Opeth

Live at Ozzfest

San Bernardino, CA

September 24th, 2016

Review and photos by Travis Baumann

Opeth are a Swedish Metal band from Stockholm who defy being easily classified as they incorporate elements of Progressive, Folk, Blues, Jazz, and Death Metal with some major Stoner-Doom vibes going on as well.

They were one of the bands selected to play the main "Lemmy" stage at this year's Ozzfest out in the heat of San Bernardino's mountainous region. The Ozzfest announcer said that they have made some of the most perfect songs out there and he was very excited to be able to introduce them to the eager audience.

The band centers around vocalist, guitarist and overall master mind, Mikael Åkerfeldt. Joining him on stage were Martín Méndez on bass guitar, Martin "Axe" Axenrot on drums, Fredrik Åkesson on guitar and backing vocals, and Joakim Svalberg on keyboards and backing vocals.

Mikael introduced themselves saying they had just flown in from Stockholm the day before, "We are very tired, drunk.... and stoned". With that they broke into their first song, "Cusp of Eternity" which is a winding, intricate weave of styles and structure.

I was really impressed with how good it sounded live. They definitely have a more progressive, trippy style that is very different than any of the other bands playing the festival either day.

Mikael's vocal style fluctuates as much as the overall song structures do, ranging from pleasantly melodic yet melancholy to deep, sinister growls. The band is considerably stoic on stage, they pretty much stay in one spot while playing and singing.

They played "Heir Apparent", "The Devil's Orchard" and "The Grand Conjuration" before finishing up the set with the fan favorite usually saved for encores, "Deliverance". Each song is quite lengthy and feels like two or more songs generally, due to the complex shifting musical stories.

At one point Mikael said that they had played with Black Sabbath once in Finland and that it was a great experience. He said that they planned to come out and watch the headliners later that evening with everyone out in the crowd.

Opeth have a new album that was about to be released days after this performance called "Sorceress", so I was expecting at least one song off of the new release but they were apparently saving that for their headlining tour which is kicking off right after this festival appearance.

They put on a good musical performance so I will definitely have to go see them when they hit Los Angeles and check out the new material live.

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