ไม่สามารถเล่นวิดีโอนี้
ขออภัยในความไม่สะดวก
A BIT UNSURE ON THIS ONE // Opeth - Ghost of Perdition // Composer Reaction & Analysis
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ส.ค. 2024
- Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on Opeth - Ghost of Perdition (Audio)
ORIGINAL VIDEO // • Opeth - Ghost of Perdi...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOTE ON UPCOMING THEMES AND SONGS // / criticalreactions
SPECIAL SELECTION REQUEST // www.paypal.com...
OR // ko-fi.com/crit...
LINKTREE // linktr.ee/crit...
Contains links for Special Selection submissions, the CR Patreon, access to the CR Discord Server, the CR Mastodon profile, and more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0:00 Intro
01:10 Reaction
11:42 Analysis - Metallic, But Not Really Metal?
16:27 Analysis - Moody Atmosphere
20:39 Analysis - Chaotic Stillness
24:30 Analysis - A Middle Ground of Their Style
30:45 Analysis - Lyrical Dive
36:15 Outro
#reaction #opeth #deathmetal
For me this is Opeth's masterpiece, and has been ever since I heard Ghost Reveries when it was released back in '05. This was the culmination of all the influences they took from working with Steven Wilson (even though this was their first since Still Life that wasn't produced by him), which was all about adding classic rock and 70s prog aspects to their ambitious take on folky melodeath. This album is just so rich in all of those elements/genres and they're blended so seamlessly so you get a classic rock organ over the blastbeats of death metal with riffs from classic rock and clean vocals of folk. Perhaps it doesn't seem as impressive now that we have nearly two decades worth of bands being influenced by Opeth, but nobody was doing this back then, and this was after a decade of Opeth already doing other things (like the folky prog metal) that no other band was doing; and it's really rare to hear a band still innovating over a decade into their already-successful career. It's why they're such a special band for so many, myself included.
I do agree that I wouldn't have included this for death metal week. If I was limited to one genre I'd also call this prog metal. It's definitely progressive death metal, but it's not really what I (or most) DM fans think of when they think of the genre. Traditional death metal is closer to thrash with growls, with perhaps occasional doomy sections thrown in. Traditional DM is more basic, more brutal, and isn't concerned with the complex layering and atmosphere and unusual chord progressions etc. It's a shame Opeth hasn't clicked with you. I do agree with you about them being really segmented, and that's been a weakness of theirs since the beginning; but believe it or not their early albums are much worse in this regard. Orchid and Morningrise often feel like just a lot of different riffs stuck together. Ghost of Perdition is actually pretty smooth by Opeth's standards, and is certainly a major improvement over their earliest work. I think it's just very difficult to write music with such contrast and so many sections and keep the transitions seamless.
What you say about not being able to appreciate this because you're comparing it against all the music that came after is fair, and it's why when I explore new genres I try to go chronologically as much as possible so I CAN appreciate how a genre evolved and how certain bands innovated. While I know we can't remove the subjective component from our reactions to any art, I do think learning to appreciate how genres and art-forms evolve is as close as we can be to being objective and appreciating the fundamental creative aspect of all art, since the latter is all about taking what's been done before and doing something new and different. Most anything else is just down to our subjective perspectives.
On that subjective level though, I think my love for this song is simply down to loving all the individual parts: Love how the guitar riffs trade off with the organ during the opening section, I think the "higher" section is one of the most beautiful things they ever wrote, and when the heavy part comes back in I love how the clean vocals trade off with the riffs, then you have that section with all the fascinating chordal work, and it finally climaxes with that machine-gun riff with the double-bass kick... and then the drumming is just super tasteful and so full of nice contrasts and variation throughout... and then bass work is super melodic... this is one of only a handful of songs (Yes's Roundabout is another) that has seriously made me want to learn bass just so I could learn to play this track. It's possible this was all a bit much to take in on a single listen, but if you ever revisited this and just focused on any of these individual elements you might appreciate it a bit more. This is simply one of the richest metal songs ever written... there's just so much going on from every angle and I've only appreciated it more the more I've heard it. It's one of the few times where a song I fell in love with from day 1 ended up becoming a massively popular fan favorite, and I do think in this case the fans got it right (I'm not QUITE as enthused with Blackwater Park by comparison, and I think The Moor from Still Life is criminally underrated).
Sorry for the novel. :)
Love your long comments!
Just wondering if you meant underrated or possibly overrated (in comparison) about The Moor?
I'm always disappointed when I hear critics say Opeth is "random" or "disjointed", I think Mikhael is very intentional in his compositions, and this very channel noted it when either The Leper Affinity or Blackwater Park was analyzed (can't remember which video it was), but it was noted that unlike many bands that rely on riffing, Opeth tells a story through words and music. So the composition will take as many twists as the feelings of the characters in the narrative. Once you view it from that perspective, you will understand the musical twists and turns.
@@atides33I haven't heard such criticism, but I think Opeth WERE EXTREMELY "random" and "disjointed" initially, but Mikael's writing improved and got smoother and more purposeful with each record, and by 2000's there was none of the randomness left.
@@atides33 And that kind of storytelling is pretty much what I consider to be the core of prog. Old school at least. And Mikael certainty took his main inspiration from that. It's what unites "simpler" prog like Pink Floyd or Tangerin Dream with musically more intricate stuff like Yes or King Crimson.
Too long, didnt read
This is like one of the best songs ever for me, dang
Same but I don't think I liked it on my first listen tbh
@@mwokysame, it is a strange song when you first listen to it. Then it became a personal favourite. Not saying it's necessarily the same for others though
I've just been calling Opeth 'autumn music' for about 30 years now lol. I'm from Wisconsin and you throw this shit on in October when the leaves are getting brown and the air is getting crisp and just soak it in, it's just the finest wine of musical atmosphere to me. I'm a huge sucker for the bands that can tap into that seasonal feeling and the melancholy bittersweet sounds. Ihsahn, G!YBE, Peccatum, Borknagar, The Gathering. I just love bands that remind me of that.
This absolutely, also when it comes to GY!BE. Wouldn't trade that atmosphere and feeling for any other aesthetic sensation.
Stayyyy with me a whileeee....
I'm so with you on that one! Love me some Opeth year-round, but definitely perfect fit for our Norwegian autumns!
@@Kolbein837 Oh for sure they get year-round play. But they always take me to that headspace, it's just an extra bonus when the world outside reflects it ;)
For a completely different kind of "autumnal" music try any late compositions by Brahms like the clarinet quintet!
This track has always interested me because I’m not really an Opeth fan. Have tried several songs and this track is really the only one that sticks with me. Love rocking out to this one.
The Baying of the Hounds is the best track on Ghost Reveries for me.
eBaying
BEST MADE TACOS OF THE EARTH
Completely agree that’s one of the best Opeth tracks
As an opeth fan, this is a great song (and a fan favourite too) but I would never say it's one of my favourites.
The most emotionally powerful Opeth album is Still Life (You haven't touched it yet, I don't think you did).
It's an album with a folk aesthetic. Every song is a banger with groovy riffs, acoustic passages, beautiful harmonies and great growls. And the concept ties them up so well. A true masterpiece.
P. S. Mikael calls Opeth "death metal" but really they're closer to Black Metal with prog structure and clean folk parts.
I'm with until the "black metal" part...
he's power metal
Back when Opeth was coming up as a band and the peers they came up with, no one would've called themselves 'prog metal' outside of bands like Dream Theater. I'm in my mid 40s and I still get a little itch when I hear 'prog' lol. But genres are pretty fluid with metal.
@@progperljungman8218 Well, what about their first four albums?
#progressivemelodicdeathmetal
For me, music is about what pleases my ear, and Opeth hit that mark when I listened for the first time in 2020.
I'm kind of glad I don't know the first thing about chords, analyzing, etc. If it sounds good, that's sufficient. It is interesting though to watch and hear reactors thoughts.
I love how Opeth puts so many genres/sounds into their songs to create their music. ❤
👋🙂
@@progperljungman8218 🙋🏼♀😉
Learning about chords and music theory just helps you put into words WHY something sounds good. Music theory was always meant to be descriptive rather than prescriptive.
@@jonathanhenderson9422 Makes sense, but now it's just too much for my 74 yr old brain. 🙄
Tag you're it!
Did you ever return to any Opeth songs?
If so, how did they treat you on subsequent listens?
This might not be your jam, even if you'd return to it. But I assure that there's many depths to them for you yet to discover... And I honestly don't get how you got the impression "more ambient" from their newer stuff. Were you possibly confusing them with the band leader Mikael Åkerfeldt's colab with Steven Wilson (Storm Corrosion)? Though newer Opeth certainly is an eclectic affair, I'd rather say that the mellower bits in old Opeth have more "ambient", or at least atmospheric, feel to them than is common in Newpeth songs.
Also, just because you think that you've gone through the (arguably) "biggest" songs from them audience wise, what is it that would make you believe that your Opeth taste is "average"? (It just might be excellent, like mine 😉)
It's like Kansas, Dream Theater and Opeth; You can't judge them on their more popular songs, and that's just 3 examples.
@@mvunit3 Well... I'd say Opeth's most popular songs are def closer to their best than with e.g. Genesis 😁
I might be mis-remembering what Opeth is about. I'm definitely not mixing them up with Storm Corrosion though -- I have them filed away differently in my head.
@@CriticalReactions Well, Opeth is about... A LOT 😁
The first time I heard this song I was intrigued, but didn't quite get it despite loving certain riffs and melodies. Upon listening to it again the transitions suddenly became heavenly and unbelievably satisfying. The note choices, the lyrical imagery, and the shift between melancholically beautiful quiet passages to dark and oppressive, just makes this a perfect song for me.
I think that a lot of prog music is a hard sell to any first time "reaction" and puts channels like yourself at a disadvantage to the viewers expecting you to like it. Most of us listen to songs multiple times before it really clicks and can form a opinion of it.
Love this one. I see you still haven't done any Camel reaction. Opeth is heavily influenced by Camel, sometimes riffs are just taken straight from Camel, even in some of Opeths most popular material. Early prog rock, around same time as Pink Floyd, but every track of their early albums are pretty much all a blast, some of the most heartfelt / beautiful guitar riffs.
I'd equate them closer to early King Crimson than Floyd. The whole Opeth discography sounds like the descendant of In the Court of the Crimson King (the album) lol.
@@Stand_By_For_Mind_Control The band itself says Camel is a huge influence, and acknowledge all the "inspirations" etc. There are several riffs that are taken straight out of Camel songs. hehe
@@MMasterDE I think the inspiration from Camel is more toward Mikael Akerfeldt, because that is where you hear the influence from Andrew Latimer (vocalist/guitarist of Camel). As he has said in earlier interviews.
Must not forget Renaissance ✌️😁
You're right, this track is definitely more prog than death per se. It's exploring a lot of directions, as you said, and packages it in a multi-directional journey a bit akin to a film maker looking to inflate as many layers as they can in favor of an emotionally packed narration. It's about mood and textures, and how they blend together.
I think you mistaken “most popular” with “best songs on their discography”. There’s only like 5-6 well known Opeth songs, and they are well known because mostly casual fans click on reviewers and constantly suggest the same 5-6 songs. But real fans know that Opeth with over 100+ songs aren’t just “GOP, Harlequin Forrest, drapery falls, deliverance, and blackwater park”.
So many good songs and underrated songs from this band unfortunately you have “fans” that don’t get out of their comfort zone. To be clear, I like all of those songs suggested, but it just annoys me that a band known for their scope, are pigeonholed by the same hitters. And reviewers don’t help because they are incentivized by clicks and ignore songs that don’t have views.
Luckily I don't pick songs for the views, I just follow wherever the community takes me. I've explored a LOT of lesser known songs and bands on the channel and even pride myself on how often I get a "I never thought I'd see a reaction to this" comment.
With that said, hit me up with some Opeth deep cuts that stand out in their massive library. I'd love to hear some of that stuff.
@@CriticalReactions Didn’t mean to imply that about you, I wasn’t speaking mostly of other reviewed. From my observation you review a lot of lesser known and offshoot bands, so I respect that. You aren’t the typical “click bait” reviewer, I should have made that clear in my original post. My critique is mostly directed at fair weather fans.
@@soakedbearrd interesting that you didnt even mention songs from Damnation(Windowpane), i think they are their most listened songs, also Harvest
@@maaaaaap yes but not requested. I was speaking about songs that are always requested by comment section, which reviewers take as the most popular. I guess you can make an argument that harvest is requested but not compared to the ones I listed.
My suggestions: bleak, April ethereal, night and the silent water, wreath, moon above sun below, fleeting glance, baying of the hounds, face of Melinda, in my time of need, moonlapse vertigo (or serenity painted death), credence, black rose immortal (long), all things will pass (or universal truth), pyre (or nepenthe), under the weeping moon (or in the mist she’s standing), I mean so many I can list
Check out The Moor from their album Still Life. The theme should be much more clear in that song than it was in Ghost of Perdition.
Check out their concert at the Red Rocks in Colorado. Great show.
I saw them live for this album in 2006 (Not at the Red Rocks). Great show! Still have my concert tee.
That was one of the not-so-good performances tbh. It felt bloodless all the way.
@@longingbydesign Personally prefer the "Roundhouse Tapes" version.
Great analysis. Opeth has always been dipping their feets in the prog field, even back in the demo days to an extent, but it's on Still Life that it really becomes a bit of their trademark and on Blackwater Park they find that perfect balance between death metal and prog metal. Ghost Reveries is the album I personally view as that album where they dive headfirst into prog territory leaving their death metal legacy behind. And as such it's also a bit of a divider among Opeth fans. Some hold Blackwater Park as their best album others this one. Really a matter of taste.
As for this song, your reaction wasn't a surprise. Seen many other reaction videos on it where the creators find it hard to swallow, finding it disjointed and/or confusing in composition. I personally thought before this that it's because they aren't used to hardrock/metal composition and as such not expecting songs to be built in acts. Which is quite common, whether it's Helloweens Halloween, Cradle of Filths Nymphetamine or this song. And as such they miss that the song deliberately targets certain moods for each act. But you picked up on that (and remarked on the great transitions too), so I guess that's not it then.
A shame that the song didn't fit your tastes, but noone can like everything so that's just how it is. I consider myself an Opeth fan, as I've listened to them since Orchid, but I don't like everything, every song they made either. For example I quite prefer Harlequin Forest and The Grand Conjuring from this album, and I completely abhor the Heritage album. It's just how it is sometimes. I still respect the musicianship, but it's not something I want to listen to even though I love or like much of their other stuff.
Hmm well Opeth is a band that is very special to me. At least everything Watershed and prior. I can certainly see that it isn't something that's going to blow the modern listener away. I think going into a band like Opeth attempting to be critical or analyze it tbh takes a bit of the magic out of it. Opeth is a band that I think a lot of us in the metal scene found decades ago and grew up with the albums. With where metal is at now I can't imagine them impressing the modern metal fan base. It is a bit like going back and listening to like Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath and critiquing the simplicity and anachronistic nature of the music. The riffs can be repetitive and are certainly not re-inventing the wheel but there is just this X factor to their music that I think resonates with a lot of us.
I disagree with you on that, I discovered Opeth in 2023 and all of albums I listened to until now impresses me and I don't think it will ever stop impressing me, at least that's what I feel about this very UNIQUE band. And I'm currently on Damnation haha.
@@ssv1921I can assure you that most of us who got into them late feels the same way. I first listened to them two or three years ago, and I think they are one of a kind. Since then, I appreciate thrm even more.
@@ssv1921 That's awesome to hear. I'm glad people are still discovering and enjoying them. For me their discography is almost a religious text to me. It's not just listening to a band, it's going back in time. I get an uncanny nostalgia and feeling of being 'home' listening to them.
You are on point on the Chaotic Stillness part, most of early/mid opeth moods are about mourning and that realy is chaotic and stagnant.
Oh man I could say so much negative but undoubtedly in depth and reasoned stuff about my feelings on your take but instead I will say this
I listened to this song TEN TIMES IN A ROW one time and didn't tire of it. One hour and forty minutes of the same song
That's how much of a masterpiece it is for me
Its the melancholy man. The perfect use of that 3 and 4 time. The blend of the harsh and clean dynamics. Mikes signature guitar playing style. The structure is a good thing to criticize sure cos its not one of his strongest but it still FLOWS so immaculately for me and all the ideas are so strong which is the most important thing that trumps a structure being perfect. The transitions got way worse Watershed onward. Way more awkward and jagged. Watershed is the album after this.
I will say also it was interesting someone articulate why this masterpiece is mid for them. You really surprised me with some of your opinions here and that made the video a fun watch.
Ok I can't help it I also have to say that it baffles me and this isn't a positive opinion on your take is how you said the "harmonies aren't metal harmonies" at one point
Man like... The joy of progressive and progressive extreme music is the compositional freedom you have. That's why I write it. I love stuff like chromatic and doubly chromatic mediants, taking a triad and keeping the third the same and moving the root and fifth by a semitone to switch from M to m or the reverse, Triads with roots moving a tritone, the relationship of iv and V going to or from each other without resolving to i, and doing those with every kind of traditionally used triad and seventh chord under the sun and especially the French Augmented 6th and half diminished chord, the kumoi mode 2 scale, lydian and the modes of melodic minor as a basis for melody writing. But moreso the chord progressions than an individual chord or scale.
IMO It doesn't matter how commonly used a chord, progression or scale is in metal. You can make ANYTHING metal if you know the aesthetics of the right timbres and know what you're doing as a composer. Some of King Raptor's videos on youtube do an EXCELLENT job demonstrating this. You listen to the music of Ron Jarzombek with his solo stuff or Blotted Science and it has an approach to 12 tone writing that is COMPLETELY his own style and sounds NOTHING like other bands but is UNQUESTIONABLY still metal. Ron was in a band in the 80s that wrote (before he joined however) what is in my view the first full album of progressive metal front to back with Energetic Disassembly. His band is called Watchtower.
At least you thought Rise of the Cephalopods was cool if I recall haha Mike from Opeth is one of my heroes but Hannes is in the same league.
Cheers man
Like you said, I see the devil as a symbol of what is torturing the mother, maybe cancer, maybe dementia…
This is one of the bands where it's really only this song that sticks with me. Just love the way it's composed!
I havent yet watched this, just looking at the title I can say HOW
Edit: phew okay he liked it
... He didn't though?
Quite a departure from Deliverance, wouldn't you say?
100%. If nothing else, Opeth is a band with a ton of range.
I think it's a great tune, but that's just me.
Not jost you, the entire prog community loves this song and album
Its a classic, takes a few times to listens
Ahh I used to listen to Opeth quite a bit, definitely a unique band. My most listened album from them is definitely Blackwater Park, and after that Watershed. Their sound was pretty much set in stone during that era, but they're not a band for everyone as they're definitely lower on the energy/liveliness factor. But some of the buildups and releases they've written are definitely top tier stuff.
Speaking of energy and liveliness, you might want to check out Opeth's fellow countrymen Scar Symmetry, and their proggy, multi-genre-spanning song The Kaleidoscopic God.
The drumming of Martin Lopez in this song is fire.
While the song is widely adored, the few people I know who dislike it mostly echo your points - it's disjointed; the sections don't really play off one another. Don't necessarily agree, but I can see it. Opeth usually likes to linger on stuff and let the parts build, and Ghost of Perdition doesn't really do that. It's kinda manic by Opeth standards, probably the most manic they've been in their mature period (Lotus Eater aside), and the emotion can get lost a bit. For an Opeth track that has wild transitions while maintaining coherence and being emotionally affecting, I strongly recommend Hessian Peel.
Opeth does write great melodies! Damnation is probably where it shines the most
For me, Ghost of Perdition is exactly what you describe - a perfect middle ground between the two Opeth. This is what I enjoy the most out of their catalogue. The straight-up heavy stuff is not that interesting, same with the clear prog of later albums.
It could be RnB week and it would still be a good time! No matter the genre Opeth is worth the listen and this is a phenomenal track from them
My favorite opeth song is deliverance. I personally don’t think any of opeth classic has a bad song. I think if you wanted a straight death metal opeth songs funeral portrait or dirge for November is what you want. If you want a straight progressive metal songs then you want ghost of perdition, anything off watershed and most songs off deliverance.
Yeah, this beast of a track is what got me hooked on Opeth! Nice one Bryan, as always! Please, can you squeeze Letters From The Colony's "Galax" in on one of your weeks. It's progressive death metal in the vein of Meshuggah/Gojira/Sikth and with some gorgeous blend with melody and feel of Pink Floyd and Opeth. Please check it out, would love to hear you dissect that epic piece, piece by piece ;)
I don't think you can label Opeth.
They're a band that you place with bands like Pink Floyd and Tool.
You immediately know it's them when you hear it.
Ghost Reveries is a perfect starting point if you want to get into Opeth.
Good reaction.
And I LOVE the GROWLS.
This song, and many other songs and albums by Opeth, is lightning caught in a bottle. Be it some of the best guitar work in metal with Akerfeldt having written some of the most brutal, fun and interesting riffs in the genre. Be it his genius composition blending heavy hard hitting riffs seemlessly with melancholic clean classical guitar licks (nobody has done it as well as he has IMO. It is always far more jarring and doesn't really go together that well. It is usually interesting and "fun", but never strong or hitting you like a truck in a deeply emotional way, which Opeth's transitions never fail to do). Or Steven Wilson's production that brings it all to life. Martin Mendez is incredible on bass and Martin Lopez's drumming is, again, some of the best in the genre. IMHO nobody in extreme metal has done what Opeth has since. Everyone that is inspired by Opeth and writes progresive metal falls just a tiny bit short of Opeth's standard. You just don't get the powerful and tight stuff such as Ghost of Perdition, or Blackwater Park, or Bleak or Moor, or Harlequin Forest, or many many other masterpieces. But hey, it is all subjective, so that is that.
For a deeper dive, Become the Knight made some good videos on what makes some specific Opeth tracks so great a while back and I recommend checking them out.
Also, I strongly strongly agree with what many commenters are saying. Opeth requires digestion. I am speaking this from personal experience, from experience of most of my friends' and people online will consitently say the same thing. You can hear the good stuff in there on your first listen and you can appreciate it, but there is A LOT of subtelty going on here and everything is incredibly tightly composed together in this potent package. Of course, you as a composer can see it there and understand what is happening, but you still need to "feel" it. You need to digest it so that your brain knows exactly what is coming next. Then it might be easier to see why it works so well.
You should check out Heritage (album) as a whole, it would suit your taste more with its 70's sensibilities and subtle approach
This song is a masterpiece! And your analysis too... Even if I don't agree with you.
Oh man, this is so much better live.
Opeth is definitely a prog metal band. I don't know anyone that's ever even called them a death metal band. Their last 4 albums sound like Jethro Tull.
Well they were known as a Death Metal band from 1995 ("Orchid") to "Blackwater Park" when I first _read_ about them, and they were described to have a lot of "progressive" influences. Death Metal may have been the style of Metal they were creating, but _their_ brand of Death Metal was DRASTICALLY different than everyone else (except My Dying Bride). The acoustic guitars (intros, abrupt changes into acoustics, twinkles of piano, atmospheric interludes, etc.) and the way they were utilized really set them apart.
My introduction to them was on "Still LIfe" (1999), but Death Metal was going through a change in 1995, and a few others were becoming technical, and/or adding Melodic Vocals with the Guttural/Cookie Monster vocals (like; Soilwork, Edge of Sanity, Gardenian, Extol, Alarum, My Dying Bride, Scar Symmetry, and a few others). Edge of Sanity - "Crimson" and Cynic - "Focus" (and respectively Death - "Human") began to be influential in the _Progressive_ movement of the genre, for Thrash bands as well (Watchtower, Atheist, Realm, Powermad, Believer, Depressive Age, Coroner and many others).
Even the 1st 3 albums of Opeth, many Metal journalists could hear the "Black Metal" influence, with Mikael's early screams and rougher vocals (which was a genre Mikael enjoyed in its early stages).
Now, "Prog Metal" includes bands that sing with the cookie monster vocal style & melodic vocals, but Prog Metal didn't start off that way from its roots in 1985 to 1997/2000. Again 2000 - on, was another new beginning for Metal and new subgenres.
I agree though that the last 4 albums have a Jethro Tull/Folk Metal vibe.
I have this magical term for you that exists called progressive death metal
@@Zyborggian
Cool story! Listen to their last 4 albums, and find the death vocals.
@@RussInCanada My brother in Christ how is it not obvious I was referring to the stuff before Heritage LMAO
@@RussInCanada Also on God the only song that REALLY rips THAT hard on Jethro is Will o the Wisp
Between the Buried and Me is another notable band that mix death metal and prog. The song Ants of the Sky would make for a good video.
The Black Dahlia Murder would be my personal recommendation. They walk this fine line where they make death metal that's almost pop, but in the best ways, the result is just pure fun. I like that they don't take it too seriously, the personality really comes through, but it's also sincere and not gimmicky. Deathmask Divine is one of my favorites.
And I want to also mention Job For a Cowboy that have a new album coming out very soon! Because they're the only other example of a deathmetal band that's like TBDM where it's still fucking deathmetal but a personality really shines through.
I love cross pollination, like ska that's actually really sad (Less Than Jake are incredible), or death metal that's just pure fun while still keeping with the genre. I feel like those sorts of boundaries don't get pushed nearly enough.
BtBaM is my most reacted to band on the channel and my first exposure to them was Ants of the Sky and it definitely was a good video. I also have full album reactions for both Colors albums :)
Haha, I just recently discovered your channel thanks to some Animal Collective nostalgia. Really enjoying your content, thank you and keep it up!@@CriticalReactions
This is probably one of my favorite songs so im sad to see that you didn't click with it
As for Death Metal week?
Something I listen to a lot these days is Ophidian I, their Desolate album is great. Diamonds might be a decent starter. This is just as fast as Archspire though, just more power metal-ish sounding, though it's not, in any way, it's definitely death.
Immolation is a great band for starters, I guess. I really love their Unholy Cult album, it's just so unique, could try the track with the same name for example. Otherwise, try something from their latest album (2022), like The Age of No Light or An Act of God. It blends Unholy Cult with their other stuff, kinda. So good, listen to some of these tracks quite a bit. Either something from Unholy Cult or their latest album would make for a good reaction video.
Blood Incantation is old school and a modern classic, but might be a hard listen at first, though something like Slave Species of the Gods is gooood. :p I know you've heard one song from them before, but that was from first album. Their albums evolve. First one was very old-school, second is like a mix of old-school and like space.... third was just electronic.
Anything At the Gates would be welcome. I personally prefer their first album, but they blew up when they changed production on later albums.
One I do think you'd like, but maybe it's more black, idk... first album is definitely black, but I often see this one classified as death. Not sure tbh... But the song is Dawn - The Knell and the World. I actually think you'd enjoy this one a lot. :)
Another one I think you'd really like is a revisit of Allegaeon, almost anything from DAMNUM, I think you'd love this album. They also recently had a new EP, but I think you'd prefer the album.
I kinda want to hear you react to Fit For an Autopsy - The Sea of Tragic Beasts. Very popular band, and song.
I would also LOOOVE to hear you listen to something like Mortiferum - Eternal Procession. It's old-school death, but with doom that just glides into beauty etc. :)
That was some suggestions I think would be popular too.
Very spot-on analysis :)
Opeth - Serenety Painted Death is one killer tune
Whole album is godtier
@@Zyborggian true man, true
I would love you to react to The Way of All Flesh, the title track. It’s about life and death. The empty space at the end represents the end… one of my favourite gojira tracks
Great song and love the drumming!
20:19ish are you considering "one of their greats" off comments? amount of views?
you could totally enjoy something most fans don't consider top tier 😊
Mostly I'm basing it off of how often I see a song brought up and/or reacted to. I am hoping to find some other Opeth that might work better for me even if they're not fan favorites.
Opeth is definitely progressive death metal. And these days, i wouldn't even label them death anymore.
If you're on a death metal journey. You should be looking at OSDM. Bands like Deicide, Morbid Angel, Death Angel, Entomb, Dismember.
Ok you’ve gotta check out Death - “Symbolic” if you’re gonna do some death metal
He already has, if I remember correctly, and if this week is about Death Metal then that song is also a miss because by that time Death had all but abandoned their Death Metal roots and started to experiment with Progressive metal. Albums like Symbolic and Sound Of Perserevance are where Opeth and such are born from.
If we were to listen Death Metal 100% PURE AS IT IS and want to hear something from Death then something from albums Scream Bloody Gore or Leprosy are what Bryan should be checking out.
This isn't about what is my favourite, this is about what the genre is and where it was born from.
Also deathcore ain't death metal, core borrows from the original genre. Opeth for me is prog or alternative metal.
I guess Opeth is progressive death metal. Really when I think of Death Metal Opeth I think of My Arms Your Hearse
Hardly death metal? Lol
Death metal progressivo e metal progressivo
I used to be a lot more into them, but in retrospect, I find a lot of Akerfeldts compositions to be, meh, underwhelming. His phrasing is very boxy and repetitive. Riffs and guitar parts are all over the place, sometimes outstanding, and other times sounding like some random noodling that he just went with and repeats 4 times for a section. And better transitions---when they are even there at all---would really improve his material a lot as well.
Still this is one of their better tracks. (Though it too could use some better transitioning between parts.)
Honestly the transitions only got garbo Watershed onward for me.
I never understood the hype about this track either. That said, I find it hard to enjoy anything from them that isn't on Blackwater Park. For some reason, that album was lightning in a bottle for my own taste personally.
what a waste to react/analyze to the audio when you have the one Garden of the Titans version just one click away! is most likely double the quality of this original version. pity..
Being a huge Ole'peth fan, I gotta admit this one was never for me.
Its funny,
I think this is THEE song if someone wanted a representation of why their brand of Death Metal was different than others of _that_ time, and what made their Death Metal "Progressive" . . . Ghost of Perdition was the perfect example, because it presented everything that made them stand out. By then (Ghost Reveries), they began to be known as a "Prog Metal" band, even though _Prog Metal_ for me was represented by the likes of Fates Warning, Queensrÿche, then Dream Theater and all the International bands they all inspired/influenced. And then all that started to influence the Death Metal scene.
*From Beauty to Brutality . . .*
Even though Opeth, as a Death Metal band from 1995 to 1999, they were DRASTICALLY different than _most_ in the genre. That's why I gravitated to them since I first heard them on the "Still Life" album (a few months before "Blackwater Park" was released, and then went backwards into their catalogue). All the abrupt changes with the vocals, acoustic guitars and atmospheric interludes, and back into the _brvtality_ with their hint for the "Gothic" (not Goth) made them unique and awe-inspiring for me.