the Opeth corner

[Aggie87]

[Uncle Skid]

AWESOME!!!!!

[Quincy]

OMG, Opeth has a new member!

[BFrank]

No WAY!!!!

[Shawn]

Hell Yeah!

How was the show?

[jazzbo]

Very cool Erik!

[Aggie87]

Hell Yeah!

How was the show?

Opeth was fantastic! I really enjoyed their performance - very atmospheric, moody show, with a wide range of sounds/styles. Even my wife thought they were pretty good, and she wasn't sure what she was getting into for the night.

Mastodon was cool, but I'm not very familiar with their music, only have Crack the Skye. There were probably more Mastodon fans at the show than Opeth fans, despite Opeth being the headliner (at least here in Corpus). They had one or two more melodic songs, and the rest were very heavy/aggressive.

We missed Ghost unfortunately, got to the show late (after going fishing lol), so I have no idea how they are live.

I think you'll love the show, Shawn!

[Shawn]

Storm Corrosion (Steven Wilson & Mikael Akerfeldt) have unveiled their first official video from their upcoming debut album.

Beautiful stuff!

Edited April 24, 2012 by Shawn

[Aggie87]

I think you'll love the show, Shawn!

...and? How was it??

[Shawn]

I think you'll love the show, Shawn!

...and? How was it??

Sorry it took me so long to post the review.

I had unfortunately missed the prior shows by Opeth and Ghost since I arrived in L.A., so I jumped at this show when it was first announced. Opeth, Mastodon and Ghost is actually kind of an odd combination, but an intriguing one.

GHOST opened the show on a humorous note when the singer did his best Bela Lugosi imitation and said "Good EVE-EN-ING Tinsel TOWN!" The L.A. crowd was really into their set, they are a really fun band and have good energy live. They did the majority of Opus Eponymous, they stick fairly close to the studio versions though "Satan Prayer" has been rearranged and extended for the live setting. They don't move around much, so don't expect acrobatics. The backing vocals are handled via samples and are played by the keyboardist, it works fine. Overall a tight band with a good presence. My friend who accompnied me to the show thought Ghost sounded punchier and heavier live, I agree with him. The bass player was really impressive, incredibly HUGE tone, he really stood out in the mix.

Next up was Mastodon (the two headliners trade off closing the show, though they play identical length 70 minute sets regardless)

I've been curious to see MASTODON for awhile, I'm a casual fan, really liking some of their material (Crack The Skye in particular) while still not being completely won over. The optimum word to describe their set was pummeling. Since the word "Hunter" is featured in the name of the tour I figured it would be heavily steered toward that album, I was correct as they performed the majority of The Hunter. In addition they also played 2 songs from Crack The Skye, 1 song from Blood Mountain and 2 songs from Leviathan.

On the positive side they were very tight, the vocals have improved considerably and they had great energy. The problem I had with their set was that all their songs have such "busy" arrangements (there's not a second of breathing space anywhere) that after awhile it all started to blur together. It also didn't help that they don't take any breaks between songs or talk to the crowd. The same songs I liked on The Hunter were the ones that stood out in concert, I was especially impressed with "Octopus Has No Friends" and the title track, Opeth's keyboardist sat in on a couple songs that require keys. The biggest crowd reaction was for the Leviathan songs "Aqua Dementia" and "Blood & Thunder". They also had an impressive light show. Overall I would say my opinion of them is unchanged after seeing them live, I'll probably remain a casual fan.

OPETH's varied set ended up being kind of a relief after being steamrolled by Mastodon for 70 minutes. They opened with the "The Devil's Orchard" and "I Feel The Dark" from Heritage, both songs getting punchier after being played live for several months, the band was airtight. Mikael's voice was very strong, he continues to grow as a singer. He has a fluid approach to these Heritage songs, changing phrasing and improvising. Prior to performing the "Dio tribute" song "Slither" he informed the crowd "it's kind of like an old Rainbow song but shittier."

There were alot of people singing along with all the lyrics, I hadn't really expected that, added a cool dimension to the set.

Windowpane was next, a really fine version of the Damnation track. They've added an extended guitar solo duel to the end of "Burden", adding some extra power to that power ballad.

They return to Heritage for a muscular reading of "Lines In My Hand" and follow that up with the centerpiece song of the set, "Folklore". That track is much heavier live and also features an extended jam section during the coda, killer song. They close out the show with a return to their death metal roots, performing crushing versions of "Demon Of The Fall" from My Arms, Your Hearse and "The Grand Conjuration" from Ghost Reveries...that last tune totally blew away the studio version. KILLER. I still regret missing their full 100 minute headlining set they performed late last year but 70 minutes of Opeth is just fine with me.

The funny thing is that in 70 minutes Mastodon was able to fit in 17 songs, Opeth was able to play 9 in the same length of time.

:lol!:

[Aggie87]

That's the same exact Opeth set I saw in Corpus Christi (I know because I was able to get a setlist from the stage). I thought it was an excellent performance. The variety and changing dynamics really came across well - in contrast to Mastodon's set. For me that was too much of the same sound over and over. But they had more fans here in Corpus than Opeth did - I guess they've had more exposure overall, being an American band. Plenty of moshing going on during their set here.

I missed Ghost, but would have been interested in seeing them, after seeing all the BOC and Black Sabbath references.

[Shawn]

Aggie, here's the longer setlist they performed on their first headlining swing through the States on the Heritage tour. Pro shot concert, the full performance is here...

http://www.moshcam.com/opeth/enmore-theatre-1007.aspx

What really stood out to me about Opeth's set was what an amazing singer/songwriter Mikael is. All those different moods and textures, from the quiet to the brutal and all memorable. This band is a truly unique talent, quite impressive in this day and age.

The main problem I had with Mastodon's set was they focused on the new album and it's really not that good. There are about 6 really good songs and the rest have no staying power. Their previous 2 albums were MUCH better, if they had done a few more of their earlier songs there could have been alot more variety to the set.

Ghost is an interesting little "project" band, their sound is actually closer to early 80s Euro metal bands like Mercyful Fate. They have an intriguing pop sensibility to the songs that you usually don't hear from this kind of music. The first words that come to mind are "fun" and "catchy" when describing them. They also have the good sense to keep the sound very stripped down which just makes it punchier.

[Quincy]

Aggie, here's the longer setlist they performed on their first headlining swing through the States on the Heritage tour. Pro shot concert, the full performance is here...

http://www.moshcam.com/opeth/enmore-theatre-1007.aspxy" when describing them. They also have the good sense to keep the sound very stripped down which just makes it punchier.

Maybe plenty of people know this, but Moshcam is available on Sony blu-rays (w/ an internet connection obviously) and might be on other brands too. And this very Opeth show is still available there.

Heritage didn't really click for me until about 1/2 a dozen plays. That can take a little longer to do in this day & age. The funny thing was just before it came out I finally got the death growl vocals and loved them, rather than sort of accept them to get all the rest. (I went through the same thing with John Wetton's vocals with King Crimson). So while I knew that Heritage wasn't going to have them I sort of missed them for awhile. No harm though as I really got to learn their earlier material in that time and eventually come around on the new one.

[Quincy]

The last piece of the mainline Opeth discography for me was Lamentations. There's a decent price at Amazon(US) for the Special Edition - 2 CDs & 1 DVD for $13.42. I looked around for rumors of a blu-ray but didn't find any so I bit. It arrived in less than 24 hours and that indeed is the version you get. Amazon is getting closer yet to yesterday delivery.

[Uncle Skid]

In addition to the regular releases, I've picked up the deluxe editions of Blackwater Park, Still Life, Ghost Reveries and Watershed just for the 5.1 mixes. Blackwater Park KILLS in 5.1, but I haven't had the time to dedicate to the others yet.

Any other thoughts on the 5.1 (5.0?) mix of Blackwater Park? I have the deluxe editions of the others, but this is the one I'm missing.

If it makes any difference, I'm listening to these 5.x mixes on a two-channel system, Oppo CD/DVD player, with the stereo down-mix setting. The other DVDs sound better to me than their CD counterparts, but that could be because of the DVD mixes have less of the loudness war stuff going on.

On a related note, I came across this http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/index.php?search_artist=opeth&sort=dr&order=asc which seems to indicate the dynamic range is better on the DVDs. It also confirms what Shawn mentioned on the loudness war thread -- the LP of Ghost Reveries is quite good.

[Shawn]

Excellent new song "Eternal Rains Will Come" from Pale Communion. The progressive rock tendencies continue to dominate and the vocal harmonies (arranged by Mikael & Steven Wilson) are a new wrinkle to their ever-evolving sound.

Release date for Pale Communion is 8/25.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0B26wv22ao

[jazzbo]

Cool. 8/25 gets closer day by day.

[Shawn]

For anyone "still on the fence" about the new Opeth album you can stream the entire album on Pitchfork.

http://pitchfork.com/advance/519-pale-communion/

[BFrank]

Been listening to Pale Communion a lot lately. Pretty astounding set of music. They cover a lot of ground - sometimes sounding like vintage Jethro Tull or Deep Purple and other times like early Hancock/Corea fusion, and a lot of influences from all over. Great stuff!