“The Roundhouse Tapes” is a two CD set of Opeth live at The Roundhouse in London on November 9, 2006 during the Ghost Reveries Tour. First off, I’m not a big fan of live recordings. I think mostly because it’s just not as good as being there, and I’m jealous that I couldn’t experience the show myself.

Second, I never really got into Opeth. Yeah sure, I heard some of their stuff here and there, at a friends house, on XM, etc. After all, they’ve been around since 1990. The tracks I heard didn’t make that much of an impression to where I’m out CD shopping to pick up one of their discs. However, after listening to “The Roundhouse Tapes”, I have since picked up “Watershed”, their ninth effort (second from Roadrunner Records), and “Ghost Reveries”.

Their sound is tight from the drums, guitars, and bass. Even the vocals were right on to where you can hear them. One thing I hate when I go to a show is where one instrument, mostly the guitars, drowns out the vocals. Here is a quote from Opeth’s web site (opeth.com), “The strange thing is that it’s not intentional. I don’t doubt one second that we’d be a bigger band if we did what was good for Opeth. But we just don’t! The day we would limit ourselves or adapt to the music scene, would be the day Opeth dies.” That’s what I like to hear! I like when a band stays original, and not conform to the masses. Then you’ll end up with another Nickleback or Metallica.

If you check out their Myspace page (myspace.com/opeth), it states “Opeth exist in a genre of one.” I believe this to be true. You can hear traces of their influences from Iron Maiden to Celtic Frost. They’re able to combine progressive metal, classic rock, speed metal, death metal, and even throw in some folk and jazz to mix it up. Some will say that folk and jazz have no place in speed or death metal, but Mikael and the rest of Opeth pull it off for a sound that is truly their own. They are currently on tour until the end of August 2008, with dates in the US and Canada until the beginning of June, sharing the stage with Dream Theater, Between The Buried And Me, and Three. Some of their dates, they will be headlining.

The Roundhouse Tapes is a must have for any Opeth fan!