Opeth @ The Enmore Theatre,Sydney (23/11/09)

Mon 30th Nov, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Over the last twenty years, Opeth have been at the forefront of the progressive metal scene. Their adventurous and unique sound which has shaped and influenced their genre, making them one of the most revered and respected metal bands today.

Out of all the concerts I have been too, I have never witnessed fans as devoted as Opeth’s. I arrived two hours before the doors were due to open, and the line had already reached around the corner, with almost eighty-percent of the punters in the line wearing Opeth shirts.

Melbourne-based support act Contrive had a strong start, managing to harness the crowd’s enthusiasm. However, after the band’s second song, the crowd’s support gradually declined. The band’s set continued arguably longer than it should have.

Opeth took the stage and after the applause towards their entry died down, the opening notes of Windowpane saw the evidently surprised audience cheer as loud as humanly possible. After the extended version of the song finished, the audience was enthralled and after only one song, captured in the live landscape which Opeth had already so perfectly crafted.

Ghost of Perdition demonstrated Mikael Ã…kerfeldt’s vocal versatility, seamlessly changing from the alluring melodic vocals displayed previously in Windowpane to powerful death growls. The band’s twenty-year back catalogue was displayed throughout their set, with Still Life, Blackwater Park, My Arms, Your Hearse, Damnation, Ghost Reveries and their latest effort, Watershed. Victim of Changes, a Judas Priest cover was also played; the band being a personal favourite of Ã…kerfeldt’s.

Opeth’s set continued past the two-hour mark and after stating, “We have reached the end”, the band erupted into the epic Hex Omega. After they exited the stage, the words “Opeth, Opeth, Opeth” were chanted throughout the venue, demanding (and assuring) an encore.

The band returned to the stage and Ã…kerfeldt proceeded to re-introduce the band, allowing them to demonstrate their instrumental capability with guitar, drum and bass solos, all of which were met with awe-inspired cheers from the audience.

After expressing his gratitude and appreciation for the audience – “I love you all so much, I am going to back to my hotel and masturbate” – Ã…kerfeldt led his band into the title track off the band’s 2002 album, Deliverance.

Fifteen minutes later, the audience was left amazed, inspired and satisfied. This show demonstrated why Opeth are so strongly respected and admired, and why they continue to define metal to this day.