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[live4metal]

I,like many of you am not a big fan of death metal vocals. I'm from the old school of metal like Priest,Maiden,Motorhead & Sabbath and as far as I know Venom was one of the 1st to use death type vocals and I hated them.Then thrash came out and spawned a whole death metal scene.I always liked Slayer,Exodus,Testament,Metallica & bands in that vein but the more hard core stuff was just too punk or too much growling with no harmony,so I pretty much ignored those records.Until recently when I decided to checkout Clayman from In Flames because it showed up in alot of peoples top 10 of the year list,& I'm glad I did! This I could dig.It took a little getting used to the vocals but the music was awesome and definatly metal.Then I would hear about At the Gates Slaughter of the Soul record.So on some of yours advice I picked it up used & have found another band I can get into,very intelligent lyrics & concept.Are their other records this good!?And what about this Opeth cd Blackwater Park? I hear it's great it sucks,I heard some bits of it on cdnow but I could"nt get a feel. The music sounded cool,but the vocals were kinda deep and harsh.Is this throughout the disc?

[Paul G]

listening to 30 second soundbites of any Opeth record is pointless since they don't write 3-4 minute songs. The vocals on Blackwater are a mixture of clean and growled. Another band that is conceptually similar but with their own sound is Anathema pick up "Judgement"if you can find it. You'll need more $$$$$ if you fall into this genre, there's tons of great stuff but beware of the crap also esp. in the black metal field.

[ImpaleVlad]

Terminal Spirit Disease, from At The Gates, is pretty good. Unfortunately they had to release their best album (Slaughter of the Soul)right before they quit.

[JGunnz1]

Ive said it before ,I'll sayit again. If you like In Flames get Dark Tranquillity. They are better IMO. Start with Haven.

[Tyrannorabbit]

Opeth is definitely worth hearing - but since their songs are so long, no 3-minute listen is going to do any of them justice. All I can recommend here is that you pick up a disc and listen to it a lot over a week to let it sink in. My recommendation: _Still Life_, probably their most accessible.

I'm not really sure what to think about At The Gates - they're probably the most highly-regarded melodic death metal band in history (one of the perks of breaking up before they start to suck), and while _Slaughter Of The Soul_ is really cool, I found _Terminal Spirit Disease_ quite lacking. Haven't heard anything else from them, though _Suicidal Final Art_ (a compilation, I guess) keeps staring at me from the HMV racks.

Others were talking about In Flames & Dark Tranquillity - both are highly recommended, but their sounds are kinda different. In Flames is more of an Iron-Maiden-gone-death sound, with a lot of HEAVY bottom end, double bass and twin guitar melodies. Dark Tranquillity is more somber and "gothic" if you will, with more clean vocals (at least on _Projector_) and dramatic-sounding chord progressions.

[General Zod]

I find it interesting that so many people recommend "Still Life" to perspective Opeth listeners. I don't really see the difference, as far as accessability goes, between "Still Life", "My Arms, Your Hearse" and "Blackwater Park". I think all three are equal in accessability and content.

I would recommend "Projector" to any perspective DT listeners, who are not big death metal fans. It uses more clean vocals than any of their CDs that I am familiar with.

GZ

[Raider]

I'd also recommend Hollenthon. Not really like any of the above-mentioned bands except that he occassionally uses death vox, and his stuff is very melodic.

[General Zod]

live4metal-

The only thing Opeth has in common with In Flames, or At The Gates, is a death style of vocals. And it's really not even the same style. Both singers from In Flames and At The Gates use more of a high-end scream. Mikael, from opeth, uses a lower range growl.

Musically, Opeth is much different from the other two. Opeth's songs are longer, more complex, contain more instrumental passages, and have better lyrics. Just because you like In Flames and At The Gates, doesn't mean you will like Opeth. And as someone has pointed ou, there may be no band more difficult to judge by 30 second clips than Opeth.

JGunzz1-

I would agree that Dark Tranquillity is excellent, and underrated. And while they are more technical than In Flames, I don't know that they are necessarily better, just different.

GZ