I love Opeth, they were there for me in a dark time in my life and their music resonated with me strongly. I am not as keen on the post-growl stuff as I am on the other stuff, although Heritage, Pale Communion and In Cauda Venenum have very good songs. Sorceress didn't click with me, but since then I got into way more 70s stuff, maybe I should give this album another chance.
Absolutely the right thing to do....I will admit that I got into Jethro Tull, Genesis and Yes after Sorceress in 2016 and not the other way round sadly...as they are all amazing..... But the influence of those bands on Opeth with Sorceress is there for all to see...in a fab way imo....👍....but I think also the diversity in Opeth albums has clearly opened the gates to different audiences to get into metal....kudos to them for that (Sorceress was my first Opeth album btw.)
One of my top 10 all time favorite bands! Orchid (1995) 7/10 Morningrise (1996) 8/10 My Arms, Your Hearse (1998) 8/10 Still Life (1999) 10/10 Blackwater Park (2001) 10/10 Deliverance (2002) 10/10 Damnation (2003) 10/10 Ghost Reveries (2005) 9/10 Watershed (2008) 7.5/10 Heritage (2011) 6.5/10 Pale Communion (2013) 8/10 Sorceress (2016) 8.5/10 In Cauda Venenum (2019) 8/10 As for a straightforward ranking, 13. Heritage (2011) 12. Orchid (1995) 11. Pale Communion (2013) 10. Watershed (2008) 9. Morningrise (1996) 8. In Cauda Venenum (2019) 7. Sorceress (2016) 6. My Arms, Your Hearse (1998) 5. Ghost Reveries (2005) 4. Still Life (1999) 3. Damnation (2003) 2. Deliverance (2002) 1. Blackwater Park (2001)
To me Still Life, Blackwater Park, Damnation and Ghost Reveries are all 10/10. I keep switching them off, but probably Ghost Reveries takes the cake in the moment. It just has all the best and most memorable songs.
Hey Robert, I'm a brand new sub to your channel. Opeth is one of my favorite metal bands of all time and I'm glad you and Questy decided to do this. My top 5 favorite Opeth albums are: Still Life, Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Damnation, and My Arms Your Hearse.
I'm a fan of sorceress but if you listen to the sorceress ep that came out before there is a big difference in the sound quality and the ep is mixed a lot louder, not sure why. This was awesome I'm about to embark on going through the entire back catalogue as I got into them on the back of them touring with Mastodon as a joint headliner (you mentioned the tour, I seen the next tour with DEP and red fang) and had no clue who they were. I've stuck to all the live cd/dvds for years so I only know choice tracks.
Is it weird that I had a dream that I met Questie last night and that we went to the Metal Meltdown's house afterward? Even though I don't live anywhere near either of you lol Maybe that was an odd premonition that this video was coming today hahaha
you could not have picked a better guest for this!! this is perfect timing for me cos im 2 albums away from hearing the entire discography!! amazing band!! also at one point could we get death discography review?? only 7 albums hehe
Orchid is actually exhausting to listen to for me(with exception to forest of October and under the weeping moon). The only Opeth album I've heard that I actively dislike. My top 5 albums are: Still Life, Blackwater Park, Deliverance, In Cauda Venenum, Watershed.
Sorceress is epic...much like one of you with Heritage....it was my first purchase of an Opeth record....and I love it...I don't get how it's flat or lifeless...for me it's their hippy-est sounding most 70s record....and I love every song. Listened to it loads.....so much I now play Persephone to myself on guitar....beautiful. Era is a rocking out joy... And I love the contrasting folky and rocking elements throughout the album....🌼power!!
Opeth will measure your metal and musical intelligence and shit on it. I'm not a super fan or anything but they're writing and production is so much better and more complex than 99.9% of music period. An outsider wouldn't expect something like this from the community.
I definitely credit Opeth with introducing me to a lot of different styles and ideas. Like I didn't really think metal could be pretty or sophisticated until I heard a lot of their stuff.
First Opeth album I listened to was Blackwater Park, almost 2 years ago now. I hated it the first time because at that point I’d have yet to become obsessed with prog metal. However, I came back to it later after getting really into Dream Theater and goddamn, that album just gets better and better every time you listen to it. I recently finished listening to all their albums, and while my favourite is by far Blackwater Park, I also love Ghost Reveries, Deliverance, and pretty much all their mid-era stuff. The black metal albums are also really good, although not my favourite, and most of the prog rock/folky ones are kinda boring to me, although In Cauda Venenum is incredible. Overall though, they’re a fantastic band, and I’m glad I gave them a second chance.
@@themetalmeltdownofficial Opeth is one of the first bands I’d want to see live as soon as they’re able to come to Vancouver. I’ve heard they’re absolutely killer.
Damn. This was freakin’ great. Now I wish you two had a podcast, and wishing another podcast upon the world is one of the Prime Evil acts, but…I would’ve listened to you two go track by track through this whole discography. Dammit. \m/@@\m/
@@themetalmeltdownofficial Opeth fans have weird preferences but that is probably because of the change in style. And that is not a bad thing at all. It’s probably what makes Opeth such a great band also
April ethereal and the moor are amazing songs especially the moor the ending of that song is perfection. I just recently got into opeth and I am glad I got into them because they are brilliant. My favorite albums are still life, watershed, and my arms your hearse
I actually got into Opeth starting with Heritage, since I couldn’t handle the harsh vocals at the time. They then became my gateway into extreme metal. Still one of my favourite bands and I don’t think they’ve ever put out a bad album. My ratings: Orchid - 3.5 Morningrise - 4.5 My Arms, Your Hearse - 4.5 Still Life - 5 Blackwater Park - 5 Deliverance - 4.5 Damnation - 4 Ghost Reveries - 4.5 Watershed - 4.5 Heritage - 4 Pale Communion - 4 Sorceress - 3.5 In Cauda Venenum - 4
In Cauda Venenom was probably last on the list for me when it first came out, but after listening to it so many times by now I think it's some of the best new new stuff that they've come out with t date. It seems to be that way for me with every album they've come out with since heritage. Their sound matures faster than I do as a listener
What is it with metalheads and reeeeing hard when a band evolves their style? I mean I'm not a fan of later Opeth but I don't lose my shit and curl up into a ball about it.
Metalheads literally cannot handle change, its that simple. I mean just this year we've seen Gojira get bashed for having the AUDACITY to make money and good music at the same time (because I guess somehow even in a post-Black Album world, thats somehow impossible/illegal?), and the same metalheads who bitched that Deafheaven isn't metal are now complaining that Deafheaven isn't making anything remotely metal at all.
It's just a pretty standard human behavior - Resistance to change. Get a lot of reps in with something we like, change happens, complain about it. Generally speaking, more open minded people will not cause such a fuss about a band evolving.
1. Blackwater park 2. Ghost reveries 3. Watershed 4. Deliverance 5. Still life 6. My arms your hearse 7. Damnation 8. In cauda venenum 9. Morningrise 10. Orchid 11. Pale communion 12. Heritage 13. Sorceress
Without Opeth I would have never gotten into Extreme Music. Besides Death (You’ll definitely need to do them in the future) Opeth was only other band I listened to with Screaming Vocals. Orchid, Morningrise got me into Black Metal like Dissection, Agalloch, Ulver, Emperor. Enslaved and the everything else from My Arms your Hearse-Watershed led to me checking out a lot more Death Metal. One of my top 10 Metal bands of all time. Orchid: 8/10 Morningrise: 10/10 My Arms Your Hearse: 10/10 Still Life: 10/10 Blackwater Park: 9/10 Deliverance: 6/10 Damnation: 8/10 Ghost Reveries: 10/10 Watershed: 10/10 Heritage: 4/10 Pale Communion: 7/10 Sorceress: 2/10 ICV: 9/10
We'll see - Death is tough because like, all the albums are FUCKING GREAT. Like I feel like I'd be repeating myself really quickly ahaha. Who knows, I do love me some death afterall.
I've put my rankings below in current preference order.... Ghost Reveries, a bit like Orchid for me is the best traveling record....meaning it goes up and down my list the most so I get your points on them guys....Watershed for me is astonishing everytime....it feels so short....but damn sooooo sweet. That album has not moved from my top 5 Opeth ever....Heritage has grown the most over time on me. It is now like Watershed essential listening...Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum are clearly full blown heavy prog rock albums. 12 Morningrise 7/10 11 My Arms Your Hearse 8.5/10 10 Ghost Reveries 9/10 9 In Cauda Venenum 9/10 8 Orchid 9/10 7 Pale Communion 9.5/10 6 Blackwater Park 10/10 5 Watershed 10/10 4 Sorceress 10/10 3 Heritage 10/10 2 Damnation/Deliverance 10/10 1 Still Life 10/10🏆
My Arms thru Watershed are either flawless or near perfection to me....the BEST metal I have ever heard. Heritage thru ICV are essentially close to being as good as the classic era...they still have the haunting, mysterious, dark, brooding, and (sometimes) scary qualities. The first two albums are quite good, but the real magic starts with My Arms for me. SW set them on the course to up their game production and sound-wise. Great video, thanks lads. PS...the problem with Opeth for me is that they ruin most other metal for me....I cannot find another 'metal' band that resonates with me more than these records. Mikael is a once-in-a-lifetime natural musical genius for me a la Frank Zappa, Ian Anderson (Tull), Tim Smith (Cardiacs), Jon Anderson (Yes), Tom Waits, etc etc. PPS...soooo glad that you love Heritage and Pale Communion...amazing amazing dark records!
Orchid 9/10 Morningrise 10/10 My arms your hearse 9/10 Still life 10/10 Blackwater Park 10/10 Ghost reveries 10/10 Damnation 10/10 Deliverance 8/10 Watershed 10/10 Heritage 6/10 Pale Communion 8/10 In Cauda Venenum 10/10
Orchid 9/10 Morningrise 11/10 My arms your hearse 10/10 Still life 10/10 Blackwater park 10/10 Deliverance 10/10 Damnation 8/10 Ghost reveries 10/10 Watershed 9/10 Heritage 8/10 Pale comunion 9/10 Sorceress 8/10 In cauda venenum 7.5/10
Known this band for years, but just listened 2 of their albums. Really interested how their sound has evolved through the years. Damnation was first hard to chew for me, but I think it's getting Bitter.
Heritage is the most unprepared Opeth record . 13 out of 13 . A 5-5,5 out of ten. Slither is my favorite one. Pale Communion is a total masterpiece more than 8 out of 10 !.. EXTRAORDINARY
I'm one of the weirdos that loves Sorceress 😂 I think what this album lacks for most fans is enough 10 min banger tracks that they're used to getting. HOWEVER! It's loaded with a big variety of shorter tracks. It takes more work/patience than some of the other albums, but the payoff is great. Title track, Will o the Wisp, The Seven Sojourn, Strange Brew, A Fleeting Glance, Era, Spring MCMLXXIV, and even the nice little Sorceress 2...good stuff! Yeah its 70s prog rocky as hell and the production reflects that. It's just hard to get into this album if your expectation is set elsewhere and you're stuck in comparison mode. Give it some effort and the long term reward can be really great. I've listened to every Opeth album literally at least 200 times each and I come back to this one VERY often in comparison to others. I put it around 4th or 5th in my personal ranking of their albums, behind: Blackwater Park, Still Life, My Arms, Your Hearse, then closely tied with Ghost of Perdition 🤘
Agreed...Sorceress is generally as good as any album from Heritage thru ICV, but it takes more effort. The drum production is dogshit though unfortunately. The live tracks on Garden of the Titans sound SOOOO much better, especially in Ax's drum sound. Don't give up on this album guys, it still has the magical dark Mikael touch 🖤
Sorceress best songs are Will’O The Wisp first, Sorceress second; The Wildflowers third. But also The Seventh sojourn is a nice experimental Middle east song. The album deserves more than a 6 out of 10. IN CAUDA VENENUUM is a 7 out of 10 album you have to listen front to back. Heritage is boring as well and Sorceress and also more. chrysalis is a pretty good song too from Sorceress
Ghost Reveries is fucking perfect! I know not every song is a 10/10 banger, but every song works; The pacing is sublime, production immaculate, growls monstrous, drumming arguably the best ever (by Lopez) and a great marriage of what was best on Deliverance and Damnation.
I love every single album...so maybe I'm exception to the metalhead rule? I love many styles of music...but best thing about Opeth is that they hardly ever repeat themselves, evolve and always their riffs eventually grab you by the whasits. Let's face it they are fantastic song writers and pretty much nail their compositions in such a cool way Only Morningrise have I rated less than 9/10....they are best band in world for me🤠🤘Opeth!!!
You say not a lot of bands get it right on thier debut, and there are a lot of examples of this, but I'd say among legendary bands a lot of first albums could be considered if not thier best, at least unique and groundbreaking and creatively raw to the point of being close to thier best.
My only significant disagreement with first few albums with you guys....Orchid grew on me last and I'm glad it did...it sometimes migrates its way into my top 5 fave Opeth listens (4.5/5)....but it took time... Morningrise is my least listened to Opeth record....better get to it....but for me it is the only one that feels rough and repetitive despite its great parts (3.5/5)
I think they are going to diverge again....maybe heavier or more orchestration or both.....but I have to also say every album has growability....but get point .....wouldn't call recent albums a rutt unless they stop evolving....
my list in order of love Orchid 10 out of 10 My Arms Your Hearse 9.5 Still Life 9.5 Morningrise 8.5 Ghost Reveries 8 Deliverence 7.5 Damnation 7 Blackwater Park 8. A bit overrated to me and not nearly as magical as Still Life. and I don't fuck with the other albums too much but I appreciate them a bunch. People are tripping, Orchid is one of the best albums Sweden has ever kicked out.
Yeah there are way too many reviewers hung up on style over substance....I like GVF for their good music not for who they happen to sound like....enjoyable music deserves to be heard whatever it sounds like 👍👍 I still think Opeths identity is very strong on every record...wherever they venture...
Could someone help me understand if there is a stylistic reason behind the nasally vocal passages or the voice breaking at the end of lines on the most recent Opeth albums? His voice is not bad, but those aforementioned sounds are irritating. Is it stylistic, or just a unique technique of Mikael?
You know, I really came to like Pale Communion after a few years. I think it is a great album, but I can't agree that it is Opeth. I believe it really was Mikael's pet project and it is really good modern prog. That being said, my favorite Opeth album is a tie between My Arms Your Hearse and Deliverance. The latter is far more polished but brutal; also remember that Mikael was in Bloodbath at that time and they put out the HM2 blast of death called Resurrection Through Carnage the same year. I would also note that Heritage followed Mikael's growl voice decline and he also ended his time with Bloodbath only a year after Heritage was released. I did like Heritage when it was released and for a couple years after, but I just don't like it now. I think it is too confused on what it was trying to be; and frankly, I was just put aback by the lack of energy when I saw them in 2011 for the Heritage tour. The crowd was not really digging it. I admit to not listening to anything past Pale Communion, but they have so many good albums before that point that I am not complaining. Thanks for thoughts on the band. Also, the lineup changes and Mikael's voice change seemed to drastically affect the direction Opeth has gone on.
In all honesty I wouldn´t consider myself a big fan of this band. However I do find them to be really interesting and thus I decided to go through their whole discography a few months ago. I haven´t listened to their latest two records yet. The only thing out of those I can comment is that I kind of like the song "Sorceress", but its´ catchiness is probably its´ biggest problem. I´m totally fed up with that song. The rest of their discography I will rank now: 11: Pale communion 5.5/10 Didn´t surprise me cause I´m not that much into prog rock. It can be interesting at times but especially in the middle of the record it gets boring. "Faith in others" is the only song I would go back to. 10: Heritage 6/10 Probably their most technical record, at least out of those I know. It delivers an interesting listen and therefore is a good album, but like I said this style isn´t my cup of tea. The beautiful symphonic ending of "Folklore" is pretty much the only sequence of the whole record that made me feel something. 9: Orchid 6/10 The band had way too many ideas on their debut, many many good ideas, but they weren´t able to organise them in any coherent way. The songs aren´t structered well, in fact I´d say they aren´t even structured at all. This album is a complete mess and "immature" is probably the perfect discription for it. I still like it somehow. 8 (pease don´t kill me Quest for metal): Still life 7/10 Out of the classic Opeth era this is the one that I like the least. I´m not the biggest fan of "Godhead´s lamnent". My favourites are "The moor" and "Moonlapse vertigo". "Benighted" is also great. But the highlights on this album happen to be weaker than the highlights on each of the higher ranked albums for me. 7: Damnation 7/10 Contrary to the rest of Opeth´s discography this album is pure easy listening. It´s short, on point and the songs aren´t that complex. It´s no masterpiece but I enjoy it quite a bit for its´ relaxing vibes and beautiful melodies. 6: Watershed 7/10 Hot take: I think "Lotus eater" is the weakest track on the album and one of Opeth´s worst songs in general. For once they go insanly fast with a blast beat and they completely ruin the moment with this annoying vocal melody. But there is also plenty to like on Watershed, especially the intro "Coil" and "Porcelain heart". Not to forget "Heir apparent", one of their heaviest songs. 5: Ghost reveries 7/10 Probably the songwriting peak of their entire career. "Ghost of perdition", "Baying of the hounds" and "Reverie/ Harlequin forest" are just so masterfully constructed, it´s really mindblowing. But even those songs, while still being excellent, have their lenghts. Exaggerating length is also a huge problem of "The grand conjuration", which starts with this sinister mood, but kind of goes nowhere towards the middle section. Also "Beneath the mire" and "Atonement" aren´t that amazing either. 4: Deliverance 7/10 About on par with Ghost reveries. I mainly rank it higher for being more consistent. Apart from the instrumenal "For absent friend", which is filler, I like every song on the album, especially the evil sounding "Wreath". 3: Blackwater park 7/10 I never really got why Opeth managed to get mainstream attention with this record. It´s not more appealing than Still life. Maybe it´s the details like the pretty catchy lead melodies in "Bleak" and "The drapery falls". What I don´t like about this record is Akerfeldt´s clean vocals. They sound so Porcupine tree-ish and I´m not a fan of this band. Apart from that it is pretty consistent + the title track is my favourite Opeth song and pretty much the only song by this band i would call a straight up masterpiece. 2. Morningrise 8/10 I like the rawness of Opeth´s early era and the songwriting of their later records. Although the songwriting on Morningrise still isn´t on the level of pretty much any Opeth album that followed, it was still a huge step up from Orchid. I´m really into the dark mood and raw production of thia album. Also the melodies and clean parts are just beautiful. Excellent record! 1. My arms, your hearse 8/10 I consider this to be the magnum opeth. This is where Opeth started being Opeth as far as their typical songwriting goes, but we still have that rawness from the early days. Also this album is so well executed as a concept record. The songs flow inanother perfectly and on top of that most of them are excellent.
I feel like at this time Opeth has pretty much exhausted all their creativity for making purely prog rock albums. While I love everything from Heritage and onward it just seems like the correct move would be to make a return to extreme metal.
Eh. The reason people don't bite Emmure's style is because it's not all that iconic or, well... good. Not saying Opeth is trying to bite Crimson's style! I agree this is coming from a place of genuine love for the sound. That said, the 'Emmure' argument is bad, and GvF is not something I'd bring up to defend Opeth leaning heavily into 70s influences.
Great production Deliverance man!?.. come on?.. masterclass of celestial songwriting is!.. but not good production, also Mike was really disappointed about Deliverance. Instead DAMNATION is perfectly produced
My ranking. Orchid: 3/5 (Decent record. Can't stand the last song though.) Morningrise:: 4/5 ( Great record. I got nothing negative to say about it. To bid you farewell is a masterpiece song.) My Arms, your hearse: 4/5 (Pretty much the same as morningrise. Credence and The Amen Corner are very overlooked) Still Life: 6/5 (breaking the scale!) Blackwater Park: 5.5/5 (Still Life has the edge for me. Still a scale breaker.) Deliverance: 4/5 (slightly worse Blackwater Park. But that's still great!) Damnation: 3.5/5 (Like the highest I can give without crossing over to Morningrise level) Ghost Reveries: 4.5/5 (I love this record nearly as much as I love Blackwater and Still Life) Watershed: 4/5 (Much like deliverance is to Blackwater Park, Watershed is to Ghost Reveries. Just not as good as the last.) I haven't listened to the newpeth records enough to rate them. Great video Robert! 🤘
I'm a lot harsher on Morningrise than most Opeth fans, I cannot get past the bad performances, and it feels like they bit off more than they could chew with out of tune vocals, mistimed drums and bad bass harmonization in spots. I feel like at the skill level they were at they just couldn't pull it off and were much more practiced on Orchid. Morningrise is my second least favourite Opeth album, Otherwise, strong agreements with most of this video, though Pale Communion isn't as high for me.
Except for To Bid You Farewell, Orchid is better than Morningrise. First for the production. Mikael is right to consider Morningrise his personal least favorite
Orchid 3.5 Morningrise 4 My Arms, Your Hearse 4 Still Life 4.5 Blackwater Park 5 Deliverance 3 Damnation 3.5 Ghost Reveries 4 Watershed 3.5 Heritage 3.5 Pale Communion 3 Sorceress 2.5 In Cauda 1.5
Your review of sorceress shows me you are posing all the way thru. You hate that album because everyone told you it's bad. Well, it is not. There's no way in this world you can make heritage a 4.5 album while sorceress is 1.5. No way.
@@themetalmeltdownofficial Sorceress is a stronger album than Heritage which, aside the awesome cover art, is the weakest album in Opeth's catalog. Deal with it.
I love all the Opeth albums when they were still metal, except Watershed. That one doesn't quite do it for me. It does have a few great tracks, but overall, it just seems strange & disjointed. I have no interest in the prog rock albums.
Kind of disappointing that you did that big video on homophobia in metal and then collab with a guy I stopped watching for using transphobic slurs but whatever I guess
I can't speak for Questy nor can I recall these specific events (truthfully im a lil hungover right now as I type, that may be why), but I can tell you Questy is a good person and a good friend. As important as it is to hold people accountable, its just as important to give them second chances.
