I have to say I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I am.

The guitar playing has always been great but some of the stuff on the new disc is ridiculous.

Maybe my expectations were so very low that I couldn’t help but be impressed but whatever it is I am really digging “Dark Matter D”.

As for the vocals, really they aren’t terribly different. In fact the cleans are almost identical to Christian’s. This album does seem heavier overall though.

Does anyone else hear a Meshuggah influence in some of the songs? It seems like in general there are a lot more weird time signatures in the songs.

I gotta say it’s a solid 8 out of 10 for me.

but anyway Christian was just really oversinging at the show and a lot of the songs sounded really muddy but that’s more the sound than their playing. Katatonia was worse though, which was REALLY depressing, ’cause I’ve seen Opeth like 10 times and they always sound flawless, expected Katatonia to sound just as good. then again it was a tiny venue.

anyway you should really check out Insomnium, they’re fantastic. I like their 2nd, Since the Day It All Came Down, the best, but they’re all excellent – maybe start with the new one, Across the Dark. Check out my review from a few months ago.

Do you think your disappointment with them might have been that they were at the wrong show? I mean I like Swallow the Sun and Katatonia a lot (I’ve never heard Insomnium but I’m guessing from the name they’re probably really depressing and doomy?)but that just seems like an odd mix.

I sampled the SS on itunes, and the vocals sounded a little different but I can’t really tell anything from a crappy 20 second stream so I’ll have to listen to the album as a whole before I give my thoughts on it.

that and the fact that they were pretty bad when I saw them live last year w/ Insomnium, Katatonia and Swallow the Sun

All of that said I may still check out the SS cause the band is just plain great anyway.

As for this album, probably no one would agree, but I think it is the bands strongest work to date in all areas – even the clean vocals. Much more focused than the bloated Holographic Universe, and better songwriting than Pitch Black Progress.

As far as progressive melodeath goes, I’d suggest checking out Be’lakor – not quite the same, and they don’t use any clean vocals, but I’d say they fit the bill. A little doom mixed in there too. There’s more than that, but they’re the first to spring to mind.

far as melodic progressive death, Scar Symmetry are still tops but I still found this a big step down from the first three.

I was actually hoping that the new vocalists would bring a different vibe to the band but it sounds like it might not be that much of a change.