OPETH
Rock Stage
I love Opeth but I really shouldn’t. Why? Well, first of all I’m not a huge prog-metal fan. I dig some of it but most of it passes me by unnoticed. Secondly, Opeth comes from Death Metal and I can’t stand that. Plus, I usually can’t stand growl. But the first time I heard Opeth, I was floored. I have seen the band live numerous of times and I still enjoy the hell out it. Besides, singer/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt is a phenomenal entertainer. His stage-rap is so unpretentious and funny I could watch a whole gig of only that. Usually, bands with 12-minutes songs loses me on festivals – it’s not exactly party-music – but not Opeth. So expectations are high every time they take the stage.
Opeth are unpredictable which the opening of “Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör” and “Ghost Of Perdition” tells us. New and (somewhat) old. The return of “The Devil’s Orchard” made me happy, it’s one of my favorite Opeth songs and they follow it with the superb “The Drapery Falls”. What’s not love? Also, “Sorceress” sends a fine, chunky groove our way and the quite direct vocal-melodies makes the tune even catchy in all its progginess. Before they end with “Deliverance”, Åkerfeldt asks us if we want another song. We say yes. He responds. “Are you sure? It’s three weeks long”. Bulls-eye! It’s not the fastest song in the world but it works brilliantly as a closer.
Any downsides then? Well, yes, actually. No songs from Watershed were played. A bummer for me as I hold that album as Opeth’s finest give. Other than that, no. Opeth seduced me/us with magnificent songs, great showmanship and dazzling musicianship. We got eight songs this day. I could have stayed for eight more. And then an additional eight. I love this band and they were great this day. Too. They always are. Another big highlight at this year’s festival. Please play every year!
MERCYFUL FATE
Rock Stage
Here’s another band I had been dying to see live for ages. I have been a King Diamond fan since that day as teen in the 80’s when I picked up Don’t Break The Oath (1984) because I loved the art work and I loved the album instantly. I have seen King Diamond solo before but never Mercyful Fate and even though only King and guitarist Hank Shermann remains from the original band, this booking was a real treat for me.
The opening with “The Oath” is pretty much as strong as it gets, spellbinding and Diamond’s stage presence wearing a ominous devil-mask only took the experience to yet another level. And the band kept them coming – “A Corpse Without Soul”, “Black Funeral”, “A Dangerous Meeting”, “Melissa”. The ending with “Curse Of The Pharaohs”, “Evil” and the more classic than classic “Come To The Sabbath” was breathtaking. An encore in the shape of “Satan’s Fall” was the icing on an already overly tasty cake. I really can’t find anything to complain about here, except maybe that Shermann wore a reversed baseball-cap which looked… wrong when you think of how big the show was with all its evil surroundings. Musically, the band was awesome, Shermann and Mike Wead is great together, the sound was really good and all the classics were played. I want to see this again!
CD & Festival reviews 