Bangalore may be a hub of rock lovers, but it’s evident that the City has its fair share of metal-heads as well.

‘Opeth’, the famous heavy metal band from Stockholm, performed at the Palace Grounds on Sunday, as a part of this year’s edition of Kingfisher’s ‘Summer Storm’ Festival, and crowds of black T-shirted fans swelled at the venue to watch them live. Predictably, the atmosphere at the Palace Grounds was filled with anticipation — long lines began to form at the entrance as early as 2.30 pm, and every now and then loud cheers and calls demanding the band on stage could be heard from inside.

The evening had a line-up of other bands, which also delivered mind-blowing performances. Ranging from ‘SuidArka’, a German band to Nothnegal from the Maldives, they kept the audience headbanging until the main act began. Two Bangalore-based bands, ‘Theorized’ and ‘Eccentric Pendulum’, also took the stage for a while, and had the crowd cheering for the talent from namma Bengaluru. ‘Eccentric Pendulum’ was especially popular with their numbers ‘The Axiom of Aphotic Expressions’ and ‘Paragon Impermanence’.

When ‘Opeth’ finally took over the stage, excitement levels reached an all-time high. The five-member band — comprising Lars Mikael Akerfeldt on vocals and guitar, Martin Mendez on bass, Fredfrik Akesson on vocals and guitar, Martin Axenrot and Joakim Svalberg on keyboards and vocals — played music which was coloured with a distinct touch of Scandinavian death metal. They played a range of songs, beginning from ‘Through Pain to Heaven’ and then ‘The Devil’s Orchard’. ‘I Feel the Dark’ and ‘Face of Melinda’ came next, after which the dark number ‘Slither’ was played. The crowd went wild with excitement as they played another dark song, ‘Credence’, after which they ripped into a rendition of ‘To Rid The Disease’. The edgy tune ‘Folklore’ and ‘Heir Apparent’ came next.

Devavrat Jadeja, a business management student, claimed that the force of the music simply blew his mind away. One of his favourite moments, he claimed, was when one of the band members poked fun at Slash, the legendary ex-guitarist of Guns N’ Roses. “When Michael took a dig at Slash, it really showed how Opeth plays!” he claimed, cheering wildly for the band.

The band concluded its performance with ‘The Baying of the Hounds’, ‘The Drapery Falls’, and finally, the all-time favourite ‘Deliverance’.