Opeth
| Opeth | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Opeth at Elbriot 2015 |
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| General information | |
| origin | Stockholm , Sweden |
| Genre (s) | Death Metal , Progressive Metal , Progressive Rock , Dark Metal , Retro-Prog |
| founding | 1990 |
| Website | http://www.opeth.com/ |
| Founding members | |
| David Isberg (until 1992) | |
| Current occupation | |
| Mikael Åkerfeldt (guitar: since 1990, vocals & guttural vocals: since 1992, also studio bass: 1997) | |
guitar |
Fredrik Åkesson (since 2007) |
| Martin Mendez (since 1997) | |
| Joakim Svalberg (live keyboard / background vocals: 2011, keyboard & background vocals: since 2011) | |
| Martin "Ax" Axenrot (live drums: 2005, 2006, drums: since 2006) | |
| former members | |
guitar |
Andreas Dimeo (1990-1991) |
guitar |
Kim Pettersson (2 concerts 1991) |
Guitar, bass |
Peter Lindgren (bass: 1991, guitar: 1991–2007) |
bass |
Nick Döring (1990–1991) |
bass |
Johan DeFarfalla (bass: 1 concert 1991, studio bass: 1994, bass: 1995–1997) |
bass |
Mattias Ander (1991) |
bass |
Stefan Guteklint (1991–1994) |
Keyboard, background vocals |
Per Wiberg (tour keyboard / background vocals: 2003–2005, keyboard, background vocals: 2005–2011) |
Drums |
Anders Nordin (1990–1997) |
Drums |
Martin Lopez (1997-2006) |
| Live support and session musicians | |
singing |
Nathalie Lorichs (studio vocals: 2008) |
Guitar, keyboard, backing vocals |
Steven Wilson (studio guitar / keyboard / backing vocals: 2001, 2002, 2003) |
Keyboard |
Fredrik Nordström (Studio Hammond organ: 1998) |
| Markus Lindberg (studio percussion: 2001) | |
Drums |
Gene Hoglan (live drums: 2004) |
Opeth [ ˈəʊpəθ ] is a metal band from Stockholm ( Sweden ) who initially played Death Metal and later processed more and more influences from Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal . The band name was taken from Wilbur Smith's novel The Sun Bird, in which Opet is translated as 'City of the Moon'. The band founders only added the letter 'h' to the word.
Band history
1990–1994: creation
Before founding Opeth, singer Mikael Åkerfeldt and drummer Anders Nordin played in the black / death metal band Eruption for several years . Opeth founder David Isberg met Åkerfeldt during this time and initially engaged him as a bass player. The other band members knew nothing about it and left the band in a dispute to start their own project called Crowley and record a demo tape called The Gate in the same year . Opeth replaced the resigned musicians with guitarist Andreas Dimeo, bassist Nick Döring and drummer Anders Nordin.
Opeth played their first concert in February 1991 with Therion , Excruciate and Authorize. After that Dimeo and Döring left the band and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan DeFarfalla for the next concert. After the second concert with At the Gates , Therion, Desecrator, Megaslaughter and Sarcazm, DeFarfalla left the band again and was replaced by Peter Lindgren, who was actually guitarist and, after Pettersson left the band a short time later, switched to guitar. Matthias Ander gave a short guest appearance on bass, which was followed by Stefan Guteklint. After Opeth initially refused to make demo recordings after it was founded, several demo, rehearsal room and doctoral recordings were made between 1991 and 1994.
1994–2000: Orchid , Morningrise , My Arms, Your Hearse and Still Life - Early Works
After the band had signed a record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994, they separated from Guteklint and hired DeFarfalla as studio bassist for the recordings of Orchid ; he subsequently remained a member of Opeth. After the release of the debut album, Opeth got the chance to play some concerts in the UK . In spring 1996 the second album, Morningrise , was recorded in the Swedish Unisound Studios and produced by the operator Dan Swanö . After the release, Opeth went on their first European tour with Cradle of Filth . After the tour, DeFarfalla was fired. Nordin was told this while on vacation in Brazil . He decided to live there and left the band.
For My Arms, Your Hearse , the band found two new members, Martin Mendez and Martin Lopez, both from Uruguay , but due to scheduling problems, Åkerfeldt played the bass on the album. Lopez played for Amon Amarth before Opeth . So this third album was recorded in the summer of 1997 and then toured again. With the concept album Still Life from 1999 Opeth showed himself more from the melancholy side. In 2000 the band changed labels and signed a contract with Music for Nations .
2001–2004: The breakthrough
Before Blackwater Park released in 2001, Opeth toured again. In London Åkerfeldt met Steven Wilson and was able to win him over as producer for a new album. In 2002, Opeth, again under the direction of Wilsons, recorded the two albums Deliverance and Damnation at the same time . The former is a heavy metal album, the other very calm and without guttural vocals. Jonas Renkse ( Katatonia ) came up with the concept of making two opposing albums out of the different ideas and pieces . Music for Nations could only be convinced of this, as the band agreed to treat both albums as a single one in terms of the terms of their record contract and financial support from the record company. Deliverance was released in November 2002 and Damnation in April 2003. Each album was followed by a tour. In the United States, the band toured with Porcupine Tree . In February 2004, Opeth released the DVD Lamentations - Live at the Shepards Bush Empire . This shows the concert in London , as well as a making-of of the two previous studio albums.
2005 – today: turning to prog
On August 29, 2005 the album Ghost Reveries was released . The band had previously switched to Roadrunner Records , as Music for Nations was disbanded in 2004. In addition, the keyboardist Per Wiberg, who was part of the cast on previous live performances, has now been firmly integrated into the band. On this album, Opeth combined progressive rock and death metal elements again, with the death metal portion being reduced in favor of influences from psychedelic rock . Compared to the previous albums, Mikael Åkerfeldt was no longer solely responsible for the compositions, but incorporated ideas from the whole band.
In May 2006, drummer Martin Lopez left the band for health reasons. Shortly thereafter, Martin "Ax" Axenrot took over his place as a permanent member, who was previously active with Bloodbath and had previously helped out on drums at Opeth concerts. In May 2007 Peter Lindgren published an open letter in which he announced that life with the band would be too difficult for him, partly because of the very long tours. As a replacement for him, Fredrik Åkesson followed in his footsteps, who had previously played with bands such as Arch Enemy and Krux . In May 2008 the ninth studio album Watershed was released.
In April 2011 Opeth announced on their official website that keyboarder Per Wiberg had left the band by mutual agreement. This was later replaced by Joakim Svalberg, who at first only played live as a substitute. The keyboard parts on the Heritage album, which was released in September 2011, were still played exclusively by Per Wiberg.
On August 22, 2014, the eleventh studio album Pale Communion was released , which the group made available in full in advance on the Internet. On the album, Opeth consistently pursue the musical direction chosen with Heritage and again forego the previous death metal stylistic devices in favor of melodic progressive rock elements .
After the band had signed a record deal with the Nuclear Blast label , the studio album Sorceress was released on September 30, 2016 .
On September 27, 2019, the same label released the studio album In Cauda Venenum , which was released in two versions, namely in Swedish and in English.
Music genre
When the founder David Isberg led the band and Åkerfeldt had not yet joined, Opeth's music was based on Black Metal and sounded like Bathory . Robert Müller from Metal Hammer compared the debut album Orchid with In the Woods ... "on dope [...], with less prog stuff and more candlelight, but just as lush songs". The first albums were rooted in Death Metal , later more and more non-genre elements were integrated into the compositions and Opeth was often attributed to Progressive Metal . The style of music changed from My Arms, Your Hearse within the complexly structured and often long pieces between brutal metal passages and calm, melancholic passages with ballad-like echoes. This contrast can be found in Åkerfeldt's special way of singing, which varies between his warm, clear singing voice and deep growling . On their album Watershed , the band managed a humorous game. The song Hessian Peel contains a passage with backward singing, which is reversed as the line of text “Wandering in the courtyard. My sweet Satan I see you. ”Revealed. In terms of music history, it is a direct reference to Led Zeppelin and the debates about supposedly hidden messages in “Stairway to Heaven”. With the album Heritage , the band left the earlier death metal influences completely behind and referred to v. a. on the progressive rock of the 1970s. The path continued with Pale Communion and Sorceress . The following album In cauda venenum was released for the first time not only in English, but also in Swedish.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
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 AT
|
 CH
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 UK
|
 US
|
 SE
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| 1995 | Orchid Candlelight Records Cat. |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: May 15, 1995
|
| 1996 | Morningrise Century Media Cat. |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: June 24, 1996
|
| 1998 |
My Arms, Your Hearse Century Media Cat. |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: August 18, 1998
|
| 1999 |
Still Life Peaceville Cat. |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: October 19, 1999
|
| 2001 |
Blackwater Park Music for Nations Cat./Koch Cat. |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: February 27, 2001
|
| 2002 |
Deliverance Music for Nations Cat./Koch Cat. |
- | - | - | - | - | - |
First published: November 12, 2002
|
| 2003 |
Damnation Music for Nations Cat. |
- | - | - | - |
US192 (1 week) US |
- |
First published: April 22, 2003
|
| 2005 |
Ghost Reveries Roadrunner Cat. |
DE39 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK62 (1 week) UK |
US64 (2 weeks) US |
SE9 (4 weeks) SE |
First published: August 30, 2005
|
| 2008 |
Watershed Roadrunner Cat. |
DE23 (3 weeks) DE |
AT53 (3 weeks) AT |
CH24 (1 week) CH |
UK34 (1 week) UK |
US23 (3 weeks) US |
SE7 (4 weeks) SE |
First published: June 3, 2008
|
| 2011 |
Heritage Roadrunner Cat. |
DE9 (3 weeks) DE |
AT16 (2 weeks) AT |
CH13 (3 weeks) CH |
UK22 (2 weeks) UK |
US19 (3 weeks) US |
SE4 (7 weeks) SE |
First published: September 20, 2011
|
| 2014 |
Pale Communion Roadrunner Cat. |
DE3 (3 weeks) DE |
AT11 (3 weeks) AT |
CH24 (2 weeks) CH |
UK14 (2 weeks) UK |
US19 (1 week) US |
SE3 (3 weeks) SE |
First published: August 26, 2014
|
| 2016 |
Sorceress Nuclear Blast |
DE1 (4 weeks) DE |
AT10 (2 weeks) AT |
CH6 (3 weeks) CH |
UK11 (1 week) UK |
US24 (2 weeks) US |
SE7 (2 weeks) SE |
First published: September 30, 2016
|
| 2019 | In cauda venenum Nuclear Blast |
DE5 (4 weeks) DE |
AT15 (2 weeks) AT |
CH10 (3 weeks) CH |
UK13 (1 week) UK |
US59 (1 week) US |
SE12 (1 week) SE |
First published: September 27, 2019
|
Guest musician
- Steven Wilson - keyboards , backing vocals , mellotron , guitar (at Blackwater Park , Deliverance and Damnation )
- Fredrik Nordström - Hammond organ (on My Arms, Your Hearse )
- Markus Lindberg - 3 eggs (at Blackwater Park )
- Nathalie Lorichs - vocals (with Coil on Watershed )
Web links
- Official website
- Swedish prog metal band Opeth: Over 25 and always changeable , band portrait in the Deutschlandfunk series "Rock et cetera" on March 26, 2017
- Opeth at Allmusic (English)
- Opeth on MusicBrainz (English)
- Opeth at laut.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Opeth - Deer demo '93. In: Petrified 'Zine. No. 2, Winter 1993, p. 33.
- ↑ a b c d e Biography - Chapter II ( Memento of July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), opeth.com , accessed on January 1, 2013.
- ↑ a b Opeth. In: Jon Kristiansen : Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries . Bazillion Points Books, Brooklyn, NY 2011, p. 300.
- ↑ Biography - Chapter III ( Memento July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), opeth.com , accessed January 1, 2013.
- ↑ Biography - Chapter IV ( Memento of July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), opeth.com , accessed January 1, 2013.
- ↑ Biography - Chapter VII ( Memento of July 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), opeth.com , accessed on January 1, 2013.
- ↑ Joakim Svalberg. Archived from the original on July 27, 2014 ; Retrieved December 7, 2015 .
- ↑ visions.de
- ↑ http://www.yourmusicandmore.de/opeth-neues-album-pale-communion-ab-heute-erhaeltlich/ ( Memento from August 26, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ OPETH - to release 12th studio album »Sorceress« on September 30th! . July 18, 2016. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
- ^ Jon Kristiansen: Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries . Bazillion Points Books, Brooklyn, NY 2011, pp. 268f.
- ^ Robert Müller: Opeth . Orchid. In: Metal Hammer , No. 5, 1996, p. 65.
- ↑ pop-zeitschrift.de
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US SE