Mid week and it's time for some Progressive Death Metal to get you through the rest of the week. And what better way than to feature Opeth. Giants in the field of progressive death metal if you will, Opeth has been around since the mid 90's and has redefined the genre in a sense. The early albums are pretty much straight forward progressive death, save for maybe 'My Arms, Your Hearse' which according to frontman Mikael Akerfeldt, was their "black metal hippie" period. The band since there has released a steady stream of albums that vary from some of the best in the genre, see 'Blackwater Park', to more mellow albums like 'Deliverance' to their latest effort, a very prog heavy record in 'Heritage'. The consistent thing is usually a good mix of the death and mellow elements. And while the obvious choice is to feature the well received 'Blackwater Park' album, I've actually chosen the previous album in 'Still Life'. This album for me was an important record as it paved the way for the epic 'Blackwater Park' album. For those of new to Opeth, this is a good starting point, cause it was my introduction to the band. A great mix of heavy and mellow throughout the album. It's 7 tracks clock in at just over an hour. So if you're not a fan of the ten plus minute opus songs, maybe this isn't for you. This is an epic album to swallow, it's also a headphone album for me, so grab the bog ol headphones and crank this one.
'Still Life' was my introduction to Opeth and really into the death metal genre. More specifically it was the track 'Godhead's Lament' that introduced to me to the band. It's still my favorite Opeth track hands down. Great song, great breakdown in the middle, and a wonderful heavy finish. I saw Opeth some years back on their Chronology Tour. They played a song from every album they had released up to that point, which 'Ghost Reveries' had been out for a bit. I was sad I didn't get to hear my favorite track, but I will be damned if 'White Cluster' didn't kill live. Again there is a love/hate with this band with most folks. Mainly it's the live end of things with Mikael taking time between songs and telling amusing stories or jokes. Personally I think it's great and for my money he's one of the best frontman in Metal today. Gotta break up the set sometimes. The band has released solid album throughout their career and I for one have enjoyed each one of different levels. Great band with hopefully a few more albums left.
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