#1: OPETH - THE DEVIL' S ORCHARD
I wanted something that would hopefully grab everybody's attention. This one is a staple in their live shows -
@MrsKarmaPolice got to see it live last year. This was the start of Opeth's clean vocals run of albums and the album that pissed off a lot of fans. I think it shows off their skills quite well - as usual, I really like the drumming here. They have new drummer who is also fantastic, and this is the song that they auditioned him with. They knew he could play heavy stuff that leans death metal, but since they play this at most shows they wanted to make sure he could get this side of their music as well. I also liked having this song on here because Heritage is an album I really fell for over the past year or so as I revisited albums and songs I hadn't gotten to for a while, and that is largely thanks to you all and these weird music threads. It also is an album that came to mind in the discussions with
@jwb and
@Eephus as to what sounds great to our ears. Much of what I love about this band is their attention to albums as how you consume music and the sound of their albums and shows. My wife can verify, but I have never heard anything like them live. Usually shows sound to me like a wall of noise - a bit too loud and I have trouble hearing words and individual musicians. The 2 times I saw Opeth I felt like I could hear every note and word, and they sound great live.
After reading a book about them, and watching countless interviews now I would describe them as a 70s prog band that took over a Swedish death metal band. They have growls at the start, and I get that would irritate some. Frankly, I fell for these guys despite the growls. I remember hearing a song and really not liking it. Good thing I gave them another shot. From their debut through their 9th album Watershed, most have a combination of growls and non-growls. The exception is the Damnation album. After that there is a 4 album run of all clean vocals. I am confident that anybody who liked the playlist song or anything they click below will like a couple of those albums, or at least a few songs. Their newest albums re-introduced their growls. So they have 14 albums total - 5 totally clean vocals, 9 with some level of growls and not. For me there is not a bad song or album. I have listened to all front back and sideways and they bat 1.000, even b-sides and covers. They have become my favorite band and a go-to for most my moods, and think their music is downright beautiful at times. I'll throw out a few songs and facts, but if at all interested, I would give a full album a try. That's how they should be listened to.
Recommended Listening: My personal favorite albums with clean vocals would be
Pale Communion and
Heritage. I like the heavy keyboard sound of Pale Communion, and I fell for Heritage which is their proggiest album.
Damnation is also great and a more straight forward slow album. As for those who might be growl-curious, my personal favorite albums are
Still Life,
Watershed, and
The Last Will and Testament. Blackwater Park is an album I would also suggest to people as a starting point. The growls are probably the least harsh there. Most of the songs I list below were ones that I rediscovered as I dug through their music.
Opeth · Heritage · Song · 2011
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Opeth · Heritage (Special Edition) · Song · 2011
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Two more from Heritage here that became favorites.
Haxprocess shows off the prog side. I love the way that sounds in the headphones, especially the eerie guitar at the end. Anybody who liked that should check out even proggier Famine and Folklore from the same album.
The Lines In My Hand is probably my favorite of their shorter rockers. Again, love the drumming here. According to Michael after they did Watershed they felt like they did all they could with the growls. At one point he did hand the bassist some music, but it was basically Watershed 2.0 and they were disappointed in that direction and it wasn't in Michael's heart. This song was the first song that was written for what became Heritage and started the new era.
Opeth · Pale Communion · Song · 2014
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Faith in Others is one of the songs I would describe as beautiful. They have another song, Burden, that usually gets the praise but I grew to love this one over the last year. I just stumbled on an interview with Micheal and he talked about the song. He is usually overly critical about their music and jokes that lyrics are **** in interviews. For this one, he said this one was their one perfect song.
Opeth · Still Life (Remastered) · Song · 1999
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The Moor is the album opener to Still Life. Here we have a concept album about a banished heretic returning to town for an old flame. Or something like that. It's been one of my favorites since I bought it as I got into them. I am pretty sure this and Morningrise were the last 2 albums I bought from The Exclusive Company. It showcases some of their heavier music and growls, but there are songs in there as beautiful as the above ones, like Benighted.
Opeth · Watershed (Special Edition) · Song · 2008
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Heir Apparent is the 2nd song off Watershed after the acoustic opener. This is another has been a personal favorite since first listening. Watershed was the first album that came out as a new release after I first started getting into them. They describe it as their peak of what they thought they could do with the growls, which was a reason other albums that sounded like it didn't feel right to them. Hessian Peel is top 5 song for me and is an air drum favorite in the car. This was always in the CD player of my last car.
Opeth · §1 (Radio Edit) · Song · 2024
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I have listened to this album countless times since it came out at the end of November. The production got delayed, and it was supposed to come out the day that we saw them in Milwaukee. I think this might be their best album. They went back to the growls and concept album. Micheal said he was watching too much Succession, and this album is framed as siblings sitting down to hear the will of the family patriarch. Most of the songs don't have titles - they are Paragraphs 1-7 and then a slow closer at the end that wraps up the story.
S1 is of course the album opener, and this was the first single released. The album version is a little longer and flows into the next song. S3-S6 might be the best stretch of music in their catalogue and S6 is about as good as metal gets to my ears. It sounds so good as the voices float around and sometimes feel like they are right behind you. They describe this album as claustrophobic, and I think that is a good description. IF anybody hesitant wants to try some growls, I would actually start here. IMO they are easier to digest when they are part of a story and become a character like on this album. The sound is fantastic, and the songs are shorter too. It's one of the best metal albums I've ever listened to.
Lastly, as a nod to
@shuke for putting up with my b.s and to my fellow MAD31ers, I will highly suggest a cover of a song I saw on his list. This one is a B-side on the special edition of Watershed. I hope he and y'all at least got a few new songs you liked from my playlist.
Opeth · Watershed (Special Edition) · Song · 2008
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to the playlist pic
And equally as huge thanks to 
It was so generous of him to spend the time on that.
