After taking the metal world by storm with their unique sound OPETH come back to Rock City, Nottingham in support of their new album ''Pale Communion'' with ALCEST joining them on stage, the band played a sold out show at Roundhouse, London the night before so it would be hard for the show to live up to the velocity of the previous.

All over Nottingham you could spot an OPETH fan making their way to the venue all clad in various pieces of merchandise queueing right around the block to get inside to see some powerful prog metal.

First on the stage is ALCEST hailing from France to play their enchanting shoe-gaze sound, firstly the packed audience was weary of the band but by the end of their 45 minute set the whole crowd fell in love with them and were shouting for more. ALCEST barely spoke to the crowd but the music spoke for them, vocalist and guitarist Neige lead the band into a shoe-gazing daze with gentle vocals and mesmerizing yet simple guitar riffs whilst Winterhalter plays repetitive drum fills on his kit in the corner. The band only got to use a tiny proportion of the stage but they sure deserved to use all of it, their long but unique songs captured everyone's attention as soon as they listened to a minute of them. ALCEST have an already dedicated fan base but they've gained hundreds more tonight.

Setlist:
1. Wings
2. Opale
3. Là où naissent les couleurs nouvelles
4. Autre temps
5. Les Iris
6. Percées de lumière
7. Délivrance

Next on the stage is the almighty OPETH who arrive on earlier than expected, making the already rowdy fans screaming with excitement.
 

Opening up the set list with ''Eternal Rains Will Come'', ''Cusp Of Eternity'' and ''Bleak'' went down a huge treat with the fans who were all singing along and clapping at the end of each track, the set list contained a mixture of old school but played 3 songs from ''Pale Communion'' and despite it being very new to OPETH fans it was sure that they loved it as much as the band did.

Vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt was at his peak vocally when using cleans and growls for a mixture of the songs they played but what gave the evening it's extra magic was his sense of humour when speaking to the audience especially when an unexpected chant of ''Dey turk our jerbs'' took place and he couldn't help but laugh with them. Fredrik Akesson was playing greatly that night pulling out all the stops when playing solo's and riffs through a mixture of old and new OPETH tracks especially when playing songs like ''The Devils Orchard'' and ''The Lotus Eater'' which went down well with the crowd.
 

Overall OPETH put a show on tonight that no other band could rival, all of the band were playing top performances and the light visuals were certainly something to watch when hearing prog. OPETH and ALCEST both put on performances to rival various bands but tonight's show was something in itself, ALCEST are on their way to the top and OPETH show why they're at the top of the progressive ladder. Rock City proved why it's one of OPETH's favourite places to play with its crowd atmosphere and a set list for new and old fans to enjoy.
 

2014 has been a huge year for Prog Metaller's OPETH with their new album ''Pale Communion'' coming out and relentless touring around festivals and countries.

Setlist:
1. Eternal Rains Will Come
2. Cusp of Eternity
3. Bleak
4. The Moor
5. Advent
6. Elysian Woes
7. Windowpane
8. April Ethereal
9. The Devil's Orchard
10. The Lotus Eater
11. The Grand Conjuration
12. Deliverance
 

OPETH have been together for nearly 25 years now and they have taken the world by storm with their unique but enticing sound featured on their 11 album discography which gained them a highly dedicated fan base. Emily Coulter talks to Fredrik Akesson on the 3^rd date of OPETH's UK tour supporting ''Pale Communion'' and he talks about life on the road, joining the band 7 years ago and his favourite music with the band.

You've just started on your UK tour in support of the new album, how has it been so far?

Great so far, we started in Bristol where we played a pre-production gig which we hadn't done before so it felt really professional to rehearse with the full pa.
We've had extremely supportive fans and awesome energy from the audiences but the Roundhouse show was a very nice experience.

We also have changed the set list completely for this tour as we had a little bit of time off after the summer festivals.

Do you think fans have reacted well to the new songs live?

I think so, we play 3 songs from '''Pale Communion'' and the audience reaction was good but at least they haven't boo'd us!

On the tour for ''Heritage'' Mikael didn't want to play any of the back catalogue songs with growls but now we've decided to bring it back for the old school fans of OPETH.

The set list we have now is great, it covers every album except ''Orchid''

Do you prefer playing new or old OPETH songs live?

I think it's really exciting to play the new stuff as we haven't played it before but I like the mix of having various songs from OPETH's discography on the set list.

For people who've never seen OPETH live before, what can people expect from a live performance?

Well we always have Mikael's sarcasm present when he's talking to the audience and you never know what he'll come out with in between songs.
We spend a lot of time on the light show as it's important for our music so our lighting guy is really talented and knows what he is doing.

We can't have little people or dragons so lighting is what we must have to make the show cool.

What are the best and worst parts of touring?

Well it's different being on a tour bus than playing festivals and staying at hotels, the worst part is probably travelling and the highlight of the day is playing the show.

I always try and have a walk around the places I play even if it's just for an hour so I can get some fresh air and see the sights.

Since the beginning of OPETH's musical career the sound has changed dramatically, do you try to achieve a new sound on every album?

I think it's important that we always try something new yet it still sounds like OPETH in a new way, Mikael likes to push new sounds with the band even if it does upset some fans but for the most part if they listen to the album they finally enjoy it.

Some bands do every album the same and it's a good thing but that isn't the way for this band…

Pale Communion is the newest album of the band and is really unique, what inspired the creation of the album?

In a way it goes along with ''Heritage'' sound wise but very 70's/80's hard rock in the production and overall it was very organic.

Mikael wrote the whole album and he is very disciplined about it, he works from 9 till the morning and is writing till late afternoon with total concentration trying out new material.

So with that writing process you just mentioned, did you wait to hear back from Mikael or do you just provide input at random points?

I was down there laying down some guitars, he played me stuff too and asked what I thought about it so it's always a democracy in the writing process. If we don't like what he's created we don't continue with it but almost all the time he creates something great.

Any favourite songs from Pale Communion?

My current favourite is ''Moon Above, Sun Below'' as it reminds me of old OPETH due to the structure of the track as it has a lot of different sections.
But all are really good and all are so different from the previous song.

What is your favourite album you have done with OPETH?
I'm really proud of ''Watershed'' as it's the first one I played on as a member of the band but all albums since then I've enjoyed working on as everything since has been different.

What can fans of the band expect from the future?

We've started touring in support of the new album this year so it will carry on till the end of next year so probably 2016 for more music from us.

Do you write much on the road?

Rarely as there's a lot of distractions but sometimes I'll just improvise and record a few riffs on my phone as they may come in on a later date.

I must have 100 riffs stored away..

Mikael hates writing on the road but the song ''Goblin'' came about from jamming along during sound check.

You joined OPETH 7 years ago, has this been a great experience for you?

I was extremely happy to get the offer to join OPETH as I was already a fan of the band, I met the guys whilst I was playing with ARCH ENEMY and we hung out along so there was some good chemistry.

Mikael called me a few months after the tour and asked if I wanted to come over and have a jam session but he asked me to play some stuff so I think he secretly auditioned me that day.

You've worked with a huge range of bands in your musical career, did it teach you a lot about life within music?

It helped as every band was a different kind of style from hard rock and metal so when I joined OPETH it helped as the band has such a wide span of sounds but I had to learn the way Mikael plays guitar as he's so different in the way he writes and plays.

But looking back from the past 7 years it's a really solid ground to be on and I think OPETH is hungry to create more music.

Is there any bands or artists you'd like to work with?

So many, Ronnie James Dio would have been a dream to work with but he is sadly gone and same for Cliff Burton.

How long have you been playing guitar for?

I got my first guitar when I was 8 but didn't really practise much but when I was around 12/13 I really started to begin playing for around 7/8 hours a day.
But I used to play violin too.

What is your current guitar set up for album and live performances?

Me and Mikael used kind of the same things but we use Marshall Amps, MXR pedals, Axe FX and on this tour we're using PRS guitars.

Who are your main influences on playing guitar?

Well quite a few actually but mostly the likes of Angus Young, Ace Frehley, Toni Iommi, Eddie Van Halen and Yngwie Malmsteen.