The Heritage Hunter Tour, which pulled into the Fox Theater in Oakland Friday night, is a meeting of two prog metal giants in Opeth and Mastodon.
Mastodon is the comparative newcomer, the younger band, but looked like it had something to prove on the co-headlining bill.
Sandwiched between Opeth (photo above) and Ghost, the band ripped through nearly every track from its 2011 album, The Hunter (right). While mostly abandoning the band's older, Cookie Monster-style vocals, the Hunter delivered thanks to a lights show that captured scope and intensity.
When they strayed from The Hunter, they did well, too. "Crack the Skye," the lone track from the 2009 album of the same name, showed polish and focus. The showstopper was the "Moby-Dick"-referencing classic "Blood and Thunder," which turned the historic Oakland venue's crowd into a rage of mosh pits, headbangers, pumped fists and metal-horn fingers thrust in the sky. (Watch it here, as filmed by yours truly on an iPhone.)
Opeth, meanwhile, which closed the night, looked like the grizzled veterans. The band spent most of its first decade turning everything it touched to critical gold with a string of classic prog death metal records, but has since settled into a mellower brand.
Like Mastodon, the Swedish group favored its most recent record, Heritage (left). This choice showed the gulf between the band's classic metal and Mikael Äkerfeldt's chilling death growl, and the newer material, on which he sings pleasantly.
The stark contrast for Opeth between "Demon of the Fall" and everything that proceeded it was startling. After 45 minutes of heavy rock that drew a response of standing, rapt attention, Opeth shifted into another gear and pushed the speedometer into the red. Äkerfeldt delivered the growls, the sound swelled to more aggressive heights and the crowd remembered how it moshed and mashed to "Blood and Thunder."
"Demon of the Fall" showed just how good Opeth's older material is and how much more it felt like familiar territory as opposed to the lighter, wiser touch of Heritage. Even "The Grand Conjuration," which closed the night, is newer, but still managed to outstrip the Heritage cuts.
Ghost (Opus Eponymous, right) opened the night with a blazing 30-minute set that was not to be missed. Five of its six members appeared clad in black hoods and robes except for singer Papa Emeritus, who wore a cardinal outfit and a mask. The theatrics added intrigue, but were unnecessary — the band brought loud, shattering doom metal just fine without it.
Setlists
Opeth
1. The Devil's Orchard
2. I Feel the Dark
3. Slither
4. Windowpane
5. Burden
6. The Lines in My Hand
7. Folklore
8. Demon of the Fall
9. The Grand Conjuration
Mastodon
1. Black Tongue
2. Hand of Stone
3. Crystal Skull
4. Dry Bone Valley
5. Thickening
6. Octopus Has No Friends
7. Blasteroid
8. Stargasm
9. The Hunter
10. Crack the Skye
11. All the Heavy Lifting
12. Spectrelight
13. Curl of the Burl
14. Bedazzled Fingernails
15. Aqua Dementia
16. Blood and Thunder
17. The Sparrow
Ghost
1. Con Clavi Con Dio
2. Elizabeth
3. Prime Mover
4. Death Knell
5. Satan Prayer
6. Ritual
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