Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band that formed in 1990 in Stockholm. While the band has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force since joining shortly after its inception. While firmly rooted in Scandinavian death metal, Opeth has consistently incorporated influence by progressive music, folk, blues rock and jazz into their usually lengthy songs. Many compositions include acoustic guitar interludes and strong dynamic shifts, as well as both growling and clean vocals. Though they rarely toured in support of their first four albums, Opeth conducted their first world tour after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park. Opeth has released nine studio albums, two live albums, one box set, and two DVDs. The band released its debut album Orchid in 1995, but did not experience American commercial success until the 2003 release of seventh effort Damnation which debuted at number 192 on the Billboard 200. Opeth's ninth studio album, Watershed, was released on June 3, 2008 and entered the Billboard 200 at #23.

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_________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1558:

Elizabeth I became Queen of England and Ireland, marking the start of the Elizabethan era. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_I_of_England)

1855:

Explorer David Livingstone became the first European to see Victoria Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world, on what is now the Zambia–Zimbabwe border. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls)

1869:

The Suez Canal, linking the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, was inaugurated in an elaborate ceremony. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suez_Canal)

1969:

Cold War: Representatives from the Soviet Union and the United States met in Helsinki to begin SALT I negotiations aimed at limiting the number of strategic weapons on both sides. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Arms_Limitation_Talks)

1997:

Sixty-two people were killed by Islamic terrorists outside the Deir el-Bahri, one of Egypt's top tourist attractions, in Luxor. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_1997_Luxor_massacre)

_______________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

gravitas (n) 1. Seriousness in bearing or manner; dignity. 2. (figuratively) Substance, weight. (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gravitas)

______________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

I never desire to converse with a man who has written more than he has read. --Samuel Johnson (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Samuel_Johnson)