Another band I must now raise up to the height of best damn band is Opeth, originally from Norway, this band is the most intelligent and virtuosic of all black metal and heavy metal bands. They have an overall sound of Halloween, but without the cartoonish satanism and witchcraft of most other bands in this genre, so I should say instead that if Fall and Winter had a sound, it would be Opeth.
What would that sound like? It could be fast, thrashing electric guitars and fast beats. It could also be soft guitar strumming, long repeating verses of sad piano and guitar melodies, and smart electric guitar solos. Opeth can take you into a mellow mood that borders on meditation, and revive you with headbanging rock anthems in one song. Eastern melodies intertwine with native Norwegian style guitar and singing.
The lyrics are epic stories that get stuck in your head, even though they almost never repeat a line. It's hard to say that Opeth just sounds like black metal or heavy metal, since they produce an eclectic range of different sounds, often within one song. It's common to find Opeth music plays for 7 minutes or longer.
The vocals switch between melodic singing to less melodic growling, a common practice in death metal, but the difference here is in their lyrics. The music is dark without becoming tedious, and that's the most refreshing quality that separates Opeth from the rest. I simply love every song I hear. Thanks to You Tube playlists I can listen to Opeth for hours.
Another impressive feature is this band shines on stage, I think half the videos online are live and they sound just as good as the studio work. Better just let the music speak for itself, because I could probably spend an hour describing how great Opeth sounds.
http://youtu.be/SOous91wrtE
The moral flexibility of a 20-something
12 years ago
