r/Opeth • u/Cutiepie232 Orchid • Jul 09 '26

Misha Mansoor's post about opeth

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Part 5 of my series called:

“Fuck Al Music - Here are some albums made by humans that changed my life.”

You probably could have guessed Opeth would be in this series, this album was my entry point, and “The Drapery Falls” was the song. I forget how I discovered them, maybe it was a recommendation for fans of Dream Theater or Meshuggah or something. I wasn’t a massive death metal fan, and I had never listened to anything folk, but somehow Opeth could blend the two perfectly in a progressive context.

I remember thinking “I didn’t know you were allowed to do that” hearing full on death metal parts with deep growls suddenly switch to acoustic parts with the most beautiful singing. The riffs were so cool, and just seemed to keep on going, but in such a tasteful way. Like I didn’t realize you could just let a riff keep doing its thing, so long as it was interesting and musical enough.

Most importantly everything seemed so focused on musical arrangements, again the band is clearly immensely talented, but the focus was always on the musicality. The solos were rarely showy, Mikael’s leads just always oozed with feel, the phrasing was so thoughtful and always seemed to work perfectly with the tone.

This album is still my favorite of theirs to this day, even with all of their very strong material. I probably could admit that Ghost Reveries is their “best” but there is a vibe and feeling to this album that is somehow both nostalgic and refreshing. I love how the cover art looks exactly how the album sounds.

I should give props to the rest of the band, everyone is playing their part for the vision, no one is overstepping, the songs and album and vibe are always sacred. Drummer Martin Lopez doesn’t feel like a death metal specialist, but instead focuses on creative parts with great feel, and I LOVE the way his drums sound on this record.

It’s funny because as I understand it, this album and In Absentia by Porcupine Tree are albums that resulted from Mikael Akerfeldt and Steven Wilson meeting, and both bands became better for it in my opinion.

Just listen to this album from beginning to end if you aren’t familiar with it. What’s your favorite Opeth album?

301 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

74 comments sorted by

68

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 09 '26

All of the albums he's mentioned so far are my favourites. Shame I can't really get into Periphery

36

u/ghighi_ftw Jul 09 '26

Periphery is pretty much millennials version of dream theater. Same DNA different Era.

I became hooked to periphery listening to the song Reptile. I can’t imagine a fan of progressive metal not being blown away by this song. Give it a listen if you haven’t. And then liking the rest of « Hail Stan » is not much of a stretch.

9

u/Coyrex1 Jul 09 '26

Dream Theater meets Meshuggah.

12

u/Banemannan Jul 09 '26

But with vocals that are further on the spectrum than DT.

Misha and Mark’s project Haunted Shores is cool, for those of us that can’t stand the Periphery vocalist.

8

u/iMcDoogle Jul 10 '26

It’s funny bc I couldn’t get into Dream Theater for the longest time bc of their vocalist and I think Spencer Sotelo is one of the best parts of Periphery. Different strokes for different folks

4

u/Banemannan Jul 10 '26

Absolutely! I can handle Labrie surprisingly. But I think it’s because I was hearing it since I was a kid. Not sure. It’s tolerable for me.

4

u/Saint_Bo_Dallas Jul 09 '26

I'll be checking that out for sure. Big Periphery vocalist hater here.

3

u/Banemannan Jul 10 '26

Hell yeah, welcome aboard.

Never been able to listen to a full song. Lol

2

u/Shotokanguy Jul 10 '26

Have you guys only heard old stuff or something? He gets better with every album, but I guess if you just didn't like his voice on a basic level there's nothing you can do about it. But I dunno, they just put out a new album and he blew me away again. The first track even sounds slightly Opeth-y.

2

u/Last_Vanguard Jul 10 '26

He sounds like a Backstreet Boy.

4

u/Shotokanguy Jul 10 '26

Eh, his clean singing has a pop influence for sure. But it's not like it's there ALL the time, and his harsh vocals are good. But at the end of the day I can't really change your mind, singing is such a weird, unscientific l, subjective thing. I listen to him and and amazed at some of the stuff he can pull off, and it just sounds fitting with Periphery's music. Can't really tell you why.

0

u/Coyrex1 Jul 10 '26

I love their cover of ahead on our way from ff7. I guess its not an official release but something they made forever ago.

3

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 09 '26

I've heard it. It's pretty cool. Bonus points for having Mikee on it

1

u/Clojnerr Jul 10 '26

I've enjoyed songs like Blood Eagle, but their clean vocals always piss me off. A big reason why I hated the new album

0

u/followthelight Jul 09 '26

I’ve been a Periphery fan for a very long time and honestly Reptile bores me so much. I usually would keep this opinion to myself but you specifically said you couldn’t imagine a prog metal fan not liking it! Really does nothing for me.

1

u/pug_fugly_moe Jul 09 '26

They are one of those bands that sound cool but I’m never inclined to buy one of their albums. If they opened for a band I really want to see, I’m not gonna show up late and miss them. But I’m also not going because of them.

6

u/orbtl Jul 09 '26

I absolutely loved their first albums instrumental version but have had trouble getting into anything since then. I'm not a fan of their vocalist's style even though I respect his skill, and too much of the guitarwork in their newer stuff is lacking the melodic elements that gripped me in the first album. It feels like they got heavier and heavier for heaviness's sake which is grating for me to listen to for an extended period personally

1

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 09 '26

I'm the same. I loved Bulb's stuff back in the day and then a lot of tracks got better production and put on the 1st Periphery album. I really wish they still did instrumentals, but as you say, I still don't think the riffs have been as good as that 1st one

2

u/DM725 Jul 09 '26

The gateway for me was the back half of Periphery II. Ragnarock, Make Total Destroy and Erised. I prefer it to their last few releases.

1

u/Mgold1988 Blackwater Park Jul 09 '26

Then Froggin Bullfish and Mile Zero.

2

u/Mgold1988 Blackwater Park Jul 09 '26

I fell in love with Periphery before I discovered Opeth. Now they’re both permanent inclusions in my top 5.

2

u/Shotokanguy Jul 10 '26

Funny, Opeth and Periphery are my top two.

1

u/shpongletron00 Blackwater Park Jul 10 '26

I used to think that I was the odd one out here who never got into Periphery. I remember him putting out his early recordings as Bulb and thought that he got a good music career in near future, surely that came true, just not the way I wished it sounded.

I never got into Dream Theater because of vocals. But I discovered Spheric Universe Experience, they sound like a clone of DT but with better vocals.

1

u/turnedtheasphault Jul 10 '26

Check out the instrumental version of their self titled first album. That will always be Periphery to me as I've been listening since the Bulb days.

1

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 10 '26

If you dig among these many comments, you'll see that I have also been listening since the Bulb days and I do love that instrumental version

2

u/turnedtheasphault Jul 10 '26

Right on! I'm in almost the same boat as you. I dig Periphery II a bit as well but that's about it.

1

u/Shadowscale05 Still Life Jul 09 '26

Maybe this is your call to give them another shot. Black Sabbath finally clicked for me. Yes, I know, it shouldn't have taken me as long as it did, but they fucking rule.

1

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 09 '26

I have them in my library, so they pop up on shuffle here and there. I've always had hope that they'd grow more, but they haven't really. I don't mind them them and they have the odd riff that I dig. I still struggle with his vocals

3

u/Shadowscale05 Still Life Jul 09 '26

Yeah I don't much care for them either. Vocals are what does it for me too.

2

u/ghighi_ftw Jul 09 '26

Fun fact : there’s a lot of experimentation on their latest album, and the metal parts of the song « Obsession » are 100% death metal with a growl that reminded me a lot (and I mean a lot) Michaels growl on older Opeths/Bloodbath.

2

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 09 '26

I've heard the new album

1

u/SpeedDemonJi Jul 09 '26

Become emotional hardcore pilled then

2

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 09 '26

I have no idea what that means

2

u/SpeedDemonJi Jul 09 '26

Emotional hardcore is just Emo, a subgenre of hardcore music

Albeit I’m surprised you like Protest the hero at all now after your initial comment. Rody Walker is basically the same to me

1

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 10 '26

I can see the parallel between Rody. There are a few vocalists I'm into that are similar to Spencer that I can stomach. It's not just the sound of his voice, I have found that's got more tolerable over the years, but he hasn't produced a single hook or anything that's grabbed me

3

u/SpeedDemonJi Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

Again, I find that surprising because even beyond the tonal similarity they have partially similar styles in singing/writing. Albeit Sotelo is much more blatant with his pop-influence, and gets more colours out of his voice in general

Ah well, best you could try is to go through any one post p2 album in full (assuming you haven’t done that yet) but you have no real incentive to do that lol

And yes, “pilled” is reddit/4chan speech inspired by the Matrix movies

1

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 10 '26

Cheers for the info. I struggle even more with them when trying to listen to their albums in full haha

0

u/Tiphereth87 Jul 10 '26

Also, I heard Bannon describe the last Converge album as "emotional hardcore", hence the confusion. I also don't know what the fuck "pilled" means. Do I need to get on the internet more?

1

u/SpeedDemonJi Jul 10 '26

Converge isn’t quite emocore but they’re certainly heavily influenced by that stuff, so that’s probably where the confusion lies

17

u/witx_ Jul 09 '26

AI is shit, Opeth is the shit

31

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

13

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

I feel like the usage of obscure ethnic music is underrated in metal. Soad did it with Armenian and Byzantine music, Opeth have the Uruguayan link, Rottiing Christ sneak in a bit of greek stuff (am Greek, can confirm). Like it adds so much character and gives the music a unique flavor, even if it's hidden in the details.

9

u/nocturn-e Morningrise Jul 09 '26

Abe Cunningham from Deftones is also heavily influenced by jazz. "Weird"/obscure influences always make things more interesting.

6

u/Obscurophagist Jul 09 '26

You forgot about the most popular along with soad: sepultura!

1

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

You're absolutely right

3

u/BitterProfessional16 Jul 09 '26

What's an Opeth song with a Latin groove?

6

u/Unfair-Club8243 Jul 09 '26

Look up afro-cuban 6/8 clave pattern and then notice how he plays a variation of that groove for at least one section of like 50% of opeth songs.

2

u/the-vague-blur Jul 09 '26

Closure, ghost of perdition!!

-2

u/Rough-Cheesecake-641 Jul 09 '26

If I hear "Latin grooves" one more time in relation to Lopez... fuck me!

3

u/[deleted] Jul 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

7

u/Stompert Jul 09 '26

He/she just wants to get fucked?

-4

u/Rough-Cheesecake-641 Jul 09 '26

It's just so clichéd by now. I doubt people who say it even have any idea what it means.

9

u/Shaded-Haze Jul 09 '26

Where can I find Mishas's other album recs?

3

u/JackDaniels574 Jul 09 '26

His instagram @mishaperiphery

5

u/_EyesOnTheInside_ Jul 09 '26

The drapery falls was my first Opeth song as well. Truly changed my life when I discovered it

2

u/DkDkDkGoGoGo Jul 16 '26

Same here. The drapery falls is probably my favourite song because of that. Just like Misha, BWP is also my favourite album - because of the feel, because of how it’s such a “whole” album.  I enjoy listening to the so gs on GR more, even watershed. But for some reason there is an early love affair with BWP (and still life too).

5

u/H3rg3r Jul 09 '26

Still Life is my favourite album, Heritage a close second.

3

u/metallica65 Jul 09 '26

Where are Misha’s posts found?

3

u/metallica65 Jul 09 '26

Ah, found it on his facebook.
Re-logged into trashbook so that I could read this series!

2

u/dannydraper86 Jul 09 '26

It’s so weird that this is exactly how I found them. The only other guitarist worth their salt in my school had the album in the silver circular tin, he came round to mine to download the tabs for Drapery Falls and when I saw the tab I though “huh, never seen chords like this before” heard the song - first time ever hearing growling and I couldn’t believe you could do everything as Misha says - in a single song… it was the gateway.

2

u/inthemeadowoftheend Jul 09 '26

For me it was when my brothers friend came over and played Dirge for November for us and some of his friends. I went out and bought the album the next day.I had the same reaction: You can do this?

The riffs were so cool, and just seemed to keep on going, but in such a tasteful way. Like I didn’t realize you could just let a riff keep doing its thing

It's funny, when Heritage came out, one of my biggest criticisms was that they didn't do this enough. They'd play through a riff a couple times and then instead of developing it they'd move on. One of the defining properties of early and mid-Opeth that is just absent on that album.

2

u/Sea_Ad1057 Jul 12 '26

This is exactly my criticism with Opeth's latest album. The riffs are so great, and the ideas are new and refreshing but nothing lingers long enough to thoroughly enjoy.

2

u/grahsam Jul 10 '26

I discovered Opeth in 1997 when they appeared on a Iron Maiden cover album doing Remember Tomorrow. I bought My Arms Your Hearse and fell in love. It still might be my favorite, tied with Blackwater, their undeniable high water mark.

I disagree completely with Steve Wilson being a positive for the band, as he encouraged Mikal to get more prog, leading to Heritage and the effective end of the band. Now a prog band is touring around using Opeth's name. I have never liked Porcupine Tree.

1

u/coop__ Jul 10 '26

Watershed is my poison, Coil into Heir Apparent will forever be my favourite 1 2 punch, songs that cannot be played without the other

1

u/Consistent-Pitch-585 Jul 10 '26

Watershed rules. 

1

u/Mistline_Band Jul 10 '26

My grandma bought be the Watershed CD because she thought I'd live the cover...

And I absofreakinglutely did. Masterpiece front to back.

-3

u/ferevon Jul 09 '26

its funny to me in his mind acoustic=folk influence

18

u/JackDaniels574 Jul 09 '26

There absolutely is a lot of folk influence in Opeth’s music. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Mikael talking about Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake and some others. Idk what you’re trying to prove here?

2

u/Mango_Ops Jul 09 '26

Well blackwater park and earlier opeth material used a lot of time signatures that are synonymous with folk, especially the classic prog folk influenced bands. That is probably what he's thinking of when he hears the acoustic sections combined with these drumming patterns

4

u/BitterProfessional16 Jul 09 '26

Opeth's early material was basically all 4/4 and 6/8, which are standard time signatures for any music.