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Opeth

Sweden · formed 1990 · last active 2024

Opeth are a Stockholm band formed in 1990 who spent three decades welding death metal to 1970s progressive rock — Mikael Åkerfeldt growling over one riff and crooning over the next, with acoustic guitar, mellotron and knotty jazz-leaning chord changes given as much room as the heaviness. Steven Wilson's production on Blackwater Park (2001) and the entirely clean, mellotron-soaked Damnation (2003) pushed the prog half to the front, and by Heritage (2011) the growls were gone altogether in favour of jazz rock, Camel and Swedish folk. The Last Will and Testament (2024) brought the death vocals back after sixteen years inside a narrated 1920s will-reading concept record, with Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson on flute and narration. Theirs is the rare case where the experiment became the mainstream success, and the audience followed them into the strange parts anyway.

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SCORE PROFILE

JazzyBalkanHardcoreSurfBarbershopDeathBlackTechnicalGlitchTheatricalFolkDoomDroneShoegazeAmbient8-bit
Jazzy4
Balkan0
Hardcore0
Surf0
Barbershop0
Death7
Black2
Technical7
Glitch0
Theatrical2
Folk4
Doom4
Drone0
Shoegaze0
Ambient2
8-bit0

Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.

WHY THOSE SCORES

  • Jazzy 4 — Jazz fusion is a stated core influence (Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Alphonse Mouzon, Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters); Heritage (2011) is classified as jazz rock, its title track drawn from Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson, and the Rhodes-and-Hammond records that followed keep the loose, jazz-leaning chord movement.
  • Death 7 — Growled, palm-muted death metal is the band's foundation from Orchid (1995) through Watershed (2008), set aside after Heritage and deliberately brought back on The Last Will and Testament (2024).
  • Black 2 — Tremolo-picked, blackened passages surface on the early records.
  • Technical 7 — Lengthy compositions built from knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures and instrumental interludes - AllMusic's 'epic, progressive death metal'.
  • Theatrical 2 — Concept records rather than staging: The Last Will and Testament (2024) narrates a 1920s will-reading across its tracks with Ian Anderson speaking the interludes. No stage show or costumes.
  • Folk 4 — Folk sits among the ingredients the band is described as folding into its long compositions; acoustic guitar runs through the whole catalogue, Damnation (2003) is entirely clean and acoustic, Heritage's title track leans on Swedish folk, and Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson plays flute across The Last Will and Testament (2024).
  • Doom 4 — Slow, heavy riffing anchors the long-form songs, most plainly on My Arms, Your Hearse and Deliverance.
  • Ambient 2 — Mellotron-and-Rhodes atmospheric interludes bridge the heavy sections, though the mellow passages stay song-form prog rather than texture.

MEMBERS

CONNECTIONS

member · 11
  • Daemonsatellitepath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Daemon, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Dark Angelsatellitepath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Dark Angel, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Deathpath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Death, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Dethklokpath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Dethklok, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Fear Factorypath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Fear Factory, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Old Man's Childpath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — session drums (Ill-Natured Spiritual Invasion, 1998) in Old Man's Child, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Pitch Black Forecastsatellitepath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Pitch Black Forecast, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Strapping Young Ladpath →

    Gene Hoglan (Strapping Young Lad drummer) stood in for Martin Lopez behind the Opeth kit - one date on the 2004 Lamentations tour and the majority of the 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour, playing a set with Strapping Young Lad and then Opeth the same evening, and appearing in the video for 'The Grand Conjuration'. A touring stand-in, never a member. source ↗

  • Tenetsatellitepath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Tenet, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Testamentpath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Testament, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

  • Zimmer's Holepath →

    Gene Hoglan in both — drums in Zimmer's Hole, touring stand-in drums (2004 Lamentations tour, 2005 Sounds of the Underground tour) - not a member in Opeth. source ↗

tour · 6
  • Baronesspath →

    Opeth headlined a North American tour, September-October 2008, "backed by High on Fire, Baroness, and Nachtmystium" (High on Fire and Nachtmystium are not atlas nodes) — direct-support tour tie, corroborated independently on Opeth's own page. source ↗

  • Gojirapath →

    Gojira and Opeth ran a short US co-headlining tour in 2017. source ↗

  • Mastodonpath →

    Mastodon and Opeth co-headlined the "Heritage Hunter Tour", announced January 2012, with support from Ghost. source ↗

  • The Oceanpath →

    The Ocean's own Wikipedia page: "In April 2008, The Ocean embarked on a year-long tour through Europe and North America with bands like Intronaut, Opeth, and At the Gates" (Intronaut and At the Gates are not atlas nodes). Tour tie per ruling 8 (2026-08-07). source ↗

  • Unexpectpath →

    Opeth and Unexpect both co-supported Dream Theater on the Progressive Nation 2009 European tour, alongside Bigelf. source ↗

  • Zeal & Ardorpath →

    Zeal & Ardor opened for a co-headline Opeth and Mastodon tour beginning in 2021. source ↗

artwork · 10
  • Age of Silencepath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and "Design [Graphics Design], Artwork [Artwork Photography], Layout" credit on Age of Silence's Acceleration (2004), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Between the Buried and Mepath →

    Both bands' cover art is by Travis Smith (Discogs artist id 1829438, Seempieces): Between the Buried and Me's "Immersed" (2005, Artwork) and Opeth's own Travis Smith-credited release. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Part of Smith's existing 9-band client cluster, now 10 with this addition. source ↗

  • Casualties of Coolpath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and "Artwork" credit on Casualties of Cool's Casualties of Cool (2014), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Deathpath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Death's The Sound of Perseverance (1998) and "Artwork" credit on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Devin Townsend (maximalist era)path →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and "Artwork" credit on Devin Townsend's Ziltoid the Omniscient (2007), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Kayo Dotpath →

    Both credited to freelance artist Andy Low (Discogs artist id 2266877): Kayo Dot's Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue (2006, CD layout) and Opeth's Still Day Beneath The Sun / Patterns In The Ivy II (2003, artwork / vinyl artwork arrangement). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Low is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. source ↗

  • Soulflysatellitepath →

    Freelance illustrator Travis Smith is credited "Artwork" on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and "Layout" on Soulfly's Omen (2010) and Rise of the Fallen (2010), all confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per PROTOCOL rule 7 — Smith is not an atlas band member. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Strapping Young Ladpath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and "Artwork [Visuals]" credit on Strapping Young Lad's SYL (2003), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Testamentpath →

    Freelance illustrator Travis Smith is credited "Artwork" on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and on Testament's First Strike Still Deadly (2008), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per PROTOCOL rule 7 — Smith is not an atlas band member. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Windspath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance illustrator Travis Smith: "Artwork" credit on Opeth's Blackwater Park (2001) and "Design, Layout" credit on Winds' Reflections of the I (2002), both confirmed via Discogs extraartists. Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Smith is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. Companion credit logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

label · 15

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