All three albums of this Swedish cult band are masterpieces of modern progressive metal. A warning is in place here, this is very extreme material. If you find the metallic riffing of Dream Theater's John Petrucci on "Awake" far too extreme for your ears, Opeth is not your cup of tea! For everybody with a longing for the boundaries of progressiveness, this might just be one of the bands of your life. The band evolves around the vocal capacities of Mikael Akerfeldt and the very poetic lyrics coming out of his hands. The vocals go from very clean to (black metal) extreme and back again, and so is the music. Old electric organ sounds give shelter from the sometimes raging guitars and thundering drums. And when everything seems desolate and cold, an acoustic guitar warms your shivering spine. The keyword is DYNAMIC. The songs are LONG.

All three albums sound very good, with the last one sounding the most modern. This last album is a concept album and just like the others the lyrics are very dark, sad and poetic. Metaphores of nature (dark forests, cold storms, desolate mountain landscapes) are used to create a very special atmosphere in which I like to dwell every now and then.