Welp, there goes my afternoon. *crawls under rock with headphones on*

Never thought I'd post this on an Opeth thread again, but what the hell?

It was 'streaming' in full a month ago

Did listen when it was leaked

Leaked and now it's streaming and I still haven't found courage to listen to it...

Welp, listened when it leaked, so I'll just say the same thing I said back then.
Overall, it's a good album. Hardly special, but an alright listen.

Was listening to the leaked one on and off during the week, and now, after a few spins I'm beginning to really enjoy it. It has the sound that I expected from Heritage when I first heard they were going down the prog-rock route - this one is still more prog than metal, but it has that Opeth vibe, buildups and melodies that I missed in their previous release. Overall, it has surpassed my expectations.

Written by SceneryOfLoss on 19.08.2014 at 19:56

Leaked and now it's streaming and I still haven't found courage to listen to it...

It actually the most "meh" thing to exist in a long time so you won't be surprised nor disappointed

I actually can't get over how much I love Moon Above, Sun Below to move past it and listen to the rest of the album.

Written by Nimlot on 19.08.2014 at 20:50

I actually can't get over how much I love Moon Above, Sun Below to move past it and listen to the rest of the album.

That and Faith in Others are the album highlights, I think. Great tracks.

Written by SceneryOfLoss on 19.08.2014 at 19:56

Leaked and now it's streaming and I still haven't found courage to listen to it...

If you don't expect too much, you may enjoy this album
And if you like progressive rock, you may love it

personally I have mixed feeling about this album, but in total this is good album

Written by HitokiriNate85 on 19.08.2014 at 21:13

Written by Nimlot on 19.08.2014 at 20:50

I actually can't get over how much I love Moon Above, Sun Below to move past it and listen to the rest of the album.

That and Faith in Others are the album highlights, I think. Great tracks.

totally agreed

"Moon Above, Sun Below" has a dark and evil mood

Boring, I will play this song to my son to get him sleep.

You should read what 'TRUE OPETH FANS' are saying about it on their FB. What a joke

Written by Opethian on 20.08.2014 at 00:09

You should read what 'TRUE OPETH FANS' are saying about it on their FB. What a joke

What are they saying? Is their response mostly positive or negative, or mixed?

Nothing special in my opinion, especially for Opeth's standards. The only two songs I actually liked were Cusp of Eternity and Faith in Others.
Nothing really memorable about this album for me. Not amazing or terrible, just boring overall.
For me the best thing was the vocals, good performance.

Started streaming on Wimp yesterday too. (Norwegian equivalent to spotify)

Good album in my opinion. I liked it a lot!

It's all down to expectations. If you want another Blackwater Park, you will dislike the album. If you want simply to listen to music, without expectations and prejudice, you may notice that this album is quite good.

That's the whole problem. People somehow assume that a band is their property and that the band is supposed to deliver the music they want to hear. How arrogant.

Written by Ace Frawley on 20.08.2014 at 05:11

Written by Opethian on 20.08.2014 at 00:09

You should read what 'TRUE OPETH FANS' are saying about it on their FB. What a joke

What are they saying? Is their response mostly positive or negative, or mixed?

They're throwing the word Masterpiece around effortlessly. I've been a huge fan ever since i picked up Still Life and Deliverance at the record store. I just dont understand this phase that Mikeal has been going through for years now. Once i heard 'Storm Corrosion' and his departure from Bloodbath. All of my hopes and admiration started to go down the Shitter so to speak. Mikeal should have released both Heritage and this new album as a Solo release and kept Opeth going on strong. That's my opinion

Written by Daniell on 20.08.2014 at 10:48

It's all down to expectations. If you want another Blackwater Park, you will dislike the album. If you want simply to listen to music, without expectations and prejudice, you may notice that this album is quite good.

That's the whole problem. People somehow assume that a band is their property and that the band is supposed to deliver the music they want to hear. How arrogant.

Its a 2 way street. So what your telling me is that any band can release anything that they want and expect it to be Praised?? This phase that Opeth has been on has been somewhat depressing. My simple opinion and i wasn't trying to 'Flame' you or anything like that. Just voicing my thoughts

Written by Daniell on 20.08.2014 at 10:48
If you want simply to listen to music, without expectations and prejudice, you may notice that this album is quite good.

You may also notice that it sucks.

Assuming people are expecting another Blackwater Park as the only reason they don't enjoy the album is what I call arrogant.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 20.08.2014 at 21:53

Written by Daniell on 20.08.2014 at 10:48
If you want simply to listen to music, without expectations and prejudice, you may notice that this album is quite good.

You may also notice that it sucks.

I listened to it without any expectations especially due to Heritage and indeed the new one still sucks. Not as bad as Heritage but still crapp

Written by Troy Killjoy on 20.08.2014 at 21:53

Assuming people are expecting another Blackwater Park as the only reason they don't enjoy the album is what I call arrogant.

Most people are unhappy because Opeth stopped playing metal and judge their music from that perspective. My point still stands.
It's not arrogance, it's observation.

Does it suck? I dont know. I'm not too happy with the album either, but "sucks" is a bit strong.

I'm pretty sure lots of people hated this album even before they listened to it. Well, it's their choice.
As for me, I like Pale Communion. I was expecting more from it, but, knowing Opeth, I'm sure that there's still a lot to discover and unearth.
My favourite tracks for the moment: Moon Above, Sun Below; Voice of Treason.

Written by Lord_Agony on 19.08.2014 at 20:34

It actually the most "meh" thing to exist in a long time so you won't be surprised nor disappointed

Yeah, I indeed wasn't surprised or disappointed by it. But I would still say it's good. Inferior to everything they did except for Heritage.