Opeth have been to Australia numerous times but I never took the time to go see them live until now and
after my experience on Friday night I'm glad that I did. While the more progressive rock nature of their
recent material is something that has got me curious about the band, it was hearing the earlier stuff live
that also impressed me surprisingly given that I was never a huge fan of them before.
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Voyager kicked off the night with their more melodic brand of progressive metal and while they are a regular on the support slots for a lot of the bigger international acts, tonight seemed like a big deal for the band who were obviously big Opeth fans. Seeing Voyager in a bigger venue was different, the sound was bigger but it didn't have quite the same impact as the smaller clubs. Nonetheless the band sounded great and the crowd loved it, responding naturally in an appreciative way. "The Meaning Of I" was a great song to end the set as the band pulled away to make way for the main act for the night
Opeth came on slightly earlier than scheduled but there was certaintly no complaints about that. Opening with "Eternal Rains Will Come" which comes off their latest album "Pale Communion", it was a more mellower start but a nice way to ease into the show. From there it was a mix bag grabbing tracks from their well known albums like "Blackwater Park", "Still Life" and "Watershed". The band sounded crystal clear although Mikael Åkerfeldt's growly vocals seemed quite low in the mix but his melodic voice came through quite clear. Seeing them at the Astor was a bit strange but it felt right by the middle of the show as Opeth comes across as both a heavy band and a more intimate, moody kind of band. Not that sitting down felt needed but you could get away with it at an Opeth show as opposed to Slayer or Anthrax. The show itself was quite legnthy clocking in at over 2 hours but the nature of the band's songs dictated that, the progressive style stretching the limits of conventional song structures and blending them with a death metal vibe. The later stuff however which veers away from the more heavier stuff and less growly vocals didn't come across as well as the older material. It may have been due to the songs themselves and not the performance but I can see now why fans prefer the earlier works.
It's hard to believe they have been around for 25 years as Mikael pointed out during the show and the experience definitely shows as seen by their performance. With a new direction that the band have taken, it will be interesting to see what the next 25 years brings but for now, Opeth are a great live band.
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Review by Andrew "Schizodeluxe" Massie
