Opeth - new album "Pale Communion"

Again, the primary difference is instrumental SOUND (vintage guitars, tube amps, organs, electric piano, mellotron, drums that sound like actual drums and not heavy metal cannons), the WRITING and the arrangements are 100% Opeth...or to be more accurate, 100% Mikael. I don't think Mikael was "taking sides", I think he wrote songs he feels passionate about, using instrumental sounds that inspire him.

In 2011 he said in an interview that he hasn't actively listened to death metal in over 20 years and definitely wasn't influenced by anything from that genre during that time. In that interview he said if he's no longer listening to that genre, then he saw no need to force himself to continue to write in a style that no longer interests him.

 

I am really enjoying this album and the new direction. I think this new album is even better than Heritage, though I've only listened to it three times.

I remember seeing them on the Heritage tour where people in line were complaining about how much they disliked that album. I still don't understand the backlash because it's not like they've simplified their sound like Metallica did in 1991.

 

I'm not advocating songwriting for the sake of meeting the requirements of a genre. That is for the pop music songwriters of the world. And yes, i've read the same interview. it's just my opinion on how I think this record would be better for me. And whether he consiously said, "I'm going to make a prog record that sounds like it's from the 70's "(which he kind of did), or not, it came out sounding a lot like a prog album from the 70's. a lot more in that direction than previous Opeth, so he ended up on the "prog side" a lot more than the "metal side", to me not a bad thing, just a thing.

 

Even if you didn't buy Slayer, why is one a p*ssy if one likes Heritage and Pale Communion? Musical taste is subjective. I frankly can't stand most modern metal - does that mean that somehow I'm not allowed to buy an Opeth album, according to some peoples' rule-books? I also happen to like Mastadon - am I not allowed to according to "real metal fans"?

I need melody and organic guitar tones in my music. That doesn't make me a p*ssy.

 

But DVDAE works with Blu Rays?

 

I'm actually considering seeing them in Toronto in December but a bit scared that there will be some crazy fans of that ilk ruining things for everyone.

How are they live? Is it worth braving a potentially unruly crowd?

 

Could not agree more. Pale Communion is anything but an album that screams "sell-out". Different, yes - but heck nothing near being a modern pop album.

 

While I agree with you, I think the backlash comes mostly from headbangers who don't listen to anything unless it's brootalz. Nothing wrong with that - they can like what they like.

 

Bought this yesterday, based solely on this thread. Prior to that, I have little knowledge of Opeth, aside from a few things I've heard on youtube.

On first couple listens, I'm liking it more. Whether I grow to love it, who knows but it seems like a grower. The musicianship is excellent and it's a nice, crankable disc. Probably not something I would listen to daily as it's a bit of a symphony of gloom but pretty cool and a bit outside my wheelhouse.

 

I'm in complete agreement with you, but you don't usually get even-tempered discussions from fans of extreme heavy metal styles, it's usually borderline whackjob/7th grade junior high school locker room mentality.

In regards to Opeth in concert, yes, most definitely go, they are a fantastic live band. I saw the Heritage tour and while there were a few noisy complainers in the audience, it didn't have an impact on my enjoyment of the show.

 

I guess but personally grow bored with bands that don't evolve.

 

On a separate note I still haven't received my LP from Amazon. I pre-ordered it, yet it was already listed as out-of-stock on the first day of release, so evidently somebody at Amazon screwed up the number of copies they ordered. I emailed them and they could provide no status update other than "out of stock" and offered to upgrade the shipping for free. Doesn't matter, I'm still pissed, when I pre-order an album I expect to have it in my hands on the release date.

 

No, it was delayed, Roadrunner sent me a message a week before release saying it was delayed a week (would be shipped on the 26th). On release day the "out of stock" email Roadrunner sent stated 30 days, but that seems like more of a form message then a real update. Now, over a week after the first email, I have been charged for it, but have not received an update.

I hear you though, even though I have the box set (CD/BD/7"s), I get a bit impatient over things like this.

 

Thanks for the update, I will continue to wait impatiently for it.

 

Nobody check the stereo versions of this album (Blu Ray and CD) and confirm they sound different or indeed that they don't?

 

All stereo versions were mastered by Paschal Byrne from Steven Wilson's original 24 bit 96 khz stereo mix. The stereo tracks compared between CD, Blu-ray and HDTracks have nearly identical Dynamic Range values. The only difference you might hear between the three media is that the Blu-ray author used Dolby TrueHD to encode Mr. Byrne's masters. Depending on your A/V decoder settings, Dialog Normalization and Dynamic Range Compression metadata found in Dolby TrueHD's bitstream might slightly alter the sound. Of course, this is easily correctable by just disabling DRC (you should do this when playing any music/concert DVD or Blu-ray that uses Dolby) on your player or A/V receiver decoder settings and, voila, it should sound virtually identical. If you think you have über human hearing, don't have the Blu-ray, but you still want the original 24 bit stereo mix, you can always opt for the digital download version on HDTracks.

 

There are people out there that are fans of metal and prog rock. There are also people out there that love Damnation but think Heritage and Pale Communion aren't very good.

 

I'm a fan of both metal and progressive rock, I also think Damnation, Heritage and Pale Communion are all 3 great albums.

 

Same here. As much as I love metal it's never been my only musical interest.

 

So, I've listened to this album at least twice all the way through - some songs 3 or 4 times. I think it's heavy.

Not heavy in the metal sense - I can how fans who love the earlier work could balk at this - but heavy in the thematic, moody sense of the word. Melodically.

I also picked up Steven Wilson's latest disc yesterday and feel the same way: very heavy.

It's dense and dark music.

Last night, my stepson (12) gave "faith in others" the thumbs up and said he could envision the song in a movie. He had a headache so I had to turn down the first few songs and then decided to skip to that one to see how he liked it.

 

I also picked up the CD based on comments on this thread. I'm really liking the sound and the mastering. I'm hoping other artists (and record companies) take notice and realise that there is an alternative to the current loudness wars trend.

To me, the drums sound like they were played by a real human being as opposed to the current trend of beat detectives and such. So all in all, this album is a very pleasant surprise.

 

I can't wait to get the LP version of PC. This album has really grown on me and I liked it quite a bit from the get go.

I noticed a few posters commented somewhere that they didn't care much for "Watershed". May I ask why? I was playing the LP last night and I love it. I had forgotten about that cool electric piano break in Lotus Eater that brings Gentle Giant to mind. I like "Ghost Reveries" a bit better but I don't think "Watershed" is far behind. Both albums have lots of light and shade, death growls, clean vocals, lengthy tracks and tons of vintage keyboards.

Thinking back on it, Opeth was my gateway to death metal and accepting-and even enjoying-the much maligned "Cookie Monster" style of singing so prevalent on the death metal genre.

 

My Arms your Hearse was my first Opeth album back in 1998, I picked it up as a new release under recommendation from a metal expert at HMV (back when they had a no fuss return policy). The growling style of vocals was something that always turned me off, I guess I didn't look at it from the right perspective, anyhow I was blown away by this album and it's almost like a switch went off. I've been a fan ever since and they have yet to truly disappoint with any of their albums and they're 11 albums into a career that spans almost 20 years (time flies or what??).

 

I too have been impatiently waiting to get this on vinyl before I listen to even a second of the album. After all of these excellent reviews, I'm dying for it to FINALLY make it. Roadrunner told me they should start shipping on the August 28th. However, I haven't heard anything from them since. I emailed them yesterday asking what the current status is, and I have not received an email back. I picked up the sweet preorder package with the CD, Blu-ray, and 7 inch vinyls, too. I was charged back in July for my order. Still scratching my head on how Roadrunner could botch such a major release TWICE.....

 

Just read this:

http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/for...-5-1-(Blu-ray)&p=221726&viewfull=1#post221726

I wonder if there's anything to this.