For many, what was once considered the quintessential metal band had transformed into something more akin to Blue Öyster Cult than Bathory. Heritage (2011)Ī divisive album for even the group’s most loyal fans, Heritage came three years after what still remains Opeth’s most experimental album, 2008’s Watershed. Regardless of those varying directions, however, Åkerfeldt has remained a clear example of artistic independence, leading Opeth into the privilege afforded those musical acts who achieve acclaim, success, and the rarity of being truly memorable. With the recent release of Sorceress, Åkerfeldt and his bandmates have continued what’s been a trend now for two releases far into the prog-rock spectrum, leaving behind heavy metal and also the happiness of fans whose heads still remain tilted to one side at 2011’s Heritage.

Considering that perpetually rotating lineup, it’s that much more impressive that Opeth have been able to maintain their trajectory without any kind of creative implosion.

As such it’s not surprising that Opeth’s lineup looks like a spreadsheet printout of Sweden’s musical population. The 42-year-old Stockholm native long ago established himself as one of the genre’s most formidable guitarists and one of its most forward-thinking artists. Though not a slight against his former, current, and probably future bandmates, Åkerfeldt’s creative inclinations are the driving force for Opeth, a characteristic that hasn’t necessarily worked against the band at all so far. Considered by many to have left the metal convention “like two albums ago,” Opeth earned a permanent pass and respect in the genre from the get-go with their 1995 debut, Orchid, an album widely considered to be one of the most important in the independent metal scene. Over the years the band has made the kinds of decisions that usually cause a band to end up under a headstone that reads: “RIP Career,” yet as supposedly drastic or sudden as those changes have been, Opeth have achieved the almost impossible task of keeping fans interested if not always engaged with everything they do. While no documentaries exist (yet) featuring footage of Åkerfeldt or any of his bandmates wandering aimlessly through the snow while staring off in deep thought, Opeth’s story is one that involves nearly every inspiring trait of rock ‘n’ roll at its most rewarding. Unsurprisingly, the results and subsequent rewards have served the band and the metal genre well, allowing for challenges and even changes to long held and outdated notions of what constitutes membership in the cool-kids-only club. As a result, Opeth’s music has continually taken on the qualities of multiple sources, all while being channeled through the creative minds of the individual musicians.īypassing the corpse paint, unabashed bigotry, and general dumbassery of many of their contemporaries at the time, Opeth made the courageous decision to dedicate their energy, focus, and time to the music they were creating. A product of their generation, the Opeth’s enormous success comes primarily by way of them incorporating all aspects of their influences into the music, as opposed to filtering out what isn’t strictly heavy. Nearly three decades later, Opeth are one of heavy metal’s most widely respected and polarizing acts, captivating and even confusing fans over the course of what’s now 12 albums (tallied here as 11, because a pair of them were re-released as a two halves of a double-LP). Despite most human beings not having the capability to walk and chew gum at the same age, Opeth vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt was just 16 years old when he was asked to join the band. Formed the same year that Sinead O’Connor stood in front of a camera crying and singing a Prince song, Sweden’s Opeth began their journey in the typical old-fashioned way wherein a couple of people who play instruments meet a couple other people who do the same, and they find out that they like the same kind of music and don’t annoy the living shit out of each other, so they form a band.

Orchid album opeth