It's always a pleasure to listen to you Mike, thank you so much for taking the time out to do this "Wheel of Prog" 💕🎶💕 I absolutely LOVE "Systematic Chaos". 'In The Presence of Enemies (The Heretic and The Dark Master)' is a MASTERPIECE. I'm glad you guys performed it LIVE in it's entirety and thanks for adding that performance on the "Chaos In Motion 2007 - 2008" DVD 🙂

I was thinking that as well, and was waiting for that mention! 😊🤘

Your live version with him sounds so good! You should really do a project together

Mikael has been very open about ripping off other bands, so I’m sure he wouldn’t care at all haha

Mike, I have always wanted to thank you . . . I always felt that you were a guy down my street that I could call and say "Hey dude, come over, I got a few new Albums, lets listen!". I have been a fan of your work with DT since "WDADU" that I got on Lp (which I still have and 3 different CD versions) after I saw an ad on the back of Kerrang Magazine that had the album cover and band shot, and a quote that said from a music journalist; "If you like Rush and Queensrÿche, you'll LOVE Dream Theater". I bought that mag at a music superstore in Costa Mesa Calif. called "Music Market" (now long gone). And for months waited for that album, it finally came in and put it on my turntable, and been a fan ever since and followed all the projects/bands you've been part of. Thanks for keeping Prog Metal/Progressive Rock alive, and making sure that people get to know the early pioneers who may have fell through the cracks, or forgotten through time because the genre has grown and expanded into various subgenres (like Opeth). It always brings a HUGE smile on my face whenever you mention *Watchtower* and especially *Fates Warning* (who sadly, I found out they broke-up/or are on a indefinite sabbatical, from a crew member of FW at the "Dreamsonic" show in Inglewood, we were the only 2 wearing FW shirts). It's sad that FW never really got the attention they so richly deserved, from the "John Arch" era, up to the end with "Ray Alder". And I appreciated your quote on the Anniversary Edition of "Awaken the Guardian": _"Very often fans and critic credit Dream Theater for creating a whole new genre of progressive metal music in the late '90s/early '90s, But the truth is Fates Warning were doing it years before us."_ I hope Jim Matheos & John Arch still has a _3rd_ *Arch/Matheos* album in them. That would answer a prayer to see Arch live in concert if he decided to do a limited tour and make it to SoCal. As a Music nerd, connoisseur, writer and sometimes guitarist (and back to being a Conceptual Designer), I have written many _lengthy comments_ under videos, so I'll have to control myself here 😊. Just wanted to say thanks for keeping the music alive, and your like-minded knowledge and opinions about Metal, Progressive Rock, Prog Metal, and the musics we grew-up with. I have a LOT more to say, but you can always go here to get a taste of what got me into these genres: mavearworx.weebly.com/blog/witnessing-the-birth-of-progressive-metal-part-1-of-2 (I'm sure a lot of links within need to be replaced). Opeth is a band I had finally sunk my teeth into by the time "Still Life" was already released, and then went backwards into their catalogue by the time "Blackwater Park" had just came out. So this will be a very exceptional episode. I talk about them and others at-length in my essay, many that have influenced you, DT and your various bandmates through the years. I hope you and others enjoy (and other music related essay's). Btw - you are one of my favorite Drummers, I have always loved your use of various cymbals and fills. I'm not a drummer, but I'm a huge fan from Jazz/Fusion to Metal and its a instrument I wished I learned when I was younger. I'm sure my neighbors are very happy about that 😛. - Take care Mike, and thanks again, I hope you and family are well \m/.

That sounds miraculous. The song is a masterpiece each riff is like a song in it's own. Things like that have deep meaning I'm sure you were very happy when you discovered the full song. :)

oh boy, Iran... all the best to you! My brother once went there with his ex girlfriend (an Iranian he met in Europe) and it was a huge cultural shock. The way women are treated there, man ;/

@@dolinofolde Hell yeah, I actually bought a guitar again just 2 days ago and I've promised myself to learn the whole song, one riff a day

@@golgol4903 Thanks, yeah it's pretty terrifying how little human lives are actually worth down here

BRI is such a good song, amazing counterpoint. It’s folksy, hard hitting, soft and mellow and overall hits me like a classical musical piece in structure.

I listen to Abbey Road remastered versions of these albums and now I appreciate them so much more. New mix is fantastic. Mikael's growl sound so much better on Abbey Road remasters.

Those are not bad albums, but compared to everything that came after, both albums sounds like they still were finding a sound, so the strong Opeth personality we love was still uncooked but very well on track. I quite like some things they did on those albums that sadly they neved tried before, like fretless bass. They never did something like to bid you farewell

@@zinAab79Sorceress is a piece of shit near Morningrise or Orchid.

They are more than great... In my opinion Opeth never surpassed them. S: Morningrise A: Orchid, Still Life, Ghost Reveries B: MAYH, Blackwater Park, Deliverance C: Damnation, Watershed, Pale Communion, most Dream Theater albums D: Heritage, Sorceress, ICV

Orchid, MAYH, Morningrise, still life, bwp all of them are fukn great albums

I totally agree. Every album is special and unique.

They do have bad albums though 🤦

@@Heatwave9000 they really don't, it's more like if you don't like the change of genre

@@Heatwave9000, The albums aren’t bad, you just don’t enjoy the style change. The albums themselves are very well made and written for the most part.

@@drphilsranch6782 Nope, there's a lot of pointless meandering and random changes in their music that don't fit the songs. This is an issue in pretty much every album including their best albums like bwp.

One of my favourite Opeth songs

Absolute banger song

It's also my favorite guitar solo of the entire Opeth catalog. :)

For more of that sound, check out Akerfeldt’s solo on Porcupine Tree’s Arriving Somewhere

@@Justinlmd and that is my favorite Akerfeldt solo of all time. Good call! 😁👍

they are my current go to band to study music theory, not to diss mike and the band, but in my ears mikael is a better songwritter than dream theater, just not as technical but more melodical

I wouldn't dare to compare Opeth with Dream Theater. Different worlds. @@Felipe..Vieira

They’re not stuck in one genre, but so many bands try to jump from style to style that sound mediocre in performance or composition, but not Opeth. Opeth could do a soul or electronic album, and they would nail it! 😆👌🏻🤘🏻

@@Felipe..Vieira I don't think like that. Opeth lyrics are average at best. Dream Theater gave tons of epic writings.

Being an Opeth lover, they have many sluggish and mediocre songs. @@MaglorMusic

Love having Mike on.

For me, "Out Of Myself" and "Second Life Syndrome" would be at the top of the list! 😀 and "ADHD" and "REM" would be at the bottom of the list.

Me too!

YEEEEESSSSSSS

@@pongop2179 Wow.. Anno Domini is either 1st or 2nd to me.. LOL

Anno Domini is the BEST album from Riverside

Opeth are great when they sing when they growl they simply DO SUCKS. They are great when they don't play boring "metal"

Progressive death metal* none of them were pure death metal. That's bands like Death, Morbid Angel, etc. Bands I LOVE too but Opeth were ALWAYS more than just a death metal band.

There isn’t a single song on Orchid that remotely resembles death metal, it’s black metal

@@user-po9sd8nq8v It's a really hard album to classify. The vocals are more akin to black metal but the music is unlike any black metal album from that era. There are no blast beats, no tremolo picking, the themes are definitely not black metal themes. If anything, it could be seen as a precursor to atmospheric metal. I guess if I had to put a tag on it, it would be atmospheric, blackened death metal.

My favourite Opeth album hands down. I really don't understand all the hate... Only thing people point out is "bad recording quality" and something like that...

I mean just look how they treated Orchid and Morningrise. I understand that something needs to be on the bottom of the ranking but the way they talked about these albums was disrespectful imo.

This album has a different atmosphere, its own magic. At least an A tier, without a doubt.

@@golgol4903theres a reason most people dont like these albums that much. It doesnt mean they dont have their place or cant be favorites for some, but it makes total sense for them to talk about them how they do…

easily their best imo. 100% agreed.

Morningrise is so good.

100% it's my personal favorite

Agree, MAYH was a massive step backwards.

Perhaps because those 3 álbuns aren't really prog. MAYH might be the record that changed their music but it was with Still Life that they become prog

Yeah I think Sorceress is the one for me.. so hard to pick. That, or Pale Communion..but then there's Deliverance & Damnation . Lol, there are no shit Opeth albums. Faith in others on Pale Communion is a masterpiece imo.

To me its weird, I really like some songs but its also the only Opeth album where I dont have all the songs on my playlist. If they released a remix of it it would definitely make me appreciate it more

Yeah it’s for me is only behind pale communion out of the 4 prog albums.

Couldn't agree more. Of the newer 4, C.V. is top of the heap.

Yes! ICV is a fuckin‘ Masterpiece!

I think I prefer Pale Communion by a hair, but they're both great

My choices too 👍🏻

I’d pick both MAYH and Still Life over BWP

Agree here. I especially love the second half of the song. It sounds like the soundtrack to a long lost western movie, just has that feel to it.

@@waynechesser2000 Just epic, overwhelming, and full of feel. It’s AWESOME.

The bass riff at the end is like a heart beating

Such a great song, beneath the mire is also a banger!

I've gotten so used to the english version that the Swedish one sounds too odd

Allting tar slut (everything ends), last song, in the Swedish version his voice almost cracks which sounds awesome in context with the song. Don’t think he does that in English one

I didn’t like it at first, took me 4 full listens till I really started to dig it. Funny all the songs they mention aren’t the ones that stood out for me on the album. All things will pass, universal truth, garroter, lovelorn crime and dignity are my absolute favorites.

Their 2nd through 6th albums are like a giant rock paper scissors game to me where each one can beat the others. If I have to pick it's BWP but just reading your comment made me think about how much of a masterpiece Still Life is.

@@shiscarp Nice. In relevance of your take, I definitely pick Blackwater Park as my second pick of the litter. StillLife is just where they have my heart. It's where their sound was defined, even up until this very day.

Still Life is so much better than BWP for me

Same. I like them all but heritage is more of a vibe album for me, very experimental and artsy, I dig it but it’s still my least favorite out of the 4. PC for me is easily their best non growl album (yes I have it higher than damnation).

Without a doubt. I wonder why still so many can´t see it. Watershed is the peak!

​@@frankfrohmann1504Watershed Supremacy 🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞

Both master pieces I see watershed as an extension of ghost Like ghost 2nd chapter

it's not. it's second half is really weak. especially in the non deluxe edition without the cover songs. @@frankfrohmann1504

😂

Literally me rn

Same! Became a fan for life at that point.

Their heaviest and darkest album. It’s definitely at the top for me too.

@@Heliosphan33 True, and then they throw in on top of all the heaviness the beautiful A Fair Judgement with possibly my favorite guitar solo of all time. GREAT album. Their last perfect album.

Listen to it on vinyl It's spiritual

I wouldn't be surprised if Mikael were to be inspired by Walt as he is a metal drummer and young blood overall. This might trigger him to do an old style Opeth record. For me, a mix of Watershed and Cauda would be a dream

I'm actually surprised not many people know about it, Mikael said that earlier this year in their SA tour

@@mr.recordman979 hopefully they won't go back to metal.

@TheMrAdaxshut your gob

​@mr.recordman979 well, the latest single definitely sounded like a mixture of Watershed and Cauda lol.

That would've been awesome! I don't like how low he ranks the 90s stuff and he's definitely underrating Still Life and overrating Heritage but that aside, I still love him 😅

@@Aenigmakil It’s tough when it’s opeth’s catalogue. Nothing bad in it to me. I personally love heritage and think it’s actually underrated. But I can definitely understand why someone wouldn’t dig it. Especially if the 90s stuff is your top jam, it would be so out there in comparison 🤣

@@aydendonley9660 funnily enough, I do like Heritage (even if it's bottom tier for me) and I'm one of those guys who is big into Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Camel, etc. I love my 60s and 70s music! I just think Heritage would've been better as an Åkerfeldt solo album. It's better than Sorceress though. Worst album for me.

@@Aenigmakil I can definitely see where heritage would have worked better as a solo album for him. It would have as they said helped with the expectation of what Opeth sounds like. I feel like the latest one and pale communion did a perfect job of combining a 70s sounding prog with an Opeth sound. And Sorceress, while I still love it is just flat out strange in comparison to the rest of the discography. And the muddy production was kind of an interesting choice too.

Your picks are VERY close to mine! 🤘

Interesting list. Somewhat different from mine, but I can understand it for sure. A lot of these albums are so close together it’s hard making a definitive tier list lol. Literally not a bad album.

What you mean inspired by home?

@@moonlightreveries1459 Mike Portnoy mentions it in the video, the main riff of bleak is inspired by the dream theater song home

@@Jablan11 ohhhhhh ok thanks 🙏 I didn’t watch it in full yet

Thanks!!

100% agree. My favorite song and album aswell 💪

Thanks so much!

We agree 👍🏻

I think they need to re-visit the album and see how wrong they were! :)

Before Blackwater Park came out, us older Opeth fans always considered Morningrise the best. Stopped following them after 2001.

Swap In Cauda and Sorceress, and to me you’re dead on

Very solid list, I agree on most, and very close to my tier list.

Wow thanks!

That list is every single song in their middle era 🤣

Same

Out of the last four new direction Opeth records, Heritage is my favorite. Great stuff!

Agreed man, I love that album. One of the best

@codexaegis1977 sure is. Glad to finally hear someone else thinks so too.

@codexaegis1977 I always raise the question to the Heritage and last 3 album haters.... who admittedly love damnation so much.. if the songs on Heritage, or any of the last 4 albums were on damnation and your favorite damnation songs were on any of the last 4 albums. Would you still love damnation? And would you still hate Heritage or the last 4 albums?. For example Instead of to Rid the disease or Closure on damnation it was Eternal Rains or Devil's Orchard?. I feel like people just hate to hate.. those are great songs who just got the misfortune of being on albums that are popular to hate on. it's ridiculous.

They opened with that song in Montreal '05... Great song !!!!

Hoglan is incredible! Very cool of him to fill in and help out.

Agreed. Btbam is in my top 3 (along with Opeth). I would say they definitely have enough albums to rank.

I would swap In Cauda with Orchid. But that’s a good list.

Agree on haken, mountain and affinity are more or less on the same level too for me. I would put in cauda in A tier and watershed in S tier

Watershed is great but I can’t put it past those 3. And after listening to Heritage again I would swap it with My Arms, and swap it again with Morningrise.

Pretty sure early Deicide is E standard

@@henrywalton5967 I think Deicide was actually Eb...

@@filheim ok I just looked it up the album Legion is in E standard and it's heavy af. The debut was Eb, I wonder why they decided to tune back up. That like the opposite of the other death metal bands haha. Also Idk if you're familiar with Vektor but they're my favourite band, they are definitely not that heavy compared to some bands but they actually tune up and play in F standard tuning. It's probably better to describe parts as more ferocious than heavy with them. Amazing progressive thrash metal with a little bit of black metal influence.

Yes correct

Heritage has the most beautiful material, but the composition is all over the place, rather disembodied... I think that's why it's not that convincing, because as beautiful and interesting the small bits may be, the songs don't coagulate properly imo (also, the 'sound engineering' aspect makes it a bit impossible to listen to, for me. As much as I love nuances, there's too big of a chasm between LOUD and *quiet*, I keep having to mess with the volume button :)) ) I get your point and kudos to them, yeah I think you nailed it with ''fresh, yet authentic' - they just love this music so sincerely much that it translates :)

Exactly!! Moonlapse vertigo is EASILY in my top 5 Opeth songs, and not just that, but it's got 2 of my all-time favorite Opeth riffs, side by side. The one after the post solo growling vocals, and the ending one, which is right after it. "i turned awaaaay my eyes......"

Eternal rains, moon above, and faith alone are top songs for me. My favorite overall non growl Opeth album.

@@soakedbearrd Facts

Holy shit I'm old. That song holds up though, it was ahead of its time.

I realised someone mentioned this album later on in the album, respect.

I don't understand a lick of Swedish, but I love all of Opeth's catalog...and In Cauda Venenum is one of my favorites. I got the double album and listened to the Swedish version for over a month, nothing else. Then I listened to the English version for over a month.

I prefer the English version ;D and it's my fav Opeth album too !! with My Arms Your Hearse

Yes, ICV is a Masterpiece!

agreed - the first two are absolute masterpieces! Black Rose Immortal has more memorable parts than all of the other albums combined! I find the mid period to be a little stale....

Morningrise is above MAYH for me as an everyday listening album

From what I can tell Morningrise is even Åkerfeldts least favorite album. Except for reversing Orchid and Morningrise, he thinks every album up until (and including) Blackwater Park is getting better and better.

@@xyhmo I know, and it's a strange feeling knowing that one of the chief architects of my favourite Metal album doesn't respect it. Like how can they have created something so transcendently beautiful and not realise?

Absolutely pathetic indeed

It's not a great video, mainly for that reason.

Thanks!

Starting at Still life isn’t coming too Opeth late lol what do you think of ICV since you like sorceress so much??

@@flataffect It is if you're listening to Still life for the first time in 2018. I missed the whole progression of the band and never listened to metal before Opeth. It took me a moment to figure out what ICV is, but it's my least favorite or least listened to album. I enjoy Sorceress on it's own merits and listen to it for entirely different reasons I suppose. It doesn't mean I don't enjoy Still life, Blacwater and Ghost Reveries equally. My only Opeth regret is that their 2020 Toronto concert was cancelled. The first time I wanted to see a band live since the 1970s.

@@elliotwalton6159 ah, I misread your comment. Sucks it got cancelled, I was supposed to see tool around then as well before covid hit. But I saw Opeth last year, and they’re fantastic live so I definitely recommend it!

@@flataffect Fingers crossed they return. I'll have to give ICV a closer listen. I enjoyed this discussion and gave Watershed another listen afterwards. I sampled Damnation and will have to return there as well.

Sorceress is solid man. Fleeting glance, the ward, chrysalis, era…I mean come on what a banger! ICV is a good album, I didn’t like it at first but it’s grown on me. Universal truth, all thing will pass and garroter are my favorite off that album.

Thanks!!

I agree.

I don't have a strong opinion about ghost, but yeah the other two belong towards the top.

Orchid starts strong but falls off hard. I'd put Morningrise in A. I agree that Ghost Reveries is bottom tier.

@@leonmurray7488 twilight is my robe is one of their best songs, and apostle in triumph is excellent

@@Chet_Philodenge I just listened to them both and you are correct. Both great tracks, not sure why I dismissed them previously.