Opeth - _The Roundhouse Tapes_
(Peaceville, 2007)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9.5 out of 10)
So, how about a live Opeth record that covers their entire career? Strictly speaking, the set list on _The Roundhouse Tapes_ lacks a song from _Deliverance_ to live up to that billing; but with such a stellar live album, who's going to care?

Opeth have stirred plenty of debate in recent years, including but certainly not limited to their latest album _Ghost Reveries_. Sidestepping all that noise for a moment, one thing should be perfectly clear from the start if you even consider picking up _The Roundhouse Tapes_: either the idea of a nicely packaged, finely recorded, expertly played Opeth live album appeals to you, or it doesn't. That's how you decide whether to buy _The Roundhouse Tapes_, because quite frankly I don't see any Opeth fans not liking this double-disc, or any detractors being swayed by it.

Speaking of _The Roundhouse Tapes_ being a double-disc album, it is actually a curiously distributed one at that: the first disc contains six tracks (including the longest ones), and the second only three. This could have been a bit of a misstep, but the second disc is very unlikely to fall into oblivion, as in addition to "Windowpane" from _Damnation_ it features "Blackwater Park" and set closer "Demon of the Fall" from _My Arms, Your Hearse_ -- more than sufficient reason for frequent spins.

The first and main disc of this set opens strongly with "When" from _My Arms, Your Hearse_, continuing well with "Ghost of Perdition" (the only track off their latest album). Time jumps back over a decade for the classic "Under the Weeping Moon" from their debut _Orchid_, followed by "Bleak" from _Blackwater Park_ and "Face of Melinda" from _Still Life_. The disc closes with a breathtaking rendition of "The Night and the Silent Water" from _Morningrise_.

There is always the odd missing track you would have liked them to include, but very little can be faulted here, as _The Roundhouse Tapes_ is an impeccable live album throughout. Like Opeth? Then go buy this.

Contact: http://www.peaceville.co.uk

(article published 11/3/2008)


CHATS
13/5/2001 A Bromley Opeth: Harvest of Blackness
8/7/1998 P Azevedo Opeth: Born Within Sorrow's Mask
ALBUMS
30/9/2011 A El Naby 4 Opeth - Heritage
9/8/2008 J Ulrey 8.5 Opeth - Watershed
24/8/2005 P Azevedo 9 Opeth - Ghost Reveries
30/1/2004 P Azevedo 10 Opeth - Lamentations - Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire DVD
24/7/2003 P Azevedo 8.5 Opeth - Damnation
31/5/2003 Q Kalis 10 Opeth - Deliverance
13/5/2001 C Flaaten 8 Opeth - Blackwater Park
9/12/1999 P Azevedo 9 Opeth - Still Life
8/7/1998 P Azevedo 10 Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse
11/10/1996 D Schinzel 8 Opeth - Morningrise
GIGS
8/5/2009 P Williams Motorhead / Arch Enemy / Opeth / Chimaira / August Burns Red / Nervecell / Hatred / Scarab Dubai Desert Rock Festival 2009
11/6/2008 A Lineker Opeth / Arch Enemy / Devildriver / 3 Inches of Blood Before the Watershed
26/12/2006 P Azevedo Opeth / Amplifier Everything Ends
21/3/2003 P Azevedo Opeth / Madder Mortem / Kormoss Morningrise in the Deadlands
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