And within those three tours they've played six shows in Melbourne alone, three of which I have attended.

While I don't believe this most recent show is as good as their 2004 gig - which is in my top five concerts of all time - it definitely reiterated the contrast between local and international bands like Opeth as far as quality is concerned. The level of professionalism, tightness and showmanship exhibited by Opeth was pretty much awe-inspiring.

We got to The Forum pretty early so we managed to see all of The Eternal's set, and while they showed a bit of promise they ultimately left me rather unsatisfied. They had some cool music, and at times it felt like they were about to burst out of their mid-tempo grind and knock you on your arse, but it never happened. I won't go as far as some forumers who said they were "boring", but they definitely had room for a bit more excitement.

Their drummer, on the other hand - Template's Peter Marin - was superb as expected. Whenever I see him play with Template I am always left in awe at his super-human chops, and while he did have a totally bitchin' drum solo at the gig - which got a massive roar of appreciation from a crowd that clearly wasn't "feeling" the rest of their set, in spite of the fact that he dropped a stick mid-solo - his playing for the rest of the show was comparatively subdued. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since he was still fun to watch, but I was definitely in the mood for some Template-esque drumming nuttery.

One thing that The Eternal were successful in doing was sucking just enough that it made Opeth look that much better when they finally hit the stage. The same thing happened when Virgin Black opened for Opeth in 2004 - they were so horribly bad, they served as the Weight Watchers "before" to Opeth's "after". The Eternal were nowhere near as bad as Virgin Black, but it was still like a clinic in "this is how not to do it, and this is how to do it right".

Put simply, Opeth worked the crowd into a frenzy. The mosh was only about four or five rows deep, but once I was in there it was reminiscent of my experience with Metallica in 2004, only with more dickheads and less respect. I don't go to a gig to punch, elbow, kick or harrass random punters, I go to enjoy the bands playing, but some people apparently see metal gigs as an excuse to act like a right arsehole to anyone and everyone. I copped an elbow to the head as well as a head to the head - yes, someone fucking headbutted me!

But despite the sucky crowd - which, I'm told, was far smaller and less enthusiastic than the night before's sold out crowd - Opeth proved just why they are one of the world's premium live bands. They never missed a note, not one of the members of the band - including ring-in drummer Martin Axenrot - and were so tight it was quite incredible.

They started with "Ghost of Perdition" off their latest album Ghost Reveries, and from then on it was over two hours of incredible, awe-inspiring, balls-to-the-wall metal. They treated us to some rare tracks including "Moonlight Vertigo" and "The Night and the Silent Water", and even managed to throw in "Credence"!

I'm not as familiar with pre-Still Life Opeth, but I thought the setlist was perfectly balanced between old and new, and soft and heavy.

And one thing that made the show even more enjoyable was Mikael Akerfeldt's interaction with the crowd. He is a geniunely funny man, whether with pre-devised "bits" he uses as introductions to certain songs, or with his playful banter with the crowd - for example, describing the various stages of shirt-scent when someone in the crowd noted that he was wearing the same Celtic Frost from the night before - and it may seem like a small part of the show but it had a big impact on my enjoyment.

Another moment that had similar impact was when they returned to the stage for the encore and almost sent me into convulsions by playing the keyboard and guitar parts of Led Zeppelin's "No Quarter" as background music to band introductions. I know that Mikael is a massive 70s prog fan, so I half expected that they might have played the full song, but alas it was not to be. Instead we were treated to a medley of famous riffs through history before Opeth launched into the song that the crowd had been yelling out all night: "Deliverance".

I have said in the past that the final four minutes of "Deliverence" is the greatest four minutes of music ever created, and every time I see it live I get goosebumps. There is something about that riff that set something off inside of me, I don't know what it is but it sure kicks ass. I would have been happy for the night to end there, having just seen my favourite Opeth song and, almost, my favourite Led Zeppelin song, but no, Opeth weren't done yet.

They finished with, what else, "Demon of the Fall" and called it a night having comprehensively booted the behind of everyone in the crowd. I obviously can't tell exactly why Opeth play so many shows in this country, but I hope like fuck it keeps happening.

Setlist:
"Ghost of Perdition"
"Moonlight Vertigo"
"Credence"
"The Baying of the Hounds"
"Closure"
"The Night and the Silent Water"
"The Grand Conjuration"
"The Leper Affinity"

Encore:
"Deliverance"
"Demon of the Fall"