Agreed 100%. With the stereo mix it sounds like they did a downmix of the surround mix and added volume and compression.
I did a downmix also with makemkv and dvd audio extractor. There's a few places where some strings and a vocal are sort of muted out. I don't know enough about making these. I was wondering if there was a way to properly combine all the info in the 4 channels into 2. It does sound so much more dynamic this way though.
I got the box with yellow transparent swedish and orange transparent english. They are pretty good. Bit better than the cd as far as dynamics. Quiet and flat. To me the cd doesn't sound as good as it could though. The files on the blu ray are much less squashed, the vinyl seems about the same as that.
I ordered the English black version from Amazon U.S. many moons ago, and no, my order shows nothing about a ship date yet. I assume all the release dates of late October and early November i see on other sites might be an indication of when this Amazon order will ship? Or months from now I/we will get an email from Amazon saying, "Sorry, we couldn't fulfill your order." That has happened to me 2x for other releases. I may see if I can just get the Swedish version somewhere instead, as I am enjoying that more (using my cd copy). Not knowing the Swedish language, I think the mystery of not knowing what he is singing about adds spooky intrigue.
I ended up ordering the Swedish version on vinyl from Amazon Germany for ~$30. It looks like the American pressings won't ship from anyone until November or late October.
I realise that it's entirely subjective but for me, this is Opeth's masterpiece. I've listened to it many times now and I still feel like I'm in that sweet discovery spot. It's just EPIC. Very much looking forward to the London show at the end of the month. I sent my damaged box back to Music Glue, I still can't believe how flimsy the packaging was. They were very helpful and efficient however in arranging a refund. I ordered the die cut box from NB and it came really quickly. Unlike MG, the outer packaging was very good too. I had hoped a Hi-Res version of the album might be available for my Pono but looking on all the usual sites, it seems not, at least so far. I'd normally put one together from the Blu-Ray but I don't have a BD drive on my PC anymore.
The Opeth tour starts this coming Sunday and I'm lucky enough to be seeing them two nights later. Although they won't do it, I'd be so happy to have the new album played live from start to finish followed by a few old classics to finish off the show. For me, ICV is the pinnacle of the "70's prog homage" that's been going on in Opeth since Heritage and all songs on this albuim deserve a live airing rather than yet another showing for Cusp of Eternity, Devil's Ochard or In My Time of Need (ok, that's a pretty amazing track!)
Yes ICV deserves a whole live airplay but not sure if this is feasible as of today. Actually, it would be nice they repeat the RAH concept but with ICV as the main attraction. For those located in Europe, in what type of location Opeth usually perform? Size, attendance, stand-up or seated? I saw them twice in Montreal and twice standing up in this sh*tcan called the MTelus theater. There’s better venues in Montreal who can accomodate 2300 fanatics! I thought to pass my turn on this tour but...
I guess it's much the same as elsewhere as it's been a real mixture of venues over the years; for us in the UK, we have enjoyed some iconic venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, The Roundhouse (an old but iconic railway shed), Brixton Academy and larger arenas such as Wembley Arena. There is the famous London Palladium coming up which should be very nice as we are in the Royal Circle, dead centre; London Palladium London seat guide and chart We even saw them in an ornate chapel a few years back in Islington, London, which was pretty special as you could hear a pin drop. Equally, I have seen the band many times in so called standing (and extremely crushed) sh*tcans and student venues across the UK. I really don't like those venues. As for overseas, I saw them in NYC at Terminal 5 with Dream Theater. That was a quite a nice venue, if more contemporary. Like you guys, I would love to hear ICV played all the way through!
What a sublime show in London last night. Opeth have really upped their game in terms of production values and my wish for a new (and particular intro) was granted. The new numbers came across so well and it has only strengthened my desire to hear ICV played from start to finish. I think they might do this at some point. One negative point for me; Martin M was relegated to the new riser and spent most of the gig in darkness. I didn't like that and wanted to see him 'up front' with Mike and Frederik. I think they've done that to 'balance' the new riser and perhaps Martin is happy with that so who am I to question it? Great setlist, great production and great sound. Axe was a monster as per. He is definitely one of my all time favourite drummers and he really does remind me of Bonham at times. He hits hard but has the required feel to compliment each number. I wish I was going to Glasgow now. Enjoy folks!
The tour continued in Glasgow last night, and was possibly the best I've seen them , out of the six tours I've gone to. Here's my review of how it all played out: Opeth – SWG3 Galvanizers, Glasgow (31 October 2019) [Live gig review] Hope you find it interesting.
I guess they released the "Hi-Res" album this weekend (they are 44.1/24 files, same as Garden Of The Titans). I decided to take the plunge and purchase both the English and Swedish Versions and I can safely advise to save your money and buy the 2 CD release instead if you just want digital as they used the same compressed & clipped files. I guess I will have to splurge on the deluxe boxset to get a reasonable sounding version of this album.
I had a nice chat with Fredrik and Mikael in a local record shop today, they were both buying lots of vinyl and really nice people, not my scene musically, but interesting people to talk to and diverse musical taste.
Must say that I - and the wife - really enjoyed the London Palladium show, even though we were up in the Gods and could only see the top of Akerfeldt's "Stylish" hat! I'd have loved it of they'd done The Moor as they did at Nowich, but the setlist was certainly better balanced at the Palladium. Nice to see, well hear, Fredrik taking the vocal lead on some lines. Best live band in the world at the moment IMHO - but I don't get out much...
I've been playing the 5.1 through Jriver downmixed to 2.0 and it's so much better. Much better Dynamics.
Thanks, that's very good to know as I'd have probably gone for it. I just wish that I could downmix my 5.1 Blu Ray. I listen to music DVD's in the car as I'm fortunate to have surround sound in there but there's no Blu Ray player. As such, I'm a bit 'old school' and I'd rather have a new music release on DVD as opposed to BD. Thankfully, most of the Opeth back catalogue in 5.1 is available on the DVD format. Having already purchased the BD's, I even re-bought the Steven Wilson remixed YES albums on DVD, specifically for the car.
I have listened to this album a few times but I honestly cannot give a full review of it yet. The folks at Abbey Road butchered this album so badly I cannot really hear what is going on within the mix to get a full appreciation of the album. I appreciate the songs on this album much more than Sorceress but it is begging for dynamics, texture & detail which has been totally destroyed. Honestly the album sounds like it was recorded off a transistor radio at times. I will have to plunk down the cash for the deluxe edition to get the vinyl release and Blu Ray version to down mix and see what is going on before I can really give this one a chance.
Ok, I managed to have a listen to the blu ray of both the English and Swedish release and it is a much more engaging listen. I think after a bit more time of listening I will put this up at the top with Heritage for their Prog Rock efforts, this one is a significant step up from Sorceress in both songwriting and production. I can't state enough how badly this album was mastered in the CD & Hi Res releases... it's just a shame that you have to put down $100+ to get a decent version of a modern day album. If I were to make a choice between the English and Swedish release I would choose the latter as I find the vocals were handled much better (more tasteful eq and effects on Mikael's voice). Only nitpick I would have with the overall mixes is I wish Mikael would cut back on the filtering effects on his voice and allow them to be more forward but that's just me.
I notice that they have a download available at 44/24. I wonder if the blu-ray is also 48/24 and if the vinyl was cut from a 44/24 file rather than 96/24,
I have not listened to the vinyl in a while but it was clearly better than the cd. the 24/96 seems pointless without dynamics. I think everyone should source the 5.1 it's night and day better in 2.0 foobar2000 1.3.1 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1 log date: 2019-11-07 16:14:06 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Analyzed: Opeth / In Cauda Venenum (5.1) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR Peak RMS Duration Track -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DR11 -8.65 dB -25.83 dB 3:29 01-Livets Trädgård DR12 -1.04 dB -17.14 dB 6:36 02-Svekets Prins DR12 -1.63 dB -18.32 dB 8:29 03-Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör DR12 -1.04 dB -18.58 dB 7:11 04-De Närmast Sörjande DR12 -2.81 dB -18.92 dB 6:34 05-Minnets Yta DR13 -1.04 dB -18.18 dB 5:30 06-Charlatan DR13 -1.04 dB -19.36 dB 7:22 07-Ingen Sanning Är Allas DR12 -1.11 dB -18.83 dB 6:43 08-Banemannen DR12 -1.34 dB -17.99 dB 7:24 09-Kontinuerlig Drift DR11 -1.04 dB -18.11 dB 8:27 10-Allting Tar Slut DR11 -8.65 dB -25.83 dB 3:29 11-Garden of Earthly Delights DR12 -0.04 dB -16.15 dB 6:36 12-Dignity DR12 -0.88 dB -17.50 dB 8:29 13-Heart in Hand DR13 -0.04 dB -17.72 dB 7:11 14-Next of Kin DR12 -2.02 dB -17.97 dB 6:34 15-Lovelorn Crime DR13 -0.04 dB -17.33 dB 5:30 16-Charlatan DR13 -0.04 dB -18.56 dB 7:22 17-Universal Truth DR12 -0.16 dB -17.98 dB 6:43 18-The Garroter DR12 -0.46 dB -17.06 dB 7:24 19-Continuum DR11 -0.04 dB -17.20 dB 8:27 20-All Things Will Pass -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Number of tracks: 20 Official DR value: DR12 Samplerate: 48000 Hz Channels: 6 Bits per sample: 24 Bitrate: 3587 kbps Codec: FLAC
Is there a 2.0 version on the blu-ray and is it compressed as badly as the cd? I'm thinking about getting the download and I am wondering if that is compressed terribly like the cd.
I edited my post above to say I have not listened to the vinyl in a while but it was better than the cd lol from what someone posted the hi res is the same as the cd dynamics wise. Seems pointless like a lot of stuff on hdtracks IMO. It's a shame people cannot get the blu ray easily and that the hi res is pointless. Such an amazing album ! If you play records buy a good copy on vinyl and you can always find the 5.1 files... So basically the only way to get the non compressed mastering is the blu ray 5.1 and there is no stereo 2.0 version on it either. I ripped my blu ray to 2.0 flac files and I found that playing the 5.1 files through Jriver was better than playing the 2.0 files made from 5.1. There's some things in the mix that do not work correctly ripping the 5.1 to 2.0 files and playing them. Just playing the 5.1 files and letting Jriver downmix 2.0 seems perfect. The only song thats "off" is the garrotter because I think they did some panning with the left and right channels for 4.1/5.1 that when downsampled to 2.0 pans the instruments left and right like a 4 track recording but it doesnt bother me. It's the most dynamic track on the cd so you can substitute that if you liked.
