This was so much fun! Btw, I should’ve mentioned in my comment in the podcast revealing how Mikael told me he ripped off DT with a certain song (you’ll have to watch the video for it 😉), I shoulda mentioned how I returned the favor when I blatantly ripped him off while writing Repentance w DT! Not only was the music directly trying to cop an Opeth vibe, but when I wrote the lyrics and vocal melodies I was absolutely trying to channel Akerfeldt vibes! 🤘😎
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 🙂
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/.
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
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
That 5-minute middle section of Black Rose Immortal starting from around minute 9 is hands down my favorite Opeth moment ever. I live in Iran and here we don't have access to CDs or anything, so when I downloaded that song from some random Napster clone (I was like 10 or something) all I got was this section, cleanly cut, so for years I didn't even know that the actual song was way longer than that.
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 ;/
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.
Opeth's discography is so rich in music. I never get bored by this band because they refuse to stuck in one genre. Every album is different. From black metal, death metal, prog rock, jazz, folk etc. They did it all. They can be brutal as hell and mellow at the same time. Sometimes I can't believe that band exist. It's so one of a kind.
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
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! 😆👌🏻🤘🏻
It was nice to have Mike as a special guest! I always love to hear him geek out on music stuff. He always has something interesting to tell. Nice vid guys, and thanks!
@@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.
Morningrise and Orchid are S tier for me, when I was only into prog, I didn't like them, but now it's actually one of my favorites, Morningrise might be actually my favorite.
I’ll never forget being at Terminal 5 in NYC for the tour that Opeth played Blackwater Park straight through and I looked up and Mike Portnoy was in the balcony jamming along and singing every song. It was an incredible experience
Lmao omfg I was there too!!! It was the second time I saw Opeth. The first was at Saratoga Winners Into Eternity and Nevermore, which was one of the best shows EVER. Into Eternity only had Dead and Dreaming and Buried in Oblivion at the time, Nevermore had just released This Godless Endeavor and Opeth had just released Ghost Reveries. I went by myself, on a random Wednesday and I had school the next day. I was a GIANT Into Eternity fan and they were taken aback by me singing every word and they gave me so much merch and picks and stuff after. I framed a picture of me, the entirety of Into Eternity and Warrell Dane. When I met Warrell, I told him that I spelled my first name exactly as he spells his last name and he was like “YOUR NAME IS DANE?!?! What?!?!” He was super cool, and he introduced me to Loomis out behind the venue and he showed me the arpeggio part in River Dragon that I was playing incorrectly lol He told me “keep playing, you’re good for just being 16.” They were all super nice and welcoming and personable. Didn’t meet Opeth, but Tim from Into Eternity said they were all good guys. Been to over 1000 shows, and Into Eternity, Nevermore, and Opeth at Saratoga Winners is in my Top 5. If anyone else was there, they’d remember all the guys just hanging around.
Your arms, my hearse is S tier. I'm shocked you glossed over it. The composition, the lyrics, the concept. It's a work of art. Truly shocked by that one.
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.
@@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…
In Cauda Venenum for me is the pinnacle of the recent era and is for me on level with my two other favorite Opeth albums Ghost Reveries and Watershed. What I particularly love is how the songs flow into each other and elevate each other in the process. I'm so glad that Axe got to record this one.
I absolutely ADORE Sorceress, it's such a throwback to the concept records of the 1970s. I know it's not an "official" concept album, but the tonalities, instrumentation, structure and lyrical themes always make it read like a contemporary account of the middle ages to me. It feels really cohesive from beginning to end and leaves me satisfied every time I finish listening to it.
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
I honestly don't understand how people group my arms with orchid and morningrise. My arms is where mik's riff style is born, and while the mid era opeth sound isn't polished in my arms, it's definitely there.
I double that dude... ppl on media always rate MAYH so low, but almost every Opeth Fan i know, out of the media guys, rate this as one of the best (me included!).
The Orchid to Blackwater Park albums are death metal masterpieces. Every single one of them. If they never made another album after Blackwater Park they’d still be one of the top 10 death metal bands of all time.
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.
@@3601-c3k 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.
26:30 I think that literally Orchid and Morningrise has the most amount of acoustic playing out of any Opeth albums, just because they are longer as well, I mean like some of the songs have even like 4 minutes of acoustic sections, if not more.
Definitely agreeing with Mike on The Baying of the Hounds. It’s the song that got me into Opeth’s heavier side and really encapsulates a lot of their sound well.
Ghost Revieries and My Arms Your Hearse are my two favorite Opeth albums. My Arms Your Hearse is an incredibly underrated album in their catalog. As is Still Life.
I am so happy to find out that there are a lot of Opeth fans out there that rank Still Life as S tier, which is a hill I will die on, with Moonlapse Vertigo as one of their best and most emotional heavy songs with an outstanding outro.
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......"
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.
I cannot even imagine how many people this episode is going to send to Opeth discography...... Simply amazing video.. The kinda conversations I wanna have with my boys... Love from India ❤
In Cauda Venenum to me is their greatest of the last four albums solely because of the swedish lyrics version. Mikael's genius songwriting somehow shines brighter in his own language, it gives each track a very discinct vibe to me and the ''definitive version'' of that album you should be listening to is the swedish one, IMO. Great tierlist overall!
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.
This was fun! Mike was a great guest. First time seeing the Wheel of Prog. I might just check out the DT one. I was just randomly thinking about what would happen with Devin Townsend's discography with his 30-odd completely different albums 😂
Really enjoyed this you guys. I was introduced to Opeth back in 2014 or so and listened to Blackwater Park and even though I was never a fan of the growling, I really loved it. I never really went in to anything else in their catalog until about a year ago when I stumbled on Sorceress and loved it, being more of a prog guy/ 70's-80's metal guy. Then went to In Cauda and loved that, then Heritage and then back in to more of their metal stuff. Now, it's my favorite band, even more than DT (Sorry Mike).
I was just talking to my son about what our favorite Opeth album is, and he said his favorite is which ever one he's listening to, and I have to agree. Great video guys, awesome content!
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).
Damnation has what may just be my all-time favorite drum part. At 1:40, with the start of the second verse of Death Whispered A Lullaby, the interplay between the bass and snare drums and the hi-hat is just
I just love seeing Mike nerd out over things he’s passionate about. Whether it’s with music, or film, or tv shows, I never get tired seeing how enthusiasm he is when he experiences other forms of art and music.
I was surprised that they put Morningrise in D tier. It is my favorite by far! I can still listen to the album. It's like reading a novel in that it progresses from one part to the next, not like a verse chorus kind of thing. Excellent production, melodies, and acoustic parts.
Folklore has to be the most underrated song ever by anyone. I’m glad it got mentioned, because no one ever seems to notice it at all. It’s a perfect song. Everyone give it another chance. Loved this pod.
Deliverance is my top album in their entire discography. The variation, the obliterating heaviness, then the dark, mellow breaks in between, it's all just so, so good. Ghost Reveries would come in second and Blackwater Park third. It is my favourite Opeth era and the one I keep returning to on an almost daily basis.
@@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.
Great top 3, as an early music collector Deilverance was definitely the heaviest thing I had heard, but it's so melodic and beautiful at points it really helped me make the jump into extreme metal. My top 3 yours reversed 1)Blackwater 2)Ghost 3)Deliverance
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.
Still life is perfection. Watershed, My arms your hearse are up there as well. All S! The song writing in MAYH is so good that it shines despite the bad production quality.
Incredible and solid discography, with at least 6 Masterpieces. (Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Deliverance,Damnation,Watershed Still Life). Nice video, so fun to see!
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
A long story short I was one of the promoters that did Opeth in Alberta Canada. It was one of their first shows on the tour where Lopez did not show up. They could not play the show without their drummer. Gene hoglan was playing with one of the bands that were opening for Opeth when I suggested that Gene and Michael should play together to continue the tour. They both agreed but unfortunately Gene was not ready to play Edmonton but did play Vancouver with them and continued on the tour. 🙃🤘
That was great, guys! I would've given 'Heritage' a bit more love as it was a huge change and paradigm shift that they pulled off convincingly with fresh, yet authentically retro/nostalgic tonal characteristics. As for Mike mentioning 70s vs 80s Beatles, I can only assume he meant McCartney. Cheers!
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 :)
I always enjoyed Heritage and is one of my favorites. I may be alone on this one, but that's okay. I Feel the Dark, Nepenthe, and Famine, are my 3 favorite songs from heritage
@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.
First two songs I ever heard were The Funeral Portrait and To Rid the Disease on Myspace. I couldn’t believe the same band played both songs. Favorite band ever since.
Personally, I bump debut albums up in my lists because it's the first album. I love hearing a band in their purest form. For instance Aquarius for Haken is Scenes From a Memory tier to me. I think a good band to have a tier list would be Riverside. Need to include the EPs. S - Ghost, Black, Damnation A - Watershed, Still, Deliverance B - Pale, Orchid, Morningrise C - Sorceress, My Arms D - In Cauda, Heritage
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.
Opeth's discography is such a tricky one to rank, because - as remarked in the video - all albums are just so good. They are one of the few bands, who (in my opinion) have not released one single bad or even meh album. So it quickly becomes subjective to the ear of the beholder. My ranking would probably be something like: S: Blackwater Park; My Arms, Your Hearse; Still Life A: Ghost Reveries; Pale Communion; Deliverance B: Damnation; Sorceress; Morningrise C: Watershed; In Cauda Venenum D: Orchid; Heritage MAYH is probably my favourite of theirs, if only because it was the first one I ever listened to. There are som great tracks on there: Karma, Demon Of The Fall, April Ethereal, The Amen Corner and obviously When, which is like af first taste of what Opeth was to morph into in the 00's. Still Life has my favourite track of theirs though - I absolutely adore Godhead's Lament.
I dismissed Watershed when it was released after hearing The Lotus Eater and thinking it was going to be a Ghost Reveries clone. After listening to this episode I actually listened to Watershed and it really is a bridge between Ghost Reveries and Heritage in the best way possible. Such a great album. A tier for sure.
Except for a switch between Heritage and Morningrise (and maybe a little bit within the tiers), this is how I would rank them as well! Very good video:)
Loved Heritage when it came out. For me, it was frustrating that people compared it with previous albums and not appreciated for what it was. It was still Opeth, but in a different approach. I think this change was natural for them as musicians. From this last era, though, I think In Cauda Venenum is their best. Their absolute best, tier S, would be Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Damnation and In Cauda Venenum.Tier A, Still Life, Watershed, Deliverance, My Arms, Your Hearse, Heritage and Pale Communion. Tier B Sorceress, Morningrise and, finally Tier C, Orchid.
My opinion: S: Ghost Reveries, Damnation, Blackwater Park A: My Arms Your Hears, Watershed, In Cauda Veneneum B: Deliverance, Still Life, Pale Communion C: Sorceress D: Heritage, Orchid, Morningrise
This was great to watch. As a long time Opeth fan, there has always been such wide variety of opinions on their albums which just really shows how amazing they are and can reach people in different ways. I mostly agreed with this list. Great to see Mike on the show too.
Nobody talks about Hex Omega. It is an amazing song and the end is brilliant with the organ note playing to a point where you can visually see the player remove his hands. Absolutely fantastic!
Orchid' and 'Morningrise' at the lowest tier? Wow, it shocks me sometimes to see just how different people's musical taste is from mine. For me, they are Opeth's most melodically interesting albums, full of atmosphere and deep feeling. S tier.
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....
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?
the prog nation tour in 2008 was the first opeth show i went to (dream theater skipped pittsburgh, so opeth headlined). i can confirm the pit went absolutely nuts when they played baying of the hounds.
In Cauda Venenum is my favorite and to me a masterpiece. But I was thinking if a part of that is because Im Swedish and can listen and fully take in the Swedish version. The lyrics are really strong in Swedish. Other then that I loved the episode. Mike Portnoy is my all time musical hero together with Neal Morse so always amazing when you have Mike on.
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.
Opening to In mist she was standing sounds like early fates warning. Like awaken the guardian era. Opeth & Dream Theater will always have a special place in my heart.
So interesting to hear everyone's options and view points. Music being very personal, it was a very cool video. Every album is hard to place in a order.
Blackwater Park is untouchable and my first time seeing Opeth live in 2001. Love seeing how Still Life seems to be a fan favorite as well- I mean the song "The Moor" is absolutely EPIC. Add Deliverance and you've got the three BEST Opeth records. Love Damnation obviously- great tour when they played the whole record with Porcupine Tree opening for them. Next is Ghost Reveries and Watershed. Then the four "new" sound albums- I actually like Heritage the most. Orchid, Morningrise and My Arms all have great moments but the songwriting is nowhere near Still Life and beyond. Lots of cool riffs but they just don't flow together so seamlessly and naturally. Mikael's songwriting just matured after the 1st three albums, that is obvious to me and just my opinion. Always enjoy Mike Portnoy's comments and enthusiasm! Great podcast! 🤘
We need a BTBAM episode for sure. Colors 2 is one of the greatest records i have ever heard. Truly brilliant band. And i would love to hear Mike portnoys opinion on their records.
Baying of the hounds is to me the best music ever in metal there is. It's there above The Cocoon of Richard Henshal. The leveling of every type of stile here is something so beautifully mixed and there's a beginning middle and ending that makes my body hair go beserk everytime I listen to that break near the end with the acoustics. It's near a freaking orgasm if I'm allowed to say so. It's my go-to album everytime I want something to level me up.
I was introduced to Opeth with Blackwater Park, and I'm glad it was this way. I got to compare everything else to this expectation. I honestly couldn't participate in this ranking process. Every single second of every piece of music I've heard from this band has moved me. I absolutely love it all so much. I'm going to listen to Opeth all fucking day today.
@@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.
I discovered Opeth during their progressive death metal phase and was so inspired by the band that I got my first tattoo in their honor. However, I struggled to appreciate "Heritage" and found "Sorceress" even more difficult to enjoy when it was released. Being 16 years younger than Mikael Åkerfeldt, I had a hard time connecting with these albums. It felt like something inside me died when they didn't play any death metal songs at the last show I attended in 2012. At the time, I wasn't aware that Mikael was going through a difficult period, which might have helped me understand the change in their music. During that show, Mikael even cursed at me when I requested older songs during tuning breaks, which devastated me. Opeth had been a massive inspiration and my only therapeutic outlet during a severe depression I didn't fully recognize at the time. The band's evolution mirrored the tumultuous and unstable relationships I had with the world and others. For a long time, I avoided their discography and refused to attend their shows, convinced that Mikael no longer enjoyed playing their older songs. This belief shattered my connection with the band, even though they played those songs as fan service in subsequent tours. As I've grown older, my understanding of music has evolved, and I now fully appreciate the trajectory of Opeth's musical evolution. They've reclaimed their place in my heart, and I proudly declare myself a massive Opeth fan. The band's music has enriched my life, covering almost every aspect of it. Yesterday, I listened to "In Cauda Venenum" on a high-quality sound system for the first time and was blown away by how much I had neglected their recent albums. None of their work belongs in the discard pile for me, even "Orchid" and "Morningrise" retain a raw appeal despite my shift away from underproduced "black" metal. After dedicating at least an (actual) year or two to actively listening to Opeth's songs, here's how I would rate their albums today: S Tier: Blackwater Park Deliverance Damnation Still Life In Cauda Venenum A Tier: Ghost Reveries Watershed Pale Communion My Arms, Your Hearse B Tier: Heritage Morningrise Orchid C Tier: Sorceress (Some songs still don't resonate with me, but I see this as a temporary phase) D/Bin Tier: (None)
Imagen Portnoy being in on a Opeth record and what we get is like a trip back to the mid 2000's. I love all the albums, but given Portnoy's style and all that I think it would be so fitting to have like a Ghost Reveries / Watershed style album (no growl thats fine if Åkerfeldt doesn't want to, I'm not a growl-nostalgia-opeth-listener) with Portnoy on the drums. Man... Well this was a great video, been a fan of DT, LTE, Opeth since forever man. Always interesting to hear what Portnoy's been up to and thinking about. :)
To Bid you Farewell is one of my top favourites from Opeth. Besides, the distorted part reminds me so much of Old Metallica fsr, and the outro is astonishing to me, how they can come up with that it's beyond me. Great debate!
@@eltrotatorta7388 actually, it's played with the same notes, at least the first arpeggio, the same as with Credence, One (metallica) and the verse of Benighted, for example. Those notes are very widely used in metal, as far as I can recall. And the distorted section of TBYF is so reminiscent of Orion. Edit: Welcome Home also has that
To bid you farewell was the song that made me start to buy all their albums. It’s funny it wasn’t love at first hear either, I was just listening to it one day (probably my 3rd or 4th listen) and it clicked and from that point on I was in love with that song.
This was really fun and interesting to watch. Opeth has soooo many good albums, they just have a different feel. In Cauda Venenum took me a while to like but after a lot of listens to me it's one of their best albums.
I have only heard Blackwater Park and Pale Communion. I learnt a lot about Opeth's evolution and I have been listening to Ghost Reveries after this episode. Thank you :)
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
This was so much fun!
Btw, I should’ve mentioned in my comment in the podcast revealing how Mikael told me he ripped off DT with a certain song (you’ll have to watch the video for it 😉), I shoulda mentioned how I returned the favor when I blatantly ripped him off while writing Repentance w DT! Not only was the music directly trying to cop an Opeth vibe, but when I wrote the lyrics and vocal melodies I was absolutely trying to channel Akerfeldt vibes! 🤘😎
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/.
Orchid and Morningrise were not bad albums. Opeth went for a completely different style after these two but to me, they were great.
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
That 5-minute middle section of Black Rose Immortal starting from around minute 9 is hands down my favorite Opeth moment ever. I live in Iran and here we don't have access to CDs or anything, so when I downloaded that song from some random Napster clone (I was like 10 or something) all I got was this section, cleanly cut, so for years I didn't even know that the actual song was way longer than that.
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.
Opeth's discography is so rich in music. I never get bored by this band because they refuse to stuck in one genre. Every album is different. From black metal, death metal, prog rock, jazz, folk etc. They did it all. They can be brutal as hell and mellow at the same time. Sometimes I can't believe that band exist. It's so one of a kind.
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. @@nquerosaber
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! 😆👌🏻🤘🏻
@@nquerosaber 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
Hours of Wealth deserves a mention for some of the best soulful vocals and guitar on display.
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! 😁👍
8:10 Pale Communion
11:20 Heritage
15:20 Still Life
18:33 Ghost Reveries
23:50 Morningrise
27:30 Blackwater Park
31:59 Deliverance
36:07 In Cauda Venenum
38:47 My Arms, Your Hearse
40:59 Damnation
46:05 Watershed
50:21 Sorceress
54:44 Orchid
you deserve special place in heaven
It was nice to have Mike as a special guest! I always love to hear him geek out on music stuff. He always has something interesting to tell. Nice vid guys, and thanks!
Love having Mike on.
Opeth is my favorite band of all time! And i honestly think it's one of the very few bands that don't have one single bad album. Lucky me!
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.
Morningrise and Orchid are S tier for me, when I was only into prog, I didn't like them, but now it's actually one of my favorites, Morningrise might be actually my favorite.
Morningrise is so good.
I’ll never forget being at Terminal 5 in NYC for the tour that Opeth played Blackwater Park straight through and I looked up and Mike Portnoy was in the balcony jamming along and singing every song. It was an incredible experience
Lmao omfg I was there too!!! It was the second time I saw Opeth. The first was at Saratoga Winners Into Eternity and Nevermore, which was one of the best shows EVER. Into Eternity only had Dead and Dreaming and Buried in Oblivion at the time, Nevermore had just released This Godless Endeavor and Opeth had just released Ghost Reveries. I went by myself, on a random Wednesday and I had school the next day. I was a GIANT Into Eternity fan and they were taken aback by me singing every word and they gave me so much merch and picks and stuff after. I framed a picture of me, the entirety of Into Eternity and Warrell Dane. When I met Warrell, I told him that I spelled my first name exactly as he spells his last name and he was like “YOUR NAME IS DANE?!?! What?!?!” He was super cool, and he introduced me to Loomis out behind the venue and he showed me the arpeggio part in River Dragon that I was playing incorrectly lol He told me “keep playing, you’re good for just being 16.” They were all super nice and welcoming and personable. Didn’t meet Opeth, but Tim from Into Eternity said they were all good guys. Been to over 1000 shows, and Into Eternity, Nevermore, and Opeth at Saratoga Winners is in my Top 5. If anyone else was there, they’d remember all the guys just hanging around.
Your arms, my hearse is S tier. I'm shocked you glossed over it. The composition, the lyrics, the concept. It's a work of art. Truly shocked by that one.
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.
Always love hearing Mike talk about other bands and music in general.
In Cauda Venenum for me is the pinnacle of the recent era and is for me on level with my two other favorite Opeth albums Ghost Reveries and Watershed. What I particularly love is how the songs flow into each other and elevate each other in the process. I'm so glad that Axe got to record this one.
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
I would love to see a Wheel of Prog for Riverside!
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
I absolutely ADORE Sorceress, it's such a throwback to the concept records of the 1970s. I know it's not an "official" concept album, but the tonalities, instrumentation, structure and lyrical themes always make it read like a contemporary account of the middle ages to me. It feels really cohesive from beginning to end and leaves me satisfied every time I finish listening to it.
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.
I honestly don't understand how people group my arms with orchid and morningrise. My arms is where mik's riff style is born, and while the mid era opeth sound isn't polished in my arms, it's definitely there.
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
MAYH is my fav album, is like a transition album
I double that dude... ppl on media always rate MAYH so low, but almost every Opeth Fan i know, out of the media guys, rate this as one of the best (me included!).
The Orchid to Blackwater Park albums are death metal masterpieces. Every single one of them. If they never made another album after Blackwater Park they’d still be one of the top 10 death metal bands of all time.
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
@@3601-c3k 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.
@@Aenigmakil Prog Death Metal is Death Metal
26:30 I think that literally Orchid and Morningrise has the most amount of acoustic playing out of any Opeth albums, just because they are longer as well, I mean like some of the songs have even like 4 minutes of acoustic sections, if not more.
Definitely agreeing with Mike on The Baying of the Hounds. It’s the song that got me into Opeth’s heavier side and really encapsulates a lot of their sound well.
Such a great song, beneath the mire is also a banger!
Love the PRS in the background
Ghost Revieries and My Arms Your Hearse are my two favorite Opeth albums. My Arms Your Hearse is an incredibly underrated album in their catalog. As is Still Life.
My choices too 👍🏻
I’d pick both MAYH and Still Life over BWP
I am so happy to find out that there are a lot of Opeth fans out there that rank Still Life as S tier, which is a hill I will die on, with Moonlapse Vertigo as one of their best and most emotional heavy songs with an outstanding outro.
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......"
I've been getting in to Opeth recently, so I love that this comes out now!
Great stuff.
Stay in Scandinavia.
Ranking the Leprous albums would be cool.🤘
StillLife is the gold standard for Opeth fans.
Definitely my favorite album by them.
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
I cannot even imagine how many people this episode is going to send to Opeth discography...... Simply amazing video.. The kinda conversations I wanna have with my boys... Love from India ❤
Thank you!
The heritage tour was my first show that I saw from them . Devils orchard blew my mind.
Same! Became a fan for life at that point.
Great show, subbed! Can't wait to go back thru previous vids.
Thanks!!
In Cauda Venenum to me is their greatest of the last four albums solely because of the swedish lyrics version. Mikael's genius songwriting somehow shines brighter in his own language, it gives each track a very discinct vibe to me and the ''definitive version'' of that album you should be listening to is the swedish one, IMO. Great tierlist overall!
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.
This was fun! Mike was a great guest.
First time seeing the Wheel of Prog. I might just check out the DT one.
I was just randomly thinking about what would happen with Devin Townsend's discography with his 30-odd completely different albums 😂
I see "Watershed" more than "Ghost Reveries" as the album that is the perfect mix between Opeth's two musical aspects.
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
This is some of the best entertainment/TV I’ve seen in quite a while. Thank you!
Wow thanks!
30:50 Love the insider "tid bit" about the Bleak riff being inspired by a Dream Theater song. Very cool stuf!
Also- Opeth is my favorite band and I’m 66.
Really enjoyed this you guys. I was introduced to Opeth back in 2014 or so and listened to Blackwater Park and even though I was never a fan of the growling, I really loved it. I never really went in to anything else in their catalog until about a year ago when I stumbled on Sorceress and loved it, being more of a prog guy/ 70's-80's metal guy. Then went to In Cauda and loved that, then Heritage and then back in to more of their metal stuff. Now, it's my favorite band, even more than DT (Sorry Mike).
I was just talking to my son about what our favorite Opeth album is, and he said his favorite is which ever one he's listening to, and I have to agree.
Great video guys, awesome content!
Ghost Reveries and Watershed are my top 2 Opeth albums.
Pale communion is my favorite prog era album, maybe even one of my favorites overall
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).
Damnation has what may just be my all-time favorite drum part. At 1:40, with the start of the second verse of Death Whispered A Lullaby, the interplay between the bass and snare drums and the hi-hat is just
I just love seeing Mike nerd out over things he’s passionate about. Whether it’s with music, or film, or tv shows, I never get tired seeing how enthusiasm he is when he experiences other forms of art and music.
I was surprised that they put Morningrise in D tier. It is my favorite by far! I can still listen to the album. It's like reading a novel in that it progresses from one part to the next, not like a verse chorus kind of thing. Excellent production, melodies, and acoustic parts.
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.
Folklore has to be the most underrated song ever by anyone. I’m glad it got mentioned, because no one ever seems to notice it at all.
It’s a perfect song. Everyone give it another chance. Loved this pod.
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
3:40 Let's not forget Focus by Cynic released 1993, very proggy and it just hit it's 30th anniversery a few days ago!
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.
Bleak being inspired by home makes it even better, it was my favorite opeth song anyway and it just got more awesome.
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
Deliverance is my top album in their entire discography. The variation, the obliterating heaviness, then the dark, mellow breaks in between, it's all just so, so good. Ghost Reveries would come in second and Blackwater Park third. It is my favourite Opeth era and the one I keep returning to on an almost daily basis.
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.
Great top 3, as an early music collector Deilverance was definitely the heaviest thing I had heard, but it's so melodic and beautiful at points it really helped me make the jump into extreme metal.
My top 3 yours reversed 1)Blackwater 2)Ghost 3)Deliverance
I'm so glad to see high-profile love for Baying of the Hounds. It's the song that sent me down the rabbit hole and I feel like it's wildly underrated.
I loved when Heritage first dropped as a Return to Forever as well as Opeth fanatic prior to the release. Solidly decided on a tattoo after that
I can’t even imagine how awesome it would’ve been with Mike “sliding in” on drums when Ax left🤯🤯
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.
More Portnoy is ALWAYS a value-add. Thanks Mike!
We agree 👍🏻
Well when the wheel landed on my literal favorite album of all time and you guys put it in B it did take a lot of the initial excitement out for me..
Still life is perfection. Watershed, My arms your hearse are up there as well. All S! The song writing in MAYH is so good that it shines despite the bad production quality.
Seeing Morningrise and Orchid at the bottom while Ghost Reveries sits at the top burns a hole in my soul.
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.
I'm just happy Ghost Reveries ended up at S. To me it's just perfectly paced, the production is awesome and don't get me started on banger songs.
Listen to it on vinyl
It's spiritual
Agree on all points about Harlequin Forest! My fav Opeth song and on the best album!
100% agree. My favorite song and album aswell 💪
Incredible and solid discography, with at least 6 Masterpieces. (Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Deliverance,Damnation,Watershed Still Life). Nice video, so fun to see!
That list is every single song in their middle era 🤣
Did Mike just confirmed that Opeth is working on a new album? I'm in heaven right now ❤
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.
Great wheel, guys! First time where we pretty much match up! Thanks for the great content.
Thanks!!
A long story short I was one of the promoters that did Opeth in Alberta Canada. It was one of their first shows on the tour where Lopez did not show up. They could not play the show without their drummer. Gene hoglan was playing with one of the bands that were opening for Opeth when I suggested that Gene and Michael should play together to continue the tour. They both agreed but unfortunately Gene was not ready to play Edmonton but did play Vancouver with them and continued on the tour. 🙃🤘
Hoglan is incredible! Very cool of him to fill in and help out.
That was great, guys! I would've given 'Heritage' a bit more love as it was a huge change and paradigm shift that they pulled off convincingly with fresh, yet authentically retro/nostalgic tonal characteristics.
As for Mike mentioning 70s vs 80s Beatles, I can only assume he meant McCartney. Cheers!
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 :)
I always enjoyed Heritage and is one of my favorites. I may be alone on this one, but that's okay. I Feel the Dark, Nepenthe, and Famine, are my 3 favorite songs from heritage
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.
First two songs I ever heard were The Funeral Portrait and To Rid the Disease on Myspace. I couldn’t believe the same band played both songs. Favorite band ever since.
Personally, I bump debut albums up in my lists because it's the first album. I love hearing a band in their purest form. For instance Aquarius for Haken is Scenes From a Memory tier to me.
I think a good band to have a tier list would be Riverside. Need to include the EPs.
S - Ghost, Black, Damnation
A - Watershed, Still, Deliverance
B - Pale, Orchid, Morningrise
C - Sorceress, My Arms
D - In Cauda, Heritage
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.
Opeth played Baying of the Hounds in Manchester in 2007. I was so pumped when they did!
for me, that double piece of COIL into HEIR APPARENT sold me on Opeth... addicted ever since! So good.
Opeth's discography is such a tricky one to rank, because - as remarked in the video - all albums are just so good. They are one of the few bands, who (in my opinion) have not released one single bad or even meh album. So it quickly becomes subjective to the ear of the beholder. My ranking would probably be something like:
S: Blackwater Park; My Arms, Your Hearse; Still Life
A: Ghost Reveries; Pale Communion; Deliverance
B: Damnation; Sorceress; Morningrise
C: Watershed; In Cauda Venenum
D: Orchid; Heritage
MAYH is probably my favourite of theirs, if only because it was the first one I ever listened to. There are som great tracks on there: Karma, Demon Of The Fall, April Ethereal, The Amen Corner and obviously When, which is like af first taste of what Opeth was to morph into in the 00's. Still Life has my favourite track of theirs though - I absolutely adore Godhead's Lament.
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.
First time watching this series, great concept!
Thanks!
I dismissed Watershed when it was released after hearing The Lotus Eater and thinking it was going to be a Ghost Reveries clone. After listening to this episode I actually listened to Watershed and it really is a bridge between Ghost Reveries and Heritage in the best way possible. Such a great album. A tier for sure.
Nice video guys. I've got so many prog discographies to get through!
Except for a switch between Heritage and Morningrise (and maybe a little bit within the tiers), this is how I would rank them as well! Very good video:)
Loved Heritage when it came out. For me, it was frustrating that people compared it with previous albums and not appreciated for what it was. It was still Opeth, but in a different approach. I think this change was natural for them as musicians. From this last era, though, I think In Cauda Venenum is their best.
Their absolute best, tier S, would be Blackwater Park, Ghost Reveries, Damnation and In Cauda Venenum.Tier A, Still Life, Watershed, Deliverance, My Arms, Your Hearse, Heritage and Pale Communion. Tier B Sorceress, Morningrise and, finally Tier C, Orchid.
My opinion:
S: Ghost Reveries, Damnation, Blackwater Park
A: My Arms Your Hears, Watershed, In Cauda Veneneum
B: Deliverance, Still Life, Pale Communion
C: Sorceress
D: Heritage, Orchid, Morningrise
This was great to watch. As a long time Opeth fan, there has always been such wide variety of opinions on their albums which just really shows how amazing they are and can reach people in different ways. I mostly agreed with this list. Great to see Mike on the show too.
I had the privilege of seeing Dream Theater and Opeth play on the same night in Manchester, 2009. What a show that was! Very cool episode guys!
Nobody talks about Hex Omega. It is an amazing song and the end is brilliant with the organ note playing to a point where you can visually see the player remove his hands. Absolutely fantastic!
1. Ghost Reveries
2. BWP
3. Still Life
4. MAYH
5. Deliverance
6. Watershed
7. Damnation
8. Pale Communion
9. In Cauda Venenum
10. Morningrise
11. Heritage
12. Sorceress
13. Orchid
Orchid' and 'Morningrise' at the lowest tier? Wow, it shocks me sometimes to see just how different people's musical taste is from mine. For me, they are Opeth's most melodically interesting albums, full of atmosphere and deep feeling. S tier.
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
the prog nation tour in 2008 was the first opeth show i went to (dream theater skipped pittsburgh, so opeth headlined). i can confirm the pit went absolutely nuts when they played baying of the hounds.
In Cauda Venenum is my favorite and to me a masterpiece. But I was thinking if a part of that is because Im Swedish and can listen and fully take in the Swedish version. The lyrics are really strong in Swedish.
Other then that I loved the episode. Mike Portnoy is my all time musical hero together with Neal Morse so always amazing when you have Mike on.
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!
The new album, The Last Will and Testament, is going to sound great going by those couple of tracks they’ve uploaded on YT. Darker, heavier
Opening to In mist she was standing sounds like early fates warning. Like awaken the guardian era. Opeth & Dream Theater will always have a special place in my heart.
The top 3 My arms your hearse, Still life and BWP
Same
Would love to am episode of this with the Genesis discography!
Very likely!
So interesting to hear everyone's options and view points. Music being very personal, it was a very cool video. Every album is hard to place in a order.
This is so nerdy and seeing Mike nerding out as well…. I’m in tears and stitches 🙂🥲🙃
Perfect list for me if you move Morningrise from D to S
Blackwater Park is untouchable and my first time seeing Opeth live in 2001. Love seeing how Still Life seems to be a fan favorite as well- I mean the song "The Moor" is absolutely EPIC. Add Deliverance and you've got the three BEST Opeth records. Love Damnation obviously- great tour when they played the whole record with Porcupine Tree opening for them. Next is Ghost Reveries and Watershed. Then the four "new" sound albums- I actually like Heritage the most. Orchid, Morningrise and My Arms all have great moments but the songwriting is nowhere near Still Life and beyond. Lots of cool riffs but they just don't flow together so seamlessly and naturally. Mikael's songwriting just matured after the 1st three albums, that is obvious to me and just my opinion.
Always enjoy Mike Portnoy's comments and enthusiasm! Great podcast! 🤘
We need a BTBAM episode for sure. Colors 2 is one of the greatest records i have ever heard. Truly brilliant band. And i would love to hear Mike portnoys opinion on their records.
Agreed. Btbam is in my top 3 (along with Opeth). I would say they definitely have enough albums to rank.
Baying of the hounds is to me the best music ever in metal there is. It's there above The Cocoon of Richard Henshal. The leveling of every type of stile here is something so beautifully mixed and there's a beginning middle and ending that makes my body hair go beserk everytime I listen to that break near the end with the acoustics. It's near a freaking orgasm if I'm allowed to say so. It's my go-to album everytime I want something to level me up.
They opened with that song in Montreal '05... Great song !!!!
I was introduced to Opeth with Blackwater Park, and I'm glad it was this way. I got to compare everything else to this expectation. I honestly couldn't participate in this ranking process. Every single second of every piece of music I've heard from this band has moved me. I absolutely love it all so much. I'm going to listen to Opeth all fucking day today.
Ghost Reveries is a top five album of all time. Together with Powerslave, Operation Mindcrime, Images and Words, Afraid of Sunlight
Deliverance is the heaviest album of all time written in E standard
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.
I discovered Opeth during their progressive death metal phase and was so inspired by the band that I got my first tattoo in their honor. However, I struggled to appreciate "Heritage" and found "Sorceress" even more difficult to enjoy when it was released. Being 16 years younger than Mikael Åkerfeldt, I had a hard time connecting with these albums. It felt like something inside me died when they didn't play any death metal songs at the last show I attended in 2012. At the time, I wasn't aware that Mikael was going through a difficult period, which might have helped me understand the change in their music.
During that show, Mikael even cursed at me when I requested older songs during tuning breaks, which devastated me. Opeth had been a massive inspiration and my only therapeutic outlet during a severe depression I didn't fully recognize at the time. The band's evolution mirrored the tumultuous and unstable relationships I had with the world and others. For a long time, I avoided their discography and refused to attend their shows, convinced that Mikael no longer enjoyed playing their older songs. This belief shattered my connection with the band, even though they played those songs as fan service in subsequent tours.
As I've grown older, my understanding of music has evolved, and I now fully appreciate the trajectory of Opeth's musical evolution. They've reclaimed their place in my heart, and I proudly declare myself a massive Opeth fan. The band's music has enriched my life, covering almost every aspect of it. Yesterday, I listened to "In Cauda Venenum" on a high-quality sound system for the first time and was blown away by how much I had neglected their recent albums. None of their work belongs in the discard pile for me, even "Orchid" and "Morningrise" retain a raw appeal despite my shift away from underproduced "black" metal.
After dedicating at least an (actual) year or two to actively listening to Opeth's songs, here's how I would rate their albums today:
S Tier:
Blackwater Park
Deliverance
Damnation
Still Life
In Cauda Venenum
A Tier:
Ghost Reveries
Watershed
Pale Communion
My Arms, Your Hearse
B Tier:
Heritage
Morningrise
Orchid
C Tier:
Sorceress (Some songs still don't resonate with me, but I see this as a temporary phase)
D/Bin Tier:
(None)
Imagen Portnoy being in on a Opeth record and what we get is like a trip back to the mid 2000's. I love all the albums, but given Portnoy's style and all that I think it would be so fitting to have like a Ghost Reveries / Watershed style album (no growl thats fine if Åkerfeldt doesn't want to, I'm not a growl-nostalgia-opeth-listener) with Portnoy on the drums. Man... Well this was a great video, been a fan of DT, LTE, Opeth since forever man. Always interesting to hear what Portnoy's been up to and thinking about. :)
Same Mike! "The Baying of the Hounds" is my all time banger!!!
The wilde flowers from Sorceress has one of the best guitar solos ever.
I love Pale Communion. Great vid as always!!
To Bid you Farewell is one of my top favourites from Opeth. Besides, the distorted part reminds me so much of Old Metallica fsr, and the outro is astonishing to me, how they can come up with that it's beyond me. Great debate!
That's true, the beginning is so close to fade to black
@@eltrotatorta7388 It's 10x better than 'Fade to Black'.
@@eltrotatorta7388 actually, it's played with the same notes, at least the first arpeggio, the same as with Credence, One (metallica) and the verse of Benighted, for example. Those notes are very widely used in metal, as far as I can recall. And the distorted section of TBYF is so reminiscent of Orion.
Edit: Welcome Home also has that
To bid you farewell was the song that made me start to buy all their albums. It’s funny it wasn’t love at first hear either, I was just listening to it one day (probably my 3rd or 4th listen) and it clicked and from that point on I was in love with that song.
This was really fun and interesting to watch. Opeth has soooo many good albums, they just have a different feel. In Cauda Venenum took me a while to like but after a lot of listens to me it's one of their best albums.
I have only heard Blackwater Park and Pale Communion. I learnt a lot about Opeth's evolution and I have been listening to Ghost Reveries after this episode. Thank you :)
Another awesome episode. Keep those Wheels of Prog coming! I would love to see one on Spock's Beard!