Opeth

[AstralliS]

Ma dobro, Italijani su crni, haha.

[AstralliS]

What you don’t know won’t hurt you...

 

 

Well, I'm going to tell ya!

 

I just got back from the Melloboat, basically the floors are still moving underneath me and I'm beyond exhausted, but it's all worth it. Myself, my wife and my youngest daughter, Mirjam all checked into the semi- posh Commodore suites of the Silja Symphony boat, and I knew right then this trip was going to be a memory for life.

 

 

 

I wasn't really nervous for our own gig, even though we hadn't played since last Summer and even though our setlist consisted of a few songs we hadn't played for a long time + one new song, "Heir apparent". I asked my wife to cut me some slack as I my brain was literally working overtime, overheating.

 

 

 

I'd talked Stefan into fixing a slot for us at 10 pm which is basically regular gig time, since we don't like the play in the middle of the night. Easily arranged and a one hour gig was scheduled for the big stage (well…kinda) of the boat. I didn't have time to see any bands prior to us, so I missed Anekdoten, but I know they're great, they always are.

 

 

 

Our main objective for the gig was to have a good time. It's seen as a warm up for our coming UK and USA tours and I think it's done us good. Basically I had a blast, we all did! None of us we're playing flawlessly or anything like that, and the sound was a bit iffy, but we fucking had a blast straight through. The crowd was great, singing along, seemed like many people were really happy to see us again, and also maybe slightly relieved that we're sounding like Opeth after all the line-up changes. I knew that. In fact, in the rehearsal room the day before the show we all agreed on that we have never ever sounded this good ever before. I even enjoyed rehearsing "The drapery falls". That's pretty weird since I can't remember having rehearsed it with any kind of emotion since 2001 or something. Love the song, but we've played it to death I the past. Now it felt so fresh and basically it was one of my favourite songs that night. We did a slower version of "Harvest" which I really liked. The new one came out fine, even though it had the most mistakes…mainly technical mistakes. It was fun to play it and the crowd seemed the really dig it. Everyone that came up to me afterwards said it was their favourite song of the night, which is not a bad thing I guess.

 

 

 

The setlist was:

 

 

 

Intro

 

Masters apprentices

 

The drapery falls

 

Serenity painted death

 

Harvest

 

The baying of the hounds

 

Heir apparent

 

Demon of the fall

 

 

 

Thanks to everyone who came to see us. Basically, thanks to everyone that bought a ticket for this happening. You know what I mean when I say it's was a memory for life, right??

 

 

 

After the gig, Roger Wooton (Comus) came into our dressing room and said he was really impressed with the show. He was smiling and going off on how tight we were. Can you imagine, this guy who I've been worshipping since the mid 90´s is giving me compliments?

 

I was almost honoured to the point where I was tearing up.

 

I talked to all of Comus about setting up a additional show together with Opeth. They all seemed really keen on the idea so we'll see what happens.

 

 

 

Next up, after a few drinks I went to see a little bit of Trettioåriga kriget who were brilliant. Great sound, great choice of songs and they basically had the entire crowd spellbound it seemed. If you haven't heard these guys you're missing out I can tell you.

 

 

 

At 2 o clock in the morning, Mats & Morgan went on and it was one of the highlights of the trip. Wow! Just wow! This gig will go down in history. I think they played til 5 in the morning or something and at one point Fredrik Thordendal, Ia Eklundh joined and they played a few bits from Fredriks solo record "Sol niger within" for the first time to a crowd ever. It was nothing short of amazing! The amount of talent on that stage cannot really be measured with words. You'd had to be there to understand. Morgan Ågren has to be one of the best drummers in the world. I was very impressed with the bass player, Gustaf Hielm. Lasse Hollmer also played the accordion and other instruments and well…it was just insane. They did a bunch of Zappa numbers too, "Black page" for instance…yeah, you should have been there suckahh!

 

 

 

I was basically mobbed walking around, stopped for photos and autographs all the time, but even though it's actually kinda hard work sometimes I really appreciated it. I guess, so many things have happened and we've been away for some time I guess it just felt really good to know that so many people still hold us in high regard and are as excited about the future of Opeth as we are. Thanks to all of you!

 

 

 

Next day, first up was Bo Hansson and it was a real nice low key performance. I was sipping on a drink with my wife and daughter and a few friends, and we're all nodding along to the music. He played some pure classics off the "Lord of the rings" record. He did "Tax free" and overall it sounded great. It resembled a 60´s party somehow.

 

 

 

Then it was time for Nathalie, Axe and Mendez with friends. I was really impressed with Nat's voice, as I'm sure all of you guys watching were. The harmony vocals we're really tight too. Very impressive! The only problem was that the boat was rocking a little here and I felt slightly sick so I couldnät see the entire set. It was a pleasant encounter nevertheless. Fun to see Axe playing guitar. Is he threatening my position now???

 

 

 

After a quick drink with Jonas we went down to see the main reason why I was on the boat: Comus! They started with "Song to Comus" and my eyes we're teating up. I wanted to cry right there. With joy of course. I was amazed, and the crowd was simply entranced…going berserk! It was lovely to hear everyone singing especially loud on the line "By the baying of the hounds"…I felt really proud!

 

Bobbie looked as she'd been in a time capsule since 1971 and her voice was as intact. Wow! Amazing! Roger was great, and overflowing with emotion as he delivered the lyrics that's meant so much to me over the years. Glen played like a god, "The herald" caused shivers on my spine. Basically they blasted through most of the album, my favourite was probably "Drip drip"! I feel slightly lost for words and I can't believe I have seen them live. I hope there will be more concerts…we'll have to make it happen!

 

After the show I went down to congratulate them and they very all overwhelmed by the crowd reaction. I talked to all of them, including Colin Pearson who I didn't meet on my UK trip. He turned out to a perfect gentleman, real nice down to earth guy with loads of interesting stories.

 

Next up was Katatonia who delivered a really solid set I think. They're tight as fuck and Jonas sang really well! They're still one of the best metal bands in the world as far as I'm concerned. I went up and did "Murder" with them. It was fun but probably the most out of tune version of any song, ever! By this time the boat was rocking so much I was literally on the verge of vomiting on the front row. After a quick beer I went off to bed and basically passed out instantly. So I missed Leafhound but heard it was awesome. Per was playing "Breakthrough" and "Growers of mushroom" with them and said he enjoyed it a lot. Pete French was really on form he told me! Pete French obviously did the vocals on Atomic roosters "In hearing of" record and Vincent Crane is one of the main influences of Per so I guess he was happy to do this. He even had the trademark Crane bandana on.

 

 

 

The next day I woke up and we basically freshened ourselves up a little and got off. Steve Wilson and Lasse Hoile came along over to our house for lunch. As did Jonas and his girlfriend Nina. A perfect calm ending to a perfect wild trip!

 

 

 

Well, just wanted to let you know what you missed out on! Not rubbing it in or anything….well, really…in fact, yes I am! Sucker!!!

 

 

 

Love ya peeps!

 

Cheers

 

Mike

[darthmoog]

[AstralliS]

Zanimljivo. Lepo izgleda, sviđaju mi se Opethovi atworci generalno.

[Salvation]

Jedino sto ne vidim asocijaciju sa Watershedom na slici

[Grobodan]

Mozda je neki fake, za Ghost Reveries ih je bilo par...

Preorder.

[Buddha]

nije fake, postavio mika na blogu svome.

[Лударајко]

Moj ukus kaze da je jedan od boljih do sada...

 

 

[_powerslave_]

Losh omot... ne svidja mi se uopshte, al u principu ne gotivim mnogo omote Opetha... kad ce vishe taj album...

[azal]

needs more dragons.

[marcoman]

[AstralliS]

lolfag

[KinSlayer]

Losh omot... ne svidja mi se uopshte, al u principu ne gotivim mnogo omote Opetha... kad ce vishe taj album...

Ne slazem se. Uopste.

Meni su Opeth omoti jedni od boljih. Mracni su i bas su nekako artistic. Nekako ima odredjene atmosfere na njima i kad pogledas omot odmah ti je jasno o cemu se radi i odmah te prodju zmarci...

Meni se recimo taj Kingov omot uopste ne svidja... Ko da sam ga ja crtao u mladjim danima...

Anyway,

Edited April 6, 2008 by KinSlayer

[_powerslave_]

Jebaga ja rekoh da ne gotivim mnogo, shto ne znachi da mi se ne svidjaju njihovi omoti...

[AstralliS]

Anyway,

 

Dva kralja i ostali... >

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UpH3qhP_UE...feature=related

[markomrki]

 

mislim da je ovo legendarno

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

So I arrived at the recording studio at about 17:50. It was on a back-street of north-west London, but apparently the band really liked it, and suggested it may be used by them in the future. There were about 10 of us and we waited around until about 18:20 when Mikael and Fredrik came out. They were both really friendly and we just chilled with them, watching The Simpsons. At this point, we all got things signed and photos taken etc and just had a general chat with them. After everybody had arrived at about 18:40, we went into a side room, fully equipped with a brilliant surround sound system and sat down:

 

First things first. Anybody who had doubts about whether Akesson and Axenrot could match Lindgren and Lopez, fear not. They both put in excellent performances on their debut album, and have both seem to have settled in really well. Fredrik seems really down-to-earth, and he was a really cool guy to chat with.

 

Now to the album:

 

Coil is truly a beautiful acoustic track. In the 5.1 surround sound, Mikael's haunting voice and the harmonies he created with it echo around the room and immediately establish a sinister vibe for the entire album. There is some excellent acustic guitar work, as well as violins, cellos, oboe and flute used to complement the fantastic guest vocals from Nathalie Lorichs.

 

Some of you might have heard the live version of Heir Apparent on Youtube. Well trust me, the brutality of this song is a hundred times stronger than it comes across in the video. There are some very nice guitar solos by both Mikael and Fredrik and some of the characteristic contrasts between incredibly heavy and incredibly beautiful that we have come to expect from Opeth: the sudden switches between distortion and clean guitars that feature in albums like Blackwater Park.

 

One thing I did notice is that there is a noticeable lack of 'cookie-monster' vocals, at least compared to albums like Ghost Reveries, Deliverance and My Arms, Your Hearse. When they do arrive though, it is in short bursts, with Akerfeldt at his very best.

 

The Lotus Eater is another classic Opeth track. For me this is one where Axenrot really shines. He plays some astonishing blast beats, and includes some devilish syncopated patterns, but maintains the groove that Martin Lopez was the master of. No problems with the drumming.

 

Burden is a ballad, in the Damnation (and dare I say it, Repentance) vein. Again the vocals are beautifully haunting and I'd be interested to know more about the concept of the album. The lyrics were intriguing to say the least. I also caught a whiff of the Pink Floyd influence within the band, with some rather Gillmour-esque solos. Another excellent track.

 

From here on, I can't really remember enough to distinguish the three remaining songs (I'd need to hear it just once more to do that), but rest assured, it's all good stuff, with some more brutal riffs. A few things I do remember are:

 

- a very folky section with some very upbeat acoustic work

- some unconventional vocals from Mikael, along the lines of humming and laa-ing

- a very sinister laugh at the end of one of the tracks, leading into the next song.

- a section using out-of-tune acoustic guitars, producing a doom-laden atmosphere

 

Overall, I don't think any Opeth fan will be disappointed with this new album. If Ghost Reveries was a glitch in the band's discography (I don't feel that way but I know some do), Watershed is a true return to form. Throughout there is an eerie, ethereal atmosphere, and in a way it is one of the band's most progressive albums. Keyboards are more prominent than they have ever been, and there are nice mellotron parts in a couple of songs. They certainly flow well, as does the entire album.

 

Those of you who enjoy My Arms, Your Hearse and Still Life will be most pleased as I could definitely sense a return to that kind of style. I just wish I didn't have to wait two months to hear it again.

 

In other Opeth news, they will be doing a headlining European tour in November, the Roundhouse dvd is definitely out in September, and they have already filmed a video for the song Porcelain Heart.

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

Not sure if I agree about the absence of death vocals. I think the balance is about what it is on Still Life, maybe a *bit* less, but you will definitely get your fill. Mikael continues to top himself at both ends of the dirty/clean vocal spectrum and everything inbetween. For the brutal stuff, he sounds absolutely possessed, more truly demonic than ever, etc.

 

As for the balance of heaviness in general throughout the album, it is a little weird this time around, because aside from the 2nd and 3rd songs, there really isn't a lot of really intense stuff, IMO. But the parts of the album that are heavy are among some of their heaviest, most evil moments ever. So I'd say this album is a little bit less about having the gradient flow earlier Opeth albums had, and more about taking contrast to extremes. But make no mistake... EVERYTHING on this album is PURE EVIL. I think Mikael commented recently that even the mellow/"major" moments on this album sound sinister, whereas on Ghost Reveries the mood occasionally lightened. The dark vibe of this album never lets up. It's not happy listening. (Unless, of course, evil makes you happy... )

 

The orchestral instruments are used sparingly and tastefully. Very seamlessly integrated ... I can't imagine the album without them. Lots of "lost in the woods" moments as I like to call them, hehe... And speaking of seamless integration, are there new Opeth members on this album? You won't really notice most of the time (in a good way), and when you do, you'll be happy they're there. I still don't think Axenrot's drumming is capable of some of the subtleties you would occasionally hear in Lopez's, but honestly, it's NOT really a big deal, and it's hardly noticeable. He's not without his own moments of brilliance. As for Akesson, there are moments on the album when he's soloing and I can barely tell it's not actually Mikael. I'd say he belongs in this band.

 

I don't think anyone will be disappointed at all. You've all got another solid, brilliant Opeth album to look forward to.

Edited April 10, 2008 by Et in Arcadia Ego

[Baal]

Sad sam skinuo ovaj remaster Still Life-a, mnogo je čistiji, izbačeno je puno nekog glupog reverba, akustične gitare su čistije, predlažem da skine svako ko voli Still Life.

[_powerslave_]

Daj link, pa ce skidamo...

[AstralliS]

Jeste, daj link.

[Et in Arcadia Ego]

Da, bre, daj link!

[Baal]

Ja sam skidao sa wafflesa, snađite se, ima po blogovima.

 

A ako nema, javite mi da uploadam.

Edited April 10, 2008 by BaalBehrit

[markomrki]

ko ima torrent downloader mogu da mu bacim link za piano tribute to opeth, izvanredno je

[DBrave]

naravno. daj link !!