British progressive metal multi-instrumentalist Grace Hayhurst has recently released her The World Is Dying album. “I truly do believe that the world is dying, and that there isn’t much we can do about it ” she says. “Humanity is doomed one way or another.” A sobering thought and one that plays out on an album for fans who love riffs, synths, slap bass, string quintets, French Horn duets, or drum solos that feel just very slightly too long. 

When she describes her latest work as an ambitious one with lots of ‘why not?’ moments, perhaps it’s no surprise that she takes us into her mindset with a Why I Love on a band that we love too at ATB HQ, the magnificent Opeth.

Thanks Mikael

In my formative years, Opeth was my gateway drug into the world of harsh vocals, and that in turn led me down a path of far more evil and sinister sounding music as those screams echoed throughout my skull. And I really have Mikael Akerfeldt to thank for that.

A long while back, I used to get a lot of music recommendations out of Reddit, and one of the top ‘progressive metal’ artists of all time that kept being recommended in those threads was Opeth – so I went out to HMV to pick up a copy of Blackwater Park on CD and give it a go. At the time, I was into a small selection of metal artists like Metallica, Rammstein, Black Sabbath, Sabaton, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, but I knew I had more to sink my teeth into when it came to music discovery, and Opeth seemed like the perfect thing to try out.

one of the most perfect records

I don’t think I was quite ready for what I found, as Blackwater Park remains in my opinion one of the most perfect records ever created – particularly so in the metal genre. That record is an absolute journey, and what did it for me was the expert use of contrast. All throughout the record, Mikael swings between harsh vocals backed by dissonant riffs, to his clean voice accompanied by acoustic guitar allowing space for everything to breathe.

The horrendously dissonant chord on the first track The Leper Affinity that gradually fades in before that iconic tritone riff drops is haunting. A pure assault on the ears full of guitar riffs that flow perfectly into each other creating memorable sections through separation, including an eerie guitar solo. Then suddenly, a gradual pull down brings us to those clean vocals backed by acoustic guitar arpeggios.

I think it was at the moment in the song my mind was utterly blown, as this was a vocalist that could do both clean and harshes perfectly – accompanied by an outstanding set of musicians too of course. The slow acoustic piano at the end of the track is utterly dreamy, and gives space for the listener to comprehend what’s just happened. A rest for the ears which is so important that I feel a lot of high energy aggressive bands always forget to place in their album!

Opeth do a great job of this on other records too, naturally. Watershed. Deliverance, and Still Life are all essential listening from this era, even if Deliverance gets a bit repetitive toward the end… There’s something to be said about how a strong song structure, and use of dramatic contrast, generates an emotive record.

the ‘prog’ opeth

Spending a lot of time falling in love with these earlier records over the years has also given me great appreciation for the more modern era of Opeth too when Mikael decided to drop harsh vocals from his compositions and follow a more jazz orientated genre style, heavily influenced by his love of 70s progressive rock – particularly artists from the Canterbury scene. Pale Communion is a fantastic record, and remains one of my personal favourites from the band. It’s almost like a different artist entirely, but still feels familiar within the context of harmonic explorations, and Mikael’s clean vocals. Plus, when I came across Opeth I was already a huge progressive rock fan spending extensive hours listening to Yes, Rush, Genesis, and more so these records had much of a sense of familiarity.

the sorceress tour

The couple of times I saw Opeth live on the Sorceress tour was an utter treat, with the band choosing to focus on songs from Deliverance and Damnation. By the Pain I See in Others was a particular treat to enjoy! The dirty B3 organ sounded fantastic in the flesh, bellowing around Wembley Arena as I got deeply entrenched in the mosh pits- sweating through the deep winter night.

Sadly schedules have meant I’ve not seen them perform live since which is a shame as I’ve been loving their studio output in recent years. But I’m sure next time they swing around, I’ll be going out of my way to see them once again – even if that means pulling a sickie! They just aren’t one to be missed.

the wonders of opeth

I’ve spent many hours trying to learn riffs and sections from Opeth songs on guitar, so I’m sure that their playing style and small inflections have subconsciously embedded themselves into my fingers as I came to write my own music in recent years. The tritones, the dissonance, the excessive use of contrast, the attempt to blend highly melodic lines above complex instrumentals, I can feel it all in my own output and know that a lot of that is down to Opeth.

I’m aware that Opeth could be seen as a fairly generic pick for an article like this as I’m not highlighting anyone particularly niche – but please if you are still sleeping on this progressive metal titans, you need to engage with the wonders of this band because they are truly fantastic. If you only know a couple of albums or songs, there is so much more to explore in their discography. And listening through from start to finish of their developmental journey as musicians is quite simply staggeringly inspiring.

Our thanks to Grace for sharing her passion for Mikael and the boys.

Here’s Take Off, where you might recognise some of those ‘Opeth-esque’ dynamics:

Grace Hayhurst online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / X / Youtube

You can read more from our extensive archive of Why I Love pieces from a wide array of artists on an even wider array of subjects, here.

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