Opeth

Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has been the group's sole constant member and primary creative force throughout numerous lineup changes. The band debuted with the album Orchid in 1995 and built a reputation for lengthy, structurally ambitious compositions that fuse death metal aggression with progressive rock, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences.

Opeth's signature sound combines harsh death growls with clean, melodic vocals, acoustic guitar interludes, and dramatic dynamic shifts within extended song forms, on albums such as Blackwater Park, which marked a turning point in the band's popularity and songwriting maturity following collaboration with producer Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. Songs like «Ghost of Perdition», «Harvest», and «The Drapery Falls» from that era remain touchstones of the progressive metal genre.

While the band rarely toured behind its earliest records, it became a major live act following Blackwater Park's release, and later albums such as Ghost Reveries and Watershed pushed further into progressive territory, with Watershed marking a notable commercial breakthrough in the United States. In more recent years Opeth has moved even further from its death-metal roots toward a retro progressive rock sound, reflecting Åkerfeldt's evolving songwriting across the band's extensive catalogue of studio albums and live releases.