Its not Black metal, its death metal, but Opeth is mostly just considered prog metal nowadays, even this period.

Huge fan of Opeth. The thing about harsh vocals is that they're kind of like vocal effects. They're designed to be a part of the texture of the music, and they often represent very strong emotions (particularly pain, anger, frustration, depression, etc.) Its definitely something that can take time to be comfortable with, but honestly I'd personally say the same about autotune and other vocal effects like that.

if you can break through with the growls, opeth is one of the best musical journeys ever. hope to see more of them!

Opeth are next level awesome…tons of great songs with and without harsh vocals.

Opeth is one of the deepest rabbit holes in metal because almost every album they have done differs from the next one. ❤

Recommend Reverie/Harlequin Forest, Ghost of Perdition, Bleak, Windowpane

nothing hits like Opeth when one is sad or somber feeling.

Oh, even my favourite Opeth song! Good choice! I'm on the opposite journey, from rock and metal into rap. Really enjoying your NF reactions, Anthony!

Rarely anyone not a hardcore metal listener gets into the growls at first. But the music keeps having them coming back and eventually they not only grow accustomed to it, they start to really enjoy it. Happened to me, I wasn’t a fan of growls (and am still particular to only a few bands) but I’ve grown to appreciate it. It takes time though. I think this is a great song to show their sound and tendencies.

For anyone wondering or paid attention to the comments in the stream chat. Opeth were originally a Progressive Death Metal Band that eventually morphed into a Progressive Rock Band. They've always thrown in some rock ballads some Progressive some not, their first album foray was Damnation. Heritage is when they started no longer playing Heavy Metal and instead Progressive Rock.

Definitely check out Reverie/Harlequin Forest for a prog masterpiece (it is one song, not two).

Opeth, especially the Blackwater Park record, is an experience. Looking at each song in the context of the perception of a normal song isn't the best way to do that(not saying you did that). The Drapery Falls for example, when I close my eyes and just listen, makes me feel like so many different things and creates so many different images in my mind. And I could see from the first 3 or so mins, you were on that path into it also, which is why you get my like. Many people see the length of the song and quit. Others hear the genre and quit. But whether its something you latch onto immediately or whether it grows on you over time like with me, its an experience worth having. And the rest of the album is the same. One of the greatest pieces of music in Progressive Death Metal/Metal ever. Also, the vocals are very harsh which is very likely to alienate a lot of people as they even did for me. But once you start seeing them as another instrument in the song, they almost start to fade into the rest of the music and I stop noticing them as vocals. Its such a strange feeling. Great reaction!

Their Damnation is all clean vocals. Its a great album

Anthony, once you opened Opeth door is a point of no return. The entire library of Opeth is a long pleasant Journey. Give it a try to more Opeth songs. You'll see. Next Suggenstion: The Grand Conjugation.

Please more Opeth!

Hmm maybe next "OPETH - Ghost of Perdition (Live from the Royal Albert Hall)"? Outstanding live performance 😀

Nice reaction, but also entertaining is watching the chat say wacky things like, "Opeth is the Black metal of Tool". Then another person say "Opeth start out as black metal I think, and then evolved into more prog metal. Don't quote me"

When they released Ghost Reveries in 2006, music critics said they were the most talented band of any genre. Music critics hate this style of music, so it says something.

Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree produced this album. Highly recommend checking them out if you havent already. Anesthetize is an absolute journey of a song.

I just came to the realization that I heard this for the first time 20 years ago... how the heck did time fly like that?

This band and song.. phenomenal!

That fckn opening riff stays with you from the first moment you hear it. I'm still getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

My favorite band and one of their best albums. Another great selection of music to react to. Some of their later works are a bit more subdued. Porcelain Heart is a good song for Opeth newbies. Let the Opeth rabbit hole begin!

Opeth really grows on you once you get into the depths of it. I would call it progressive death metal

The middle sections where Anthony said "polyrhythms" was actually an accident. When they were doing the playback in the studio the tapes played back off time, they thought it was cool and figured out how to play it live.

Ghost Reveries and Watershed are the best prog-death-metal to start for those who don't appreciate the "death" element of it.

The comments are killing me 😁 They were never black metal. More straightforward death metal early on and slowly incorporating more and more progressive elements (which they always had to some degree). But that’s OK, there’s no reason everyone should know all the metal subgenres. Cool to hear people checking out Opeth, especially one of their earlier albums. All great stuff. Cheers!

It's been a while. A lot of people are recommending Opeth songs with harsh vocals, which is a lot of their catalogue. But I recommend some songs like Faith in Others, Burden and Windowpane. Which are a lot softer but still show their brilliant and unique song writing, chord choices and Akerfeldt's incredible vocal performances.

Certain parts of their songs call for the growl voice they switch up all the time their frickin awesome

This band is musically NUTS, they have a certain sad vibe that they always find in their song writing. But it is Masterful

Watershed (released 2008) was their last album that features the death metal growls, any albums afterwards only has clean vocals. So if you liked the clean progressive stuff, the newer material might be more up your alley, although every album has clean vocal gems. You could try To bid you farewell, In my time of need, Burden or Hope leaves of songs without the gutturals.

This is the song that got me into the band. I'm sure I'll leave more comments because I'm drunk.

Completely by coincidence I am wearing my Opeth Blackwater Park TShirt. Needless to say I’m a huge fan and this is probably my favourite Opeth album 👍👍👍

Opeth is a Progressive Death metal band from Sweden, they have some really amazing compositions that you should check out!

If we're comparing the song to a proverbial juicy burger that has been seasoned nicely, it has swiss/Havarti cheese with caramelized onions and bacon in addition to an aeoli sauce on a sourdough bun. The additional clean vocals are from the producer of the blackwater park album, Steven Wilson from Porcupine tree

You would really enjoy “Ghost of Perdition” live at Red Rocks. That’s a truly good place to go next with Opeth. It will show you all that Opeth is.

Opeth IS a genre man

I think Mikhail Ackerfeld "the lonely Swede" has one of the most beautiful voices ever. Just listen to the entire Damnation album. Dark, mellow and pristinely beautiful.

Priceless reaction when the screams started

Opeth started out as a black metal band and went more towards prog metal later. Nowadays, Mikael hardly use any harsh vocals at all

5:19 the backward guitar!

This whole album is a musical masterpiece. Especially Bleak and the title track. Love Opeth and always will.

They have a wide range and there are still certain albums you can enjoy without the growling. But I think for a good entry, to get a little better picture of their repertoire, I recommend "Ghost of Perdition" (Live at Redrock Amphiteater) and "Reverie/Harlequinn Forest" (live at Royal Albert Hall).

Opeth are on that list of the greats along with Tool and Karnivool. The 3 best prog bands

My first reaction seeing this on my KZfaq front page: "WTF, YES!!" Some songs to follow up from this (more progressive metal): - Opeth - Soldier of Fortune (a Deep Purple cover) - Katatonia - Lacquer - Katatonia - Atrium - Grim Salvo - Heart of Darkness (it's featuring a rapper named Sect Unit, he just isn't credited on the video title) Oh, and just btw: the singer of Opeth, Mikael Åkerfield, is friends with the guys from Katatonia, he's featured in some of their tracks back in the late 90s (when Katatonia's own singer, Jonas Renkse, had problems with his voice). Katatonia is my favorite band, ever. Katatonia used to have scream vocals for the first two albums, and they were pretty influential in the formation of the death/doom subgenre, but Jonas had a slightly wrong technique with his screaming and he almost lost his voice completely, then Mikael covered for a bit while they transitioned to completely clean vocals (=no scream) which they've been doing for the past ~20 years. Ps. Pretty much any metal song that's polyrhythmic and/or doesn't follow the regular rock song structure (A-chorus-B-chorus-C-chorus), is considered progressive metal.

Opeth have songs in many different genres both with and without harsh vocals. All great though! Generally speaking older stuff harsh vocals, newer stuff clean vocals only. Really hope you check out a few songs from different albums. Harsh vocals takes some time to get into.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Opeth is actualy defined as Progressive Death metal and later as Progressive rock

New subscriber! Please do more opeth. The Moor, The Leper Affinity, or Bleak please

You wouldn't guess by the album title, but Damnation is probably one of their softest and more melodic albums. Great rainy day music. No screaming and no heavy music, just the chill music they start and end this song with.

ITS FUSION METAL THESE DAYS. Used to be black metal then added prog Rock It was an amazing stream some great songs were requested. Thanks Anthony ray

Opeth are Progressive Death Metal.... Mikael was asked how would define Opeth and he said it himself "Progressive Death Metal." Well they used to be. Now they're Jethro Tull 2.0 Opeth's few first albums had hints of Black Metal, but no where near what Black Metal was considered at that time. But From Orchid to Watershed they were the greatest band on Earth. Thanks or this song

I'd consider Opeth Melodic Death Metal rather than Black. Their sound varies through their collection from more base Death to Progressive Metal with a lot of influence infusion in all their work. Hope you dig into more of these guys. They do not disappoint.

If this guy likes TOOL, then has anyone requested him to react to prog metal giants Between The Buried And Me?

Opeth is one of my favourite bands of all time. They come from Death Metal, then shifted style included more and more elements from other genres. Sometimes you even notice Jazz element - not kidding here. The cool thing about it was the techical very clean growling parts with very complex sounds switching with clean vocals. This band was inspirating other amazing bands that evolved like for example Jinjer which could be worth looking into aswell. Try out Jinjer - Pisces for a fair and not too long first track to experience, try Teacher, Teacher if you wanna see screams, growls, very beautiful clean singing and even hip-hop styles combined in one song. Opeth these days skip the growing part which is one of the bad results for ppl that liked the switches when a progressive metal band like opeth evolves and switches their style when time passes but on the other hand i still prefer bands that can change their style rather than reproducing the same shit over decades

Should check out some underoath! I grew up listening to that band along with enter shikari flyleaf I could go on and on. But anywho! This band is fire! I haven’t heard any of there music in a little bit!

If you want some unreal Opeth songs without growling, check out Faith In Others, Next Of Kin, and Burden. Cheers.

Later Opeth albums walked away from growl vocals. For other swedish prog metal bands with a somber sound, and generally more clean vocals, try Katatonia.

What brand of headphones and microphones do you use?

Omg. F yes!

Careful. Black Water Park was my first Opeth album, I didn't like the growling to start with, but I loved the atmosphere and musicality. Then I really started to love the growls. Jinjer are another band that offset the heavy with the beauty very well. The musicianship of both bands is absolute s-tier.

Check out a live performance by these guys

Ironic that you called the song a juicy hamburger because you start off with the bun intro, then go down to the lettuce, and pickles, onions, cheese, etc: the clean stuff. Then you get to the THIIIICK Screaming patty. Get one more layer of cheese, then the bottom bun is the intro riff as the closing outro.

It’s very funny seeing all of the comments on the stream saying black metal or rock. Opeth started as Melodic death metal with some progressive tendencies and then fully embraced progressive death metal on the album Still Life. Opeth was never a black metal band but they have a lot of black metal influences, especially since they are from Sweden. Nowadays, they are releasing prog rock albums, which are amazing but not as good as their earlier albums imo.

This was before Tenacious D; so the question is, does Jack Black or Dave Grohl listen to Opeth? My guess is definitely.

Some of the tones in this song musically reminds me of Nazareth''s.. Please don't Judas me song. Not alike but undertones similar 🎵in the start of

🔥🔥❤Opeth ❤🔥🔥

#progressiverock/metal #melodeath

Awesome reaction, this whole album is a masterpiece, it's more progressive death metal than black metal, but their first three albums were a lot more of a black metal style.

It's more Death Metal then Black, cause of growls... in Black they more use screams

Opeth rule! Listen to Damnation, Pale Communion, or In Cauda Venenum...all great Opeth albums with no growling vocals if that's not your thing.

The Twilight Is My Robe...just react to it

Qué referencias tan comunes, Tenacius D, bah, por favor. Hay que ampliar el espectro.

Its melodic death metal if anything. These guys were one of the first innovators of it. Early Katatonia was the same.

True the switch ups are very diverse almost bipolar lol

Opeth is NOT Black metal. They did have some hints of black metal on their very first album "Orchid" but more in the keyboard melodies. Opeth is mainly a progressive melodic Death Metal, and with their most recent albums just progressive rock.

It's progressive Death Metal

Please react to the cover of running up that hill by social repose please

opeth is my favorite band! the drapery falls is one of my least favorite opeth songs, and easily my least favorite song on blackwater park, but it would still be the best song in a lot of bands catalogs.

Always funny to see how people react to harsh vocals, especially Mikael's growls. No one ever seems to LIKE it on their first listen, but all it takes is exposure. Just a different way of singing to me. Chat didn't seem too knowledgeable about them. They started as death metal with elements of black metal, and gradually turned into a progressive death metal band during their "prime" years. They dropped the metal in 2011 and their last 4 albums have been pure progressive rock with no harsh vocals.

Can you react to * Makaveligodd*🔥🔥🔥

Noone talking about the cringe in the chat lol

Can you do reaction of Baby Lasagna - Rim Tim Tagi Dim check this song 👏💪🤟🏻🤟🏻

Opeth has nothing to do to black metal.

DO NOT listen to people with that "Black Metal" bullshit! Opeth are a Progressive Metal band. I do not think that if you do the "growl" that makes you so-called Black Metal. Stay away from the stupidity. And do not use the names Tenacious D or Slipknot in the same paragraph with Opeth. Opeth is on another level. I like what you do and I'm going to recommend a couple of things for you to check out : LOVEBITES..."Inspire"...Live from Abyss(Live in studio concert)..2021 BAND-MAID..."Hate"...Official Live video..2024

This is not 'rock'. Rock and metal are two distinct genres. Metal is its own genre now, has been for decades...

Oh my god you guys really compared opeth and tenacious D....and I love Jack Black...but I want to die now....please, God (mikael), forgive them, cause they don't know what they're talking about...

stop saying black metal plz. great vid anyway !!

Try something pagan metal?? Similar switch ups but more folksy groove.... This really isn't Black Metal!

Opeth is one of the originators of Black Metal. They are from Sweden. I would say they are more like straight up Progressive Metal these days, but it’s been a long transition from the mostly harsh vocals to what they are today. Interesting fact: they released their most recent album in both English and Swedish. I honestly prefer the Swedish lyrics as to me it flows with the sounds in a way the English doesn’t.

It's not black metal.