LIVE IN PLOVDIV (SPLIT WITH ENSLAVED)

This is one of the most curious releases on this entire website, to me at least. In 2015 one of the most beloved bands in the prog world performed 8 songs with an orchestra, only once. Most fans of the band have heard three songs from this set included in the Sorceress deluxe edition(none of which are included here), but as soon as I heard those I knew I had to have the rest. It was so hard to track down, only being included in an edition of a magazine, and I sort of just gave up. One day I just happened upon this entry in progarchives, 4 ratings no reviews, one of the best bands currently going performing with a symphony orchestra, showcasing five of their best songs in a new and interesting light... oh and then the opening track from Enslaved's album E closes the disc...? What on earth is this madness? Why did I not find these performances until recently? Should I have to hide the fact that I only heard them as a result of a YouTube playlist because finding a physical copy appears to be impossible? Seriously, I typed "Opeth live Plovdiv purchase" into google and only found said playlist, songs having 3 comments at most with people saying "why have I never heard this before?". I feel like I am venturing into something I shouldn't be, why on earth isn't this talked about and listened to all the time? Was Mikael unhappy with the result? Was this filmed, the orchestra part or even the full concert? So many questions. This release gets 3.75 stars from me, if we had the full concert it would likely be higher but as a release this is incomplete and weird. There must be more to this story

Eternal Rains Will Come is the opening song of the concert and it's a good choice for this setting. First things that are noticeable are the large horn section and we apparently have a choir as well! This was a brilliant choice, they are used in clever fashion during Demon of the Fall but otherwise this is your typical unlistenable live performance of this song. It's a lot of fun live but Mikael's vocals during this song do not work anymore. The Devil's Orchard is the best interpretation of this bunch, you really feel the choir during the chorus and the horn section really owns the bass-dominated part around 4:50, a very thoughtful interpretation. The Grand Conjuration is a monster of a song but the orchestra sort of takes a backseat during this one, popping up to add a flourish now and then but generally not intruding as much as the previous song where they completely transformed it. Deliverance is great as always, a lot of focus on the choir which was a surprise to me. Hearing them vocalize some of the riffs in this song is entertaining as they struggle to keep time. Everybody also kinda vanishes halfway through the song, and by the ending riff(where you would expect the orchestra to add to the epic finale) there are no traces of them. Odd. Oh, and we conclude this release with Enslaved's brilliant song Storm Son, which is not even the best part of E, definitely check that out if you haven't. Regardless, even though I can see a complete crossover of fanbases, it's just strange to end an Opeth concert with an Enslaved single, isn't it? Odd. This whole thing's odd.