Jordan Blum | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

A 'cult' band with a mass following, the band's last five albums have made the top 30 in the UK. Still active, recording and touring. Completely unique - no other band mixes progressive rock, metal and jazz in the same way.

There has never been - and never will be - another band like Opeth. Formed in Stockholm, Sweden circa 1989, their roughly thirty-year career showcases a melding of diverse influences; a prevailing commitment to songwriting and instrumental excellence; and unwaveringly chameleonic vision - no matter the cost - that's unmatched by any of their stylistic peers. Be it their most unashamedly brutal early LPs, their multifaceted and near-faultless mid-period opuses, or their somewhat polarizing recent glimpses into macabre 1970s-esque prog/jazz rock eccentricity, mastermind Mikael Akerfeldt and company continuously create records that push themselves, their audience, and progressive music as a whole, forward. The result is easily among the most extraordinary, dependable, and laudable legacies in modern metal.

Using a meticulously crafted mixture of original analysis and behind-the-scenes research, this book digs into all facets of Opeth's output to discover how they innovated and evolved with practically every release. After all, each 'observation' - from their 1990s black metal classics (Morningrise and My Arms, Your Hearse) and 2000s progressive death metal masterpieces (Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries) to their stunning progressive rock/jazz fusion excursions of the 2010s (Pale Communion and In Cauda Venenum) - found Opeth ceaselessly harvesting a one-of-a-kind catalogue that's still remarkably influential and impressive