Opeth

Opeth is a Death metal band from Sweden. Opeth adds some progressive elements to their music, with classical guitar and influences from jazz and acoustic music. Some people like to give them their own genre, Forest Metal. The name was taken from the book Sunbird (1972) by author Wilbur Smith[?], and was originally spelled Opet. In the book, Opet is the city of the moon.

Opeth was formed in Stockholm, 1990 by Mikael Åkerfeldt[?] on guitar and David Isberg on vocals. They where later joined by Anders Nordin on drums and Nick Döring on bass. A second guitarist was found in Anderas Dimeo. This linup lasted less then a year and they played only one gig.

Both Nick and Andreas quit the band and for the 2nd gig Kim Pettersson and Johan DeFarfalla joined the group. Kim stuck with the band for yet another gig before leaving in late 1991. For that gig they got Peter Lindgren to play the bass but he changed back to his original instrument, the guitar, when Kim left.

David left the band in early 1992 and since Mikael had been the vocalist in the group Eruption, he became the new vocalist. They rehearsed as a 3-piece for more than a year, but eventually they found a new bassplayer, Stefan Guteklint who played with them for about a year.

They gave him the boot after receiving a contract from Candlelight records. They recorded their first album, Orchid, in 1994 with Johan DeFarfalla as a session bassplayer. He eventually became a full-time member. Candlelight Records released their debut album in 1995. Opeth themselves handled the production and Dan Swanö[?] was the engineer.

Their second album, Morningrise, was recorded in March/April of 1996 and release later that year. Again Dan Swanö was the engineer and this time he also handled the production. The album contains just five songs, ranging in length from 10 to 20 minutes.

Cover of 'Still Life' (1999)

Cover of 'Deliverance' (2002)

Complete list of Opeth members, 1990-

Vocals

• Mikael Åkerfeldt[?] 1990-
• David Isberg 1990-1992

Guitars

• Mikael Åkerfeldt 1990-
• Peter Lindgren 1991-
• Kim Pettersson 1991

Bass

• Martin Mendez 1997
• Johan DeFarfalla 1991, 1994-1996
• Stefan Guteklint 1992-1993
• Nick Döring 1990-1991
• Mattias Ander 1992

Drums

• Martin Lopez 1997-
• Anders Nordin 1990-1997

Discography

• Orchid (1995)
• Morningrise (1996)
• My Arms Your Hearse (1998)
• Still Life (1999)
• Blackwater Park (2001)
• Deliverance (2002)
• Damnation (2003)

Official Homepage: http://www.opeth.com (http://www.opeth.com)