Book Of Opeth Website
Released: April 14, 2016
224 pages
Publisher: Rocket 88
Book Of Opeth presents a brief synopsis of the band’s earliest history all the way to present day. While interesting and beautifully crafted, Book Of Opeth rarely gets too in-depth, and leaves some lingering questions in the process.
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Has Opeth really been around for over twenty-five years? It really doesn’t feel like it has been that long. I still remember being a little kid and hearing “Demon of the Fall” on the radio for the first time, and immediately skate boarding down to Lou’s Records to buy the CD. It obviously wasn’t the first time I had ever heard death metal and clean singing on the same song (Fear Factory had been doing it for awhile by 1998), but it was executed so much better and the musicianship was leaps-and-bounds more advanced. Also, acoustic guitars were such a novel idea (at the time) for music so intense. With the radio playing “Demon Of the Fall” fairly regularly, there was a lot of hype around my hometown of San Diego, California — but apparently we were the exception. One of the things I learned while reading this book was the band was totally broke during this era and scrounging money together to pay for canned meat and cigarettes. While kind of a cool little fact, it is unfortunately about as juicy as Book of Opeth gets. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth an avid Opeth fan’s time.
It’s obvious from the very first glance that Book of Opeth was a labor of love. Just about evert page contains high-quality graphics similar in look and feel to the Travis Smith artwork that has graced more than a few Opeth releases. There is also an abundance of band photos throughout the book representing just about every Opeth line-up ever. In fact, I’d venture to estimate that the band photos make up more of the book than actual text, but that isn’t to the book’s detriment. It is, however, a good representation of how Book Of Opeth approaches the band’s history — it’s more of a brief synopsis than an in-depth overview. It’s a book that can literally be completed in an evening, without ever feeling overwhelming. This leisurely trip through time is reinforced by the format of the text, as well. Instead of being a narrative history (as seems to usually be the case for band books), Book Of Opeth is simply a collection of quotes listed in chronological order about the various eras of the band.
Book Of Opeth. Definitely a labor of love.
Obviously, a majority of the quotes come from Mikael Akerfeldt and they’re delivered with the same type of blunt dry humor fans have come to expect from him. One early excerpt has Mikael discussing the first (of many) line-up changes Opeth would go through; this was actually the one that allowed him to join the band. When discussing the ex-members Mikael observed, “I never saw those guys again, but after they left Opeth they formed a band called Crowley and put out a demo in 1991 that was the biggest piece of shit that I had heard.” In addition to Mikael Akerfeldt, there are quotes from the band’s long time guitarist Peter Lindgren and bassist Martin Mendez, as well as their manager Andy Farrow and frequent collaborator Steven Wilson. All of these submissions allow the book to feel fresh and active, and the different perspectives are definitely a welcome change from the ‘single story’ presented by a lot of these band biographies. Despite being a welcome change from the normal ‘single source’ band biography, more often than not I found myself wanting more information from these little blurbs than what I actually received.
Opeth 1992. L-R: Mikael Akerfeldt, Anders Nordin, Peter Lindgren.
Throughout the book there are many times where someone would reference a story or situation without going into detail, and it happened often enough to occasionally be frustrating. Of course, a majority of these ‘WTF’ moments came when band members were dismissed and Mikael would either offer cryptically vague reasons for it or even no reason at all. Additionally, none of these ex-members (with the exception of Peter Lindgren) are featured within the book in order to give their takes. Granted, a lot of these people might have been bitter or hard to find, but drummer Martin Lopez is definitely still around and could have (I’d assume) e-mailed some quotes about his time in the band and maybe even one about his eventual separation. Another section of the book that seems to be lacking is the recording issues of the various albums. Mikael and others make off-handed comments about issues arising during the recording of various albums, but none of the ‘dirt’ is ever really presented to the reader. My final gripe has to do with the eventual pairing of Mikael Akerfeldt and Steven Wilson. Personally, I would have liked more in-depth information about what Steven Wilson thought when he first heard this death metal band that was supposedly influenced by him. I would have liked more specifics about what he brought to the studio when he started working with the band. I even would have appreciated if he spoke about how Opeth (obviously) influenced his own band when he went back to write In Absentia.
Opeth 2017. L-R: Joakim Svalberg, Mikael Akerfeldt, Martin Mendez, Fredrik Akesson, Martin Axenrot.
For even the passing Opeth fan, Book Of Opeth is definitely a worth-while read. The artwork and band photos alone are well worth purchasing this book, but there’s more to it than that. The unique way the band’s history is presented through a series of quotes from various members, ex-members, and collaborators allows the book to feel fresh from beginning to end. The different perspectives, too, are a unique and welcome addition to your typical band biography. Granted, for those of us that might be considered bigger fans, the book can feel a bit lacking when members gloss over stories, encounters, and issues that could have used some fleshing out, but overall Book Of Opeth is an excellent synopsis of the band’s history.
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To order Book of Opeth, please visit the Opeth Book website.
