Interesting Metal
(for the uninitiated)
(Posted: December 16, 2023)
Opeth
Opeth are, without a doubt, true masters of their craft, to say the very least. Their catalog includes superb music you should not miss out on, for any reason. The majority of their repertoire, however, is most definitely an acquired taste, so be forewarned: Should you venture to explore their discography on your own, without any idea as to where to begin, you may find yourself sampling their music at all the wrong places and giving up on them, prematurely, before their best music has had a fair chance to make a first good impression. Start your quest with the albums below; they will be your gateway to the wonderful musicianship of Opeth…
Damnation
Though delightfully somber, this album is not what you would expect from a Death Metal band at all: it is slow-paced, relaxed, and melodic; a steady flow of seemingly effortless harmony all throughout. You may, in fact, even question whether what you are hearing is actually metal, and… oh!… it is!… it so is!…
Song after song, the harmonious concatenation of sounds instills in you a strangely-comforting dark mood that will have you in silent contemplation after it stops… right before you play it all over again.
Yes… this is the sort of album you just have to play twice. There are no bad songs here. This truly is song-writing at its best both in terms of music and of lyrics. Just dim the lights, center yourself in front of your speakers, close your eyes, and enjoy.
Tracks:
1. Windowpane (music and lyrics)
2. In My Time of Need (music and lyrics)
3. Death Whispered a Lullaby (music and lyrics)
This is a very chilling, very disturbing song. Music and lyrics combine to perfection in creating the ice-cold mood the central theme of this song requires. The beautiful music and the soul-crushing poetry are much too poignant for me, however, and, so, I am hesitant to discuss the subject matter here.
All I am willing to say for now is that the song starts by describing a heavily wooded area, by the side of a road, where a search party has just called off their efforts. Death tries to console a victim in the only way I suppose It knows how.
4. Closure (music and lyrics)
5. Hope Leaves (music and lyrics)
A single, mundane, and probably never-looked-at-twice photograph of a now-departed loved one becomes a cherished memory that hinders acceptance.
The finality of the loss is clear; still, the pain caused by the departure becomes “…a wound that’s always bleeding”, a road that is always traveled—thoughts on a hamster wheel—and the future is sacrificed in an effort to conserve the past.
But denial is just a smoke screen. In the end, “hope leaves” and the dark reality forces its way in.
6. To Rid the Disease (music and lyrics)
So painfully sweet, it will break your spirit.
“Opeth’s songs can be so brutal…”, a comment read in an Internet forum. I couldn’t agree more. This song is—I dare say—quite a good example of that…
Somehow, the serenity of the melody conveys both the anguish and the acceptance of the beholder as he tries his best to ignore the situation, to pretend he does not see what he is seeing, to remain indifferent, unaffected; but, still, he feels compelled to bear witness to that which was meant to be, but wasn’t. One faint movement is all it took to “rid the disease”.
I will not spell it out for you here, but feel free to e-mail me if you really don’t get what this song is about.
7. Ending Credits (music and lyrics)
This song is an instrumental piece so masterfully crafted, you will want to play it over and over again, I kid you not!
8. Weakness (music and lyrics)
A very dark song, indeed. I have no insights on what the meaning behind it is. Please e-mail me if you do, I really want to know.
Watershed
Watershed is a fantastic album: many of its songs share the same melodic, harmonious song-writing style you find in Damnation, only this one is, perhaps, a little heavier and darker, as it also bears undeniable traits of Death Metal but that are carefully introduced and serve their purpose well.
This album is a perfect follow-up if you have just finished listening to Damnation.
The opening track, “Coil,” is a captivatingly melancholic song that features a female voice. Judging based solely on this song, you would never, in a million years, suspect what lies ahead.
If tracks numbers 2 and 3 are not your cup of tea, feel free to skip to number 4 and beyond. If, like me, however, you do enjoy tracks 2 and 3, perhaps, then, you are ready to take on Blackwater Park (see below).
Tracks:
1. Coil (music and lyrics)
2. Heir Apparent (music and lyrics)
3. The Lotus Eater (music and lyrics)
4. Burden (music and lyrics)
5. Porcelain Heart (music and lyrics)
6. Hessian Peel (music and lyrics)
7. Hex Omega (music and lyrics)
Blackwater Park
This album was released in 2001, much earlier than the other two albums above. I am presenting this album to you last, because it is closer to the early Death Metal roots of Opeth, and it is, therefore, perhaps not as palatable to the uninitiated as the other two albums.
Still, this album is important for the uninitiated because it straddles the old style and the new. Track number 3, for example, “Harvest,” is a beautifully written song that offers a clear taste of what’s to come in later albums (Damnation/Watershed); yet, Blackwater Park remains uncompromisingly heavy and overly dark, nonetheless—much to my delight.
Even if you dislike the strong Death Metal influence in this album, you should give Track number 4, “The Drapery Falls,” a chance; it is nothing short of a master piece: it is complex, refined, nuanced, and somewhat nostalgic. In more ways than one, “The Drapery Falls” may even sound familiar to you on some level, I’m sure.
Personally, I like this album in its entirety—especially the title song, which, truly, is grand. But even if you don’t like the whole of it, I’m sure there will still be bits and pieces you will find interesting, so give it a listen in full before you decide. “Bleak” (Track 2) and “The Funeral Portrait” (Track 6) are also really good.
At their core, Opeth are a Death Metal band—or, at least, that is how they started back in the 1990’s. Naturally, Opeth have, since, undergone many changes in terms of line-ups and style, and are now mostly described as a Progressive Metal band. Frankly, I am not quite clear on what that actually means or on how useful that description even is. There are just too many categories nowadays to even keep track, so, for the most part, I don’t; I just enjoy the music.
Tracks:
1. The Leper Affinity (10:23)
2. Bleak (9:15)
3. Harvest (music and lyrics)
Although the theme is utterly tragic, this is a beautiful song: A dying man begs for companionship as he lives his final moments.
Aware that the cold embrace of death is now upon him, a man fears to be left alone and forgotten in some unnamed place. As his vision narrows, he sees the onset of his own demise as walking into a “wilted” orchard where shadows lurk.
One line, in particular, “Wilted scenes for us who couldn’t wait…”, hints at the notion that this man may have purposely brought about his own death or at the possibility that this may be a one-sided story in a double suicide plot perpetrated by lovers.
The title of the song may be an indirect reference to the Reaper, which further affirms the notion that more than one death has occurred, whether self-inflicted or otherwise (murder-suicide?)
4. The Drapery Falls (10:52)
5. Dirge for November (7:51)
6. The Funeral Portrait (8:42)
7. Patterns in the Ivy (1:50)
8. Blackwater Park (12:08)