Opeth

Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band formed in 1990 in Stockholm by David Isberg, later joining its longest-serving member, Mikael Åkerfeldt. His compositions have influences from progressive rock, jazz, blues and classical and folk acoustic guitars, most noticeable on his album Blackwater Park (2001), and Ghost Reveries (2005). Mikael Åkerfeldt is the only member to have remained in all of the band's classic lineups. Since the recording of their first album, they have released 13 studio albums, 3 box sets, and four live albums. Starting with the album Heritage (2011), in the studio they have moved away from the progressive Death Metal sound to focus on a classic progressive Rock sound, which is continued on their albums Pale Communion (2014), Sorceress (2016) and In Cauda Venenum (2019). However, live they continue to play songs from their entire range.

History

The beginnings of Opeth (1990-1993)

Vocalist David Isberg formed Opeth in 1990 in Stockholm. Isberg invited Mikael Åkerfeldt to join the band to rehearse as bassist, but the other band members were not informed of this. All of its members except Isberg resigned. Åkerfeldt soon joined Opeth after his band, Eruption, broke up. With Åkerfeldt on guitar and David Isberg on vocals, Opeth still needed more musicians. They invited Åkerfeldt's friend and founding member of Eruption, drummer Anders Nordin, and Nick Döring on bass. Andreas Dimeo was hired as the second guitarist. Rehearsing with the old equipment they found in an elementary school. After their first show, Andreas Dimeo and Nick Döring left the band. The second show was joined by Kim Pettersson (guitar) and Johan DeFarfalla (bass). After the show, DeFarfalla left, not returning until 1994. Petterson lasted with the band for one more show before leaving in late 1991. For that show /i> They played with Peter Lindgren on bass, but once Kim left, Peter returned to guitar.

Isberg left the band at the beginning of 1992 due to "creational differences" and, since Mikael had experience as a vocalist in the group Eruption, he happened to occupy this position; they immediately began writing material with Peter Lindgren. Opeth settled with a three-person team for over a year, but then they found a new bassist, Stefan Guteklint, who played with them for about a year.

Orchid, Morningrise and My Arms, Your Hearse (1994-1998)

After the band received a contract with Candlelight Records, Stefan Guteklint was fired. Opeth recorded their first album, Orchid, in 1994 with Johan DeFarfalla as session bassist. Shortly thereafter he became a full-time member. Candlelight Records released their debut album in 1995. Two years later, Orchid was released in the United States by Century Media Records. They handled the production themselves and Dan Swanö was the sound engineer.

Opeth's second album, Morningrise, is recorded between March and April 1996 and released later that year. Again Dan Swanö is the sound engineer and this time he also handles the production. The album contains five songs, ranging in length from 10 to 20 minutes ("Black Rose Immortal," the twenty-minute track, remains the longest on Opeth's discography). Their first European tour, along with Cradle of Filth, is followed by the release of Morningrise. After the tour, Johan DeFarfalla is fired from the band and Anders Nordin retires and goes to Brazil.

On the third album, My Arms, Your Hearse in 1998, added Martín López (who had left another Swedish band, Amon Amarth) on drums. Shortly before the recording of this album, Martín Méndez, a friend of Martín López, is recruited as Opeth's bassist, but due to a lack of time to learn the already accumulated material, Åkerfeldt plays bass on the recording.

My Arms, Your Hearse exhibits a change in the style of the letters. Instead of having songs over 10 minutes long, My Arms, Your Hearse contains shorter songs, with most being between 6 and 8 minutes long. The album was lyrically a concept album, darker than previous works, with acoustic transitions playing minor roles. Mikael's vocal style also takes on a more death-metal-influenced tone: deeper and more menacing. My Arms, Your Hearse is the latest Opeth album to be released on Candlelight Records.

Still Life (1999-2000)

Released in 1999 under Peaceville Records, their fourth album, Still Life, is considered another concept album, which centers on a tale of a man's love for a woman named Melinda, and his return from exile to look for her. This album contains a higher level of experimentation with the dynamics between the dark elements of death metal, and the clean, acoustic elements. Still Life could be considered a pivotal turn in the evolution of Opeth's sound. It is the first release recorded with Martín Méndez on bass. The release of Still Life was originally scheduled for late September 1999, but was postponed to October 4 and then October 18., which was the final release date.

Blackwater Park (2001)

In 2001, the fifth album, Blackwater Park, is released under Music for Nations, and received great critical and commercial success in North America. Opeth entrusted main Porcupine Tree member Steven Wilson with producing the album, as well as supporting vocals, minor guitars and piano parts.

Mikael Åkerfeldt and Martin Mendez in Germany 12-06-2008.

Deliverance, Damnation and Lamentations (2002-2004)

The 2002 album Deliverance, also produced by Steven Wilson, is released under Music for Nations. Deliverance contains five songs over ten minutes long (the first such album since Morningrise), and one instrumental track of nearly two minutes. Deliverance is one of Opeth's heaviest works, containing some songs with intros resembling the style of Morbid Angel. Opeth continues to experiment with time changes with syncopations, a fact that is notably reflected in the introduction and ending of "Deliverance" (the intro is played in 7/8 time and the finale is in syncopation), as well as on the last track on the album, "By the Pain I See in Others".

Their seventh album, Damnation, recorded simultaneously with Deliverance, is an all-prog rock album with no death metal elements, harking back to 1970s prog rock. This album is also produced by Steven Wilson, who contributes on backing vocals and keyboards, and participates in the lyrics of 'Death Whispered a Lullaby'. Mikael Åkerfeldt dedicated Deliverance and Damnation to his grandmother, who had died in a car accident during the recording.

In 2004, Opeth released Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003), a DVD featuring a two-hour concert live from Shepherd's Bush Empire Theater in London England. The concert was divided into two parts: in the first, Opeth plays the entire Damnation album in order, plus "Harvest" from Blackwater Park. The second part includes heavier tracks from Blackwater Park and Deliverance. Also on Lamentations is a one-hour documentary on the making of the albums Damnation and Deliverance, featuring the four band members and Steven Wilson all talking about Opeth, Deliverance, Damnation and the recording process.

During the Deliverance and Damnation tours, Opeth had planned to play in Jordan, but without any members of the production team, for fear of Middle Eastern terrorist attacks.. The band's manager sold about 6,000 tickets for the concert, but before the concert, Lopez calls Åkerfeldt telling him that he couldn't play as he was having a severe panic attack. Without Lopez, Opeth could not perform the concert, thus forcing the band to cancel the show. At the beginning of 2004, López had to return to his house in Canada, after several more panic attacks during the tour. Opeth decided not to cancel the remainder of the tour, and Lopez's drum tech fills in for two of the concerts. Lopez promises that she will return to the tour as soon as she can, but two concerts later Opeth requests that Gene Hoglan, drummer for Strapping Young Lad, as the new replacement. Lopez finally returns to Opeth for the final leg of the tour. Per Wiberg, keyboardist for the Spiritual Beggars, joins soon after, and is confirmed as the fifth member of the band. And after a year of touring, the Swedes return to the studio to record their next studio album.

Opeth at Prince Charles Cinema, London, 2008.

Ghost Reveries (2005-2007)

Opeth enters the studio on March 15, 2005 to record Ghost Reveries. The album was released on August 30 by Roadrunner Records. In an interview conducted in January 2006, Peter Lindgren comments that the future of drummer Martín López was uncertain:

Lopez's not on this tour, he's back home and he's not playing with us. He's been sick for quite some time. He's had some panic attacks, which bothered us during a couple of tours we canceled. I really don't know what it can be. They tell us everything: it is a disorder in the blood, which has some back pains and depression. He came to a point where he couldn't play anymore. He stayed so thin he couldn't touch. We basically agreed that I couldn't work. I had to go home and get back. And he's been absent for almost nine months.

On May 12, Martín López officially leaves Opeth, "due to blood poisoning and panic attacks" during the tour in support of the albums Deliverance/Damnation. He replaces Martin & # 34; Ax & # 34; Axenrot, who has replaced Martín López during the last five tours presenting Ghost Reveries.

Fredrik Åkesson in 2008.

On July 24, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine announces that Opeth would perform the main leg of Gigantour 2006, along with Megadeth, Lamb Of God, Arch Enemy and Overkill. The tour begins on September 6 in Boise, Idaho, ending October 8 in Orlando, Florida.

On October 31 they release a special version of Ghost Reveries that includes the entire album remastered in 5.1 surround audio plus the "Soldier of Fortune" from the British band Deep Purple. It also includes a documentary showing the recording of Ghost Reveries.

On November 9, the show at the Roundhouse in Camden, London, is recorded for a DVD release. For this concert, they also had a performance by Paradise Lost.

Mikael Åkerfeldt begins writing what would be Opeth's ninth studio album; and on November 1 they enter the recording studio; and according to what he himself declares, the release of the new album would be in April or May 2008.

On May 17, guitarist Peter Lindgren leaves the band because he doesn't feel strong enough to give his best to his teammates, and in an interview he declares:

The reason behind this decision is simply that I have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has gone from being a few guys who played the music they loved to be part of the world industry. Love for music has always been, and it is, our motive, but personally I have lost something in the way. The large number of tours has passed the bill.

Peter Lindgren is replaced by guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, formerly of Arch Enemy.

On August 21, 2007, the cover art for their second live album, The Roundhouse Tapes, is announced. which is officially released on November 5 in Europe and on November 22 worldwide.

On September 27, 2007, it was announced that Opeth would be supporting progressive metal band Dream Theater along with Between the Buried and Me and 3 during their 2008 US tour. On November 1 they enter the studio to record their ninth studio album.

Watershed (2008-2011)

In June 2008, finally, Watershed, the long-awaited ninth album, was released.

In early 2010 Opeth released a soundtrack defined by Mikael Akerfeldt's words as non-metal, from the PlayStation 3 game God Of War called The Throat Of Winter.

September 20 Opeth Releases Live DVD "In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall" Recorded in London on April 5, 2010. This is how Opeth commemorates its 20th anniversary. The live DVD, in its first part, contains the album "Blackwater Park" complete and in his second a tour of the entire discography throughout his 20-year career, hits like "Hope Leaves", "Forest of October& #34;, and the more recent "The Lotus Eater". The DVD also contains interviews and footage from their latest world tour and a vinyl version.

Heritage, Pale Communion, Sorceress (2011-present)

In January 2011 Opeth announces a new album Heritage, this is published on September 13, 2011 in Europe and on September 15, 2011 in the rest of the world.

This album is totally different from the previous ones, it has a musical style closer to progressive rock and even "70s" (specifically on the song Slither, a tribute to the recently deceased Ronnie James Dio) with various Swedish folk overtones. It was very well received by many fans and not by others, especially for having put aside its more metallic side and its death influences. Despite the controversy, it is getting good sales results (19,000 copies in its first week in the United States).

Mikael Akerfeldt (leader and main songwriter of the band) commented that he had wanted to create an album of this style for a long time. He added that in the first studio sessions two songs were composed with influences from his previous release (Watershed), but that they never fully convinced him and when he showed them to Martín Méndez (bassist of the band), he he commented that if that was the style of what the new album would be, he would be sorely disappointed. After that he wrote the song The lines in my hand and when he showed it to Martín Méndez, he was pleasantly impressed.

In August 2012, Åkerfeldt revealed that he began writing material for what would be the eleventh studio album and in December of the same year, Roadrunner Records uploaded a video on YouTube showing the Opeth logo and the text Spring 2013 (Spring 2013). The description of the video states that something's coming... (Something's coming...). In January 2013, Opeth announces a tour in Australia for March and will give more concerts in the coming months.

In April 2014 Mikael Åkerfeldt announces that his new album will be called Pale Communion and it will be released on June 17 of the same year. The album can be purchased in advance from May 6, 2014 via the iTunes Store automatically downloading the first single "Cusp Of Eternity".

Metal Injection conducted a song-by-song review and pointed out that frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt doesn't sing any gutturals on Pale Communion.

On June 16, 2016, opeth announces a contract with nuclear blast entertainment. The Sorceress album is promoted worldwide on September 30 of the same year (nuclear blast/moderbolaget).

Etymology

They took their name from a book by Wilbur Smith; since in said book "Opet" means city of the moon (the "h" was added later to the name of the band, for a purely aesthetic reason of its pronunciation in English).

Discography

Studio Albums

Release date	Title	Discographic
15 May 1995	Orchid	Candlelight Records/Century Black
25 June 1996	Morningrise	Candlelight Records/Century Black
18 August 1998	My Arms, Your Hearse	Candlelight Records/Century Black
19 October 1999	Still Life	Peaceville Records
27 February 2001	Blackwater Park	Music for Nations
12 November 2002	Deliverance	Music for Nations
22 April 2003	Damnation	Music for Nations
30 August 2005	Ghost Reveries	Roadrunner Records
3 June 2008	Watershed	Roadrunner Records
20 September 2011	Heritage	Roadrunner Records
26 August 2014	Pale Communion	Roadrunner Records
30 September 2016	Sorceress	Moderbolaget Records/Nuclear Blast Records
September 27, 2019	In Cauda Venenum	Park Studios

Members

Mikael Åkerfeldt (left) and Martin Méndez (right) in Munich Backstage Werk, Saturday, December 6, 2008.

Fredrik Åkesson (left) and Per Wiberg (right), Saturday, December 6, 2008.

Equipment