Opeth - Profile Highlight

Opeth

   It was probably five years or so ago, I picked up this Headbangers Ball CD.  It had a bunch of new and old metal bands on it.  I love those albums because you get a little of everything on them.  When I put in the second disc this song came on called Grand Conjuration, by this band Opeth.  I had never heard of them before, but I really liked the song.  The song structure was absolutely captivating in its progressive nature.  I was blown away at the way the song was put together.  I had to research this band for sure.  Come to find out this band has been around for a good while since the early nineties.  I started to get into this band real heavy.  I never thought at that point that I would be into death metal, but this band put a total different perspective to death metal for me.

   To me up to that point death metal was all heavy screams.  Most of the time a real low scream, and blast beats.  Never had I heard an alternate take on this genre before like this.  They call them selves Sweedish progressive death metal.  While still saying they are a death metal band first they have a uncanny way of combining heavy screams and tones, with acoustic fills and breaks.  Their music seems to track across a very traverse ample music terrain.  He told Metal Hammer magazine in an interview, "

I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going.^[55]

Just when you're getting over burdened by the brutality of Opeth they switch it up to a lighter softer side that you never thought guys like this could even bring themselves to do.  Not in the same song anyways.  Their softer side has a real Eastern-tinged, jazzy feel to it.  I was at this point getting really drawn to this band.  Even though I was a relatively new fan to this band I felt that these guys were always there, just waiting waving in the distance. 

   I went a little deeper into the world of Opeth, and started reading their lyrics, and what mikael akerfeldt wrote about.  He is beyond poetic with his material.  I would listen to song a be like wow I have no idea what he's talking about.  His lyrics made me get out a dictionary and look up words for Christ sakes.  I really enjoyed reading the lyrics, and really getting into what the meaning of his words were.  I think that is wonderful when you write something that draws you to want to learn more and more and you can't get away until you've heard everything.  I started to look into different realms of faith, religion, power, love, hate, and poetry.  Knowledge is power right and if its linked to music I have no problem learning about it so I started reading what this band was about.  While definitely having a dark side talking about Death, and Satanic views, and darker imagry they also have a very passionate loving side as well.  Even today I still don't know what this band is fully about. 

   So you know at this point I had to buy everything this band had out.  I think I got Ghost Reveries first because that was the easiest one to get.  They don't sell a lot of Opeth's stuff in stores so it was kind of hard to get everything.  I listened to that album over and over and over again. I couldn't get enough.  So after getting most of their stuff I was wanting more soft stuff surprising yes I know, but I just really loved their soft side.  Than just as I thought there was no more I come across their album Damnation.  It's all soft.  Thank you Opeth right.  I get lost in listening to that whole album.  Every song is so captivating, an hauntingly good.  Their soft stuff is so hard to put a label as to what kind of music it is.  I'm not even going to try really.  Just call it awsome soft stuff from Opeth.  Haha.  So now this band couldn't make me any happier really.  I have everything they have out, and still like I said continue to learn things about this band every time I listen to them.  With Opeth's increasing popularity with their Ghost Reveries release I really suspect Opeth to be on the top of progressive metal for a long time.  Their Watershed release in 2008 reached number 23 on the Billboard Top 200.  Which is really good for a foreign death metal band like Opeth to achieve here in the United States.  I highly recommend this band for anyone that's into abstract beat compositions, long extravagant songs that are almost like a play on music, soft breaks with melodic singing, poetic lyrics, and lastly astounding heavy death metal.  This band ha opened so many other doors into metal for me that because of this band I'm finding so many other bands that I love.  One in particular is Porcupine Tree, but that's for another day.  Opeth is by far one of my top five bands now, I have great respect for all the guys that are in Opeth, and really hope they keep going.  It will be a very sad day if should they ever stop making music for us to bang our heads to. 

Here are their album releases up to this point

Orchid - 95'

Morningrise - 96

My Arms, Your Hearse - 98'

Still Life - 99'



Blackwater Park - 01'

Deliverance - 02'

Damnation - 03'

Ghost Reveries - 05

Watershed - 08'

Also:  Lamentations (Live DVD)- 03'

The Roundhouse Tapes (Live Album) - 07'

In Live Concert at the Royal Alber Hall (Live DVD) - 10'

   So as you can see they have a pretty extravagant amount of material for you guys to dive into.  I highly recommend Still Life, Blackwater Park, and Damnation, but everything they have out is very very good.  So I hope that maybe after reading this profile about them you will go and do your own research on the band.  I didn't include a whole lot of actual facts because I wanted to focus on just their impact on me in a lot of different ways rather than the facts about the band which are very interesting to read about as well by the way.  So if this article turns you on to this band than I served them again besides just buying their albums and listening to them all the time.  So until next time stay hard, stay heavy. 

Opeth are: Currently

• Mikael Åkerfeldt — lead vocals, guitars (since 1990)^*
• Martin Mendez — bass guitar (since 1997)
• Fredrik Åkesson — guitars, backing vocals (since 2007)
• Per Wiberg — keyboards, mellotron, backing vocals (since 2005)^*
• Martin "Axe" Axenrot — drums, percussion (since 2006)

Former Members are:

• Peter Lindgren — guitars (1991–2007)
• Martin Lopez — drums, percussion (1997–2006)
• Anders Nordin — drums (1990–1997)
• Johan DeFarfalla — bass guitar (1991, 1994–1996)
   
  Here are some videos from Opeth as well.  Enjoy