Quote:
Originally Posted by Anteater
You're kidding right? Opeth may not be the greatest band of all time or anything, but they're certainly lightyears above Slipknot both instrumentally and in terms of compositional consistency. Hell, Watershed alone is far better than everything Slipknot has put out since their 1999 debut, and that's not even considered their best effort by a large majority of Opeth's fanbase, including casual listeners.
Also, I really can't stand pissant nu-metal groups who try to play off masked intrigue like The Residents started doing back in the late 60's, but lack the ability to make the image they've cultivated interesting.
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lol
Oh, how Slipknot was never meant to be brought into this. Unfortunately I have to be harsher on Opeth than I was being.
But with that said, Opeth took 9 albums to reach Watershed. It wasn't a bad album (none of them really are), but after 9 albums, this is the amount of growth we see? Slipknot reached a decent level of experimentation* on... well, their very first album, Mate.Feed.Kill.Repeat. I'm not a big fan of MFKR, but I can't deny that there's quite a bit going on there that put Opeth to shame. But that's not enough, we got Volume 3: The Subliminal Verses, which also puts anything Opeth could ever make to shame in a more original and passionate way. Hell, Slipknot had more interesting and less generic song structures from the very beginning.
Opeth makes long songs. Long, boring songs. They're a guitar band and that's not a surprise in metal. Where is the drumming? It's boring as ****. Slipknot, on the other hand, has put an emphasis on drumming. That's one thing that sets them apart from a lot of metal bands. Songs like Tattered and Torn are just clinics in drumming.
But, there's more to Slipknot than that. The guitar exists to make the song better -- not as a way to wank off. I'm not even against some guitar wankery, I like Mastodon, for example. But if you're going to wank off, put some soul into it. I don't even get that from Opeth. It's like, somewhere, they just forgot to write
actual riffs. Their best parts are the quiet parts, but even those are kind of boring. When the metal kicks in, shouldn't that be a big **** YEAH moment? Isn't that what metal is? It's loud, it's aggressive, it's passionate... when the metal kicks in I feel like going to bed. Opeth took the death metal and tamed it. Whereas Slipknot's riffs are violent and aggressive. They serve the song. Left Behind has a better riff than anything Opeth will ever write. But a lot of metalheads (I'm not saying you, for the record... I don't know you) just want to see the fastest guitar playing they can.
I won't even bother saying much on the other instruments but I will say that they all add to the song. People underestimate just how much the custom percussion is used, or the sampler and the DJ. Slipknot layers their songs and if you listen with earphones, you can hear that. I listen to Opeth occasionally and am in awe of how much attention they've gotten, considering they're one dimensional and have been recycling the same few, pretty cool, ideas. The Damnation/Deliverance idea is a joke as they just split up what they were already doing anyway.
A lot of these other metal bands that people adore so much pretend to be angry. Slipknot
are angry. Not only are they angry, but you know what, they're actually "artistic" too, and that's really come to life since Volume 3. I'm intrigued by them. I like their masks (theatrics are important), I like their 9 man machine they have going on, I like their videos. I like their vision. I like that they're numbers (though maybe that idea is in the background these days... the important thing is that it wasn't back when they erupted onto music).
Corey puts Mikael to shame. It needs to be said.
You know what else I like about Slipknot? They've changed. If they were a nu-metal band from their Self-Titled on -- which is up for debate because people seem to have a pretty general definition of nu-metal -- then sign me up for nu-metal because that was one of the most brutal albums I've ever heard. A proper **** you to people and especially the "scene." Iowa wasn't nu-metal, but it kept some elements (and why not? Nu-metal is a valid genre). They abandoned it completely on Vol. 3 and AHIG. They don't just play one or two types of metal. There is death metal, there is thrash, there are weird songs with claustrophobic moog, there are power ballads, there are electronica elements, there is Pantera-ish groove metal, there is funk and jazz. Hell, there's even some disco in a song. There's more than that. That's one of the many reasons Slipknot is interesting to me, and especially more interesting than Opeth.
This post has gotten way too long, so I'm going to stop. It's a bit of an injustice because I've merely scratched the surface. I'm aware none of this will change your mind. I'm also aware I'll probably get called stupid (maybe you won't actually say it but you'll probably think it). If you don't, well that's really cool and you're above a lot of Slipknot haters, then. This is probably my only response to Slipknot hate that you're going to see here... people have been gettin' after me all day about it and it's a little tiring considering I never started it.
*By labeling Slipknot as experimental, I am not saying they reach the levels of say, Mr. Bungle, or the Residents, or SGM, or whoever... what I am saying is they do experiment a lot and keep a high level of intensity and passion. Too often, experimental bands get caught up in being clever and forget the emotion. I'm not grouping Bungle or Residents into that, though. I love those two bands to death.