May 15, 1995 - Opeth and Orchid

Three days after my last release a new band joins my library when Opeth released their debut album "Orchid" on May 15, 1995. But who are Opeth? They are a four-piece progressive death metal band from Stockholm, Sweden and amazingly all of the original members are no longer with the band! The longest-serving member is frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt (lead vocals, guitar) but even he wasn't an original member! That's a lot of turnover before your first album is even out, but Mikael is joined on this album by Peter Lindgren (guitar), Anders Nordin (drums, percussion) and Johan de Farfalla (bass, backing vocals). Opeth have elements from several different genres. They are very progressive, with 5 of 7 songs about 10 minutes or longer. They are also pretty heavy with Åkerfeldt screaming in a low death metal growl, but also at times very light and melodic, with lots of harmonized guitar riffs and Åkerfeldt also being a pretty good singer. That sounds like an interesting combination, let's see what Opeth is all about!

Their album begins with it's longest song, the fourteen minute track "In Mist She Was Standing". Åkerfeldt and Lindgren play different guitar riffs that go together nicely in a long instrumental opening. After over two minutes we hear Mikael for the first time and he has a pretty sweet growl that he can hold for a pretty long time. He can growl low and high and he sounds awesome doing both in what are easily some of the heaviest vocals I've encountered so far. The mood slows briefly and the riff changes before the pace picks up again and they take off in a new direction. One of the guitarists plays a short but pretty cool guitar solo and then things quiet down to just one guitar riff for a bit. After this quiet part the band returns for another very prog-y riff with some harmonized guitars and Akerfeldt doing some great long growls overtop. The guitars split and both Lindgren and Akerfeldt play some great guitar as they carry things along. The bass and drums fall away again and the two guitarists sync up for a quiet but epic riff that perfectly leads into another heavy and prog-y riff that they nicely jam out for several minutes right until the end. A pretty sweet introduction to Opeth! Up next is another long one at just under ten minutes and it's called "Under The Weeping Moon". The quiet intro morphs nicely into a cool metal riff and then they shift very nicely into the first verse with a catchy guitar riff and some great growls by Akerfeldt. The heavy riff collapses nicely into nothing and a new guitar riff emerges to keep the pace through a long and psychedelic next section that lasts several minutes. Out of this spaciness emerges a new guitar riff and Akerfeldt growls nicely overtop until things shift yet again to an unorthodox new riff with some cool bass and guitars. This shifts yet again to an epic new riff and we hear Mikael sing for the first time here and although it's a short verse he sings pretty high and sounds pretty good. They then close out the song with a light final jam and this ten minute song had a ton of different parts, but all the segues were well done and Opeth seem like a solid prog band already. Track 3 is an instrumental, much shorter song called "Silhouette" with the piano being played by drummer Anders Nordin being the only instrument you'll hear the whole three-plus minutes. It's a truly amazing song that makes me question whether Nordin is playing the right instrument full-time! His piano on this song is pretty awesome and this is a great little break between the prog epics. Speaking of which, the next song is the thirteen minute "Forest Of October" which starts with a slow, prog-y riff with a cool rhythm guitar riff keeping the pace and some epic lead guitar overtop. Akerfeldt sounds great once again with some nice long growls and just like the first two longer songs there are several different parts, some heavy, some soft, but all of which are pretty cool. There's a short but pretty solid guitar solo about halfway through, then all but one guitar fades away and that guitar plays an epic electric riff before the other guitar plays an acoustic riff and they mix together pretty well. They jam out another long, prog-y riff that includes another guitar solo and it's all pretty sweet. They close out the final minute with a quiet but epic guitar part. Track 5 is another long one called "The Twilight Is My Robe" and it sounds very Opeth right from the get-go with two different guitar riffs that go together really well to lead a fast and solid riff. Things slow down briefly and Mikael sings a couple lines, then it's right back to the good heavy stuff and some sweet growls. Things quiet down for a lengthy riff this time with one guitarist playing some cool lighter stuff and Akerfeldt sings a few verses overtop and he sounds pretty good! It's pretty amazing that he's so good at both screaming and singing and that they're so different! Johan emerges from the quiet with some nice bass and he continues to play some great stuff to back a new heavy riff. The progressiveness continues with another quiet section and from there they shift really nicely into dueling guitar solos! They're both short but each guitarist shows off a bit and then we heave a new fast-paced riff that is also pretty cool. They continue to alternate as we hear another slow and quiet riff followed by a longer guitar solo that is pretty sweet to end the song. There were a lot of different parts to this song, but they made everything flow nicely and it was another long, epic song. The next song is easily the shortest at just over a minute long and is called "Requiem". It's a slow instrumental song but it has the two guitarists and the bass working together nicely for a solid little interlude. The final song on the album is another double digit prog epic as they end things with "The Apostle In Triumph". There's a fast-paced acoustic opening and some congas by Nordin that give things a much different feel than anything else on the album. It's still pretty cool though, although the part ends and there's just silence before the next part starts in a rare poor segue by these prog metalheads. The new riff is a more typical Opeth riff with two cool guitar riffs and a nice heavy feel. Nearly four minutes into the song we finally hear Akerfeldt on vocals and he growls a pretty sweet verse overtop some typically cool guitars. They shift into another heavy riff that sounds pretty cool and then everything stops and a new guitar riff starts that has an effect that almost makes it sound like keyboards. This new riff sounds interesting and after a bit of it they shift back to a new, more typical riff that sets the stage for solo time. It's a pretty epic guitar solo and it moves nicely into a slow headbanger of a new verse with more nice growls by Akerfeldt followed by another pretty epic and long guitar solo. This takes us to the final minute of the 13 minute song and they lightly finish off the song and the album.

That is the end of "Orchid" and I thought it was a pretty damn good album, especially for a debut! Johan de Farfalla and Anders Nordin provide a more than adequate rhythm section (not to mention some great piano by the latter) and Peter Lindgren and Mikael Akerfeldt play off each other really nicely for lots of epic guitars. Most of all I loved Akerfeldt's growling vocals as he can seemingly hold long growls and screams for as long as he wants and it sounds pretty awesome! Not to mention he's a fine singer as well, but those parts are still minimal, which is a great balance in my opinion. I can't wait to see where Opeth go from here!