album. The deeper, fuller drum sound does play a part, I'll admit. I get the impression that he's a harder hitter than Lopez was as well.

There seems to be more doom metal in their sound this time around, and more of what one might call "classical" influence, though that might just be 'cause of the woodwind section that makes an occasional appearance.

It's definitely toward the lighter end of their discography, as two of the songs have nothing to do with metal at all, and the album's longest track, Hessian Peel, only gets heavy towards the end. That being said, I've been enjoying the hell out of this, and, as mentioned before, the production is superb. (And I'll echo thefyn's sentiment: it's great to hear a drum kit on a heavy record that sounds like a drum kit!)