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Deep Purple

Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally formed as a psychedelic rock and progressive rock band, they shifted to a heavier sound with their 1970 album Deep Purple in Rock. Deep Purple, together with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, have been referred to as the "unholy trinity of British hard rock and heavy metal in the early to mid-seventies". Listed in the 1975 Guinness Book of World Records as "the globe's loudest band" for a 1972 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre, they have sold over 100 million records worldwide.

Deep Purple have had several line-up changes and were broken up for eight years from 1976 to 1984, with drummer Ian Paice being the band's only constant member. The first four line-ups, which constituted the band's original 1968–1976 run, are officially indicated as Mark I (1968–1969), Mark II (1969–1973), Mark III (1973–1975) and Mark IV (1975–1976). Mark I comprised the founding members of Deep Purple, Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Rod Evans (vocals), Jon Lord (keyboards), Ian Paice (drums) and Nick Simper (bass), while Mark II was the most commercially successful line-up, with Ian Gillan and Roger Glover replacing Evans and Simper respectively. Mark III saw David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes replace Gillan and Glover respectively, while Mark IV featured Tommy Bolin replacing Blackmore. The band split in July 1976, and Bolin died from a drug overdose five months later. Deep Purple reformed in 1984 with the Mark II line-up, which remained in place until Joe Lynn Turner replaced Gillan in 1989. Gillan rejoined in 1992, with Blackmore leaving for the second and final time the following year. He was replaced temporarily by Joe Satriani and then permanently by Steve Morse. In 2002, Lord retired and was replaced by Don Airey, which saw Deep Purple settle into its longest running line-up, unchanged for the next twenty years, until Morse announced his departure from the band in 2022. His place was taken by Simon McBride. Paice, Glover, Gillan, Airey and McBride comprise the current line-up of Deep Purple.

Deep Purple were ranked number 22 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock programme, and a poll on radio station Planet Rock ranked them 5th among the "most influential bands ever". The band received the Legend Award at the 2008 World Music Awards. Deep Purple (specifically Blackmore, Lord, Paice, Gillan, Glover, Coverdale, Evans, and Hughes) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016.

Beginnings (1967–1968)
In 1967, former Searchers drummer Chris Curtis contacted London businessman Tony Edwards, in the hope he would manage a new group he was putting together, to be called Roundabout. Curtis' vision was a "supergroup" where the band members would get on and off, like a musical roundabout. Impressed with the plan, Edwards agreed to finance the venture with his two business partners John Coletta and Ron Hire, who composed Hire-Edwards-Coletta Enterprises (HEC).

The first recruit to the band was classically trained Hammond organ player Jon Lord, Curtis's flatmate, who had most notably played with the Artwoods (led by Art Wood, brother of future Faces and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood, and including Keef Hartley). Lord was then performing in a backing band for the vocal group The Flower Pot Men, along with bassist Nick Simper and drummer Carlo Little (Simper had previously been in Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, and survived the 1966 car crash that killed Kidd). Lord alerted the two that he had been recruited for the Roundabout project, after which Simper and Little suggested guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, whom Lord had never met. Simper had known Blackmore since the early 1960s when his first band, the Renegades, debuted around the same time as one of Blackmore's early bands, the Dominators.

HEC persuaded Blackmore to travel in from Hamburg to audition for the new group. He was making a name for himself as a studio session guitarist, and had also been a member of the Outlaws, Screaming Lord Sutch, and Neil Christian, the latter artist prompting Blackmore's move to Germany. Curtis's erratic behaviour and lifestyle, fuelled by his use of LSD, caused him to display a sudden lack of interest in the project he had started, forcing HEC to dismiss him from Roundabout. However, HEC was now intrigued with the possibilities Lord and Blackmore brought and persuaded Ritchie to return from Hamburg a second time. Lord and Blackmore began the recruitment of additional members, retaining Tony Edwards as their manager. Lord convinced Nick Simper to join on bass, but Blackmore insisted they leave Carlo Little behind in favour of drummer Bobby Woodman. Woodman was the former drummer for Vince Taylor's Play-Boys (for whom he had played under the name Bobbie Clarke). The band, still calling themselves Roundabout, started rehearsing and writing in Cadogan Gardens in South Kensington.

In March 1968, Lord, Blackmore, Simper and Woodman moved into Deeves Hall, a country house in South Mimms, Hertfordshire. The band would live, write and rehearse at the house; it was fully kitted out with the latest Marshall amplification and, at Lord's request, a Hammond C3 organ. According to Simper, "dozens" of singers were auditioned (including Rod Stewart and Woodman's friend Dave Curtiss) until the group heard Rod Evans of club band the Maze, and thought his voice fitted their style well. Tagging along with Evans was his band's drummer Ian Paice. Blackmore had seen an 18-year-old Paice on tour with the Maze in Germany in 1966, and had been impressed by his drumming. The band hastily arranged an audition for Paice, given that Woodman was vocally unhappy with the direction of the band's music. Both Paice and Evans won their respective jobs, and the line-up was complete.

During a brief tour of Denmark and Sweden in April, in which they were still billed as Roundabout, Blackmore suggested a new name: Deep Purple, after his grandmother's favourite song, "Deep Purple" by Peter DeRose. The group had resolved to choose a name after everyone had posted one on a board in rehearsal. Second to Deep Purple was "Concrete God", which the band thought was too harsh to take on.

Mark I (1968–1969): Shades of Deep Purple, The Book of Taliesyn and Deep Purple
In May 1968, the band moved into Pye Studios in London's Marble Arch to record their debut album, Shades of Deep Purple, which was released in America in July by Tetragrammaton Records, and in Britain in September by EMI Records. Vanilla Fudge was a notable influence on the band, with Blackmore claiming that the group started out wanting to be a "Vanilla Fudge clone". The group had success in North America with a cover of Joe South's "Hush", and by September 1968, the song had reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and number 2 in the Canadian RPM chart, pushing the Shades LP up to No. 24 on Billboard's pop albums chart. The following month, Deep Purple were booked to support Cream on the US leg of their Goodbye tour.

The band's second album, The Book of Taliesyn, was recorded quickly and released in North America in October 1968 to coincide with the tour. The album included Neil Diamond's "Kentucky Woman", which cracked the Top 40 in both the US (No. 38 on the Billboard chart) and Canada (No. 21 on the RPM chart), though sales for the album were not as strong (No. 54 in US, No. 48 in Canada). The Book of Taliesyn would not be released in the band's home country until the following year and, like its predecessor, it failed to have much impact on the UK Albums Chart.

Early in 1969, the band released the non-album single "Emmaretta", named after Emmaretta Marks, at that time a cast member of the musical Hair, whom Evans was trying to seduce. By March of that year, the band had completed recording for their third album, Deep Purple. The album included the track "April", which featured strings and woodwind, showcasing Lord's classical antecedents such as Bach and Rimsky-Korsakov. This would be the last recording by Deep Purple Mark I.

Deep Purple's North American record label, Tetragrammaton, delayed production of the Deep Purple album until after the band's 1969 American tour ended. This, as well as lackluster promotion by the nearly broke label, caused the album to sell poorly, finishing well out of the Billboard Top 100. Soon after Deep Purple was finally released in late June 1969, Tetragrammaton went out of business, leaving the band with no money and an uncertain future (Tetragrammaton's assets were eventually assumed by Warner Bros. Records, who would release Deep Purple's records in the US throughout the 1970s).

During the 1969 American tour, Lord and Blackmore met with Paice to discuss their desire to progress the heavy rock side of the band further. Having decided that Evans and Simper would not fit well with the style they envisioned, both were replaced that summer. Paice stated, "A change had to come. If they hadn't left, the band would have totally disintegrated." Both Simper and Blackmore noted that Rod Evans already had one foot out of the door. Simper said that Evans had met a girl in Hollywood and had eyes on being an actor, while Blackmore explained, "Rod just wanted to go to America and live in America." Evans and Simper would go on to co-form the bands Captain Beyond and Warhorse respectively.

Mark II (1969–1973): Concerto for Group and Orchestra, In Rock, Fireball, Machine Head, Made in Japan and Who Do We Think We Are
Deep Purple Mark II was formed in Hanwell Community Centre in West London in the summer of 1969. In search of a new vocalist, Blackmore set his own sights on 19-year-old singer Terry Reid. Though he found the offer "flattering", Reid was still bound by an exclusive recording contract with his producer Mickie Most and more interested in his solo career. Blackmore had no other choice but to look elsewhere. The band sought out singer Ian Gillan from Episode Six, a band that had released several singles in the UK without achieving any great commercial success. Six's drummer Mick Underwood – an old comrade of Blackmore's from his days in the Outlaws – introduced the band to Gillan and bassist Roger Glover. According to Nick Simper, "Gillan would join only with Roger Glover." This effectively killed Episode Six, which gave Underwood a persistent feeling of guilt that lasted nearly a decade, until Gillan recruited him for his new post-Purple band in the late 1970s. According to Blackmore, Deep Purple was only interested in Gillan and not Glover, but Glover was retained on the advice of Ian Paice.

Mark II's first release was a Roger Greenaway–Roger Cook tune titled "Hallelujah". At the time of its recording, Nick Simper still thought he was in the band and had called John Coletta to inquire about the recording dates for the song. He then found that the song had already been recorded with Glover on bass. The remaining original members of Deep Purple then instructed management to inform Simper that he had been officially replaced. Despite television appearances to promote the "Hallelujah" single in the UK, the song flopped. Blackmore had told the British weekly music newspaper Record Mirror that the band "need to have a commercial record in Britain", and described the song as "an in-between sort of thing"—a compromise between the type of material the band would normally record, and openly commercial material.

In September 1969, the band gained some much-needed publicity in the UK with the Concerto for Group and Orchestra, a three-movement epic composed by Lord as a solo project and performed by the band at the Royal Albert Hall in London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Malcolm Arnold. Alongside Days of Future Passed by the Moody Blues and Five Bridges by the Nice, it was one of the first collaborations between a rock band and an orchestra. This live album became their first release with any kind of chart success in the UK. Gillan and Blackmore were less than happy at the band being tagged as "a group who played with orchestras", both feeling that the Concerto was a distraction that would get in the way of developing their desired hard-rocking style. Lord acknowledged that while the band members were not keen on the project going in, at the end of the performance "you could have put the five smiles together and spanned the Thames." Lord would also write the Gemini Suite, another orchestra/group collaboration in the same vein, for the band in late 1970, although the band's recording of the piece would not be released until 1993. In 1975, Blackmore stated that he thought the Concerto for Group and Orchestra was not bad but that the Gemini Suite was horrible and very disjointed. Roger Glover later noted that Jon Lord had appeared to be the leader of the band in the early years.

Shortly after the orchestral release, Mark II began a hectic touring and recording schedule that was to see little respite for the next four years. The second album, and first studio album, of the Mark II era, released in 1970, was In Rock (a name supported by the album's Mount Rushmore-inspired cover), which contained the then-concert staples "Speed King", "Into The Fire" and "Child in Time". The non-album single "Black Night", released around the same time, finally put Deep Purple into the UK Top Ten. The interplay between Blackmore's guitar and Lord's distorted organ, coupled with Gillan's powerful, wide-ranging vocals and the rhythm section of Glover and Paice, now started to take on a unique identity that separated the band from its earlier albums. Along with Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin II and Sabbath's Paranoid, In Rock codified the budding heavy metal genre.

On the album's development, Blackmore stated: "I got fed up with playing with classical orchestras, and thought, 'well, this is my turn.' Jon was into more classical. I said, 'well you've done that, I'll do rock, and whatever turns out best we'll carry on with.'" In Rock performed well, especially in the UK where it reached No. 4, while the "Black Night" single reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, and the band performed the song live on the BBC's Top of the Pops. In addition to increasing sales in the UK, the band were making a name for themselves as a live act, particularly with regard to the sheer volume of their shows and the improvisational skills of Blackmore and Lord. Said Lord, "We took from jazz, we took from old fashioned rock and roll, we took from the classics. Ritchie and myself...used to swap musical jokes and attacks. He would play something, and I'd have to see if I could match it. That provided a sense of humour, a sense of tension to the band, a sense of, 'what the hell's going to happen next?' The audience didn't know, and nine times out of ten, neither did we!"

A second Mark II studio album, the creatively progressive Fireball, was issued in the summer of 1971, reaching number 1 on the UK Albums Chart. The title track "Fireball" was released as a single, as was "Strange Kind of Woman", not from the album but recorded during the same sessions (although it replaced "Demon's Eye" on the US version of the album). "Strange Kind of Woman" became their second UK Top 10 single, reaching No. 8.

Within weeks of Fireball's release, the band were already performing songs planned for the next album. One song (which later became "Highway Star") was performed at the first show of the Fireball tour, having been written on the bus to a show in Portsmouth, in answer to a journalist's question: "How do you go about writing songs?" On 24 October 1971 during the US leg of the Fireball tour, the band was set to play the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago when Ian Gillan contracted hepatitis, forcing the band to play without him, with bassist Glover singing the set. After this, the rest of the US dates were cancelled and the band flew home.

In early December 1971, the band travelled to Switzerland to record Machine Head. The album was due to be recorded at the Montreux Casino using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio, but a fire during a Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention concert, caused by a man firing a flare gun into the ceiling, burned down the Casino. This incident famously inspired the song "Smoke on the Water". The album was later recorded in a corridor at the nearby empty Grand Hôtel de Territet, with the exception of the music track to "Smoke on the Water". That was recorded at a vacant theatre called The Pavillon before the band was asked to leave. On recording "Smoke on the Water", Blackmore stated to BBC Radio 2: "We did the whole thing in about four takes because we had to. The police were banging on the door. We knew it was the police, but we had such a good sound in this hall. We were waking up all the neighbours for about five miles in Montreux, because it was echo-ing through the mountains. I was just getting the last part of the riff down, we'd just finished it, when the police burst in and said 'you've got to stop'. We had the track down."

Continuing to progress the musical direction of the previous two albums, Machine Head was released in late March 1972 and became one of the band's most famous releases. It was the band's second No. 1 album in the UK while re-establishing them in North America, hitting No. 7 in the US and No. 1 in Canada. It included tracks that became live classics, such as "Highway Star", "Space Truckin'", "Lazy" and "Smoke on the Water", the last of which remains Deep Purple's most famous song. They continued to tour and record at a rate that would be rare thirty years on; when Machine Head was recorded, the group had only been together three-and-a-half years, yet it was their sixth studio album and seventh album overall.

In January 1972, the band returned to tour the US once again. They then headed over to play Europe before resuming US dates in March. While in America, Blackmore contracted hepatitis, and the band attempted one show in Flint, Michigan, without a guitarist before attempting to acquire the services of Al Kooper, who rehearsed with the band before bowing out, suggesting Spirit guitarist Randy California instead. California played one show with the group, in Quebec City, Quebec on 6 April, but the rest of this tour was cancelled as well.

The band returned to the US in late May 1972 to undertake their third North America tour (of four total that year). A Japan tour in August of that year led to a double live album, Made in Japan. Originally intended as a Japan-only release, its worldwide release became an instant hit, reaching platinum status in five countries, including the US. It remains one of rock music's most popular and highest selling live albums.

Mark II continued to work and released the album Who Do We Think We Are in 1973. Spawning the hit single "Woman from Tokyo", the album hit No. 4 in the UK charts and No. 15 in the US chart, while achieving gold record status faster than any Deep Purple album released up to that time. However, internal tensions and exhaustion were more noticeable than ever. Following the successes of Machine Head and Made in Japan, the addition of Who Do We Think We Are made Deep Purple the top-selling artists of 1973 in the US.

Gillan admitted in a 1984 interview that the band was pushed by management to complete the Who Do We Think We Are album on time and go on tour, although they badly needed a break. The bad feelings, including tensions with Blackmore, culminated in Gillan quitting the band after their second tour of Japan in the summer of 1973, followed by the dismissal of Glover, at Blackmore's insistence. In interviews later, Lord called the end of Mark II while the band was at its peak "the biggest shame in rock and roll; God knows what we would have done over the next three or four years. We were writing so well."

Mark III (1973–1975): Burn and Stormbringer
The band hired Midlands bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, formerly of Trapeze. According to Paice, Glover told him and Lord a few months before his official termination that he wanted to leave the band, so they had started to drop in on Trapeze shows. After acquiring Hughes, they debated continuing as a four-piece, with Hughes as bassist and lead vocalist. According to Hughes, he was told the band was bringing in Paul Rodgers of Free as a co-lead vocalist, but by that time Rodgers had just started Bad Company. "They did ask", Rodgers recalled, "and I spoke to all of them at length about the possibility. Purple had toured Australia with Free's final lineup. I didn't do it because I was very much into the idea of forming Bad Company." Instead, auditions were held for lead vocal replacements. They settled on David Coverdale, an unknown singer from Saltburn in north-east England, primarily because Blackmore liked his masculine, blues-tinged voice.

Burn, the first album by Deep Purple Mark III, was released in February 1974 to great success, reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 9 in the US, and was followed by another world tour. The title track, which opens the album and would open most concerts during the Mark III and IV eras, was a conscious effort by the band to embrace the progressive rock movement, which was popularised at the time by bands such as Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Genesis and Gentle Giant. Another notable song from the album was a slow-burning blues number called "Mistreated".

Mark III embarked on a spring tour that included shows at Madison Square Garden, New York, on 13 March, and Nassau Coliseum four days later. The band co-headlined (with Emerson, Lake & Palmer) the California Jam festival at Ontario Motor Speedway in Ontario, southern California, on 6 April 1974. Attracting over 250,000 fans, the festival also included 1970s rock giants Black Sabbath, Eagles, Seals & Crofts and Earth, Wind & Fire. Portions of the show were telecast on ABC Television in the US, exposing the band to a wider audience. During the show, Blackmore doused his amplifiers with petrol and set them on fire, blowing a hole in the stage. A month later, the band's 22 May performance at the Gaumont State Cinema in Kilburn, London, was recorded and later released in 1982 as Live in London.

Hughes and Coverdale brought vocal harmonies and elements of funk and blues, respectively, to the band's music, a sound that was even more apparent on the late 1974 release Stormbringer. Along with the title track, the Stormbringer album had a number of songs that received significant radio play, such as "Lady Double Dealer", "The Gypsy" and "Soldier of Fortune", and the album reached No. 6 in the UK and No. 20 on the US Billboard chart. Blackmore publicly disliked most of the album, however, derisively calling it "shoeshine music" out of distaste for its funk and soul elements. A new live album, Made in Europe, culled from three shows on the Stormbringer tour, was assembled during the summer of 1975, but would not see release until late 1976. Blackmore left the band on 21 June 1975 to form his own band with Ronnie James Dio of Elf, called Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow, shortened to Rainbow after the first album.

Mark IV (1975–1976): Come Taste the Band
Following Blackmore's departure, the group considered disbanding but decided to continue and find another guitarist. Clem Clempson (Colosseum, Humble Pie), Zal Cleminson (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band), Mick Ronson (The Spiders From Mars) and Rory Gallagher were considered, and the final choice was American Tommy Bolin. There are at least two versions of the Bolin recruitment story: Coverdale claims to have been the one who suggested auditioning Bolin. "He walked in, thin as a rake, his hair coloured green, yellow and blue with feathers in it. Slinking along beside him was this stunning Hawaiian girl in a crochet dress with nothing on underneath. He plugged into four Marshall 100-watt stacks and...the job was his." But in an interview published by Melody Maker in June 1975, Bolin claimed that he came to the audition following a recommendation from Blackmore. Bolin had been a member of many late-1960s bands – Denny & The Triumphs, American Standard, and Zephyr, which released three albums from 1969 to 1972. Before he joined Deep Purple, Bolin's best-known recordings had been made as a session musician on Billy Cobham's 1973 jazz fusion album Spectrum, and as lead guitarist on two post-Joe Walsh James Gang albums: Bang (1973) and Miami (1974). He had also played with Dr. John, Albert King, the Good Rats, Moxy and Alphonse Mouzon, and was busy working on his first solo album, Teaser, when he accepted the invitation to join Deep Purple. The resulting album from Deep Purple Mark IV, Come Taste the Band, was released in October 1975, one month before Bolin's Teaser album. Despite mixed reviews and middling sales (#19 in the UK and #43 in the US), the collection revitalised the band once again, bringing a new, extreme funk edge to their hard rock sound. Bolin's influence was crucial, and with encouragement from Hughes and Coverdale, the guitarist developed much of the album's material. Despite Bolin's talents, his personal problems with hard drugs began to surface. During the Come Taste the Band tour many fans openly booed Bolin's inability to play solos like Ritchie Blackmore, not realising that Bolin was physically hampered by his addiction. At this same time, as he admitted in interviews years later, Hughes was suffering from cocaine addiction.

The last show on the tour was on 15 March 1976 at the Liverpool Empire Theatre. The break-up was finally made public in July 1976, with then-manager Rob Cooksey issuing a statement: "the band will not record or perform together as Deep Purple again". Bolin went on to record his second solo album, Private Eyes. On 4 December 1976, after a show in Miami supporting Jeff Beck, Bolin was found unconscious by his girlfriend and bandmates. Unable to wake him, she hurriedly called paramedics, but it was too late. The official cause of death was multiple-drug intoxication. Bolin was 25 years old.

Band split (1976–1984)
After the break-up, most of the members of Deep Purple went on to have considerable success in a number of other bands, including Rainbow (1975–1984, Ritchie Blackmore and, from 1979, Roger Glover), Whitesnake (1978–present, David Coverdale, Jon Lord until 1984 and Ian Paice during 1979 to 1982) and Gillan (1978–1982, Ian Gillan). Ian Gillan also joined Black Sabbath from late 1982 to early 1984 (Glenn Hughes would also join Sabbath for a short time later in the 1980s). The now-defunct Deep Purple began to gain a type of mystical status, with fan-driven reissues and newly assembled live and compilation albums being released throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s. This fuelled a number of promoter-led attempts to get the band to reform, especially with the revival of the hard rock market in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1980, a touring version of the band surfaced with Rod Evans, who had left Captain Beyond at the end of 1973, as the only member who had ever been in Deep Purple, eventually ending in successful legal action from the legitimate Deep Purple camp over unauthorised use of the name. Evans was ordered to pay damages of US$672,000 for using the band name without permission.

Mark II reunion (1984–1989): Perfect Strangers and The House of Blue Light
In April 1984, eight years after the demise of Deep Purple, a full-scale (and legal) reunion took place with the "classic" Mark II line-up of 1969–1973: Jon Lord, Ian Paice, Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan and Roger Glover. The reformed band signed a worldwide deal with PolyGram, with Mercury Records releasing their albums in the US, and Polydor Records in the UK and other countries. The album Perfect Strangers was recorded in Vermont and released in October 1984. The album was commercially successful, reaching number 5 in the UK Albums Chart and number 12 on the Billboard 200 in the US. The album included the singles and concert staples "Knockin' At Your Back Door" and "Perfect Strangers". Perfect Strangers became the second Deep Purple album to go platinum in the US, following Machine Head (Made in Japan would also finally hit platinum status in the US in 1986, the same year Machine Head increased to double platinum).

The reunion tour followed, starting in Australia and winding its way across the world to North America, then into Europe by the following summer. Financially, the tour was also a tremendous success. In the US, the 1985 tour out-grossed every other artist except Bruce Springsteen. The UK homecoming saw the band headline the 1985 Knebworth Fayre in June, where the weather was bad (torrential rain and 6 in of mud) in front of 80,000 fans. The gig was called the "Return of the Knebworth Fayre".

Mark II followed Perfect Strangers with The House of Blue Light in 1987, which was supported by another world tour (interrupted after Blackmore broke a finger on stage while trying to catch his guitar after throwing it in the air). A new live album Nobody's Perfect, which was culled from several shows on this tour, was released in 1988. In the UK a new Mark II version of "Hush" was also released in 1988 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Deep Purple.

Mark V (1989–1992): Slaves and Masters
Gillan was fired in 1989; his relations with Blackmore had again soured, and their musical differences had diverged too far. Originally, the band intended to recruit Survivor frontman Jimi Jamison as Gillan's replacement. After two weeks of sessions with the band, however, Jamison announced he could not join Deep Purple owing to complications with Scotti Brothers Records, his record label. Eventually, after auditioning several high-profile candidates, including Brian Howe (White Spirit, Ted Nugent, Bad Company), Doug Pinnick (King's X), Australians Jimmy Barnes (Cold Chisel) and John Farnham (Little River Band), Terry Brock (Strangeways, Giant) and Norman "Kal" Swan (Tytan, Lion, Bad Moon Rising), the band agreed on Joe Lynn Turner, who had previously been a member of Rainbow with Blackmore and Glover. This Mark V line-up recorded just one album, Slaves and Masters (1990), and undertook a world tour for most of 1991. The album achieved modest success, reaching number 45 in the UK and number 87 in the US Billboard chart, with some fans and critics feeling the music was closer in style to Rainbow than to Deep Purple.

Second Mark II reunion (1992–1993) and Mark VI (1993–1994): The Battle Rages On...
With the tour complete, the band set to work on another album, the early sessions of which saw Turner being forced out. 1993 would be Deep Purple's twenty-fifth anniversary year, with Lord, Paice and Glover (and the record company) wanting Gillan back for another Mark II reunion to celebrate this milestone. Although Blackmore preferred Turner to remain in the group, he grudgingly relented, after requesting and eventually receiving $250,000 in his bank account and Mark II completed the aptly titled The Battle Rages On... in 1993.

Blackmore still disagreed with the decision, creating more tension between himself and the rest of the band, especially Gillan. Of particular contention was that Gillan had reworked much of the material that had been written with Turner for the new album. Blackmore felt Gillan's rewrites made the songs less melodic than they had been in their original versions. The band began a European tour, which was documented on the live album Come Hell or High Water, released in 1994. A live home video of the same name was also released, covering a show in Birmingham, England that displayed a very disgruntled Blackmore, who did not perform many of the guitar parts and at one point threw a cup of water at a cameraman for unknown reasons. The complete show was eventually released in 2006 as Live at the NEC but was quickly withdrawn after Gillan publicly complained, feeling it represented a bad time in the group's history: "It was one of the lowest points of my life – all of our lives, actually".

Blackmore left Deep Purple for the second and final time after a show in Helsinki, Finland in November 1993. Joe Satriani was drafted to complete the Japanese dates in December and stayed on for a European summer tour in 1994. He was asked to join permanently, but his commitments to his contract with Epic Records prevented this. The band unanimously chose Dixie Dregs/Kansas guitarist Steve Morse as Satriani's successor in August 1994.

Mark VII (1994–2002): Purpendicular and Abandon
Morse's arrival revitalised the band creatively, and in 1996 a new album titled Purpendicular was released, showing a wide variety of musical styles. Though in the post-grunge mid '90s it was no surprise that it never made chart success on the Billboard 200 in the U.S. This Mark VII line-up then released a new live album Live at The Olympia '96 in 1997. With a revamped set list to tour, Deep Purple enjoyed successful tours throughout the rest of the 1990s, releasing the harder-sounding Abandon in 1998, and touring with renewed enthusiasm. In 1999, Lord, with the help of a Dutch fan, who was also a musicologist and composer, Marco de Goeij, painstakingly recreated the Concerto for Group and Orchestra, the original score having been lost. It was once again performed at the Royal Albert Hall in September 1999, this time with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paul Mann. The concert also included songs from each member's solo careers, as well as a short Deep Purple set, and the occasion was commemorated on the 2000 album In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra. 2001 saw the release of the box set The Soundboard Series, containing concerts from the 2001 Australian Tour plus two from Tokyo, Japan. Much of the next few years was spent on the road touring. The group continued forward until 2002 when founding member Lord (who, along with Paice, was the only member to be in all incarnations of the band) announced his amicable retirement from the band to pursue personal projects (especially orchestral work). Lord left his Hammond organ to his replacement, rock keyboard veteran Don Airey, who had helped Deep Purple out when Lord's knee was injured in 2001. Airey had previously worked with Glover as a member of Rainbow from 1979 to 1982.

Mark VIII (2002–2022): Bananas, Rapture of the Deep, Now What?!, Infinite, Whoosh! and Turning to Crime
In 2003, the new Mark VIII line-up released Bananas, their first studio album in five years, and began touring in support. EMI Records refused a contract extension with Deep Purple, possibly because of lower than expected sales. Actually In Concert with The London Symphony Orchestra sold more than Bananas.

The band played at the Live 8 concert in Park Place (Barrie, Ontario) in July 2005, and in October released their next album, Rapture of the Deep, which was followed by the Rapture of the Deep tour. Both Bananas and Rapture of the Deep were produced by Michael Bradford. In 2009 Ian Gillan said, "Record sales have been steadily declining, but people are prepared to pay a lot for concert tickets." In addition, Gillan stated: "I don't think happiness comes with money."

Deep Purple did concert tours in 48 countries in 2011. The Songs That Built Rock Tour used a 38-piece orchestra, and included a performance at the O2 Arena in London. Until May 2011, the band members had disagreed about whether to make a new studio album, because it would not really make money any more. Roger Glover stated that Deep Purple should make a new studio album "even if it costs us money." In early 2011, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes told VH1 they would like to reunite Mark III for the right opportunity, such as a benefit concert. The current band's chief sound engineer on nine years of tours, Moray McMillin, died in September 2011, aged 57. After a lot of songwriting sessions in Europe, Deep Purple decided to record through the summer of 2012, and the band announced they would release their new studio album in 2013. Steve Morse announced to French magazine Rock Hard that the new studio album would be produced by Bob Ezrin.

On 16 July 2012 the band's co-founding member and former organ player, Jon Lord, died in London, aged 71. In December 2012 Roger Glover stated that the band had completed work on 14 songs for a new studio album, with 11 or 12 tracks set to appear on the final album to be released in 2013. On 26 February 2013 the title of the band's nineteenth studio album was announced as Now What?!, which was recorded and mixed in Nashville, Tennessee, and released on 26 April 2013. The album contains the track "Vincent Price", named after the horror actor who had worked with both Gillan and Glover earlier in their careers.

On 25 November 2016, Deep Purple announced Infinite as the title of their twentieth studio album, which was released on 7 April 2017. In support for the album, Deep Purple embarked on 13 May 2017 in Bucharest, Romania on The Long Goodbye Tour. At the time of the tour's announcement in December 2016, Paice told the Heavyworlds website it "may be the last big tour", adding that the band "don't know". He described the tour as being long in duration and said: "We haven't made any hard, fast plans, but it becomes obvious that you cannot tour the same way you did when you were 21. It becomes more and more difficult. People have other things in their lives, which take time. But never say never." On 3 February 2017, Deep Purple released a video version of "Time for Bedlam", the first track taken from the new album and the first new Deep Purple track for almost four years.

On 29 February 2020, a new track, "Throw My Bones" was released online, with a new album Whoosh! planned for release in June. The release of the full-length album would later be postponed to 7 August 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A review in NME said the album sounded nothing like contemporary music of 2020, but suggested that "maybe that's a good thing". Gillan confirmed in an interview on 4 August 2020 that he and the other members of Deep Purple have no immediate plans to retire.

On 6 October 2021, the band had announced the title of their covers album, Turning to Crime which was released on 26 November 2021.

Mark IX (2022–present): =1
In March 2022, Morse announced that he had to take a hiatus from the band after his wife was diagnosed with cancer. The band, who had recently returned to live performances, continued touring with Simon McBride, formerly of Sweet Savage, standing in for Morse who at that point officially remained in the band. On 23 July 2022, it was announced that Morse would be leaving permanently in order to focus on caring for his wife as she battled cancer. Later that September, McBride was made an official member of the band.

In June 2022, Gillan announced that the band plans to work on their twenty-third studio album after the conclusion of the Whoosh! tour: "Deep Purple has got a writing session booked in March 2023, which I believe is to get started on thinking about our next record."

Titled =1 More Time, a 2024 tour was announced on 19 March of that year. Jefferson Starship will be special guests on the Europe dates, and Reef will be special guests for the UK shows. A new studio album - the band's twenty-third one and the first with McBride - will be released in summer 2024. On 24 April 2024 were revealed its title, =1, and track listing, and the release date stated as 19 July of that year. It is the fifth Deep Purple album Bob Ezrin has produced. The single "Portable Door" was released on 30 April. A second single, "Pictures of You", was released on 5 June 2024. A third single, "Lazy Sod" was released on 5 July 2024.

Legacy and influence
Deep Purple are cited as one of the pioneers of hard rock and heavy metal, along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. The BBC states they "made up the 'unholy trinity' of British hard rock and heavy metal during the genre's 1970s golden age." The group have influenced a number of rock and metal bands including Metallica, Judas Priest, Queen, Aerosmith, Van Halen, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Bon Jovi, Europe, Rush, Motörhead, and many new wave of British heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, and Def Leppard. Iron Maiden's bassist and primary songwriter, Steve Harris, states that his band's "heaviness" was inspired by "Black Sabbath and Deep Purple with a bit of Zeppelin thrown in." Van Halen founder Eddie Van Halen named "Burn" one of his favourite ever guitar riffs. Queen guitarist Brian May referred to Ritchie Blackmore as "a trail blazer and technically incredible — unpredictable in every possible way...you never knew what you were gonna see when you went to see Purple". Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich states, "When I was nine years old it was all about Deep Purple. My all time favourite [album] is still Made in Japan". The band's 1974 album Stormbringer was the first record owned by Till Lindemann, vocalist of German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein.

While firmly placed in the hard rock and heavy metal categories, Deep Purple's music frequently incorporated elements of progressive rock and blues rock, prompting Canadian journalist Martin Popoff to once call the band "a reference point of a genre in metal without categorisation."

In 2000, Deep Purple were ranked number 22 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" programme. At the 2008 World Music Awards, the band received the Legend Award. In 2011, they received the Innovator Award at the 2011 Classic Rock Awards in London. A Rolling Stone readers' poll in 2012 ranked Made in Japan the sixth best live album of all time. As part of the 40th anniversary celebrations of Machine Head (1972), Re-Machined: A Tribute to Deep Purple's Machine Head was released in 2012. This tribute album included Iron Maiden, Metallica, Steve Vai, Carlos Santana, The Flaming Lips, Black Label Society, Papa Roach vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, Chickenfoot (former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani and Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili Peppers) and the supergroup Kings of Chaos (Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott, Steve Stevens, and former Guns N' Roses members Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum).

In 2007, Deep Purple were one of the featured artists in the fourth episode of the BBC/VH1 series Seven Ages of Rock – an episode focusing on heavy metal. In May 2019 the group received the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Before October 2012, Deep Purple had never been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (though they have been eligible since 1993), but were nominated for induction in 2012 and 2013. Despite ranking second in the public's vote on the Rock Hall fans' ballot, which had over half a million votes, they were not inducted by the Rock Hall committee. Kiss bassist Gene Simmons and Rush bassist Geddy Lee commented that Deep Purple should obviously be among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees. There have been criticisms in the past over Deep Purple not having been inducted. Toto guitarist Steve Lukather commented, "they put Patti Smith in there but not Deep Purple? What's the first song every kid learns how to play? ["Smoke on the Water"] ... And they're not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? ... the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has lost its cool because of the glaring omissions." Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash expressed his surprise and disagreement regarding the non-induction of Deep Purple: "The list of people who haven't even been nominated is mind-boggling ... [the] big one for me is Deep Purple. How could you not induct Deep Purple?". Metallica band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett have also lobbied for the band's induction. In an interview with Rolling Stone in April 2014, Ulrich pleaded: "I'm not going to get into the politics or all that stuff, but I got two words to say: 'Deep Purple'. That's all I have to say: Deep Purple. Seriously, people, Deep Purple. Two simple words in the English language ... 'Deep Purple'! Did I say that already?" In 2015, Chris Jericho, professional wrestler and vocalist of rock band Fozzy, stated: "that Deep Purple are not in it [Hall of Fame]. It's bullshit. Obviously there's some politics against them from getting in there."

In response to these, a Hall of Fame chief executive said, "The definition of 'rock and roll' means different things to different people, but as broad as the classifications may be, they all share a common love of the music." Roger Glover got an inside word in there and they were talking of us as not "fashionable" enough. "One of the jurors said, 'You know, Deep Purple, they're just one-hit wonders.' How can you deal with that kind of Philistinism, you know?". Ian Gillan also commented, "I've fought all my life against being institutionalised and I think you have to actively search these things out, in other words mingle with the right people, and we don't get invited to those kind of things." On 16 October 2013 Deep Purple were again announced as nominees for inclusion to the Hall, and once again they were not inducted.

In April 2015, Deep Purple topped the list in a Rolling Stone readers poll of acts that should be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2016. In October 2015, the band were nominated for induction for the third time. In December 2015, the band were announced as 2016 inductees into the Hall of Fame, with the Hall stating: "Deep Purple's non-inclusion in the Hall is a gaping hole which must now be filled", adding that along with fellow inductees Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, the band make up "the Holy Trinity of hard rock and metal bands." The band was officially inducted on 8 April 2016. The Hall of Fame announced that the following members were included as inductees: Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, Rod Evans, David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes. Excluded from induction were Nick Simper, Tommy Bolin, Joe Lynn Turner, Joe Satriani, Steve Morse and Don Airey.

It was reported that Ian Gillan announced that he was barring Hughes, Coverdale, Evans and Blackmore from playing with them onstage, as these members are not in the current "living, breathing" version of the band. When interviewed by Loudwire he stated however that this was not the case. An email was sent from his management to Blackmore's management but Blackmore claimed he never received said email. Of the seven living inducted members, five showed up. Blackmore did not attend; a posting on his Facebook page claimed he was honoured by the induction and had considered attending, until he received correspondence from Bruce Payne, manager from the current touring version of Deep Purple saying, "No!" Evans, who had disappeared from the music scene more than three decades prior, also did not appear. Since Lord had died in 2012, his wife Vickie accepted his award on his behalf. The current members of the band played "Highway Star" for the opening performance. After a brief interlude playing the Booker T. & the M.G.'s song "Green Onions" while photos of the late Jon Lord flashed on the screen behind them, the current Deep Purple members played two more songs: "Hush" and their signature tune "Smoke on the Water". Although barred from playing with Deep Purple, both David Coverdale and Glenn Hughes (as well as Roger Glover) joined fellow inductees Cheap Trick and an all-star cast to perform a cover of the Fats Domino song "Ain't That a Shame".

Current members

 * Ian Paice – drums (1968–1976, 1984–present)
 * Roger Glover – bass, keyboards, occasional backing vocals (1969–1973, 1984–present)
 * Ian Gillan – lead vocals, harmonica, percussion (1969–1973, 1984–1989, 1992–present)
 * Don Airey – keyboards (2002–present)
 * Simon McBride – guitars, backing vocals (2022–present)

Former members

 * Jon Lord – keyboards, string arrangements, occasional backing vocals (1968–1976, 1984–2002; died 2012)
 * Ritchie Blackmore – guitars (1968–1975, 1984–1993)
 * Rod Evans – lead vocals (1968–1969)
 * Nick Simper – bass, backing vocals (1968–1969)
 * David Coverdale – lead and backing vocals (1973–1976)
 * Glenn Hughes – bass, backing and lead vocals (1973–1976)
 * Tommy Bolin – guitars, backing and occasional lead vocals (1975–1976; died 1976)
 * Joe Lynn Turner – lead vocals (1989–1992)
 * Joe Satriani – guitars (1993–1994)
 * Steve Morse – guitars (1994–2022)

Touring musicians

 * Christopher Cross – guitars (substitute for Blackmore at one show in 1970)
 * Randy California – guitars (substitute for Blackmore at one show in 1972; died 1997)
 * Candice Night – backing vocals (1993)
 * Nick Fyffe – bass (substitute for Glover at some shows in 2011)
 * Jordan Rudess – keyboards (substitute for Airey at one show in 2020)
 * Adam Wakeman – keyboards (substitute for Airey at one show in 2023)

Concert tours
Deep Purple are considered to be one of the hardest touring bands in the world. They have toured the world since 1968 (with the exception of their 1976–1984 split). In 2007, the band received a special award for selling more than 150,000 tickets in France, with 40 dates in the country in 2007 alone. Also in 2007, Deep Purple's Rapture of the Deep tour was voted number 6 concert tour of the year (in all music genres) by Planet Rock listeners. The Rolling Stones' A Bigger Bang tour was voted number 5 and beat Purple's tour by only 1%. Deep Purple released a new live compilation DVD box, Around the World Live, in May 2008. In February 2008, the band made their first-ever appearance at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia at the personal request of Dmitry Medvedev who at the time was a chairman of the state owned Gazprom company, which sponsored the concert, and who was considered a shoo-in for the seat of the Presidency of Russia. Prior to that, Deep Purple has toured Russia several times starting as early as 1996 but has not been considered to have played such a significant venue previously. The band was part of the entertainment for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, the Czech Republic.

 * Deep Purple Debut Tour, 1968 in Scandinavian countries
 * Shades of Deep Purple Tour, 1968
 * The Book of Taliesyn Tour, 1968–1969
 * Deep Purple European Tour, (pre-tour for In Rock) 1969–1970
 * In Rock World Tour, 1970–1971
 * Fireball World Tour, 1971–1972
 * Machine Head World Tour, 1972–1973
 * Deep Purple European Tour, (pre-tour for Burn) 1973–1974
 * Burn World Tour, 1974
 * Stormbringer World Tour, 1974–1975
 * Come Taste The Band World Tour, 1975–1976
 * Perfect Strangers Tour, World Tour, aka Reunion Tour 1984–1985
 * The House of Blue Light World Tour, 1987–1988
 * Slaves and Masters World Tour, 1991
 * Deep Purple 25 Years Anniversary World Tour, aka The Battle Rages on Tour, 1993
 * Deep Purple and Joe Satriani Tour, 1993–1994
 * Deep Purple Secret Mexican Tour (short warm-up tour with Steve Morse), 1994
 * Deep Purple Secret USA Tour, 1994–1995
 * Deep Purple Asian & African Tour, 1995
 * Purpendicular World Tour, 1996–1997
 * A Band on World Tour, 1998–1999
 * Concerto World Tour, 2000–2001
 * Deep Purple World Tour, 2001–2003
 * Bananas World Tour, 2003–2005
 * Rapture of the Deep tour, 2006–2011
 * The Songs That Built Rock Tour, 2011–2012
 * Now What? World Tour, 2013–2015
 * World Tour 2016, 2016
 * The Long Goodbye Tour, 2017–2019
 * Whoosh! Tour, 2022–2023
 * =1 More Time Tour, 2024

Studio albums

 * Shades of Deep Purple (1968)
 * The Book of Taliesyn (1968)
 * Deep Purple (1969)
 * Deep Purple in Rock (1970)
 * Fireball (1971)
 * Machine Head (1972)
 * Who Do We Think We Are (1973)
 * Burn (1974)
 * Stormbringer (1974)
 * Come Taste the Band (1975)
 * Perfect Strangers (1984)
 * The House of Blue Light (1987)
 * Slaves and Masters (1990)
 * The Battle Rages On... (1993)
 * Purpendicular (1996)
 * Abandon (1998)
 * Bananas (2003)
 * Rapture of the Deep (2005)
 * Now What?! (2013)
 * Infinite (2017)
 * Whoosh! (2020)
 * Turning to Crime (2021)
 * =1 (2024)

title: Deep Purple


text:
Democracy movements of China

Democracy movements of China are a series of organized political movements, inside and outside of China, addressing a variety of grievances, including objections to socialist bureaucratism and objections to the continuation of the one-party rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) itself. The Democracy Wall movement of November 1978 to spring 1981 is typically regarded as the beginning of contemporary Chinese democracy movement. In addition to the Democracy Wall movement, the events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre are among the notable examples of Chinese democracy movements.

History
The beginning of China's democracy movements is usually regarded as the Democracy Wall movement of November 1978 to spring 1981. The Democracy Wall movement framed the key issue as the elimination of bureaucratism and the bureaucratic class. Former Red Guards from both rebel and conservative factions were the core of the movement. Democracy Wall participants agreed that "democracy" was the means to resolve the conflict between the bureaucratic class and the people, the nature of the proposed democratic institutions was a major source of disagreement. A majority of participants in the movement favored viewed the movement as part of a struggle between correct and incorrect notions of Marxism. Many participants advocated classical Marxist views that drew on the Paris Commune for inspiration. The Democracy Wall movement also included non-Marxists and anti-Marxists, although these participants were a minority. Demands for "democracy" were frequent but without an agreed-upon meaning. Participants in the movement variously associated the concept of democracy with socialism, communism, liberal democracy, capitalism, and Christianity. They drew on a diverse range of intellectual resources "ranging from classical Marxist and socialist traditions to Enlightenment philosophers, [socialist] experiments in Yugoslavia, and Western liberal democracy."

Significant documents of the Democracy Wall Movement include The Fifth Modernization manifesto by Wei Jingsheng, who was sentenced to fifteen years in prison for authoring the document. In it, Wei argued that political liberalization and the empowerment of the laboring masses was essential for modernization, that the CCP was controlled by reactionaries and that the people must struggle to overthrow the reactionaries via a long and possibly bloody fight.

Throughout the 1980s, these ideas increased in popularity among college-educated Chinese. In response to growing corruption, economic dislocation and the sense that reforms in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe were leaving China behind, the Tiananmen Square protests erupted in 1989. These protests were violently suppressed by government troops on June 4, 1989. In response, a number of pro-democracy organizations were formed by overseas Chinese student activists, and there was considerable sympathy for the movement among Westerners, who formed the China Support Network (CSN).

Government's response
Ideologically, the government's first reaction to the democracy movement was an effort to focus on the personal behavior of individual dissidents and argue that they were tools of foreign powers. In the mid-1990s, the government began using more effective arguments which were influenced by Chinese Neo-Conservatism and Western authors such as Edmund Burke. The main argument was that China's main priority was economic growth, and economic growth required political stability. The democracy movement was flawed because it promoted radicalism and revolution which put the gains that China had made into jeopardy. In contrast to Wei's argument that democracy was essential to economic growth, the government argued that economic growth must come before political liberalization, comparable to what happened in the Four Asian Tigers.

With regard to political dissent engendered by the movement, the government has taken a three-pronged approach. First, dissidents who are widely known in the West such as Wei Jingsheng, Fang Lizhi, and Wang Dan are deported. Although Chinese criminal law does not contain any provisions for exiling citizens, these deportations are conducted by giving the dissident a severe jail sentence and then granting medical parole. Second, the less well-known leaders of a dissident movement are identified and given severe jail sentences. Generally, the government targets a relatively small number of organizers who are crucial in coordinating a movement and who are then charged with endangering state security or revealing official secrets. Thirdly, the government attempts to address the grievances of possible supporters of the movement. This is intended to isolate the leadership of the movement, and prevent disconnected protests from combining into a general organized protest that can threaten the CCP's hold on power.

Chinese socialist democracy
CCP leaders assert there are already elements of democracy; they dubbed the term "Chinese socialist democracy" for what they describe as a participatory representative government.

Academic interpretations
Academic Lin Chun criticizes the phrase "democracy movement" as typically used in the scholarly and media discourse on China, noting that the term is often used exclusively to refer to the "demands and activism of an urban, educated group of people seeking liberal more than democratic values." She notes, for example, that the political turbulence in universities over the period 1986 to 1989 had specific flash points ranging from anger at the government's "too soft" position on China–Japan relations to poor management of student welfare.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Democracy movements of China


text:
Opeth

Opeth are a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1989. The band incorporates folk, blues, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Songs may include acoustic guitar passages, Mellotrons, death growls, and strong dynamic shifts.

The group have been through several personnel changes since early in their history, including the replacement of every original member. Lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has been Opeth's driving force since the departure of founder and lead vocalist David Isberg in 1992. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since their first world tour in support of the 2001 album Blackwater Park, they have had several other major world tours.

Opeth have released 13 studio albums, four live DVDs, four live albums (three that are in conjunction with DVDs), and two boxsets. The band released its debut album Orchid in 1995. With their eighth studio album, Ghost Reveries (2005), the band achieved chart success in several dozen countries, including Top Ten in Sweden. Their ninth studio album, Watershed (2008), topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release, and reached 23 on the US Billboard 200 chart. As of November 2009, the band have sold over 1.5 million copies of their albums and DVDs worldwide, including 300,000 collective SoundScans of their albums Blackwater Park, Damnation, and Deliverance in the United States.

Formation (1989–1993)

Opeth was formed as a death metal band in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by David Isberg, with some friends from Täby; Isberg was the lead vocalist. The band name was taken from the Wilbur Smith novel The Sunbird, in which Opet is the name of a fictional city. Isberg asked former Eruption band member and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt to join Opeth as a bassist, replacing Martin Persson. When Åkerfeldt showed up to practice on the day after Isberg invited him, it became clear that Isberg had not told the band members, including the band's current bassist, that Åkerfeldt would be joining the band. An ensuing argument led to all members but Isberg and Åkerfeldt leaving to form a new project. At this time Opeth declared themselves to be the "most evil band in the world".

Isberg and Åkerfeldt recruited drummer Anders Nordin, bassist Nick Döring, and guitarist Andreas Dimeo. Unsatisfied with Opeth's slow progress, Döring and Dimeo left the band after their first performance, and were replaced by guitarist Kim Pettersson and bassist Johan De Farfalla. After the next show, De Farfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend in Germany, and was initially replaced by Mattias Ander, before Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren took on the role of bassist. Rhythm guitarist Kim Pettersson left following the band's next performance, and Lindgren switched to guitar, with Stefan Guteklint taking over the role of bassist. The following year, David Isberg left the band citing "creative differences".

Following Isberg's departure, Åkerfeldt took over vocal duties and he, Lindgren, and Nordin spent the next year writing and rehearsing new material. The group began to rely less on the blast beats and aggression typical of death metal, and incorporated acoustic guitars and guitar harmonies into their music; developing the core sound of Opeth. Bassist Guteklint was dismissed by the band after they signed their first record deal with Candlelight Records in 1994. Opeth initially employed former member De Farfalla as a session bassist for their demo recordings, and he went on to join on a full-time basis following the release of Opeth's debut album, "Orchid", in 1995.

Orchid, Morningrise, and My Arms, Your Hearse (1994–1998)
Opeth recorded its debut album, Orchid, with producer Dan Swanö in April 1994. Because of distribution problems with the newly formed Candlelight Records, the album was not released until 15 May 1995, and only in Europe. Orchid tested the boundaries of traditional death metal, featuring acoustic guitars, piano, and clean vocals.

After a few live shows in the United Kingdom, Opeth returned to the studio in March 1996 to begin work on a second album, again produced by Dan Swanö. The album, titled Morningrise, was released in Europe on 24 June 1996. With only five songs, but lasting 66 minutes, it features Opeth's longest song, the 20-minute "Black Rose Immortal". Opeth toured the UK in support of Morningrise, followed by a 26-date Scandinavian tour with Cradle of Filth. While on tour, Opeth attracted the attention of Century Media Records, who signed the band and released the first two albums in the United States in 1997.

In 1997, after the tour, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren dismissed De Farfalla for personal reasons, without the consent of Nordin. When Åkerfeldt informed Nordin, who was on a vacation in Brazil, Nordin left the band and remained in Brazil for personal reasons. Former Eternal members, drummer Martín López (formerly of Amon Amarth) and bassist Martín Méndez, responded to an ad at a music shop placed by Åkerfeldt. López and Méndez were fans of the band and took the ads down themselves so no other musicians could apply for the job. Åkerfeldt and Lindgren did not want the Martíns to join at first, due to them already knowing each other; they felt that they wanted two strangers so that there wouldn't be two camps in the band, but eventually hired both. López made his debut with Opeth playing on a cover version of Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow", which was included on the album A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden.

With a larger recording budget from Century Media, Opeth began work on its third album, with noted Swedish producer Fredrik Nordström, at Studio Fredman in August 1997. Although Opeth had Méndez, due to time constraints Åkerfeldt played bass on the album. My Arms, Your Hearse was released to critical acclaim on 18 August 1998.

Still Life and Blackwater Park (1999–2001)
In 1999, the ownership of Candlelight Records changed hands, as owner and friend of the band Lee Barrett left the company. Opeth signed with UK label Peaceville Records in Europe, which was distributed by Music For Nations. Opeth reserved time at Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, but recording was postponed while the studio was relocated. Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month and Still Life was released on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in the United States until February 2001. Still Life was the first album recorded with Méndez, and also the first Opeth album to bear any kind of caption on the front cover upon its initial release, including the band's logo. Allmusic called Still Life a "formidable splicing of harsh, often jagged guitar riffs with graceful melodies." As explained by Åkerfeldt, Still Life is a concept album: "The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back... A lot of bad things start happening."

Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth returned to Studio Fredman to begin work on its next album, with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson producing. The band sought to recreate the recording experience of Still Life, and again entered the studio with minimal rehearsals, and no lyrics written. "This time it was tough," Åkerfeldt said, "I feel pleasantly blown away by the immense result, though. It was indeed worth the effort." Wilson also pushed the band to expand its sound, incorporating new sounds and production techniques. "Steve guided us into the realms of 'strange' noises for guitars and voice", Åkerfeldt said.

Opeth released its fifth studio album, Blackwater Park, on 21 February 2001. AllMusic has stated that the album "keeps with Opeth's tradition by transcending the limits of death/black metal and repeatedly shattering the foundations of conventional songwriting". In support of Blackwater Park, Opeth embarked on its first world tour, headlined Europe for the first time, and made an appearance at the 2001 Wacken Open Air festival in Germany, playing to a crowd of 60,000.

Deliverance and Damnation (2002–2004)
Opeth returned to Sweden after touring in support of Blackwater Park, and began writing for the next album. At first, Åkerfeldt had trouble putting together new material: "I wanted to write something heavier than we'd ever done, still I had all these great mellow parts and arrangements which I didn't want to go to waste." Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, a long-time friend of Åkerfeldt, suggested writing music for two separate albums—one heavy and one soft.

Excited at the prospect, Åkerfeldt agreed without consulting his bandmates or record label. While his bandmates liked the idea of recording two separate albums, Åkerfeldt had to convince the label: "I had to lie somewhat ... saying that we could do this recording very soon, it won't cost more than a regular single album." With most of the material written, the band rehearsed just once before entering Nacksving Studios in 2002, and again with producer Steven Wilson in Studio Fredman. Under pressure to complete both albums simultaneously, Åkerfeldt said the recording process was "the toughest test of our history." After recording basic tracks, the band moved production to England to first mix the heavy album, Deliverance, with Andy Sneap at Backstage Studios. "Deliverance was so poorly recorded, without any organisation whatsoever," Åkerfeldt claimed, that Sneap "is credited as a 'saviour' in the sleeve, as he surely saved much of the recording."

Deliverance was released on 4 November 2002, and debuted at number 19 on the US Top Independent Albums chart, marking the band's first US chart appearance. AllMusic stated, "Deliverance is altogether more subtle than any of its predecessors, approaching listeners with haunting nuances and masterful dynamics rather than overwhelming them with sheer mass and complexity."

Opeth performed a one-off concert in Stockholm, then returned to the UK to finish recording vocals for the second of the two albums, Damnation, at Steven Wilson's No Man's Land Studios. Although Åkerfeldt believed the band could not finish both albums, Opeth completed Deliverance and Damnation in just seven weeks of studio time, which was the same amount spent on Blackwater Park alone. Damnation was released on 14 April 2003, and garnered the band its first appearance on the US Billboard 200 at number 192. The album also won the 2003 Swedish Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance. On 1 January 2016, Opeth re-released both Deliverance and Damnation in one package, containing CD and DVD versions, along with new mixing.

The band embarked on its biggest tour yet, playing nearly 200 shows in 2003 and 2004. Opeth performed three special shows in Europe with two song lists each—one acoustic set and one heavy set. The band recorded its first DVD, Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003), at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London, England. The DVD features a two-hour performance, including the entire Damnation album, several songs from Deliverance and Blackwater Park, and a one-hour documentary about the recording of Deliverance and Damnation. Lamentations was certified Gold (over 50,000 sales) by the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

Opeth was scheduled to perform in Jordan without a crew due to the fear of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. Opeth's tour manager distributed 6,000 tickets for the concert, but before the band left for Jordan, drummer Lopez called Åkerfeldt stating he was having an anxiety attack and could not perform, forcing the band to cancel the show. In early 2004, Lopez was sent home from Canada after more anxiety attacks on tour. Opeth decided against cancelling the remainder of the tour, with Lopez's drum technician filling in for two concerts. Lopez promised that he would return to the tour as soon as he could, but two shows later Opeth asked Strapping Young Lad drummer Gene Hoglan to fill in. Lopez returned to Opeth for the Seattle show on the final leg of the Deliverance and Damnation tour.

Ghost Reveries (2005–2007)
Opeth returned home in 2004 to start writing new material for its eighth album; by the end of the year, they had finished writing it. After touring with the band on keyboards for more than a year, Per Wiberg officially became a member of the band. European label, Music For Nations, closed its doors in 2005, and after negotiations with various labels, the band signed with Roadrunner Records. Åkerfeldt said the primary reason for signing with Roadrunner was the label's wide distribution, ensuring the album would be available at larger-chain retailers. When news leaked that the band was signed to Roadrunner, who predominantly worked with trend-oriented rock and metal, some fans accused the band of selling out. "To be honest," Åkerfeldt said, "that's such an insult after 15 years as a band and 8 records. I can't believe we haven't earned each and every Opeth fan's credibility after all these years. I mean, our songs are 10 minutes long!" The band rehearsed for three weeks before entering the studio, the first time the band rehearsed since the 1998 album, My Arms, Your Hearse. During rehearsal, keyboardist Wiberg joined Opeth as a full-time member. Opeth recorded at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, from 18 March to 1 June 2005, and released the resulting Ghost Reveries on 30 August 2005, to critical acclaim and commercial success. The album debuted at number 64 in the US, and number nine in Sweden, higher than any previous Opeth release. Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net gave the album ten out of ten, one of only 21 albums to achieve a perfect rating from the site. Rod Smith of Decibel magazine called Ghost Reveries "achingly beautiful, sometimes unabashedly brutal, often a combination of both".

On 12 May 2006, Martin Lopez announced that he had officially parted ways with Opeth due to health problems, and was replaced by Martin Axenrot. Opeth toured on the main stage of Gigantour in 2006, alongside Megadeth. Ghost Reveries was re-released on 31 October 2006, with a bonus cover song (Deep Purple's "Soldier of Fortune"), a DVD featuring a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and a documentary on the making of the record. A recording of Opeth's live performance at the Camden Roundhouse, in London, on 9 November 2006, was released as the double live album The Roundhouse Tapes, which topped the Finnish DVD chart.

On 17 May 2007, Peter Lindgren announced he would be leaving Opeth after 16 years. "The decision has been the toughest I've ever made but it is the right one to make at this point in my life," Lindgren said. "I feel that I simply have lost some of the enthusiasm and inspiration needed to participate in a band that has grown from a few guys playing the music we love to a worldwide industry." Ex-Arch Enemy guitarist Fredrik Åkesson replaced Lindgren, as Åkerfeldt explained "Fredrik was the only name that popped up thinking about a replacement for Peter. In my opinion he's one of the top three guitar players out of Sweden. We all get along great as we've known each other for maybe four years and he already has the experience to take on the circus-like lifestyle we lead as members of Opeth."

Watershed and In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall (2008–2010)
Opeth entered Fascination Street Studios in November 2007 to record their ninth studio album, with Åkerfeldt producing. By January 2008, Opeth had recorded 13 songs, including three cover songs. The finished album, Watershed, features seven tracks, with cover songs used as bonus tracks on different versions of the album. Watershed was released on 3 June 2008. Åkerfeldt described the songs on the album as "a bit more energetic". Opeth toured in support of Watershed, including headlining the UK Defenders of the Faith tour with Arch Enemy, an appearance at Wacken Open Air, and the Progressive Nation tour with headliner Dream Theater. Watershed was Opeth's highest-charting album to date, debuting at number 23 on the US Billboard 200, on the Australian ARIA album charts at number seven and at number one on Finland's official album chart. Opeth went on a worldwide tour in support of Watershed. From September to October, the band toured North America backed by High on Fire, Baroness, and Nachtmystium. They returned to tour Europe for the rest of the year with Cynic and The Ocean.

In 2010, Opeth wrote and recorded the new track, "The Throat of Winter", which appeared on the digital EP soundtrack of the video game, God of War III. Åkerfeldt described the song as "odd" and "not very metal." To celebrate their 20th anniversary, Opeth performed a six-show, worldwide tour called Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology, from 30 March through 9 April 2010. Blackwater Park was performed in its entirety, along with several songs never before performed. The concert of 5 April 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England was filmed for a DVD and live album package titled In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. The set was released on 21 September 2010, in 2-DVD and 2-DVD/3-CD configurations. For the DVD the concert was split into two sets. The first set consists of the entire Blackwater Park album, while the second set contains one song from every album excluding Blackwater Park, in chronological order representing the twenty years of "evolution" in their music. Åkerfeldt stated, "I can't believe it, but, fuck, we're celebrating 20 years. I've been in this band ever since I was 16. It's insane." A special edition of Blackwater Park was released in March 2010 to coincide with the tour.

Heritage (2011–2013)

In September 2010, Mikael Åkerfeldt stated that he was writing for a new Opeth album. The band announced on their website that they would start recording their tenth album on 31 January 2011, at the Atlantis/Metronome studios in Stockholm, once again with Jens Bogren (engineering) and Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree as co-producer. Shortly after mixing was complete on the new album in April 2011, Per Wiberg left the band. Åkerfeldt said the band, "came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per. He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There's no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that's that."

Opeth's tenth album, Heritage, was released on 14 September 2011, to generally favorable reviews. The album sold 19,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at number 19 on the Billboard 200 chart. Heritage debuted at number four in the band's native country of Sweden. Heritage became the second Opeth album to not feature any death growls and had a much more progressive style than their previous albums, a direction that Åkerfeldt was already interested in pursuing with Opeth.

The first two songs Åkerfeldt wrote for Heritage were in the style of Watershed. After hearing the songs for the first time, Martín Méndez told Åkerfeldt that he would be disappointed if the album continued in that direction. Relieved that Méndez was not interested in doing another conventional Opeth album, Åkerfeldt scrapped the two songs and started the writing process over in a different style. In the press release for Heritage, Mikael Åkerfeldt revealed that he felt as though he had been building to write the album since he was 19 years old. In a review for Allmusic, Thom Jurek called Heritage the band's most adventurous album, describing the songs as "drenched in instrumental interludes, knotty key and chord changes, shifting time signatures, clean vocals, and a keyboard-heavy instrumentation that includes Mellotrons, Rhodes pianos, and Hammond organs".

Opeth supported Heritage with a tour that would last for over 200 tour dates. The tour was the band's first with new keyboardist, Joakim Svalberg, who played on the opening track of the album. During the tour, Opeth played with bands such as Katatonia, Pain of Salvation, Mastodon, Ghost and Anathema all over the world in countries such as the United States, Europe, Turkey, India, Japan, Greece, Israel, Latin America and Sweden. The tour concluded with "Melloboat 2013".

Pale Communion (2014–2015)
On 26 August 2014, Opeth released its eleventh studio album, titled Pale Communion. Åkerfeldt began working on new material as far back as August 2012. In January 2014 he stated, "We've been looking at [tracking the next album at] Rockfield Studios in Wales where Queen recorded "Bohemian Rhapsody", but we haven't made a decision yet, but it will be an expensive album. There's a lot going on, lots of string arrangements that we haven't had in the past." Despite fearing that the band's new musical direction would split Opeth's fanbase, when asked if it will it be heavier or softer than Heritage, Åkerfeldt said, "Maybe a little bit heavier, not death metal heavy, but hard rock/heavy metal heavy. There's also lots of progressive elements and acoustic guitars, but also more sinister-sounding riffs." Åkerfeldt also produced the new album which will include string instrumentation, something that he became interested in doing when working on Storm Corrosion. The band members in Opeth felt rejuvenated after creating Heritage which resulted in closer relationships between them.

The Guardian reviewed Pale Communion positively, calling it "strange, intricate prog-metal genius" somewhat flawed by Åkerfeldt's indulgent vocal styling. The album saw Opeth's highest chart positions in the history of the band with Pale Communion debuting at number 19 in the US, number 3 in Sweden, and number 14 in the United Kingdom. It sold 13,000 copies in its first week of release in the US.

Pale Communion was supported with more touring from Opeth. In 2015, Opeth played several concerts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the band. At these special shows, the band was doing two sets. The first set is 2005's Ghost Reveries as a ten-year anniversary celebration of the album. The second set spanned the rest of the band's career, celebrating their 25th anniversary. Åkerfeldt expressed excitement for the concerts.

Sorceress, Garden of the Titans and In Cauda Venenum (2016–2020)
On 15 June 2016, Nuclear Blast Entertainment announced the signing of Opeth. Three days later, on 18 June, Opeth released a 30-second teaser for their new album, Sorceress. A month later, on 18 July, the band confirmed the album would be released on 30 September, in addition to revealing the artwork and track list. Mikael Åkerfeldt described it as, "A fine little record. My favorite in our discography right now. Of course. That's how it should be, right? It's both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it." The album was the first project under Moderbolaget Records, a joint venture between Opeth and Nuclear Blast. Moderbolaget means "the parent company" in Swedish.

On 25 July 2016, in the build up towards the album release, the band posted the first Sorceress: Studio Report on their YouTube channel. In the behind-the-scenes studio tour, it is confirmed that the band had returned to Rockfield Studios where they previously recorded Pale Communion. At the end of the video, there is a 20-second excerpt of a track believed to be from the album featuring heavily down-tuned guitars. On 1 August 2016, the band released a lyric video for the title-track 'Sorceress' on their YouTube channel. On 5 September 2016, Opeth released a lyric video for the second single titled 'Will O the Wisp,' again through their YouTube channel and website Opeth's video for "Era" was nominated for "Video of the Year" at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards, where they ultimately won "International Band of the Year".

On 2 October 2017, Åkerfeldt said he has been thinking about doing something "twisted" and different for the next studio album, which could be released by mid-to-late 2019. On 20 November 2017, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated that the band will not have any gigs in the upcoming months, until the 2018 summer festivals. During this break the band will focus on writing songs for the new album. On 11 July 2018, during an interview with FaceCulture, Åkesson said "I've recorded a lot of solos so far. And Mikael Åkerfeldt has almost already written 12 songs for the new album, so we have more material than enough for an album". On 22 May 2019, the band announced their thirteenth studio album, In Cauda Venenum, due for release on 27 September 2019. On 12 July 2019, Opeth released the first single from In Cauda Venenum entitled "Heart in Hand" in both English and Swedish.

Departure of Axenrot and upcoming fourteenth studio album (2021–present)
On 16 November 2021, it was announced that longtime drummer Martin Axenrot had left the band due to conflict of interests and his refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and was replaced by Sami Karppinen for the North American tour. On 9 September 2022, it was announced Waltteri Väyrynen, formerly of Paradise Lost, as well as Alexi Laiho's project Bodom After Midnight, was the band's new drummer.

Musical style and influences
As Opeth's primary songwriter and lyricist, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt heads the direction of Opeth's sound. He was influenced at a young age by the 1970s progressive rock bands King Crimson, Yes, Genesis, Camel, P.F.M., Hawkwind, and Gracious, and by heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Slayer, Death, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Voivod, and, most importantly, Judas Priest. Åkerfeldt considers Judas Priest's Sad Wings of Destiny (1976) the best metal album of all time, and notes that there was a time when he listened only to Judas Priest. While warming up before Opeth concerts, Åkerfeldt frequently sings "Here Come the Tears" from Judas Priest's third album Sin After Sin (1977). Åkerfeldt later discovered progressive rock and folk music, both of which had a profound impact on the sound of the band.

Opeth's distinct sound mixes death metal with progressive rock. Steve Huey of AllMusic refers to Opeth's "epic, progressive death metal style". Ryan Ogle of Blabbermouth described Opeth's sound as incorporating "the likes of folk, funk, blues, '70s rock, goth and a laundry list of other sonic oddities into their trademark progressive death style." In his review of Opeth's 2001 album Blackwater Park, AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia wrote, "Tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion, usually traversing ample musical terrain, including acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies—any of which are subject to savage punctuations of death metal fury at any given moment." Åkerfeldt commented on the diversity of Opeth's music:

"I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything. It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going."

More recently, Opeth have abandoned their death metal sound resulting in a mellower progressive rock sound. When talking about Heritage, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson stated:

"In the beginning it took me a little while to get used to the new idea of the sound, not having any screaming vocals and stuff like that. But I think the album was necessary for us to do. Maybe the band wouldn't have continued if we hadn't done Heritage. I think the old Opeth fans understand this album. There's always going to be some haters, but you can't be loved by everyone. Opeth has always been about not repeating ourself. A lot of people don't think Heritage is metal but I think it's metal to go somewhere people don't expect. It doesn't mean we're not embracing the past sound of Opeth."

Vocally, Åkerfeldt shifts between traditional death metal vocals for heavy sections, and clean, sometimes whispered or soft-spoken vocals over mellower passages. While his death growls were dominant on early releases, later efforts incorporate more clean vocals, with Damnation, Heritage, Pale Communion, Sorceress and In Cauda Venenum featuring only clean singing. Rivadavia noted that "Åkerfeldt's vocals run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty—depending on each movement section's mood."

Legacy
A number of artists and bands have cited Opeth as an influence, among which are Mayan (a project of Mark Jansen from Epica), Luc Lemay of Gorguts, Soen (a band of former Opeth drummer Martin Lopez), Tor Oddmund Suhrke of Leprous, Disillusion, Caligula's Horse, Klimt 1918, Daniel Droste of Ahab, Becoming the Archetype, Nucleus Torn, Alex Vynogradoff of Kauan, Wastefall, Eric Guenther of The Contortionist, Thomas MacLean and To-Mera,  The Man-Eating Tree, Nahemah, Vladimir Agafonkin of Obiymy Doshchu, Schizoid Lloyd, Native Construct, Maxime Côté of Catuvolcus, Bilocate, and Jinjer.

In addition, other artists have been quoted expressing admiration for their work including Steven Wilson, Seven Lions, John Petrucci, Mike Portnoy, Ihsahn, Simone Simons of Epica, Oliver Palotai of Kamelot, Jim Matheos of Fates Warning, and Haken.

Band members
Current members

Discography

 * Orchid (1995)
 * Morningrise (1996)
 * My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)
 * Still Life (1999)
 * Blackwater Park (2001)
 * Deliverance (2002)
 * Damnation (2003)
 * Ghost Reveries (2005)
 * Watershed (2008)
 * Heritage (2011)
 * Pale Communion (2014)
 * Sorceress (2016)
 * In Cauda Venenum (2019)

title: Opeth