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Ah, in the violent parts I hear Unsane and that predisposition towards the gruesome cacophony typical of Today is the Day (Sadness will prevail era), that’s probably why it doesn’t resonate with me; I’ll try listening to it again in the next few days.

Sorry a moment though IcnarF, where would you hear Neurosis and JL over this album? For now, unfortunately, I have to say that I didn’t like it..

You intrigued me, so now I have to listen to it.

White Hands hypnotized me, I expected worse.

Ah sure, so your "Well, everyone has their opinions and thankfully" at the end of a post allows you to say whatever you like with whatever tone you want beforehand. No, I'm sorry, it doesn't work like that. You could have just limited yourself to saying that you disagreed and that was it. And I certainly am not so socially detached as to attack someone who simply listens to Opeth; rather, I change my attitude and become a bit unpleasant only when I see that the next person tends to NOT stay in their place. You defined yourself as a "metalhead" (you predominantly listen to metal, if I understood correctly, right?), "average" simply means "normal." And average was your attitude, an attitude of someone who feels deeply affected when a certain beloved band is criticized and feels entitled to defend themselves by trying to discredit the other and portray them in "roundabout ways" (you like this expression) as incompetent ("I'm sorry, but you just don't understand Opeth at all"). Proffy me? In my opinion, your phrase "But do me the so-called favor" is much more like a seasoned teacher. And that said, I back off, because the recent misfortunes that have affected Deb in the past year have made me lose the desire to engage in long and sterile debates on this site, and have made me feel a bit (a lot) like a failure remembering certain embarrassing fights of which I myself was a protagonist in the past.

Here, Fjelltronen is the perfect example of the average metalhead when he feels he's at a clear cultural disadvantage, and yet he still manages to come out with catchy phrases like "But give me the so-called pleasure" or "I'm sorry, but you haven't understood the Tot group at all." You're 33 years old (if I remember correctly from your birth date), maybe it's about time to start listening to some music; time flies, you know. The keyboards have proven to be a winning element to hide the band’s lack of ideas; no one expects innovation all the time, but at least the ability to create a truly organic and relevant sound based on the legacies of past artists, if you allow me, I would like that. I have never talked about radio broadcasting, but about rankings, namely the imperative "please our target above all." And Opeth started selling even without promoting their work via radio. But even if you want to believe in their artistic good faith (it takes guts), today's Opeth are STILL more siliconed than Parietti's lips, filled with useless frills and gaudy arrangements for hordes of young metallers who have never listened to a Canterbury progressive album in their lives; just think if they’ve ever listened to other cornerstones of music (and I won’t name names, lest I appear snobbish… it’s clear now, the blame lies with those who try to listen to something beyond the typical metal groups they acquire… never cross the pillars of Hercules, or else you might discover America). But above all, if you know you don’t know, and if you’re aware that your musical gnoseological empire is primarily limited to Metal, don’t intervene with this provocative tone, which you’ll become cannon fodder in the blink of an eye on Debaser. I didn’t understand Opeth? I recommend you take a look at the history from the birth of Rockabilly to the last beautiful expression of surrealism by David Thomas called Samuel Katarro (a local artist with a funny name, but with a great personality). Oops, I slipped in a name; oh well. Maybe you’ll also rethink your categories of beauty and ugliness in a more credible way, which at this moment remain, to say the least, adolescent. Don't forget to label me as presumptuous and haughty in your next comment, eh? I’ll promptly refer you to your post No. 54. By now, I’ve understood how things work here on Deb.

I was undoubtedly gratified listening to Opeth until some time ago when I was in the full metal phase. It's true that it's impossible not to notice that they have become quite manneristic and trendy since Deliverance, with increasingly calculated albums featuring the usual clichés of the genre, culminating in the dreadful Watershed. And then there's the bizarre idea of adding keyboards to a sound that, despite its limitations and heaviness, oozed honesty from every pore; now we have crystal-clear mixes aimed at the charts, lavish yet misplaced arrangements, and there have been many disappointed fans, as you well know, since the times of Deliverance, indeed. All this to say that, although Opeth have never been geniuses and regardless of what one might think of them, they were undoubtedly better before than they are now.

More and more impatient with the metalheads, huh Stoney... :-D

This doesn't change the fact that in Blackwater Park, for example, they were about to find, despite everything, an original formula between metal and thunderous psychedelia (see Bleak and Titletrack); the interplay of the two guitars was far from taken for granted, and the overall sound was more organic than one might expect from a death band. However, it’s a shame for their conventionally metal roots, which prevented them from developing the necessary awareness.

More than gothiness (a term that can also refer to other significant bands like Lycia, Swans, Bauhaus, Joy Division, PIL, Dead Can Dance, etc.), the biggest limitation of Opeth has been, in my opinion, the somewhat forced alternation between growl (typical of the genre, although more human than average) and clean singing, which I believe represented the band's peak (in more than one occasion, Akerfeldt even reminded me of Drake). It's a shame, indeed, for that metal framework that sees that growl sung in a way that is still too canonical. These are considerations with hindsight, of course.