Editing Opeth (section)

==Musical style and influences==
{{listen
|filename    = Opeth - Windowpane.ogg
|title       = "Windowpane"
|description = "Windowpane" from Opeth's album ''[[Damnation (album)|Damnation]]'' (2003).  This clip features the clean vocal style of Mikael Åkerfeldt.
}}

As Opeth's primary songwriter and lyricist, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt heads the direction of Opeth's sound. He was influenced at a young age by the 1970s [[progressive rock]] bands [[King Crimson]], [[Yes (band)|Yes]], [[Genesis (band)|Genesis]], [[Camel (band)|Camel]], [[Premiata Forneria Marconi|P.F.M.]], [[Hawkwind]], and [[Gracious!|Gracious]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZwZcZ2X5ToC&pg=PA293 |page=293 |author=Jeff Wagner  |title=Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal |publisher=Bazillion Points Books |year=2010 |isbn=9780979616334 |access-date=13 December 2015 |archive-date=23 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623191032/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZwZcZ2X5ToC&pg=PA293 |url-status=live }}</ref> and by heavy metal bands such as [[Iron Maiden]], [[Slayer]], [[Death (metal band)|Death]], [[Black Sabbath]], [[Deep Purple]], [[Celtic Frost]], [[King Diamond]], [[Morbid Angel]], [[Voivod (band)|Voivod]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZwZcZ2X5ToC&pg=PA110 |page=110 |author=Jeff Wagner |title=Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal |publisher=Bazillion Points Books |year=2010 |isbn=9780979616334 |access-date=13 December 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019204026/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ZwZcZ2X5ToC&pg=PA110 |url-status=live }}</ref> and, most importantly, [[Judas Priest]]. Åkerfeldt considers Judas Priest's ''[[Sad Wings of Destiny]]'' (1976) the best metal album of all time, and notes that there was a time when he listened only to Judas Priest. {{citation needed|date=December 2024}} While warming up before Opeth concerts, Åkerfeldt frequently sings "Here Come the Tears" from Judas Priest's third album ''[[Sin After Sin]]'' (1977).<ref name="chroniclesofchaos1">{{cite web |author=Pedro Azevedo |url=http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1-176_opeth.aspx |title=Born Within Sorrow's Mask |publisher=Chroniclesofchaos.com |access-date=18 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218122009/http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/articles/chats/1-176_opeth.aspx |archive-date=18 December 2007 }}</ref><ref name="MA influences">{{cite web| date=24 February 2006 |url=http://wnhumetal.com/radio/content/view/110/38/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080126222900/http://wnhumetal.com/radio/content/view/110/38/ |archive-date=26 January 2008 |title=Interview with Mikael Åkerfeldt or Opeth |publisher=Wnhumetal.com |access-date=8 February 2008}}</ref><ref name="When it Rains it Pours">{{cite web|url=http://www.hailmetal.com/gate.html?name=MReviews&op=show&rid=83|title=Opeth: Interview with Mikael Åkerfeldt|date=28 December 2004|publisher=HailMetal.com|access-date=22 May 2010|archive-date=2 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202085503/http://www.hailmetal.com/gate.html?name=MReviews&op=show&rid=83|url-status=live}}</ref> Åkerfeldt later discovered progressive rock and [[folk music]], both of which had a profound impact on the sound of the band.<ref name="AMG overview">{{cite web| url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p214051|pure_url=yes}} |title=Opeth overview |website=Allmusic |access-date=18 January 2008}}</ref>

Opeth's distinct sound mixes [[death metal]] with progressive rock.<ref name="revelationzDamnation">{{cite web| author=Tommy Hash |title= Opeth – ''Damnation'' |publisher= RevelationZ Magazine |date=22 May 2003 |url= http://www.revelationz.net/index.asp?ID=724 |access-date=17 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620062425/http://revelationz.net/index.asp?ID=724|archive-date=20 June 2007}}</ref><ref name="stylusreview">{{cite magazine |author=Cosmo Lee |title= ''Ghost Reveries'' Review |magazine= Stylus Magazine |date= 13 September 2005 |url= http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/opeth/ghost-reveries.htm |access-date= 30 January 2008 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080204195826/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/opeth/ghost-reveries.htm |archive-date= 4 February 2008 }}</ref> Steve Huey of AllMusic refers to Opeth's "epic, progressive death metal style".<ref>{{cite web|author=Steve Huey|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/my-arms-your-hearse-r373321/review|title=My Arms, Your Hearse Review|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=23 June 2014|archive-date=12 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101112072618/http://allmusic.com/album/my-arms-your-hearse-r373321/review|url-status=live}}</ref> Ryan Ogle of [[Blabbermouth]] described Opeth's sound as incorporating "the likes of folk, [[funk]], [[blues]], '70s rock, [[gothic rock|goth]] and a laundry list of other sonic oddities into their trademark progressive death style."<ref name=blabbermouth>{{cite news |url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/cdreviews/watershed/ |title=CD Reviews – Watershed Opeth |author=Ryan Ogle |work=[[Blabbermouth.net]] |access-date=23 June 2014 |archive-date=9 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140809015148/http://www.blabbermouth.net/cdreviews/watershed/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In his review of Opeth's 2001 album ''[[Blackwater Park]]'', AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote, "Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, [[stoner rock]] grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies—any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment."<ref name="BWPR"/> Åkerfeldt commented on the diversity of Opeth's music:

<blockquote>I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Opeth frontman on being 'different' |magazine=[[Metal Hammer]] |date=October 30, 2006 |url=http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/?id=45633 |access-date=January 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115214331/http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/?id=45633 |archive-date=January 15, 2009 }}</ref></blockquote>

More recently, Opeth have abandoned their death metal sound resulting in a mellower progressive rock sound.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15866-heritage/ |title=Opeth – ''Heritage'' |author=Brandon Stosuy |date=17 September 2011 |publisher=[[Pitchfork Media]] |access-date=18 October 2014 |archive-date=14 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014224737/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15866-heritage/ |url-status=live }}</ref> When talking about ''[[Heritage (Opeth album)|Heritage]]'', guitarist [[Fredrik Åkesson]] stated:

<blockquote>In the beginning it took me a little while to get used to the new idea of the sound, not having any screaming vocals and stuff like that. But I think the album was necessary for us to do. Maybe the band wouldn't have continued if we hadn't done ''Heritage''. I think the old Opeth fans understand this album. There's always going to be some haters, but you can't be loved by everyone. Opeth has always been about not repeating ourself. A lot of people don't think ''Heritage'' is metal but I think it's metal to go somewhere people don't expect. It doesn't mean we're not embracing the past sound of Opeth.<ref name=splittingfanbase /></blockquote>

Vocally, Åkerfeldt shifts between traditional [[Death growl|death metal vocals]] for heavy sections, and clean, sometimes whispered or soft-spoken vocals over mellower passages. While his death growls were dominant on early releases, later efforts incorporate more clean vocals, with ''Damnation'', ''Heritage'', ''Pale Communion'', ''Sorceress'' and ''In Cauda Venenum'' featuring only clean singing.<ref name="When it Rains it Pours"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/opeth-member-understands-frustration-at-lack-of-death-growls-in-new-material/|title=Opeth member understands frustration at lack of death growls in new material|website=Tone Deaf|author=Alasdair Belling|date=20 January 2020|access-date=7 April 2020|archive-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407094335/https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/opeth-member-understands-frustration-at-lack-of-death-growls-in-new-material/|url-status=live}}</ref> Rivadavia noted that "Åkerfeldt's vocals run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty—depending on each movement section's mood."<ref name="BWPR"/>