Flying out of the traps with the industrious bumble of an overweight sloth, Opeth embark upon a marathon rendition of their ten-minute epic album opener, ‘Ghost of Perdition’. The magnanimous arrangement swaggers through with the vociferous growl of Mikael Akerfeldt (pictured) underlining every glorious turn this song takes. The grand tones of their 2005 disasterpiece, Ghost Reveries, take up over half an hour of tonight’s near-two hour set despite numbering only three songs. Merely calling this a saga is not sufficient.

Hampered by a muddy sound from the beginning, Opeth grow from song to song. They rage through the back catalogue, from the thrashed double kicks and guttural rumbles that have so long been associated with the heaviest of heavy metal to the grand prog noodlings that have seen an organ introduced to what sounds like nothing more ferocious than some heavy rock.

Onstage, the quintet gives off a subtle air of arrogance that comes from over fifteen years of producing eight albums of the finest heavy metal. Their compelling blend of temperamental, conceptual heavy rock in the vein of Led Zeppelin or Rush and Metallica melds with Akerfeldt’s vocal harmonies and deep, throaty expulsions with staggering effect. It is this vast range of influences and extreme musical ability that marks Opeth from the rest – narrowly avoiding being pigeonholed as just another heavy metal band.

The second half of the set has all the gusto and sound quality of a band as experienced and accomplished as Opeth. Playing some pummelling classics that will laud for many moons from their Deliverance and Blackwater Park albums as well as recent track, ‘Beneath The Mire’, coupled with some unexpectedly humorous banter from their frontman, it's a treat for the capacity crowd. Great things have always been expected and provided by this Swedish behemoth. The signs are that there will be no respite.