Love them or hate them. Personally, they are one of my favourite bands and love everything up to Ghost Reveries. I am particularly fond of the heavy Jazz influence in their early material and how it shows so clearly in the album Orchid. Their prog influence can be fun to listen to as well in albums such as GR. Bloodbath is also great. The Death Metal band that Opeth never was.

I think they are boring. I like some songs, but I can't really say I like them.

I like Opeth. I don't listen to them very often but I appreciate their music and can enjoy the albums which I have (mid-era to newer stuff) when I'm in the mood. I suppose my favorite albums would be Blackwater Park and Deliverance.

I have to be in sort of a "mood" to listen to Opeth..
But Still Life is still one of my favorite albums.

I like them, but I'm not exactly a fanboy. The atmosphere is cool, and the song structures are interesting, but most of the time, I just don't want to sit through a 10-minute song.

I bought Still Life (my second Opeth album, after Deliverance) yesterday, and I'm still digesting it.

Opeth is probably my most consistent favourite band. They were the first extreme metal band I ever listened to. I have all their albums (spare Watershed...I'm working on it) and I love them all. I don't have a preference older stuff versus their newer material, even though there is a vast difference, because I just enjoy it all so much. Around this time last year, I was listening to Ghost Reveries at least once (some times five times) every day for the span of about three months. Orchid has some of the best counterpoint of any album ever. I wasn't too fond of Watershed when I first heard it, but now I feel like it is the epitome of who Opeth are as a band (even though it might not be their best musically, if that makes sense). All the unique elements that were left in the background, so to speak, on other albums are brought out in front and in full on Watershed.

I like them. Yeah, sometimes they can be a bit boring and pretentious, but I think that may be the point of the whole thing. I happen to like long songs, and I think that Opeth does a nice job in adding just enough elements in each one to at least keep it interesting. One of the most common arguments I've heard against them is the whole "the songs are too random" thing. I own their discography, and can count on one hand how many times Opeth has made me go "Huh?". I just think they're one of those genuine "love 'em or hate 'em" bands, and are just sort of an acquired taste. I don't think they're gods or anything, but I definitely can't name another band that's doing exactly what they're currently doing.

Not really a big fan of the first two albums (should check those out again) and I thought "Still Life" was a bit too long. However, "Ghost Reveries", "My Arms, Your Hearse" and "Watershed" are all fantastic albums. "Damnation" is also something to keep on stand by on rainy days, which is good in my book.

"Pretension is but dust"- Tom G. Warrior

They could have been better, imo. They seem monotonous to me the last time I heard their music, which was years ago.

I've been into Opeth for awhile now. I own all of their releases, save for Orchid. They are an interesting band to listen to, especially the aforementioned Jazzy influenced earlier material. Lopez should have never left the band.. However, this is not to say that I favor the older material over the newer, because I love them both respectively.

Orchid and My Arms, Your Hearse are amazing. Two of my favorite records, especially Orchid, but since I overplayed it MA, YH has been creeping up on it.

Morningrise and Blackwater Park are okay. Morningrise is too much like Orchid. Blackwater Park is just, missing something. It doesn't have the spirit that invigorated their first and third albums.

I cannot stand Still Life. Don't ask me why, because I don't know.

Ghost Reveries was really disappointing, and I haven't picked up Watershed yet.

Damnation is good for what it is. I haven't heard Deliverance.

Still Life is actually my favorite Opeth album. In fact it is the only album that I can fully listen without skipping any boring part. Other than that, I prefer to listen to songs rather than entire albums, and I really enjoy what I hear.
The biggest problem I find with Opeth is that they tend to add numerous boring sections to their songs, normally putting soft interludes in the middle of heavier songs, and which also happen to be quite long, so in the end I feel that some albums (ie: Blackwater Park) could have been much better had the boredom been cut short.

I used to love them, still think they're pretty good, but I wouldn't put them in my top 10 bands.

10 Minutes isn't that long for a song, but I do have to find time to listen to their longer ones such as Black Rose Immortal which ends at around 20min.

Pretty boring band. I guess I just am not one to like that sort of music. The latest album...well, read my review. And the stuff I've heard from before it has mostly just been really dull and pretentious and not my thing at all.

I honestly don't get the appeal Opeth has. I enjoy Ghost Reveries well enough, and Blackwater Park is alright, but I can't listen to entire albums at once. The music really wears on me after a song or two, and I find myself simply bored.

Like everyone else though, I agree Akerfeldt is a good vocalist.

That's the one thing that I do not understand. Akerfeldt is a terrible vocalist. His clean vocals are some of the worst I've ever heard from a band that big and established and well-liked, and his growls are just dull and unmemorable.

Opeth is my favorite band next to maybe Agalloch.

Love the vocals, lyrics, music and atmosphere.

I used to be into Opeth alot, then I realized how repetitive and formulaic they are.

I really enjoy their first four albums. I actually think Morningrise is one of the best written albums they have released. The musicianship on it is absolutely amazing as well. Advent and Nectar are songs I listen to multiple times whenever I listen to that album. It's actually difficult for me to get all the way through Morningrise without hitting repeat at least twice or wanting to rewind the song to hear a subtle harmony or nuance that's been included.

I would say that My Arms, Your Hearse would be my second favorite album with Still Life and Orchid tied for third. After those, I actually felt they began to go downhill. Watershed is a mess. I knew it would be though. I listened to the album and HATED the culmination to every song.

I like 'em. They were the band got me into heavier forms of metal. I haven't listened to them in a while though since I can't find my Opeth cd's.

Their older stuff is great, I particularly like Morningrise and Still Life best, the latter is easily one of the my favourite albums ever. It's the story that gives it that extra depth, plus there's more focus on acoustics and layering which give it a more complicated sound. Orchid, MYAH and Blackwater Park are all great albums too.

However, their newer stuff doesn't interest me much. Deliverance and Damnation were a nice change but Ghost Reveries and their newest Watershed lack what make Opeth a great band in my eyes. It sounds too simplistic (lacks that big sound) and there's too much focus on Prog for my liking plus somehow they've managed to make their transitions less slick over the years.

I like them a lot, don't find them boring or pretentious. Probably because I listen to a lot of prog, so a 12 minute song is like a 5 minute song to me now.


I got into them around Blackwater Park, took me a bit to get into it at the time, but now I love it.



I still haven't delved deep into their first 4 albums except Still Life, I love the song 'White Cluster'.

No, 10 minutes isn't very long by prog standards (see: Edge Of Sanity - Crimson) but most times I'd rather listen to a 4 or 5-minute burst of energy from a more conventional melodic death band like Arch Enemy, rather than a 10-minute atmospheric song.

Like them, with few exceptions. I'd have to sy I prefer their older stuff over new, mainly Orchid. Watershed was decent, not up to par with the older albums, but I didn't like Ghost Reveries at all.

I don't believe this thread was a good idea. I do like Opeth but I know that it is quite controversial to like them within the metal community (especially this one...). If you wanted to talk about Opeth you'd probably get better responses from their official forum.

Anyway my two cents; Watershed is their worst. Blackwater Park is overrated. First 4 albums will always be the best. Fred is better than Peter. They really struggle to write a song that is fluid and moves smoothly through each section. Too much stop starting.

There we go.

Edit: Jazz influence? Not much to be found I'm afraid. What jazz do you listen to OP?

My Arms, Your Hearse is actually my favorite album of all time.

My Arms, Your Hearse was one of the first albums with harsh vocals I ever bought. I really liked it at the time. Eventually I pretty much stopped listening to it. This may have been partly a reaction to Opeth becoming the band for some people I knew, and them being very pushy about worshipping them while I just didn't feel the same. So I would parrot the anti-Opeth line just to annoy them and to an extent began to believe it a bit. Despite that I would sometimes put MAYH on when I could think of nothing else to play and would decide to dust something off. I still enjoyed it somewhat. Lately, I've been interested in mid 1990s variations on death metal, of which early Opeth was a part, so I bought Orchid with some gift money. It should come in the mail in the next few days.

I've never really understood the appeal in Opeth. I've always thought they were boring as hell, and the music fails to captivate me on any level. They have some really great riffs some of the time, but all of their songs I've heard somehow comes out sounding pretentious. I also hate the clean vocals.

I would consider Opeth as one of my favorite bands. The music, lyrics, and art incorporated into each album is my definition of perfect, unsoiled creativity. I enjoy all their albums, but I have to say Damnation gets a tad boring after a while. My favorites would be My Arms, Your Hearse and Orchid, due to their aggressive approach while keeping the music atmospheric, catchy and poetic. As I'm thinking about it, the only song I really don't think is thought out all the way through is Karma; something about that song makes me think it's a filler track.

I often think about how different they would be today if Nordin and Lindgren were still in the band. Anders was exceptional at drumming as well as piano (as heard in Silhouette), and Peter wasn't to bad at guitar either. I'm sure Watershed would have been more aggressive and interesting if both did not depart from the crew.

Hate Opeth. There, said my peace.

I have recently gotten into Opeth. They are on of the most original bands Ive come across. Opeth is best when you have the time to enjoy listening to an album in its entirety. I wouldnt just put on one of their songs and change to a different band.

Opeth are easily one of my favorite bands. I think Mikael Åkerfeldt's vocals are fantastic (both the clean vocals and the grunts - both have an atmosphere to them for me). I also think he's an amazing song-writer.

Unlike what someone else said, I don't find them to be very stop/start; I think they're pretty good at transitioning from one section to the next. I also think they're all great musicians (especially Mikael Åkerfeldt and former drummer Martin Lopez - particularly Martin Lopez).

"Watershed" is the only album of their's that I find to be of lesser quality (sans "Damnation, but only because that's an entirely different monster - though I do like the album), but that only be in comparison to my high expectations for the band.

I can understand someone not liking Opeth, but I will never understand how someone could say that they suck and are completely untalented. maybe I'm too biased to see it, but my brain just can't accept it.

As for those who find them to just be pretentious: do you find all prog. to be pretentious? If not, what about Opeth makes them pretentious? Not trying to fight or anything, I just don't see it, and am thus curious.

Everything you said lined up with my thoughts on 'em, except that last part. However, I haven't listened to Damnation next to nothing for some reason.

I find them really boring. Just the same wave of those new 'progressive' bands that try to mask their lack of good songwriting as being 'like so deep and shit, man'. There are some good guitar parts, like those melodic leads at the beginning of The Drapery Falls, but the rest falls short, really.

I think Watershed was very Stop/Start and that watered it down a bit. I found that to be dissapointing.

On Another note, I agree with Watershed being a weaker album but it is still not a bad album by any means. Its still a masterpeice in its own.

Curiously enough I have a feeling that My Arms, Your Hearse would be an album I'd love (and Still Life for that matter) if I'd take the time to actually buy the damn things.

I say without Lindgren and Lopez (especially), they are largely unfocused and disconnected. Although Akerfeldt thinks he can do it all (like Dave Wyndorf from MM who was one of my favorite bands in the 90's) he can't. He needs those other guys to bring forth greatness. I think MAYH through Ghost Reveries had something amazing going on.

I gave the new album a chance and my reservations and pre-conceived notions about the album all became confirmed. It almost always seems as if certain members with fingerprints leave bands that their next output usually is somewhat sub-par.

I used to like them a lot more than I do now. I still listen to Still Life, My Arms Your Hearse, and Blackwater Park quite a bit, but have not been at all impressed with their last few albums.

While they certainly aren't among my top favorites anymore, Opeth will always have a special place in my heart because I followed them from their earliest works. From a progressive rock/metal standpoint, they are very impressive musicians. Whomever said Mikael Åkerfeldt is a horrible clean vocalist is misguided or has mistaken him for someone else. Another reason why I got into them so much is because growing up, I was a huge fan of The Moody Blues' late 60's early 70's songs like Tuesday Afternoon and The Story in Your Eyes. Åkerfeldt's clean vocals sound alot like Justin Hayward's did. So when I first heard that type of prog-ish music crossed with extreme metal, I was really hooked.

Perhaps it's just a metter of Mikael Åkerfeldt not yet knowing how to maximize the abilities of the new members. Maybe the next album will pick back up. This theory/idea might be a stretch though...

It might be a stretch, but it's just my experience from being a music fan. There are many exceptions to that of course.