Opeth Music Review

I really started listening to good music since I was 15. So, I listened to all the classic rock songs, all the famous ones until very recently. I also experimented with a lot of genres, varying from jazz to hard rock, Pakistani/Indian classical to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Qawalis, from rap to Punjabi bhangra, all metal kinds till I landed on Opeth, Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm. I guess the reason that Opeth is so enticing is because its music is so powerful and so different from the normal stuff that we hear. They are the only ones that I know of who uses acoustic guitars so beautifully, in harmony, with electric and distortion guitars. The superb riffs and transition in the vocals from growling to melodious singing almost makes me high on music!

Looking back on the 90’s and 00’s music scene (read metal scene), it seems that many bands can easily be dismissed as ‘one hit wonders’, or as acts that were just popular for a year or so. Out of all the rock and metal bands, Opeth stands out as master of the craft. They have it all; the look, the sound, and an ever expanding fanbase that has ensured continued popularity.

 If there ever was someone who ate, breathed and slept progressive death metal it’s Mikael Åkerfeldt. Since 1990 Åkerfeldt has been vocalist, guitarist, composer, songwriter and driving force behind one of the metal’s most seminal units Opeth. And Opeth is not just limited to one genre of music. Nor does Åkerfeldt vocals are limited to one specific style. Their compositions include acoustic guitar interludes and strong dynamic shifts, as well as both growling and clean vocals. Opeth has been able to seamlessly and fluidly combine metal, classic rock, progressive rock/metal, folk and free form jazz.

They've never made a bad album, (Or rather Mikael has never made a bad album). Actually everything is a lot more progressive and brilliantly structured. There are no sections of music that get repeated. The lyrics are amazingly poetic, uncommon for a death metal group, (most death metal band usually concentrate on death.)

Opeth is the second name of diversity and synonym to the word music. If you haven’t listened to Opeth then you haven’t heard music. Nothing I have heard from them has failed to impress me. Melancholy but strangely uplifting, clean but guttural, brutal but gentle-a band of contrasts. One thing is for sure. Opeth is so ahead of its times that it will be remembered (30-50 years ahead maybe), for breaking the genre-barriers and making melodious and inspiring music. Find a more talented and inspiring band than Opeth. I fuckin dare you. My Opeth’s current top ten (random order) songs are: