Live Reviews : Opeth & Myridian @ The Forum, Melbourne 07/05/2015

Images: Cameron Stewart
Words: Jonathon Besanko

Opeth are a name that helped define a genre. After many years, I was finally getting the opportunity to see the progressive Swedes live. And let me tell you, nothing could have truly prepared me for the awe and amazement that awaited. It was a Thursday night, yet up and around the adjacent alley, wrapping around the corner, from the Forum was a host of eager fans and metalheads, young and aged alike.

Inside, it was a real spectacle to witness. The Forum itself is a beautiful venue, with classical architecture lining the venue and especially the stage. Doors opened at 8pm, but come 8.30, there was already a significant wealth of people lined up to see the only opener for the evening, Myridian. The Melbourne based melodic doom metallers emerged on stage, and had you not known what was to follow them, you could be forgiven in thinking this was their show. They arrived confident and powerful. And whilst the sound was still being adjusted on their opening song, come the following track “A Lone Rose”, Myridian came alive. Bathed under blues and reds, they looked every bit as menacing as their music. And as their doom metal drowned out all else around me, I felt myself completely in their grasp. It was a trance I couldn’t shake. Furthermore, it felt almost surreal to contrast their stage presence and music with the ivory statues that stood vigilant either side of the room. It was as if, under watchful eyes, these idle beings stood forlorn and captured in time by the music that swayed over the crowd; Myridian’s music. I think it’s fair to say I am not the only who must have felt this, either. Everyone was virtually silent during every one of Myridian’s songs, yet when the songs reached their end, the Forum was filled with the uproarious applause of hundreds.

Myridian

The red lighting bled over them like a freshly opened wound, and serving to contrast the serene landscape of the venue, the malevolence of Myridian’s choral sound was the perfect opener for the evening.

Hit 9.45, the masters of Swedish progressive music entered stage right. Excitement and numbers were peaking by this point. Saturated in blues, Opeth started to the almost deafening sound of cheering; especially after vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt asked us to be even louder. The light show was impressive, if not at times blinding, but it really complemented the mystical element behind Opeth’s sound.

What was perhaps most amazing about them was not only how they held sway over the crowd, but also how seamlessly they transitioned from genre to genre, from sound to sound. Whether it was in the moments of prog-rock, to that of death metal; there were further yet hints to the likes of soft jazz, blues, classical, world, and so on. There are very few bands in this world that can achieve something like that, and then to make it sound as seamless and natural as it did, it isn’t hard to see why, for 25 years, Opeth have been going strong and have continued to grow.

Opeth

Looking to appease both fans old and new, Opeth smartly played a set that consisted of music from across their broad and expanding career. With eleven albums worth of material, you were never quite sure what you were going to get next. What also made the night ever more enjoyable was Åkerfeldt’s infectious brand of humour. Getting the band to do a cover of Napalm Death‘s “You Suffer”,  then dishing up jokes and banter with the best of them, at one stage he even went through an amusing list of things Sweden is famous for. Including the likes of meatballs, Katatonia, and more, his anecdotes and the like were highlights. A favourite of mine? When he told the story how the bridge depicted on their second album ‘Morningrise’ was actually, Mikael believes, taken from a tampon commercial that Jonas Renske (Katatonia) have given to him thinking it looked cool.

There is something remarkably transcendent about progressive music, and tonight felt like more than just a gig, but rather an exploration of music as a whole. A journey through decades of style and genre, and a study of the human condition through music.

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