Opeth – Ghost of Perdition
Today’s MSMOTD
Today’s MSMOTD is a little different, in that I have two songs at the top. I want to preface your listening with a little advice. Ghost of Perdition starts off with a bang. Even if you listen to it and are put off at first, please press on and keep listening. Listen to at least the first 3 minutes before stopping if you must, though I hope you don’t, since Opeth is a shining light in the darksome night of the modern rock scene.
Opeth – To Rid The Disease (Mellow)
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Opeth – Ghost of Perdition (Heavy & Mellow)
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Ok, I’ve had this site up for about a month now. It’s time to bring out the big guns. Everything up until now has been nice, and I’ve waxed poetic about them all, but none approach the MAJESTY and RAW TALENT of Sweden’s Opeth. Hopefully you’re rocking out to Ghost of Perdition or To Rid The Disease as you read this. They represent the two sides of Opeth’s musical currency -> the former is heavy, like a a fearsome storm, and the latter light, like a spring rain.
In fact, Opeth is not a band, their output not music. Opeth is a force of nature, and their issue are the very elements themselves. Listening to Opeth is like being picked up and tossed around by a fierce storm. The winds whip past you, howling in your ears, as thunder crashes all around, the earth shaking and rumbling from its core. You are thrown around the darkened sky until suddenly, the winds fade and you are dropped into the eye of the storm. The sky grows blue and soft grass cushions your landing, as sweet scents overtake your senses, lulling you into peaceful sleep… until without warning, you are tossed into the sky once more, lightning illuminating the thundrous tempest around you: Gaia’s grand symphony deployed in mighty splendour across the heavens above and the depths below.
The face of towering musical genius. I am but their lowly herald.
Did I overdo it a little? Well, I can’t help it! To be honest, I didn’t like Opeth at first. A friend introduced me to them and I couldn’t get past the vocals. Mikael Akerfeldt, the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, spends half of the time in a bowl-churning growl, and the other half singing in a pure, gorgeous clean voice that would put most balladeers to shame. Anyways, he forced me to listen some more, using a few songs with purely clean vocals and I soon came around, and even started to enjoy the growled vocals. It is not singing. His growls are another instrument. They are the coming earthquake – the creaking of trees in the wind – the roar of a wintry gale through the mountain crags.
Give their music a chance and you will be rewarded. Many of their songs alternate, as described above, between incredibly heavy guitar riffs and pounding drums, and gorgeous Simon and Garfunkle-like acoustic/vocal passages. They also do a lot of purely acoustic/soft music, including the entire “Damnation” album which is a combination of acoustic and prog rock/jazz/ethnic fusion. To Rid The Disease is off that album, while Ghost of Perdition is off 2005′s “Ghost Reveries”. It’s an excellent introduction to Opeth, as it contains all of the common elements, and is a killer track to boot.
I liken Opeth to a modern day Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd. Melding styles with unprecedented virtuosity and vision; influencing the direction of music. Unfortunately, Opeth’s influence is thus far somewhat limited to the legions of metal imitators which have spawned in its wake. Perhaps I can play a role in shifting Opeth more into the mainstream where they belong. Opeth has worked closely with Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree (a future MSMOTD), so you can detect a bleeding of styles and production between the two artists. Wilson also plays guitar and backing vocals on a few Opeth tracks from Blackwater Park and a few other albums.
There are so many songs I wish I could play for you. Opeth has such a wide and varied discography that just two songs can’t possibly do it justice. There’s one more song below – Still Day Beneath The Sun – which is just vocals and acoustic guitar for those who didn’t dig the songs posted above. It is a melancholy tune, with sweet melodies and lovely vocal harmonies. Please let me know what you think. Give Opeth a chance! I thank you. Opeth thanks you. Your future self thanks you.
- Mons
More music from Opeth
Opeth – Still Day Beneath The Sun
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Opeth also does incredible live performances. Check out this psychedelic live performance of Closure from the “Lamentations” live DVD. If you doubt Opeth’s roots in classic rock, watch this:
Further info about today’s MSMOTD
Official Website: http://opeth.com/
Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opeth
Buy “Ghost Reveries” from Amazon
these guys pretty much rock
I am hard pressed to come up with a band which rocks harder. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I cannot.
where did they get their name?
also, i know what you mean about the vocalist. they should definitely growl less and sing more
Well, I actually really really like his growling. Akerfeldt is one of the only metal vocalists whose growled vocals fit the music. So many do it wrong and it distracts from the music. Akerfeldt does it right, and their music is better for it. It took me a while to come to that decision though. I was initially drawn in by the clean vocals (and the songs featuring them), and only later came to appreciate the growled vocals. I think the song that did it was “Blackwater Park”, from the album with the same name (their best). That song specifically formed the mental imagery/paradigm which I describe in the post. The growled vocals which come in after the soft interlude at ~5:20 are perfect. No other kind of vocals could be as appropriate at that moment. My appreciation spread from that point in music.
Their name comes, apparently (I didn’t know this) from the word “Opet”, taken from the Wilbur Smith novel Sunbird. In the novel, Opet is the name of a city of the moon.
I’m happy and surprised that you like Opeth. Or at least, find them interesting enough to discuss.
Oh, also, the final ~4 minutes of Blackwater Park is one of the most intense and incredible song endings that I know.
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