Well, I might as well start by saying I've always been and always will be obsessed with album cover art. That's actually how I bought my first album, Tool's Lateralus, and I'm aware that it has nothing to do with Opeth. So, as my obsession with Tool grew, I figured that there had to be other really creative, beautiful music out there like it, that crossed boundaries. So, that was the kind of music I decided to dedicate myself to. Sure, I'll find a catchy song on the radio by some hard rock band, but those people sell themselves short. I want music by a group of people who were inspired, and together produced an awesome result that would really take me by surprise. Not the kind of surprise like loud noise all of a sudden, but something that flowed, and would just keep doing great stuff. I got into Opeth in December 2002, when a friend of mine was posting about his recently discovered bands, and he said something like "Despite what most people's initial reaction would be, Opeth really is a great band." So I pieced together before listening to them that they must do something really different. So, I took a listen to some songs he had uploaded, my first being The Twilight Is My Robe. I found out what "despite what many people's initial reaction may be" meant, but I never really had a problem with the growling. I won't ditch a band because of one thing, but I will probably be annoyed with something about a band and never get over it. Opeth's death vocals never bothered me to begin with. The only real problem is that because Mikael Akerfeldt can sing death metal and does, for me it almost ruins the fact that he can sing beautifully in a regular voice. I doubt anyone would ever picture someone who sings death metal having a great clean voice, and because he sings death metal, I feel odd saying that he's one of my favorite vocalists ever, because the death vocals are the first things that come to mind when they think of a death metal singer. My second Opeth song was To Bid You Farewell, and at the time, I probably liked it even more than The Twilight Is My Robe. I kind of lost some of my appreciation for TBYF, but not all of it. I begged my friend to upload more songs, and after having heard enough on the computer, I bought Blackwater Park. I remember how surprised I was when The Leper Affinity faded in. I then bought D1, Still Life, MAYH, and Morning Rise on Amazon. Here I am, completely obsessed, collecting as many bootleg concerts and press clippings as I can.