New Opeth album "The Last Will and Testament" releasing October 11th 2024 (Atmos mix!)

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Oh, and the album on third or fourth listen is sitting well with me. I'm not sure I fully embrace all the growly vocals, but they're not distracting/poorly used. I've yet to dive in deeper since I don't have the lyrics in front of me, mostly enjoying the usual variety of styles in their dark metal prog mold.
Same here, not sure yet to rate it. Has really good tracks and musicianship on it but those growls.... gggrr. Not my cup of tea. Shame there is not an instrumental version cause that would be " a way out" to avoid those cookie monster vocals. I really like Heritage and Damnation better...
 
The only album where I really liked the growls was on Watershed. Tracks like The Lotus Eater were just virtuosic in how the growls were implemented.

It's really cool, and I also liked that he chose to sing clean over the blast beat sections, when usually the opposite is expected.

That said, I think his best sounding growls are those from Deliverance and Ghost Reveries. But I'm someone who loves growls (when they are good, and Akerfeldt's are among the very best I've ever heard - yes, there are talented and untalented growlers out there, just like it happens with "normal" singers), not someome who tolerates them or simply dislikes them. I listen to many, many bands whose vocals are growls 100% of the time (huge death metal fan). So I guess my perception is different to that of the listeners who somewhat tolerate them and might find them acceptable in some specific sections, depending on the musical context.

I found extreme metal vocals quite natural since the very first moment I heard some (this was around 23 years ago). Maybe there's something wrong with me :ROFLMAO:
 
The only album where I really liked the growls was on Watershed. Tracks like The Lotus Eater were just virtuosic in how the growls were implemented.

This album is similar to me in that sense.

I'm normally not a fan of growls in any fashion. Yet the way Mikael uses the growls within the album, well I kind of like it.

Using the growls to accentuate the more aggressive darker passages without being overbearing.

The music is outstanding and the surround mix is pretty good too.
 
... Maybe there's something wrong with me :ROFLMAO:
Maybe? Like "kinda pregnant"? :cool:

Opeth was my gateway into these harder genres, and along with Gojira are the only bands I listen to who use the growly vocals (and not on every track or section). I find it hard to understand the lyrics when sung in that manner. The lyrics matter, right?
 
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