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10-16 Opeth Involved in Car Crash
09-18 Opeth Australian Tour Dates
09-15 Akerfeldt Plans Solo Album
07-17 Opeth Steal Video Game Thunder
01-28 Opeth/Enslaved US Tour

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Opeth
Metal, Progressive, Death Metal

Ask any metal fan in the world and they'll tell you there's no band quite like Opeth. Since 1990, Opeth (Stockholm, Sweden) has been writing some of the most unique and extreme progressive metal ever created. With roots spanning from death metal to jazz and 70's progressive, Opeth is an extreme act like no other. Mikael Akerfeldt's voice shifts between the most soothing clean singing ever heard and the most menacing death metal growls this side of the threshold of hell. With him and Peter Lindgren making up the guitar arsenal, their riffs flow with atmosphere as well as a beautiful acoustic si ...read more

Ask any metal fan in the world and they'll tell you there's no band quite like Opeth. Since 1990, Opeth (Stockholm, Sweden) has been writing some of the most unique and extreme progressive metal ever created. With roots spanning from death metal to jazz and 70's progressive, Opeth is an extreme act like no other. Mikael Akerfeldt's voice shifts between the most soothing clean singing ever heard and the most menacing death metal growls this side of the threshold of hell. With him and Peter Lindgren making up the guitar arsenal, their riffs flow with atmosphere as well as a beautiful acoustic side and blues-influenced metal solos. The rhythm section is near perfect with Mendez and Axenrot providing the clean, subtle basslines and jazz/Latin-influenced drums. Despite the unusual influences for a band such as this, Opeth blends their distinct influences into an undeniably progressive metal sound.



After the breakup of Mikael Akerfeldt's original death metal band Eruption in 1990, a friend named David Isberg asked him to join as bassist for a band called Opeth. After countless lineup changes and disasterous gigs, Mikael wrote a song called Poise Into Celeano, a song that branched off the standard death metal the band had been playing and into the progressive world. After years a seemingly pointless work, Mikael became the vocalist just before landing a deal with Candlelight Records and recording their debut: Orchid. With Morningrise recorded in the spring of 1996, Opeth began to make a name for themselves in the metal community.



With the album My Arms, Your Hearse on the horizon and the arrival of Martin Lopez on drums and Martin Mendez on bass, Still Life came and went quickly. Opeth's first true breakthrough came in 2000 when Mikael met future friend Steven Wilson in London. Mikael asked him to produce their new album, and with is help, Blackwater Park became their most successful release yet. Massive tours followed including a European headline and their first serious tour of the US.



After the success of Blackwater Park, the band decided to rest and let the creative juices flow. It wasn't until friend Jonas Renkse of Katatonia gave them an idea that work on their next albums began. He suggested that Opeth write two albums together, one excelling in their soft side and the other their brutal half. The albums were to go together but were released separately - these albums became Damnation and Deliverance in 2002. With Steven Wilson producing as well as adding vocal tracks and melotronics, the band had achieved a darker side of their trademark sound.



Opeth released Ghost Reveries, their first major label release, in 2005 to an overwhelmingly positive response from critics and fans alike. With the addition of keyboardist Per Wiberg, their sound continues to become more eerie without losing any its extreme or progressive nature. Drummer Martin Lopez departed in early 2006 due to personal issues to be replaced by Martin "Axe" Axenrot and the band continues to tour relentlessly today.



Opeth has became one of the most respected bands in modern metal. Their music goes beyond a mere collection of sounds and invokes thoughts and visions in listeners' minds. Concerts have been played to celebrate their eight-album accomplishment and their development over the years. While critics may believe they are just another talented metal band, to the fans, Opeth is more than a band. It is a life-changing experience proving that music can affect people in deep, more profound ways than ever imagined.



Opeth is:

Mikael Akerfeldt – Vocals, Guitars

Fredrik Åkesson – Guitars

Martin Mendez – Bass

Martin Axenrot – Drums

Per Wiberg – Keyboards, Vocals « hide

Similar Bands: Edge Of Sanity, Katatonia, Ghost Brigade, Bloodbath, In Mourning

Burden
12/09/2008

2.7
87 Votes
Watershed
06/03/2008

4
977 Votes
The Roundhouse Tapes
2007

3.9
235 Votes
Ghost Reveries
2005

4.2
1,198 Votes
Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Em
2004

4.2
289 Votes
Damnation
2003

4.2
1,018 Votes
Deliverance
2002

4
815 Votes
Blackwater Park
2001

4.5
1,614 Votes
Still Life
1999

4.5
997 Votes
My Arms, Your Hearse
1998

4.2
676 Votes
Morningrise
1996

4
612 Votes
Orchid
1995

3.7
546 Votes
Apostle In Triumph Demo [1993]
1993

3.4
18 Votes

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