Opeth help

Alright Ladies and Gentlemen,
I was always a holdout b/c I'm not a fan of growly/cookie monster vocals , but Reveries has grown on me.
Really grown on me! It's a beautiful, haunting disc that stays with me hours after a listen.
So what's a new Opeth convert to purchase next?
Usually I go back to a band's first album and work my way forward but what would the experienced Opeth fan suggest next?
Thanks in advance!!
C.

Since you're not a fan of the cookie monster vocals, I'd just work my way backwards if I were you. The farther you go back, the less clean vocals there are.

Go ahead and grab Watershed next, it's a perfect coupling with Ghost Reveries and is just as beautiful and a little more progressive.

Then, here's the cheapest way to get the majority of their other albums.

Opeth Box Set (Koch) - This contains all the "Steven Wilson produced" material; Blackwater Park, Deliverance, Damnation & Lamentations (live). The box set is the only place to get the live discs. Cheap box, used copies usually go for about $24.

http://www.amazon.com/Limited-Box-Set-Opeth/dp/B000HRMEE6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1294023735&sr=8-1

Then get "Still Life" individually and grab the box set "The Candlelight Years" for the first 3 albums.

I also HIGHLY recommend their live DVD releases, especially the Live At Royal Albert Hall concert.

Opeth has quickly become my favorite band of the past 20 years.

Thanks Rex and Detuned for the replies and the great suggestions!
Lots more Opeth on the way,
Very appreciated,
C.

If you don't like death growls then get Damnation. There are NO growls on that one, all singing.

I love Opeth but I could never get into Damnation.

If you liked Reveries then I recommend Blackwater Park and Still Life for your next purchases.

I bought those well before they were released in a boxset or as special editions so I can only recommend them as stand alone albums. However if you can find good deals such as the box set that was mentioned then go for it.

By this point I own all of Opeth's releases. If you find that the death / black metal vocals grow on you, I'd also recommend Orchid and My Arms Your Hearse.

Morningrise is my personal favorite

Watershed is good.

But i'm not a huge fan of opeth in general

Blackwater Park is their best IMO

Deliverance is very good as well

Blackwater Park is a great record, but they all are. I actually prefer the albums right before and after it (Still Life, Deliverance)

Damnation is a beautiful record, that was what originally peaked my interest. The band wanted to release it together with Deliverance as a double CD set, but the record label wanted two separate releases. They work so well together, I always listen to them back to back. It's also fun to program a playlist of those albums and shuffle them together.

I'll be keeping tabs on this thread. I'm curious about these guys as well, but can only take the growls in small doses.

I am a high school choir director by profession, but a long time fan of progressive music (listened to my brother's Kansas albums as a kid and was immediately hooked!), particularly metal. I heard Blackwater Park first and was so struck by the level of musicianship in the instruments that I was able to tolerate the growls. That and the stark beauty of Åkerfeldt's clean voice. I caught on quickly to the brutal beauty (or is it beautiful brutality?) of their style; juxtaposing the growls and clean vocals over the heavy, progressive music. Then I saw them live and they have become one of my favorite bands. I realized, as a vocal instructor, that Åkerfeldt must be growling "correctly" in order to use both voices live night after night, otherwise his clean voice would suffer. Incredible! I agree with detuned and Rex, get "Watershed" then work backwards if you are unsure about the growls. On their earliest albums, some of the vocals are more of a black metal rasp as if Åkerfeldt wasn't sure which direction to take the vocals. By "My Arms..." he has settled into the deep, death growl. Enjoy the exploration. This is a band that does not really fit any mold!

You all ready have the best Opeth album, so I would recomend this masterpiece:

There isn't a single bad Opeth album. I would say they all fall between "very good" and "excellent".

Just wanted to drop in and thank everyone for their well thought out replies.
Didn't want to insult anyone with my personally not being fond of growls, but Reveries has turned me a bit. I think it's similar to what "quoththeraven" wrote in that it's the clean vocals over great music with growls, but they're not over the top. It has started out as tolerance, but I'm really coming around to them on Reveries. I have a few more of the suggested titles on the way (can't wait) and will also check out "Into Eternitiy - the scattering of ashes" suggested by troublemagnet. Listened to some previews of that one and it sounds like a "kick you in the tenders" type album.
This is why I'm glad I found this board. Broadening my horizons one CD at a time. Thanks all!!!
C.

I'm going to test the waters with Damnation. I listened to allot of clips yesterday and I just don't think I can handle the growls. Harsh vocals I can get accustomed too. But when I can't understand what the guy is saying, I have to pass. Shame too, cause the music is so awesome.

I'd 2nd that nomination for Into Eternity as well. Nice use of clean & harsh vocals without being grating.

IMO, Still Life is their best album...its my favorite anyway...

troublemagnet wrote:

You all ready have the best Opeth album, so I would recomend this masterpiece:

I'd have to say "Dead Or Dreaming" is my fav.

Rex wrote:

troublemagnet wrote:

You all ready have the best Opeth album, so I would recomend this masterpiece:

I'd have to say "Dead Or Dreaming" is my fav.

Yeah, I agree. "Buried in Oblivion" is amazing also.

So many great bands I just can't appreciate because of their growling vocals.

Both Opeth and Into Eternity fall into that category for me. I really like the songs but when Cookie Monster takes over, I'm out.

I can tolerate brief growling but both of these bands use it too much for my tastes.

I agree to get Still Life, but get Blackwater Park soon after. Those growls will grow on you.

Lurideath wrote:

I agree to get Still Life, but get Blackwater Park soon after. Those growls will grow on you.

Yes they are damnit. They would be easy to dismiss if they weren't such a good band, but they're good, they're growly and they're growing on me.

Welcome to the fold!

As for the "growls"...here was my experience.

1. I heard some clips of the band and avoided them for about 6 months because of the vocals.

2. Then I watched the "Lamentations" DVD, they perform the entire Damnation album and I was blown away by the songwriting & musicianship. The vocals on the heavy stuff still bothered me at the time...

3. As my desire to hear their music grew (like an infection) I began to listen to everything and I was "tolerating" the growls because the music was so awe inspiring.

4. Then all of a sudden I realized I really LIKED the growls, I came to the conclusion that it totally fit their style and the agressive parts make the melodic segments even more beautiful by contrast. It's just one part of their sonic palette.

So now I like it all. This really wasn't much different than getting used to listening to more of the "outside leaning" jazz. The later Impulse recordings of John Coltrane used to be "too intense" for me when I first checked it out...it sounded like noise...but once I learned the vocabulary, that same music now sound intensely beautiful to me.

The best art always requires some effort on the part of the observer/listener.

The growling part never bothered me. I was into death metal and more aggressive forms of thrash well before I discovered Opeth (circa 2000). My first band with 'growling' vocals was Sepultura in the mid-90s albums like Arise and Chaos AD, which enabled me to cross over and enjoy heavier bands with 'growling' vocals.

Ironically the clean vocals took a while to grow on me - Blackwater Park wasn't an instant classic with me but it became one of my favorite albums by the band and really of the last 10 years.

However, the first Opeth album that won me over happened to be their debut, Orchid. It doesn't generate as much interest and discussion as latter day Opeth albums but for me Orchid remains their best. It was raw, cold and atmospheric. It remains one of the best albums to play on a cold winter night.