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Death-Metal band Opeth came to life in the late '80s, in Stockholm, SWEDEN.
Originally comprised of vocalist David Isberg, guitarists Mikael Åkerfeldt
and Andreas Dimeo, bassist Nick Döring and drummer Anders Nordin,
the band began writing, rehearsing and recording new material, but didn't
manage to release any full-length album until 1995.
That year, after the band signed with the British label Candlelight Records,
Åkerfeldt took the lead vocal role and enlisted his longtime friend
Peter Lindgren to play guitar, bassist Johan De Farfalla stepped in replacing
Döring and with Nordin on drums the quartet recorded Opeth's debut
album, "Orchid".
Autumn 1996 saw the group unleash a second LP titled "Morningrise",
it contained their longest songs, just five of them, ranging in length
from ten to twenty minutes. The tracks all take their time developing,
shifting back and forth from full-on Metal sections, marked by distorted
dual guitar riffs and growling vocals, to calm, jazz-influenced melodic
sound with acoustic guitar-based passages and more softly sung vocals.
Opeth toured in support of the album, including a stint with Cradle
Of Filth.
Shortly afterwards De Farfalla and Nordin parted ways with the group.
Åkerfeldt then revised the line-up of the band, adding a brand new
rhythm section of Uruguayans bassist Martin Méndez and drummer
Martin López. In spring 1998 Opeth put out its third album, "My
Arms, Your Hearse", which was also the last release for Candlelight.
Securing a new deal with the U.K. underground label Peaceville, the band's
next album, "Still Life", was released in October 1999. There
the band experimented with progressive-Rock enhanced with Black-Metal.
Following their first U.S. concert and a string of live dates around Europe,
the Stockholm metallers headed back in the studio to record the highly
praised "Blackwater Park", with at the helm Porcupine
Tree frontman Steve Wilson, whose contributions as producer lend an
unprecedented fluidity to Opeth's restlessly inventive arrangements. The
disc was finally released in March 2001 through Music For Nations.
Roughly a year later, the band began recording not one but two new studio
albums; the original concept was to unveil both works simultaneously but
label pressure would result in "Deliverance" arriving in November
2002 and "Damnation" the following April. "Deliverance"
became the Opeth's first LP to chart in U.S. peaking at #19 on the Billboard's
Top Independent list and "Damnation" had nudged higher to #14.
Around this time the band got to perform on the same stage with Lacuna
Coil all over Europe and with Porcupine
Tree in North America.
Announcing in April of 2005 that touring keyboard player Per Wiberg had
been enrolled as a permanent member of the band, Opeth entered the studio
during May to craft a new album, "Ghost Reveries", which was
issued in August 2005 on Roadrunner Records. In the U.S. the disc sold
15,000 copies in its first week of sale to debut impressively at #64 on
The Billboard Top 200 chart; elsewhere, "Ghost Reveries" made
its presence felt in the national sales rankings across Canada, Finland,
Denmark, France, Norway, Holland, Italy and Germany. Most impressive of
all was a #9 score in Sweden.
Two years López quit due to the panic attacks his medical condition
brought on. Then, Peter Lindgren left, after 16 years, due to his apprehension
at Opeth's mounting fame.
To fill the vacant seats, Åkerfeldt pulled in drummer Martin Axenrot
and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson. Thus reconfigured Opeth continue
the time-honored band tradition on "Watershed", their second
album for Roadrunner. With this, their ninth effort, the Swedish titans
continue to shake things up, turn the corner and push the limits of their
sound. Opeth have set June 3 as the release date for their new record.
Opeth biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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