If OPETH wrote DREAM THEATER's 'On the Backs of Angels'

#DreamTheater 's song "On the Backs of Angels" if it had been written by #Opeth.

Got any ideas/requests? Drop them in comments !

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[w-james]

If Dream theater wrote *"Ghost of perdition"*

[horsthorstmann]

This is so accurate, almost terrifying

[StonyBlazestation]

I'm just going to reiterate the many, many comments that are asking for a full version of this. This is fucking awesome and really reminds me why I miss pre-Heritage Opeth so bad.

[Bleak]

That literally sounds EXACTLY like Opeth. Brilliant.

[randyhalfway]

The first 40 seconds sounds straight off of Damnation, and the rest sounds like Watershed. I'm absolutely blown away!

[The_Ocean_of_Sorrow]

I discovered Opeth because of this video. Certainly a life changing event. Thank you very much!

[jogbo]

Spotted Opeth songs:
0:22 In my time of need
0:32 I feel the dark
0:58 Heir apparent
1:13 The moor

[gioledda]

I was convinced that this was real by how legit it sounded.

[Serfo_]

Now you need to do some Opeth song in DT style.

[MetalJesusRocks]

Wow. This is GREAT! I want the whole ALBUM!!

[alrecks]

that Heir Apparent-esque diminished solo

[KB]

When you don't realise you need something in life, then this comes along...

[DavidMyers]

If Akerfeldt were to do the vocals, I'd imagine it would go as follows:
[Growls]
Standing on the backs of angels
Destined to create
Mounting the attack
While heroes carry your weight

[Singing]
We spiral towards disaster
Survival fading faster

[Growls]
Riding out the wave
Content to feed off the machine
Bleeding us to death
The new American dream

[Singing]
You're blinded by your hunger
Beware your days are numbered

[Singing]
Tears fall from the shameless
Shelter me, guide me to the edge of the water
Selfless are the righteous
Burden me, lead me like a lamb to the slaughter

[Growls]
Blurring lines drawn in between
What is right and what is wrong
Victims on the radar string us along

[Singing]
We're on to your agenda
The dead end road to nowhere

[Singing]
Tears fall from the shameless
Shelter me, guide me to the edge of the water
Selfless are the righteous
Burden me, lead me like a lamb to the slaughter

[Singing]
Tears fall from the shameless
Shelter me, guide me to the edge of the water
Selfless are the righteous
Burden me, lead me like a lamb to the slaughter
Selfless are the righteous
Burden me, lead me like a lamb to the slaughter

[MP-uklx]

Who's here because Dream Theater shared this on their page?

[LionelHutz]

nice you even have the frederik solo style going on

[SuperBlazeomatic]

If Devin Townsend wrote Cusp Of Eternity...

[nicocare]

Make Opeth great again. We need a full version of this, with growls and everything

[LukeZuniga]

The riff at 1:13 is so badass, jesus!

[mariagheata]

Oh Lucas... we don't deserve you in this world <3

[joeyhardin]

For anyone watching this video in the hopes to compose something Opeth-style yourself, here are some things to take away from this video:

The instrumentation - The first guitar plays a simple clean opening, a variation on the original piece. The second guitar comes in after two rounds of the clean opening, to highlight the descending pedal notes. The bass guitar comes in on a tonic pedal in octaves to start with, and then parallels the second guitar. The bass guitar has a lot of treble EQ. The drums start with a slow black metal beat, Boot Cat Boot Cat with the splash counting the quavers (eight notes.) There is some stray lead work added afterwards over the clean section. When the music escalates to the heaviest section at the end, the drums keep the same time the the splash counts crotchets (quarter notes) and a double-pedal bass is used, playing sextuplets, with 6 kicks per quarter note. One guitar plays a complex rhythm reminiscent of the opening clean theme while another comes in for a unison on the F minor chord.


Harmony/Tonality: Non-diatonic minor chords have been used for a super evil vibe, for example, F minor in the final section, or C# minor in other parts. The overall key is E minor, and any minor key will work for a classic Opeth song. The opening theme ends each phrase on the tritone to create suspense before quickly resolving back to the tonic. Lots of tritones are used in this piece as is typical of metal. This is similar to the next section, which ends each phrase on F, a semitone above the Tonic, also creating suspense and tension. The final metal section features a complex rhythm in 24/16 with a descending line on the E locrian scale, ending on a sudden F minor chord, again a semitone above E, which creates a lot of tension. The locrian scale is used because it is the darkest of all modes according to David Bennett, as it has the most flattened notes, and features minor 2nd intervals and diminished 5ths. Lots of Opeth songs use the Locrian scale such as Sorceress or The Drapery Falls (sort of.)


Rhythm/Time/Tempo: The opening clean riff I think of as in 2/2 time, which is normal for slower music with slow drums. When the drums change, it moves to 24/16 time, which is a compound time signature, typical of Black Metal and Opeth music in general. The beats count in groups of 12 16th notes, with 2 groups in each bar. It could also be thought of as 2/2 but with sextuplets. The tempo, counting minims (half notes) is about 90bpm, or when we move to the new time signature, we count dotted minims as 90bpm instead.


Edit:
I incorrectly labelled the scale used for the final section as the Locrian mode, but actually it is the Octatonic (or Diminished) scale. This is one of Messiaen's modes though it dates back to the romantic period, and works well in this sort of music as its limited transpositions undermine any concept of tonality, along with other features such as its ambiguous and dissonant intervals above the tonic.
Also, while I used the term 'black metal' to refer to this style, it is not really a good label, although the features I mentioned in regard to it are clear influences from the genre. However, Opeth are much better described as Death Metal or Prog Metal.