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Posted by: VinceG Oct 14 2008, 12:20 AM

I know we have quite an Opeth fan boys/girls here in GMC so I'd like to bring up this question. Is Opeth considered Death Metal?

I contemplate this because of the fact that except for Mikael's vocal work being in a death growl, nothing in the band has the sound of Death Metal. Its like Children of Bodom for instance. There not Death Metal, yet people lump them to a genre of DM just because of there vocal work. Surely these bands could be called Extreme Prog Bands (Opeth) or Extreme Power Metal (CoB), but not Death Metal... not to me anyway. I know by 95, Death Metal sure had a stable sound even though its been mixed with different genres, it still retained the essence of what Death Metal constitutes. If you do see them as Death Metal, then explain to me how so because I fail to see them as a Death Metal band.

Posted by: Guitarman700 Oct 14 2008, 02:41 AM

Hmm. Well, i read a recent interview with Mikeal, where he said he doesnt consider Opeth Death Metal, he considers them progressive metal, and i agree with him, they may have death growls, but so does "deathcore" and thats not death metal!

Posted by: opeth.db Oct 14 2008, 02:52 AM

What guitarman said^^.

Opeth rules.

Posted by: jer Oct 14 2008, 04:08 AM

Opeth = Awesome.

They cannot be labeled. They are like no other band out there.

Posted by: VinceG Oct 14 2008, 04:17 AM

Actually, Opeth is pretty straightforward when it comes to the music. Seriously, they've been doing the same element for more than a decade. There music is not that complicated at all.

Posted by: jer Oct 14 2008, 04:21 AM

QUOTE (VinceG @ Oct 13 2008, 10:17 PM)

Posted by: VinceG Oct 14 2008, 04:36 AM

Not really. The whole Opeth cannot be labeled is really a big lame joke. I like Opeth and all, but I hate the fact that I can pin point where they would play acoustic in the middle of there heavy songs.

Posted by: jer Oct 14 2008, 04:38 AM

Well sho wme a label they fit into.

Cuz that means there are other bands I need to hear!!!

Being predictable and being like other bands is two completely different things.

I have yet to hear anyone like Opeth.

Posted by: VinceG Oct 14 2008, 04:57 AM

Extreme Prog seems to fit them right. No one really sounds like Opeth though. But that label seems to fit them right in a sense.

Anyway, back to the topic, I think we all pretty much agree that there not Death Metal haha.

Posted by: Fullmetal_Tmd Oct 14 2008, 05:08 AM

Lol, they were Death Metal-ish early on, but they simply evolved beyond that. Opeth might not of been the typical "play fast, growl, blast-beat, solo, repeat" death metal band that plagued the scene for a while, they tried to develop their own signature sound. that way when you listened to them, you would know its OPETH, not just another band that sounds like Cannibal Corpse =/.
Besides, its not like there's a textbook telling every band how to play a certain genre accordingly. If everybody conformed to the standards, we wouldn't have the diversity of today, would we?

Posted by: VinceG Oct 14 2008, 05:54 AM

Standards are still a setting point on what you want your sound to be. If Death Metal didnt have a standard sound, then whats the point of calling it DM or BM or Doom. I do agree on the diversity we have today though, but if a band plays Death Metal, then they would draw major attention on what Death Metal sounds like and pulling there own sound from it, and making it there own.

What Opeth did on the early days, yes I could see that, especially on Orchid, but the only thing that makes them still be considered as Death Metal is the vocal style. Not the buzz saw of riffs that slaughter or the drums that oozes of demonic possessions. Id hate to be one sided, but those are the standards of Death Metal, not just death growls.

Posted by: Ian Bushell Oct 14 2008, 06:43 AM

I haven't heard tons of Opeth's music but from what i've heard they're a really talented and tight band.
I'd say they are way more than a death metal band:)

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Oct 14 2008, 09:11 AM

They aren't good enough to be classed as a death metal band. And they certainly don't sound like one. Very early stuff is a bit of death metal but now they are just copying everybody else with the blend of acoustic and electric. Mercyful Fate did it years ago and it isn't anything new. Don't get me wrong I do like the first 4 Opeth albums but now they are one of the worst bands around in my opinion. That Stephen Wilson is to blame and he annoys the hell out of me. Everything he touches turns to rubbish. Way too soft and girly now. They are as soft as the Spice Girls.

My gran's local bingo hall is more death metal than Opeth

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Oct 14 2008, 11:15 AM

QUOTE (jer @ Oct 14 2008, 05:08 AM)

Posted by: Fsgdjv Oct 14 2008, 11:38 AM

OrganizedConfusion: So you mean that a band has to be good for you to call them death metal? That sounds weird, but now I know that I'll have to ask you if you approve of a band before labeling them as death.

And about the topic: No, they are not death metal, in the same way as they are not progressive rock, not singer singwriter and nothing else. If you deny that they have some riffs here and there that would fit in a death metal song then you're just ingorant. (Come on, some riffs sound like they are stolen from Trey Azagthoth's head, not many but there are some), but I would definetly not classify them as Death Metal, but comparing it to COD is just stupid, Opeth have deathgrowls, COB doesn't even have that, so labeling them Death Metal is even more stupid.

And I consider Orchid and Morningrise to be even less death metal than the later releases, since there are one or two riffs that would fit in a death metal songs in the later records, but the first two are just undefinable, awesome, but not like anything else. I see more similarities in the mood to some black metal-bands than I see to some death bands in the first records.

But as an aswer, no, they aren't death metal, but I do see how someone I doesn't listen to DM could mix it up.

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Oct 14 2008, 11:44 AM

No I mean that I love Death Metal so if they really are Death Metal then they are a really poor band compared to other bands that I class as Death Metal.

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Oct 14 2008, 01:42 PM

No need to form a discussion in what genre they belong, if you like the music, you listen it, it's that simple after all.

Posted by: jer Oct 14 2008, 01:52 PM

Makes me think of the youtube classic "Ed's Guide To Metal"

Check it out.

Posted by: steiner666 Oct 14 2008, 07:20 PM

I love Opeth. But, I'll admit, the first time i listened to them i wasn't too enthralled. The softer parts of the songs bored me and some (pretty much all of Damnation) put me to sleep. It wasn't like a "Wow! This is the best band I've ever heard!" sort of revelation. In fact, it took a while for me to get to the point where I'd even list them among my favorites, and, truth be told, I still skip past as many songs as I listen to on most of their albums. The incredible vocals
and memorable guitar melodies/riffs are what I really love about Opeth's music. Not because they're the most technical and complex compositions from a musical standpoint, but just because they sound good and get stuck in your head.

I will agree that some of the acoustic/clean electric parts are a bit predictable, and almost seem obligatory after a while, but sometimes the dynamic effect of it is powerful. As my preference leans towards different forms of death metal, I would very much like the next Opeth album to have more heavy songs than Watershed. But, as others have said, I don't want them to just start sounding like everyone else, with a set formula or pattern to their music.

Opeth is Opeth, they're a gap-bridging sort of band. I'm very much a metalhead and I love them for their heaviness, while other people (like my mother for example) may like them for their softer parts.

Posted by: opeth.db Oct 14 2008, 07:50 PM

You make great points steiner.

It took me a while to really appreciate them as well. Mikael is just a riff master when it comes to his band.
Your right Opeth is Opeth. Thats why no one else is like them. True originals in their craft if you ask me.

Its a good thing music is subjective to the listener. If I listen to what people has told me what was good or not I'd be listening to the new Metallica CD. lol

And Don't get me started about Mike Patton.

Posted by: Disturbed21 Oct 14 2008, 09:58 PM

The newer stuff=Progressive Death Metal. If not then just progressive metal. However you do hear progressive and doom metal elements more than you hear death metal. This is my opinion of course.