Celebration: Opeth's 20th Anniversary

This year is an important year for metal. Several bands are celebrating the years they've been around, releasing albums, delivering great sonic experiences, breaking through the norm, going against the grain, being original and idiosyncratic. One of these bands is Opeth. Outside of metal, chances are you never heard of them. The truth is they've become a household name in the metal world, quite deservedly so, and sometimes not for the purest of reasons. It's been 20 years now, 20 years, longevity is only a milestone if you manage to keep being relevant, and Opeth certainly are revelant, and are still growing stronger. The band was formed in 1990, hence the 20 years, and their first album was released in 1995, "Orchid" is the title of that album. Till this day, it still remains of one my favourite Opeth albums, 8 albums later. But actually my favourite Opeth albums are, a threesome, "My Arms, Your Hearse", "Blackwater Park" and "Still Life", in that order. All Opeth albums are good, but these 4 are flawless and influenced a whole new generation of bands. And now, 20 years later, we are beginning to see the signs of Opeth's influence in the new bands that are coming out, not afraid of being adventurous with their music, experimental, unconventional. Arguably, "Blackwater Park" revolucionized the way extreme metal music was being recorded, mixed, produced. It was sonic, sound, perfection like never seen before in such a brutal record. And it opened so many doors. Opeth have Steven Wilson to thank for that and also themselves for taking that chance. The thing Opeth are known for is their perfect blend of death metal and progressive music, adding a lot of other elements to their sound as well, including rock, black metal, and jazz. I love this band in a way I will never manage to explain, and I'm so glad I decided to rip "Orchid" that day, some years ago, and just fall into it. Needless to say, I ended up buying all Opeth original albums and cherish them dearly in my collection. And between me and you, Opeth and I, it is love, I tell you, I'm pretty sure. And who can say they've made it through 20 years of virtually no publicity, having to do it all by themselves, release 9 albums and finally achieving a peak, now being in total control of their careers, selling albums, doing DVDs, playing live to the world? And Opeth are successful, and really with metal bands, you can't measure success in terms of money like you do with pop or other types of music, it's about the music, the live experience, the feeling, the expression of one's self. Long Live Opeth. I love you. And this is my meek homage to you. Hope I get the chance to see you live again.