Opeth - The Leper Affinity (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire, London)

[@drummerinthepark9641]

Lopez is just out of the world. I don't think there can ever be a drummer who can make Opeth sound like this. He is beyond perfection.

[@trexpeliahelvetios2302]

he is beyond perfection, but mikael is beyond death.

[@drummerinthepark9641]

He maybe but Lopez stole this show completely.

[@gareginasatryan6761]

Drummerinthe Park fates warning has a nice drummer too

[@trexpeliahelvetios2302]

Drummerinthe Park I come back to this video every month and i forgot that i ever replied this comment. BTW, soen is awesome af !

[@abscessedcadaver8221]

Unpopular opinion: Axe is better.

[@yash9410503314]

Mikael - hope you recognise this one Also Mikael - this is The Leper Affinity

[@el0j]

that was so silly

[@dingdongs5208]

He is just a socially awkward cutie let him be

[@ShineBow3]

Something that amazes about Mikael is how he can sing so effortlessly while playing these complex riffs. That takes a fuckin lot of coordination

[@shotgunsteve21v24]

I know its fucking insane. i cant even play and sing with mary had a little lamb

[@ShineBow3]

Steven Baeza Haha you'll get there bud!

[@nazlibuyukabalozel1707]

What a talent, ı love it

[@CampanellaJon]

In that territory, I believe both Muhammed Suiçmez and Chuck Schuldiner are far more impressive. But Mikael is, overall, an inspired artist and composer. And that is far beyond the ability of "executing", in a mechanical sense. He has a vision that reaches us all through uncanny realms and tries his best to incarnate it. We can't completely grasp or explain it. That's the grace of art: indicating an improbable form, making some minimum sense of it, and giving it to the people to decide and decipher.

[@Daddy53751]

@@CampanellaJonas a guy that started playing in ‘71, I’ve learned a thing or two. Here’s my big take away, It’s far easier to learn to play really well, than it is to write and compose really well. That Akerfeldt isn’t universally hailed as one of the world’s greatest composers just shows me how unjust the world really is. 🫡🤘🏻

[@timcoleman6677]

the fact he can change vocal style without effort is just amazing

[@PJyrstinkangas]

*could

[@trichila6397]

Pärre Jyrstinkangas He still does live, although his growl isn't as powerful, they are still great, and the new stuff live is incredible

[@GeeorgeBeeedle]

I saw Opeth in October 2017, they played several heavy songs, and he sounded as good as he does here.

[@carlosa9393]

y de los pocos que he visto que son buenos con las voces guturales y limpias, también me acuerdo de Jari Maenpaa de Wintersun, de hecho la parte de 4:59 me recuerda una parte de sons of winter and stars

[@BigBrain_Genius]

I know it looks pretty impressive but in practice it's not that hard

[@bjorn860]

At 1:54 He is beyond death.

[@nikhilmahale786]

6:53 thats my favorite

[@troisitue6271]

@@nikhilmahale786 Kiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

[@Torgtorgtorg]

Wow he is beyond death

[@ItsNotaTuhmah]

Mikael's Nostrils are beyond death on this release.

[@francismcalister7811]

2:36 Lemme tell you one thing: it's already pretty hard to play that riff properly, but playing it *while singing* is on a completely different level

[@sangd4lang]

P r a c t i c e.

[@McFlurry448]

Dave Mustaine does it better 😬

[@dorianl7294]

@@McFlurry448 False.

[@sakemmat]

I've always admired the likes of guitarist as Mikael and say, Ihsahn, who tackle it with perfection.

[@8man943]

@@McFlurry448 lol mustaine wishes he could write songs like opeth

[@mostlyirishcarguy8955]

2:31 I love how Lindgren and Akerfeldt are concentrating on playing that really hard part and Mendez is just going ham. Lol!

[@kareem3439]

Flawless fucking performance, amazing to see Martin Lopez killing it again with Opeth (although this was years ago)

[@Skeletor1889]

I think Martin had a definite groove that's missing with the new guy (yeah I know he's not new anymore, but for me he'll always be the new guy :)

[@fynii9478]

I like both Lopez and Axe. They both have their style. I wouldn't see Lopez playing songs from Pale Communion or Sorceress

[@danny1689]

Tbh Martin was overplaying a bit

[@The-Esoteric-One]

And Peter

[@88omair]

2:49 One of Mikael's best solos. I wish he would play more leads on the newer Opeth records

[@Joker-kk6vz]

that solo is amazing

[@Joker-kk6vz]

that solo is amazing

[@MesmerGW2]

that solo is amazing

[@giorgioIP]

that solo is amazing

[@ghazianhindami1469]

that solo is amazing

[@randyhalfway]

Craziest thing is that I don't think they're playing to a click track here. The tempo varies significantly between certain sections. I can't imagine being that tight as a band.

[@blppt]

Opeth are one of the few bands anymore that don't play to a click. Even to this date. And yep, they weren't using one here either (2003).

[@michaelglindmyer3336]

This was before everyone played to a click, plus I don’t think they do even now

[@paullevine1813]

No click track here as it's live & no headphones to hear any click track it's just Opeth & all performances of this particular comp are never done to any clicktrack , they are that good.

[@cudovitja]

8:02 One of the best Opeth outros ever :O

[@lemmykilmister3191]

And this piano part in the end on the album *sniff*

[@youssefassem5263]

A pure metal masterpeice

[@The-Esoteric-One]

They will never have this kind of chemistry ever again, best line-up.

[@AnwayPramanik]

I feel like, even though Mikael wrote most of the stuff, it was still a band then. Now it's more of a Mikael Akerfeldt project.

[@ItsNotaTuhmah]

@@AnwayPramanik It was. The guys still had a say about the material Mike brought to the table. Peter still cowrote 2 songs off BWP.

[@johnbhai7147]

Watershed is also really great bro. Wdym

[@Daddy53751]

The team of “The Martins” was just the magic ingredient that couldn’t be duplicated.🤘🏻

[@johnbhai7147]

2:22 is the reason why I like Opeth. The best heavy metal composer.

[@reflectallbutwhite9839]

Martin Lopez is and always will be unmatched. Sad he's gone.

[@Drums4Life762]

Reflect All But White he's a god

[@w3sip]

Sad for Opeth, for sure. But man, does his talent shine in Soen!

[@Nope-sq6dv]

@@w3sip: he does. But Soen sounds more like Disturbed with every new release.

[@w3sip]

@@Nope-sq6dv funny thing, Disturbed is what I've compared them to after listening to Imperial. Just like Disturbed it sounded like one song. Very good song, the one that I like, but not much sound variety among the pieces.

[@Nope-sq6dv]

@@w3sip: Yeah man, happens to most bands unfortunately. We still have the older stuff!

[@jopangsae]

The outro riff is DIVINE

[@mellowtron214]

Martin Lopez taught me ghost notes. I didn’t even realize that was a thing until I heard his tasteful jazzy/Latin drumming on Blackwater park, and for that alone (and many more techniques) Martin has been a huge influence on my drumming.

[@ernestoleighton3067]

When I was a kid I wanted to be Vinnie Paul, then I grew older and wanted to be Portnoy... but since I was 16 I wanted to be Lopez and I still want to be him when I sit down on my kit

[@verstarkt2192]

@@ernestoleighton3067 I don’t have a kit but if I did I’d love to play Lopez, however I’d love to be Mario Duplantier

[@Ziggetren]

This part always gets me! 8:03 - 9:12 Beautiful!

[@tomfieldsend1711]

the guitar riff from 8:20! When it soars and dips. Love it!

[@vanmantalks]

20 year old me is in the crowd somewhere, still to this day one of my favourite gigs

[@bagas5057]

Martin lopez in this live: - tempo switch at 4:12 + his swings on the clean section of the drums - insane groove at 6:26 and onwards - another insane groove at 8:35 - god - edit: his iconic drum pattern at 3:31 (same as at the end of masters apprentices, also present in almost evry album)

[@dingdongs5208]

I love the little fill he does in the outro too that isn't in the studio version

[@lexeykuzmintsev2410]

2:23 - that riff!!!

[@emunzio2258]

0:04 Napalm Death?

[@freehuman1504]

you suffer loool

[@mourntheloss666]

Fucking amazing. Everything about this song is just so perfect and well executed. Long live Opeth

[@yash9410503314]

0:05 Napalm Death - You Suffer (Opeth cover)

[@pedrofreitas761]

Everytime I listen to Opeth it’s like going on a journey, and at the end u just want to live it all again

[@TheEternalElir]

5:13 This part is spellboundingly beautiful 😍

[@ItsNotaTuhmah]

THAT Snare, sounds fantastic!!

[@user-yf4up2px2u]

best growls ever ! so powerful song and interpretation. Miss those days and Lopez both unique powerful and flawless drumming

[@JORGSEPU]

And distorsión guitar more heavy .

[@aniketacharya512]

1:37 The riff after that fill is so catchy

[@georgiostemirsidis1966]

Lopez really added a great deal to their sound. Their live performances have always been tremendous, but this guy's drumming transformed every other member's playing into an invaluable work of art!

[@humphreyaugustus2932]

Who else wanted to be transported to that haunted forest with Bleak when this song ended...

[@thadavidrain]

Me!! Bleak is such an orgasm of music xD

[@gareginasatryan6761]

Rudolph Schwarzenegger what's up with Opeth and songs about women. Half of the songs are either about kidnapping, attacking or longing for them. You could just picture someone crying at 5 am as some obsessed admirer is dragging them across the woods. Not gonna lie but I felt writing poems about her too. When you think about someone you want to tell other people.

[@samyjoseph4798]

hahahaha bro i imagine that everytime i listen to bleak xD

[@sammyloehnis3373]

@@gareginasatryan6761 It's just a trope of death metal I guess. It's what makes normal people the most uncomfortable.

[@angiecarolinaxo]

Me!! both songs are the best of the entire world!

[@PygmaApril]

The passage from "Pierced the night" to the main riff is reason enough to live.

[@TheGuitarifier]

Crazy the difference live when Lopez is playing instead of Axe.

[@wesleyb1458]

m8 so true!!!

[@dorianv7876]

I love that they play it about twice as fast here

[@samuelpardana]

it’s pretty much the same speed as in the album (?)

[@Ch3mG33k]

@@samuelpardana At around 8:03, they do that outro at about twice the normal tempo. Maybe that's what OP was talking about.

[@blppt]

@@Ch3mG33k Plus the "Your body is mine to avail..." parts are much faster than the album version, but it sounds like they intended to play it that speed---its not like Lopez goes too fast and the rest the band needs a beat to catch up, they're right on point.

[@mushfiquemahi9429]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/navWlaJ6rJhnbc0 Even faster here!

[@McFlurry448]

I love how the editor gave everyone equal time on the camera. I love that

[@Fabinesss]

Yeah, even gave special detailed stellar parts to Mike's nostrils.

[@RossellArroyo]

so many years and this side of Opeth makes me chill

[@theopinson3851]

Those improvised fills Lopez plays sound like timbale licks. You can tell he’s going for that sound with the cranked snare and rimshots. Also this is way faster than the record and it was a hard enough song to play at that tempo lol

[@dermalkaviam]

We entered Winter once again Naked, freezing from my breath â??Neath the lid, all limbs tucked away This coffin is your abode from now and onwards Your body is mine to avail Such a tragic sight you are Slave under my creed Spurring me with those tears I am beyond death Midst a dreaming affinity Saving strength now, faint whispers Come erotic communion in its splendor Fever mirrored ghosts Night-time consolation, cross the line Draw murder into art Sleep inside through days In the wake of this relief Shivering, longing for more Insanity at its peak Love me to my death Lost are the days of Spring You sighed and let me in Keep the beast inside Shackled within my hide Screaming out too late Losing to my hate Grew together with your skin And paced the trails of sin Your gaze, covered with virgin snow Rigid featuresâ?¦. It's the shallow deeds who's to blame Deafening shrieks pierced the night A step from oblivion Moving into the dim lights Hiding within a reverie It was worth it for the wait alone

[@Boomer.Roberts]

God damn...Mikael really has lost that deep growl in recent years :( I appreciate that he started bringing the growling songs back into setlists after that year or two during Heritage, but they really just don't sound the same anymore.

[@trichila6397]

Boomer Roberts True, but this tour just gone had some pretty good growls, better than some bands

[@Charles5431]

this is gold this is perfect this is hard this is melodic this is brutal this is mellow this is nice footage

[@MidnightNaomi]

2:54 dat dual hair whip

[@Daddy53751]

The great Martin Mendez is the great unsung hero in this absolutely monster band!🤘🏻

[@jome3206]

Wow. The Leper Affinity is a really good song! Opeth play it live very well here.

[@randyhalfway]

I've never heard better drumming in all my life.

[@ItsNotaTuhmah]

Listen Soen, Lopez' new band. They have 3 albums already.

[@wesleyb1458]

So good and so tasteful 🔥👌🏼

[@generalknowledge9899]

He looks so peacefull while singing

[@aminghaemian6103]

i miss the old school Opeth so much

[@viaffonso8495]

Amazing drummer, omg!

[@ronaldothomejunior3702]

20 Years of Blackwater Park! Congrats, guys!!!!!

[@B1TCH35K1LL3R]

This lineup is fuckin unreal

[@TheFbiFilesRepeat]

This is their best song imo

[@jirananjingjit5728]

I have nothing but good words for this

[@itamarmaor8243]

Yap that's opeth

[@icaro9382]

sincerely, this is the best live performance I've ever seen in my life.

[@EtoDemerzelSpaceBurial]

Man I remember seeing my opeth in this era a few times. It didn’t get much better as far as live shows go. Still love opeth but this definitely makes me feel nostalgic. I need to dig out this dvd and watch the whole thing

[@silverphoenix_1756]

I love how the bassist headbangs...

[@youssefassem5263]

The greatest extreme metal song of all times

[@Ziggetren]

The outro always get me, amazing!

[@rorimckenzie237]

Memories of walking my dog through the sunny fields in the beaujolais...

[@vitor.faccio]

6:53 if you listen to this and say Mikael is not the best Death Metal singer, you are crazy

[@manueltorres-fq9hh]

the sound quality is fuckin good! the song its very violent!! this is beautiful!

[@LordSkunk707]

What a fucking brutal performance. Just brutal.

[@apealacharya]

The head banging is just evil. Awesome, they must be fucking proud of writing such amazing music. The Mighty Opeth

[@090nj2]

I love Opeth for reason i don’t think other ppl have❤

[@gerhitchman]

this song is a fucking masterpiece

[@darrenbooker8144]

The whole album is a masterpiece

[@skrymirskogheim2683]

Black Water park is a master peace one of the best, Death Metal albums off all times! love this Song so mutsh!

[@zdengvox]

0:05 - 0:07 Is this "Napalm Death - You Suffer" cover ?

[@joex-mn4we]

Spot on lyrics actually

[@mrveritas700]

Perfect sound...

[@nassimkhoufache7738]

The Best one

[@Jotto999]

They are absolute fucking legends oh my god

[@macdrummer4984]

I want those times back :(

[@aicragdivad639]

La mejor formacion, el mejor disco, la mejor epoca, jamas debieron salir Peter Lindgreen ni Martin Lopez.

[@eduardopugliese6049]

Totalmente de acuerdo. Eran increíbles en todo, incluyendo la imagen. Genios!

[@Padthiphumyai]

8:19 damn this lick are fu*king beautiful 😔😔😔

[@donny_chang]

They were so fucking tight here

[@justinle5866]

I would shit myself if I could see this live

[@LordSummerIsle73]

2:49 I remember the first time hearing this and being like "DAMMMNN"

[@lucasstruna3962]

3:06 amazing

[@campe_0p525]

That solo

[@leandrovalente6826]

Golden era for Opeth! Fucking brutal!

[@djsavagevs6732]

Amazing!!!!! 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@luke666808g]

I wish I could go back, this was a better time.

[@Fabinesss]

My brother never liked growls. Ive been so sure he would enjoy Opeth if it wasnt for the growls. Ive been trying to make him listen to Opeth for years. We recently started recording for a reaction channel. I wrote an essay and read it to him, about trying to listen to them in a cinematic way, trying to picture scenes, like reading a novel, each chapter having different moods according to characters's emotions, the action and the story unfolding. I talked about Lovecraft, Stephen King, Frazetta, Brom, Mordor, Nazguls, Sauron, Warcraft, Doom, Elric, Fire and Ice, Raistlin, Swamp Thing, Dracula, Death Dealer... I talked about Blackwaterpark being an evil land filled with demons, monsters, ghouls, vampires, ghosts, necromancers, assasins, lost souls, and the water, soil and trees themselves being evil, like a purgatory. I made him picture it all. A decadent place stained by demonic energies. And THEN i proceeded to make him react to Leper Affinity. The moment it ended, i made him listen to Black Water Park, then Ghost of Perdition and then Drappery Falls one after the other. And ended with Cusps of Eternity so he would not even have a second to reject the change to the new sound they have. And this is how you turn someone who hates growls into an Opeth fan.

[@carolinagirelli7608]

Tremendo ....

[@kolaymail]

intuitive and outstanding! i really love it! since 2004....

[@melvinkharkongor7254]

Another heavy number ❤❤

[@stephenstrange935]

Hell yeah🤘🏻

[@rumpelmaddes]

Happy to see them in August 24 in Frankfurt.

[@TheSchoolyD]

Poor Michael, growls have really taken their toll on you. Hope you won't damage your vocal cords on one such occasion, sincerely.

[@xxJirenzaRxx]

Mikael have a very healthy growl technique. To me the actual reason is that he smokes.

[@paullevine1813]

If you watch the interviews with him he gets asked about how he manages both vocal styles without hurting his vocal chords . His answer is he trained himself to sing in the demon voice without doing much damage to his quiet vocals . Seems to me he's done that pretty well as it can't be easy to growl that way . Even all the new stuff Opeth has done with the line up changes he still sounds just fine but we miss this line up bad.

[@carimabdala]

Flawless!

[@petriahonen518]

So very good🤘👍

[@xedasxedas]

And here we all met again...

[@jotun1022]

this song is the best way to make 10 minutes feel like 2

[@rinozisa9396]

#MakeOpethGrowlAgain

[@guillermosilvabaeza2729]

Obra maestra

[@Trohawkk]

2018, still love it

[@wafflemanofficial3130]

2:54

[@ssokol91]

Those 15 dislikes must be from actual lepers.

[@paullevine1813]

They may be from Neophiliacs as well . LOL

[@Tokk123]

Lopez leading with left at 2:25. Unreal

[@violentbob]

05:07 this note sounds absolutely perfect

[@hanielshaer8327]

I don't know how someone would prefer Axe over Lopez! I love Axe, but Lopez is on another level.

[@mohammad_p1519]

The voice of devil and angels at the same time...

[@Rkitt8]

Been having a long debate about who is the better Opeth drummer with my cousin, and I just don’t even think it’s a question: it’s Martin Lopez. He has a particular flare, finesse and groove that Axle, as great of a drummer as he is, does not possess.