Opeth - April Ethereal - live in London, December 20th 1997 (UNRELEASED)

Martin Mendez's and Martin Lopez's first real live performance with Opeth, and their only proper gig between December 1996 and April 2000. Coming Friday.
Mikael Åkerfeldt - vocals and guitar
Peter Lindgren - guitar
Martin Mendez - bass
Martin Lopez - drums

[@yigithenden126]

these harsh vocals are unbelievable just freakishly good.... I can't believe he sounded like this live in 1997 It is such such a shame that they couldn't perform more live shows whilst having this sound. This might be one of the biggest live gems of Opeth up to this date. You are the man...

[@berkaycelikguitar]

This song is one of the Best Opeth Masterpieces, undoubtedly

[@thewildhealer541]

One of my fav Opeth songs, outro and intro are so great :)

[@Cheximus]

@@thewildhealer541And the middle, and the bridge... :D But yeah, the intro and outro are, well, ethereal...

[@ifiwouldcouldyou1]

First of all, karst continues being the most mvp of all time Second, so funny hearing micke announcing the song, sounding like some kind of a puppy, and just seconds later unearthing some of the most gut-wrenching face-melting growls ever Third, holy shit dude, I've never heard akerfeldt growl in this style, barely sounds like him, amazing

[@slothprime1327]

Interesting to hear him using Orchid/Morningrise style vocals rather than the deeper style he actually used on the album

[@marwanmohamed877]

He had a cold 😂

[@The_Karst]

That blew my mind too. It gives the track a lot more of a BM edge.

[@tuncelcel]

i think he was singing in the same still in "Opeth - Milwaukee Metalfest August 2000"

[@deathmetalmaniac9647]

He had a cold that's why his vocals were lower on it, but yeah I agree it sounds cool as hell, I always thought riff wise mayh was still more black metal leaning I always considered the candlelight trilogy proggy melodic black death

[@fullmetalguy8357]

Heart-wrenching in its power and beauty. What an excellent debut performance of this song. MAYH has a special place in my heart and this was the song that made me fall in love with it. Hearing it all come together with this lineup for the first time is like witnessing a major historical event.

[@codyryan8898]

You can tell Akerfelt was leaning more towards a raw black metal sound with his high pitched vocals at this time. I remember reading a old interview from around this time and he mentioned he wanted MAYH to more of a black metal sound, didn’t work out that way as it’s definitely more on the prog death metal side with hints of black metal but still killer nonetheless. One of my favorites and a highly influential album for me. Thanks for this gem!

[@fmahave87]

Love those black growls. This is history.

[@primordialooze7574]

Black April Metal Ethereal! *Killer*

[@VignetteQ]

Holy shit! I didn't know there were recordings of any gigs they did post-Morningrise tour, but before BWP, aside from the Milwaukee gig. I never knew they played April Ethereal this early either. Really looking forward to this - thanks for the great stuff, Tarz!

[@fullmetalguy8357]

I didn't even know this recording existed 😳 I'm so excited to hear it!

[@The_Karst]

Many, many recordings are still unshared :). I'm glad you're excited - let me know what you think when it's out!

[@fullmetalguy8357]

I've been collecting Opeth bootlegs for a while now and this is one of those holy grails I've only wished I could get my hands on. Because they also performed The Apostle in Triumph at this show and I'd be in absolute shock if that recording exists too.

[@The_Karst]

​@fullmetalguy8357 I'm happy to share that this one exists too. It might make an appearance for Orchid's 30th. Although I might prioritise the full 1993 Apostle in Triumph rehearsal that got them their record deal with Candlelight...

[@colemantrebor6574]

@@The_Karst or you know, give us a treat and do both!

[@colemantrebor6574]

We love The Karst!! The recording isn't perfect but it's good enough that you can tell this sounded massive in person.

[@yigithenden126]

Dude im so excited. This is Martin duos first performances too.

[@BramHagens]

2:22 I guess the “She faced me in awe” line was a late addition? A minor detail but that section feels so wrong without it

[@vik8596]

Mikael stated the lyrics for the album were written before the music. He prob just forgot. Obviously they haven’t polished the song live

[@InfinityPotato97]

Mikael sounds fucking sick on this performance haha

[@IdiotsGoneWild]

Thank you SO much for uploading these gems, seriously. Hearing this takes me back to my 14 year old self, discovering Opeth on a metal blog in 2006 for the first time- being able to hear these recordings as a 30-something year old fan of Opeth (17 year fan now) is magnificent. It is greatly appreciated, and I hope you will continue to share these moments with us.

[@BramHagens]

I've seen you post about this concert many times on r/Opeth. Can't wait!

[@jordancross9335]

Can you Also upload More Opeth Rehearsal Demos 1992 through 1993 Including Soul Torture With David Isberg On Vocals Dark Phantasia Demo with Requiem of Lost Souls And Marked The Damned And The Apostle in Triumph 1993 Full Demo and Live At Huset Huddinge 1993 Live Recordings

[@blazblueist]

Aww shieet here we go again!

[@metanoiablank]

Can't wait to watch this, yay !!

[@marwanmohamed877]

Literally just checked your channel out yesterday going like “isn’t it time to post again?” 😂

[@severiisopahkala5114]

I love you duuude

[@Agentt4777]

What a gem. Love it. Amazing find

[@metanoiablank]

As always, so grateful for all those gems you share with us. Thank you, thank you !

[@tuncelcel]

thank u so much

[@tuncelcel]

07:07 TAAKE moment

[@NamelessTree01]

Thank you for this masterpiece. What a great performance, it's so mesmerizing!

[@zenzen4097]

thank you .... please consider uploading opeth boots to heavymetalrarites or guitars101 .... thank you ......

[@marwanmohamed877]

Man.. gotta miss when he was plenty generous with those harsh vocals. And Martin Lopez is just pure perfection

[@violentbob]

fuck so good

[@neroncesar_]

Bootleg very very rare!

[@deathmetalmaniac9647]

Would you be interested in a demuffled mp3 I made out of this??

[@micheldroguett]

Thx, I wanted to listening live version without keyboard playing

[@Cheximus]

Damn, they really speed it up around the 2-3 minute mark. Not sure if that comes from Martin or what. As someone who used to play in a band, I hated it when that happened!

[@lilleskutt5467]

Lopez used to do that all the time. I'm probably in the minority of people that find his drumming frustrating, I always preferred Axenrot. Lopez studio drumming is really tasty though.

[@vik7593]

@@lilleskutt5467i, on the other hand, find Axenrot’s tendancy to slow the songs down to be frustrating. The energy on up-tempo opeth songs is insane

[@lilleskutt5467]

@@vik7593 He did tend to do that in the end, yeah. Their new guy is impressive as fuck though.

[@vik7593]

@@lilleskutt5467 I got to see them with Sami so no clue abt the new guy yet really

[@Megadedly]

How did you find this 😢

[@The_Karst]

A trade, decades ago.