Xatal

Last night I traveled up to San Francisco to see my favorite band, Opeth. The last time I saw them, I was a sophomore in high school and barely knew there music.

I was once again blown away.

Opeth isn’t the type of metal band that has lots of stage shenanigans. I’ve seen DragonForce and other similar metal bands play, and many of these bands have lots of fun antics on stage, like running around, remixing songs, solo sessions, and so forth. Opeth isn’t really like that — they just play their songs the best they can. And it’s perfectly fine.

Mike Akerfeldt, the singer and guitar player, has an amazing voice that’s just as good live as it is on the album. He’s also rather entertaining, opening up by saying, “We’re gonna start with three cliches: One, we are Opeth. Two, you guys rock. Three, we love San Francisco”, and making numerous other jokes through the night.

Here’s a quick video I recorded of The Lotus Eater:

Setlist:

1. Heir Apparent
2. Ghost of Perdition
3. Godhead’s Lament
4. Wreath
5. Credence
6. Hessian Peel
7. Closure
8. The Night and the Silent Water
9. The Lotus Eater
10. Demon of the Fall (encore)

If you’ve never listened to Opeth, I definitely recommend giving them a try. They are a metal band, and they do use death metal growls, but they’re actually well-done, not the typical screamo squeel. In My Time of Need is a mellow song, and Bleak is a more typical song from them.