Martin Lopez

Hi guys,

Well first of all I want to say Opeth is one of my favorite bands, and I must say, they are very good at composing, playing, and kicking ass :p

I have discovered the band in their early days, some time in 1998 with Morningrise and I've followed them all along since now, and yes Lopez's departure was a great loss for Opeth. If you have seen the Lamentations DVD, you can see that Martin seems to be smoking a lot (always having a lit up cigarette in his hands when being interviewed), plus I read he has a hereditary problem, those "panic attacks". I believe this is caused by a over-amount of stress with touring added to a lack of sleep and what not...

It doesn't mean he can't play drums (on the contrary!), however he cannot stand too much stress I guess, so it would be the reason why he couldn't continue anymore...

I would say that all his work in Opeth is excellent, because he has always put his heart to the music, and we can feel that through their songs.. My arms your hearse has really a great ambiance, since it was his first record with them he might have been shy of doing whatever he wants, but you can see his style much more starting from Still life... Then it becomes more and more sophisticated with Blackwater Park, which is one of the best work they have ever done in my opinion, then Deliverance and Damnation are SO amazing (one day I have listened to deliverance 3 times in a row!)

Ghost Reveries is good but I felt something was missing in this record...

Now that I have Watershed, I can say Axe is really good, and they are still very strong. I really enjoy listening to this album.. It reminds me of MAYH a bit...
 
I just listened to the newest Opeth album (Watershed) and the very first thing I noticed was that the drums just had something missing (in my opinion). So I looked it up and found out that Lopez is no longer with Opeth :( Now it's Martin Axenrot. A good drummer sure, but definitely no Martin Lopez. i really dig Lopez's Son Clave grooves with the double bass rolling underneath!
 
Well....
What can I say I am really sad.... I do miss Martin Lopez I just breathe feel and live the real life when I listen to him playing....
No one could give those feelings when I read what you guys saying about him I just say I am not the only one who believe that he is one of the best.
I am from Tunisia and here many people say that he is the best drummer.
Well hope he is OK!
:)
 
I'm huge fan of Opeth though I'm not much of a fan of their new album. Like most of you all have been saying something just seems to be missing drum wise in the album. I look forward to future albums with Axenrot (sp?) when I can get a better idea of his music.

That is not to say Axenrot is a bad drummer. I was fortunate enough to witness him play at a prog metal tour with Dream Theater. He was a very very talented drummer. And he can play Martin Lopez's stuff pretty good, but it obviously isn't Martin Lopez.

As for Lopez I'm disappointed that he left Opeth, but your health is always more important than anything else. I look forward to what he plans on doing with his drum career in the future. I love his stile of drumming. A very strong latin and jazzy influence which I've been striving to take on myself.
 
please tell me that is not true a friend of me told me that Lopez is dead. I don't believe it but please if anyone know that he is alive just tell me please.
thinks.
 
^^^

Eh I don't think Martin Lopez is dead. Last I heard of him though was that he had to leave Opeth because he was having anxiety attacks. And wouldn't be able to tour.

I'm sure if he died Opeth would of mentioned it on their website and we would have all known.
 
Martin Lopez has a rare blood disease that started to develop just before he left the band.
Apparently this disease can be fatal if left untreated.
 
As far as I know, Martin Lopez is alive (... and well). I'm a drummer from Uruguay, just like him (but not that good :p) and he was here recently so... he should be fine.

Now, as a drummer, to me his very inspirational and I'm really digging his excellent chops and grooves. Of course, I like Opeth as a whole band, not just the drum parts.

I didn't have the chance to listen to their latest work yet, but I've heard Axenrot is very good.

Something for me to add is that Lopez really has many influences from the musical culture from Uruguay and I believe that really gave him a distinguished touch as a drummer.
 
He is one of my favourite drummers by far and here's me thinking that not many people know who he is! I was listening to Ghost Reveries this morning in the car and it was just what i needed, i didn't know what frame of mind i was in and didn't know what to listen to and i thought Opeth. His drumming is unreal, fluent, crisp, clean, sharp, extremely diverse, technical and yet he has a lot of feel. In my opinion he is one of (if not) the best all round drummers i've ever heard, and Axe is also very very good. Saw them at Download this year, what a performance that was!
 
JT1 said:
He is one of my favourite drummers by far and here's me thinking that not many people know who he is! I was listening to Ghost Reveries this morning in the car and it was just what i needed, i didn't know what frame of mind i was in and didn't know what to listen to and i thought Opeth. His drumming is unreal, fluent, crisp, clean, sharp, extremely diverse, technical and yet he has a lot of feel. In my opinion he is one of (if not) the best all round drummers i've ever heard, and Axe is also very very good. Saw them at Download this year, what a performance that was!
Click to expand...

Never really was a huge Axe fan. He's definitely decent and can play pretty well. But as far as I'm concerned, another viking is not what Opeth needs. They need that beautiful blend off badassery and grooviness. That's what Lopez id. Axe just can't pull that off.
 
Oh and he is most definitely alive (where did that rumour start??)
He should be releasing an album with his newly re-formed band Fifth To Infinity sometime this year.
 
For me, these two songs are pretty disappointing. This is nowhere near the caliber of his work on Ghost Reveries, in my opinion.

I can't get past all of the flams between the snare and kick.
 
I've been listening to Opeth for nearly two years. I have all the albums. And I must say by far my favourit drummer was Lopez. I've gotten alot of my technique and inspiration from him.

Has anyone heard Soen? I think its his latest project, it sounds awesome!

P.S this was my first post.
 
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