Top 10 Songs By Opeth

The Beatles. Pink Floyd. Aerosmith. Black Sabbath. Metallica.

What do these bands have in common? Whether you love them or hate them, no one plays their specific brand of music quite as well as they. The instant they come on, you know exactly who it is. These are groups that changed the face of the music scene forever, and will be loved by fans for generations to come. While they remain largely underground, I firmly believe that Opeth will stand proudly among its prestigious music colleagues. With its brilliant compositional style and unusual ability to surprise the listener with a new direction on almost every album, it stands head and shoulders above the legions of imitators in the underground metal genres.

10) Hours of Wealth – Ghost Reveries (2005)

Starting at the back end of the list, this song is special in it’s ability to sound so radically different from the usual Opeth sound. It forsakes the usual lush rhythms and intricately woven harmonies for a surprisingly minimalist approach. Hours of Wealth gradually builds towards a sharp cutback to vocals and keyboards alone, and doesn’t leave you wondering where the climax was. The song wraps up with an almost bluesy solo on top of synth flutes, and makes for a perfect lead in to “The Grand Conjuration.

9) The Baying of the Hounds – Ghost Reveries (2005)

This track opens up with a surprising combination of driving metal power chords and a hammond organ sound, lacing seemingly incongruous styles of music for a uniquely catchy opening. It gets heavier, and then lets up on the heavy rhythm to accentuate a more complex lead line with rich backing keys. This is followed by what I have come to refer to as an “Opeth moment”, where the song builds in dissonance to the point of chaos and then cuts back to a simple, melodic, clean strumming pattern. It breaks from this moment of pause into another heavy section before moving you brusquely through a simple chug and an absolutely gorgeous solo. There is more to tell here, but the point isn’t to map all the twists and turns for an unsuspecting listener. This song gets the number nine spot for kicking off a significant change in musical direction which is carried through the entire album, but represented best in this track.

8) Windowpane – Damnation (2003)

Damnation was not an album you would expect from a metal band, period. There is no crunch here, no moments to headbang or mosh, but most Opeth fans weren’t all that suprised by it’s coming. Akerfeldt (vocals, lead) and Lindgren (Rhythm) were no strangers to softer compositions at any point in their career, but Opeth has always been considered a metal band because the majority of their content falls into that category. This was not a metal album. If anything, it almost falls into the category of light jazz. And the song that best showcases this is the opening track, Windowpane. I mentioned previously that Ghost Reveries was the second album to incorporate keyboards, Damnation was the first. From it’s delightfully haunting bridge to it’s memorable vocals, the only question left to sak is why didn’t they try this sooner?

7) Closure – Damnation (2003)

Acoustic guitars have never sounded so spooky. With the barest use of distorted accents and haunting keyboards, Closure is a song that gets under your skin. Most of the song is just a gradual buildup… several repetitions with only minor variations, but this is exactly where it shines. In addition, the song has a decidedly eastern feel to it. You can almost hear sitars in the background. This is definitely a landmark moment in their career. If you listen closely, you can hear ideas that became fully realized in Ghost Reveries, but started right here.

6) Bleak – Blackwater Park (2001)

If there was ever a metal song that made me wish I could growl along, this is the one. From the opening chord to the absolutely gorgeous chorus and unexpected clean sections, this is a song that grabs you by the throat and leaves you wanting more. Melodies brilliantly interwoven with harmonies until you’re not sure which voice is carrying the lead, and chord structures so beautiful and generally unused in this genre it’s all you can do not to listen again, and again, and again.

5) Blackwater Park – Blackwater Park (2001)

This song is a doozy. Everyone on this planet has experienced loss. Everyone has lost a dream, or a relative, or failed to reach an important goal. That resounding sense of emptiness that follows… is terrible. And this song takes that feeling and translates it into sound. This is not a song that will get your fists pumping or your foot tapping. This is not a song that will bring a smile to your face. And yet, I have no doubt it belongs in the number five spot. This is a song that will reach you on an emotional level. It’s a track that needs to be experienced, more than listened to. Hauntingly beautiful, unquestionably crunchy, and with a surprising ending that will simply leave you stunned, it is one of the finest moment’s of this band’s career. Without a doubt.

4) Demon of the Fall – My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)

There are a lot of Opeth fans out there that say this is their favorite song. There are a lot of metal fans period that revere it. Plainly put, this is as heavy as it gets. Like headbanging through a cement wall. Opeth has yet to recreate this level of gripping frenzy, and they may never achieve it. But it doesn’t matter. Because when you’re feeling particularly murderous, when you HAVE to get some aggression out NOW, there will always be the Demon of the Fall.

3)To Bid You Farewell – Morningrise (1997)

While this is an outstanding track, it’s more important for the direction it took than how good of a song it is. Opeth’s first album, Orchid is largely considered a metal classic. I wholeheartedly disagree. There are some brilliant ideas, but they do not gel together. Two and three minute riffs slapped together without even attempting to bridge the separate parts to make for twenty minute sessions of boredom. Morningrise changed all that, and no track proves that better than To Bid You Farewell. Everything I love about this band… their heavy but melodic sound, their unexpected transitions, their undeniably unique vocal style, can be traced back to this album. This song. You could get this song alone and respect what these artists have accomplished, but if you’ve been listening along, working backwards as I have, you’ll see just how important to the development of the Opeth sound this track truly is.

2) In My Time of Need – Damnation (2003)

In My Time of Need is one of the best songs I have come across for bettering my mood. While it doesn’t stick to major keys and happy lyrics, it is audibly full of hope. Reflected in more than just the lyrics, the track proudly proclaims that things will get better. It sucks you in, and is there for you…. in your time of need.

1) The Drapery Falls – Blackwater Park (2001)

Wow. Just wow. The Drapery Falls to reveal what I feel is the very core of Opeth. This is a song that stays with you. This is a track that’s more than a collection of sounds on a disc. It transcends reality to greet the listener face to face, and say “This is who I am. Take me or leave me, but you cannot change me, and you will NEVER be me”. The Drapery Falls is the most recognizable tune I have ever come across. Five seconds in, you know exactly who it is, and what they’re doing. I have also used this song to make metalheads out of rappers, strict opera lovers, and pop princesses. To anyone with an open mind: Take the ten minutes necessary. Listen to this song. From that point on, either you will like Opeth, or you won’t. But there will be no ambiguity. And it is my hope that after taking this journey with me, that your moods will change with the ebb and flow of tempo in this song, that your breath will swell with anticipation with each climax, and that your finger will be glued to the repeat button.