Opeth<\/strong>, having grown in popularity and acceptance, are one of those bands that people will always having something to say about.\u00a0 The positives are that they continually try new things with their sound and keep things fresh.\u00a0 The negatives lean heavily towards the more subdued nature of their recent output, beginning with \u201cHeritage<\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0 But one thing that all fans of the band can agree on is that they put on one hell of a live show, touring the globe and producing live albums and films to prove how worthy they are on stage.\u00a0 And so with the release of the band\u2019s newest album \u201cSorceress<\/strong>\u201d coming just days after the North American leg of their world tour commencing, Opeth<\/strong> have dropped in to Toronto\u2019s<\/strong> beautiful Massey Hall<\/strong> to indulge fans of both the new material, and the old.<\/p>\n

Accompanying the headliners on this tour is The Sword<\/strong>.\u00a0 With their sound rooted in seventies hard rock, the band come across with a convincing blend of fuzz-laden stoner rock with progressive tendencies and metal leanings thrown in for good measure.\u00a0 With a majority of their set list coming from their latest studio album, 2015\u2019s \u201cHigh Country<\/strong>\u201d, the band came across as totally solid and exciting.\u00a0 The fans gave it back to this veteran band with much appreciation for their effort, and for getting the crowd moving and electric for the Swedish legends.<\/p>\n

And with a quick set change, the progressive metal giants arrived to greet their legions of Toronto fans and opened with the title track from the new album.\u00a0 After hearing this album multiple times leading up to this show, I was excited to hear the new material in a live setting, and it came across without a hitch.\u00a0 \u201cGhost Of Perdition<\/strong>\u201d followed which whipped the crowd into a frenzy with it\u2019s mix of death growls and powerful riffage.\u00a0 And to further thrill the old-school fans, the band pulled out the classic \u201cDemon Of The Fall<\/strong>\u201d, which made the crowd delirious.\u00a0 \u201cThe Wilde Flowers<\/strong>\u201d helped to calm the crowd down a tad with some new live music to digest, with \u201cFace Of Melinda<\/strong>\u201d, \u201cIn My Time Of Need<\/strong>\u201d and another new treat in the tranquil \u201cWill O The Wisp<\/strong>\u201d following, and letting the crowd soak in the beautiful melodies and more laid back songs from their extensive catalogue.<\/p>\n

Not wanting to let the crowd get too subdued, main man Mikael Akerfeldt<\/strong> and company started to ramp the crowd back up with \u201cCusp Of Eternity<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cThe Drapery Falls<\/strong>\u201d.\u00a0 \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Orchard<\/strong>\u201d played out wonderfully and shows how incredible and powerful their post death metal attitude translates in the live setting.\u00a0 \u201cHex Omega<\/strong>\u201d closed out the set with a roar from the crowd.\u00a0 The band returned one more time to send us off into the night on a high note, and that they did with choosing \u201cDeliverance<\/strong>\u201d as their encore.\u00a0 With full lights and energy from the Toronto<\/strong> faithful, Opeth<\/strong> made myself and the crowd realize that they thrive when playing to their devoted fan base.<\/p>\n

It also bears noting that Akerfeldt\u2019s<\/strong> infamous humorous side still comes across in hilarious form during song breaks, with the singer engaging the crowd with stories about meeting Robb Flynn<\/strong> from Machine Head<\/strong> and bringing up the guitarists recording tendencies with his old band Vio-lence<\/strong>, to telling the fan member yelling \u201cFreebird<\/strong>\u201d about how he owns all of Lynyrd Skynyrd\u2019s<\/strong> catalogue (and him even teasing a song from that particular group).\u00a0 He also teased playing Kiss<\/strong> when recounting that they played in this same concert hall during their heyday.\u00a0 And I can\u2019t forget him constantly ragging on drummer Martin Axenrot<\/strong> for talking to a stagehand during the song breaks, once remarking \u201cI believe Martin<\/strong> shat himself\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Akerfeldt<\/strong> not only over joys us with his music, but makes us roar with laughter.\u00a0 What a guy.<\/p>\n

So with a somewhat hard to please fan base which is either too picky on their musical direction at times, or upset with exclusions of certain songs from the set list, the band managed to win over everyone.\u00a0 Spanning their entire catalogue minus three albums, there was really something for everyone to enjoy.\u00a0 And with that knowledge, the most important part of the evening was to realize that this band loves what they do and loves their fans, which makes them the live show to beat as far as giving their all with every single song and show.\u00a0 And for myself, after not seeing them since the \u201cDeliverance<\/strong>\u201d tour, I was overjoyed to realize that they haven\u2019t lost a step in the live atmosphere in that large of a time span.<\/p>\n