Opeth

Emerging from the brutally exuberant Stockholm death metal scene of the early 90s, Opeth stood apart from the start. While their peers were inspired by Morbid Angel and Death, singer/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt’s crew had clearly been listening to old prog records from the 70s. Their naïve but fervently exploratory debut album, Orchid, released in 1995, was a revelation for open-minded death metal fans, but even the band’s most devoted admirers won’t have anticipated the extraordinary musical journey that Opeth have taken over the past 25 years.

After a steady stream of critically acclaimed albums that thrilled the metal underground, Opeth’s first major breakthrough came with 2001’s : a majestic new blueprint for progressive metal, still emitting echoes of Opeth’s extreme metal hinterland but melodic to its expansive core. The band having rarely toured