On September 30, I headed over to Center Stage to see the Heritage tour featuring Opeth with special guests Katatonia. Being a progressive metal fan, I was excited to see and photograph these two bands.
First up was Katatonia, a progressive/atmospheric metal band from Sweden. Within seconds, I was drawn into this band’s music. It possessed a great deal of emotion that I almost instantly felt when they began to play. The stage lighting was softer than most concerts I had seen at this level. It consisted on blue, green and red lights that created a moody dark effect, adding more to this band’s sound. Katatonia played many new songs off their last record Night is the New Day. Songs included “Liberation”, “Onward Into Battle”, “Forsaker”, and several others. Their set included a great mix of songs off their other records as well, which I love for bands to do. Many simply play just new songs, but fans want to hear old favorites as well. So it was great for Katatonia to play such favorites as “July”, “Omerta”, and “Sweet Nurse”. All in all, Katatonia showed a great deal of musicianship and I thoroughly enjoyed their performance.
Next up was Opeth, a progressive/death metal band, also from Sweden. I had never seen Opeth live before, and I was very interested to see them. Like many other bands they played some songs of their latest & tenth studio album Heritage. The first thing I noticed as I watched Opeth was their musicianship. Metal bands have some best musicians out there and Opeth is at the top of the heap. Songs like the “The Devil’s Orchard” and “I Feel the Dark” from their new album showed the band going into a bit of a different direction musically, as there were no death metal vocals. The band also played some songs they have never played live before, such as “Porcelain Heart”. During this song, Opeth’s new keyboard player Joakim Svalberg did a short but amazing solo. Joakim is definitely a great addition to Opeth. To my surprise, Opeth also, played several songs acoustically. Although it was unexpected, Opeth are a “progressive/death metal” band so I guess it’s ok! As a whole, I enjoyed Opeth’s set. Their cool banners, awesome lighting, and musicianship were awe-inspiring, and I really enjoyed it.
Both Katatonia and Opeth performed well, and musically I think they go well together. I only wish Opeth had played a few songs with some death metal vocals. Other than that, it was a great show! Enjoy the pics….
