Opeth: Hidden Treasures

I know that some of you will automatically tune-out the second you read the words: Death Metal... DON'T. If you are at all familiar with heavy/death/dark/progressive metal, you know who Opeth is. If have never heard them, you have probably heard of them. If you have never heard of them, it's probably because you tend to steer clear of anything and everything that may possibly fall into the category of metal death, progressive or otherwise. I don't blame you! I myself do NOT tend to gravitate to the genre either. This post is for YOU. Please, for your own benefit, read on.

First and foremost, let me say: Opeth is metal. That is what they are and so it is not my intention to pretend otherwise. But, for the benefit of those whose ears don't favor the blast beats, raging guitars and throaty death vocals commonly associated with this type of music, Opeth offers an EXTENSIVE collection of tracks that are not only thoughtful, beautiful and haunting, but are also extremely user-friendly.

This post serves as a road map through the complex network of albums and tracks that makes Opeth one the the most respected and innovative Modern Metal projects around, and leads you straight to some of the most mellow, smooth, dark and melodic music available. Hopefully this will help you skip some of the time and money involved with trying to search them out yourself. Here, you will find: intellectual instrumentals, cool and smooth vocals, acoustic guitars, piano, fluid bass lines and distinct jazz, blues and even latin influences. They are as follows:

1. Den Standiga Resan-Watershed

2. Bridge of Sighs-Watershed

3. Burden-Watershed

4. Coil-Watershed (favorite)

5. Benighted-Still Life

6. Hours of Wealth-Ghost Reveries

7. Atonement-Ghost Reveries (#1 favorite)

8. Patterns in the Ivy-Blackwater Park

9. Harvest-Blackwater Park (#2 favorite)

***Basically the entire Damnation album***

10. Closure-Damnation (favorite)

11. Windowpane-Damnation

12. Ending Credits-Damnation

13. Hope Leaves-Damnation

14. To Rid the Disease-Damnation

15. Hex Omega-Watershed (heavy w/ smooth vocals)

16. Porcelain Heart-Watershed (heavy w/ smooth vocals-favorite)

Opeth was formed in Stockholm, Sweden in 1990. They have undergone numerous personnel changes, but singer/songwriter/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt is considered the group's primary driving force. - Dave Boyd