Epicity is not a word and yet Opeth, a Swedish progressive death metal band, has it in spades. Epicity: the quality of being epic; many bands like Dragonforce and Dream Theatre strive for it and yet fall amazingly short due to their shameless, over-the-top musical antics and two-dimensional lyrics.
In their debut album released in 1992, Orchid, Opeth transported listeners to the "Forests of October" in the twilight hour to witness one of the most cinematic deaths ever captured in music. The album challeged listeners to break away from the 3-minute hook-bridge-hook-bridge-solo-hook music cycle to not just listen to music, but to appreciate moments in music and to experience them the way you would a play or a movie scene.
The album begins with the line "Seven milestones under a watching Autumn eye" and that is exactly what they are. It consists of six songs averaging about ten minutes with an interlude piano track (Yes, a piano track, on a metal album) each of which paints a thematic yet unmistakeably distinct portrait of the pain and spiritual awakening of death. The true value of Opeth however is not in the lyrics or the stories they tell. It lies securely in their composition value and unwavering balance of genres. Envision the story of an epic hero composed by Mozart with a power guitar and replace the choir of heavenly voices with a half blues/half metal vocalist, then throw in a couple of acoustic guitars. If that sounds nearly impossible to pull off, it's because it is, but Opeth did it.
Epicity is not for everyone, but if you're the type of person who seeks liquid intensity in the form of music then Opeth's Orchid is one of the greatest albums you've probably never heard of.
In their debut album released in 1992, Orchid, Opeth transported listeners to the "Forests of October" in the twilight hour to witness one of the most cinematic deaths ever captured in music. The album challeged listeners to break away from the 3-minute hook-bridge-hook-bridge-solo-hook music cycle to not just listen to music, but to appreciate moments in music and to experience them the way you would a play or a movie scene.
The album begins with the line "Seven milestones under a watching Autumn eye" and that is exactly what they are. It consists of six songs averaging about ten minutes with an interlude piano track (Yes, a piano track, on a metal album) each of which paints a thematic yet unmistakeably distinct portrait of the pain and spiritual awakening of death. The true value of Opeth however is not in the lyrics or the stories they tell. It lies securely in their composition value and unwavering balance of genres. Envision the story of an epic hero composed by Mozart with a power guitar and replace the choir of heavenly voices with a half blues/half metal vocalist, then throw in a couple of acoustic guitars. If that sounds nearly impossible to pull off, it's because it is, but Opeth did it.
Epicity is not for everyone, but if you're the type of person who seeks liquid intensity in the form of music then Opeth's Orchid is one of the greatest albums you've probably never heard of.
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