Conor Fynes 'The Throat Of Winter' - Opeth (Single)

Written originally for the God Of War III video game soundtrack, Opeth's 'Throat Of Winter' does remain an intriguing footnote for the Swedish progressive metal titans. After 'Watershed', it was clear that Mikael Akerfeldt was going to change up the style of the band to something else, but it was not yet clear as to what the band would do next. Indeed, 'The Throat Of Winter' is something of an indicator as to the new, non-metal direction that Opeth would be taken in. Described by Akerfeldt as 'strange', I would tend to agree. Compared to the fairly harmonious and beautiful acoustic passages that Opeth is used to playing, this is an acoustic song from the band that is fairly creepy and exotic, even making use of some brief psychedelic effects for good measure. While this track is quite a bit shorter than most Opeth tracks, there is still quite a lot going on here, with constantly changing ideas brought on by the acoustics. Mikael's voice also makes an appearance, but it is not for long, instead letting the acoustics do the trick. 'The Throat Of Winter' is a fairly pleasant and interesting track from Opeth, and certainly unexpected, but certainly not one of their songs that will stand the test of time.