Mastodon, Opeth, Khemmis – Riviera, Chicago 4/28/22 (words and images by Mark Kadzielawa)

 This was a great night of heavy music at the Riviera in Chicago.  A sizeable audience came out to enjoy Khemmis, Opeth, and Mastodon.  All three bands were great and unique in their individual approach.  Needless to say, nobody went home disappointed.  It was a triumphant night.

Colorado’s Khemmis opened the festivities.  The came out very strong, and quickly got the audience going.  Their doom metal approach quickly won over fans, and the house was shaking with joy.  Khemmis played a very short but intense set.  Just as the band and the audience were warming up, it was time call it a day for the guys.  Khemmis showed a lot of potential musically.

Opeth is an interesting Swedish band.  They started as a pure death metal outfit, only to let their prog rock influence come to the front, and eventually alter the band’s music.  Nowadays Opeth navigates between both genres.  There is no doubt Opeth keeps things interesting, and always surprises its fan base.  Their latest album, In Cauda Venenum, was released in both English and Swedish, and it was the Swedish version that got the momentum going. 

Opeth opened their set with a new song, Hjartat Vet Vad Handedn Gor, sung completely in Swedish.  The band sounded great, and the audience instantly got into what they were offering.  Opeth continued to vow its audience with variety of tracks ranging from very soft and gentle to very heavy and brutal.  All of it delivered with great feel and conviction.  Vocalist/guitarist, Mikael Akerfeldt, was having a great time spreading his message, and playing the music he feels and loves. 

There was a significant number of Opeth fans in the audience, and many became Opth fans that very night.  Their set was very well balanced, and provided good overview as to what the band is all about.  The hardcore Opeth fans were awaiting many of the songs they band played, while newer fans definitely got the wind of something special happening in front of their eyes.  Opeth played long compositions with lots of twists and turns, no chance of any sort of compromise here.

Mastadon was the main attraction of the evening, and judging by the amount of the band’s t-shirts in the audience, most of the people came there to see them.  The band came on strong, and enjoyed a very intense reaction from the crowd.  Mastodon opened with Pain with An Anchor, and quickly followed with Crystal Skull, and Megalodon.  The band was very energetic, and definitely lived their music on stage. 

This energetic performance quickly spilled onto the crowd who graced the band with even more energy.  There was certainly joy among a very enthusiastic Mastodon Chicago crowd.  You could feel this band is loved and religiously followed by many.  They were having fun on stage; it was a good vibe all around.

Mastodon presented few new songs from their latest, Hushed and Grim, album.  The new tracks were clearly enjoyed by the crowd.  The group played few more classics before climaxing with Blood & Thunder.  It was a solid and very colorful set.  Mastodon had some great light effects throughout the show, adding a lot of feel to the songs.  It was very clever how they put all of this together, not overly complicated but very effective.  Add running into some old friends at the show to share the experience with, and you have what can be called a perfect evening.

Mark Kadzielawa

GALLERY:

MASTODON

OPETH

KHEMMIS