One of 2012's best tours stopped by New York City on Wednesday (April 11), with Mastodon, Opeth and Ghost delivering a unique blend of atmospheric and hypnotic metal courtesy of the Heritage Hunter trek.

Swedish ghouls Ghost began the night with a solid opening performance, mixing heavy metal and doom in and odd, fascinating and unprecedented way. The crowd gave a warm response to the band, who are made up of nameless, masked musicians. The identities of the members of Ghost still have not been verified. We can however, confirm that they effing rule.

Co-headliners Opeth played before Mastodon on this night of the tour, but the band absolutely stole the show. As the lights dimmed for the Swedish masters, the scent of an Opeth show began to cloak the venue. (You know the smell we're talking about.) The docile yet intrigued crowd hardly moved an inch during the band's set, and much like a Tool show, the audience spiraled out and soaked in the brilliance that is Opeth.

Frontman Mikael Akerfeldt joked around onstage as usual, saying, "We're going to play some songs for you. That's it." Opeth began their set with the first three tracks from their latest album, 'Heritage.' Although the crowd were in the palm of Opeth's collective hands, there was some worry that Akerfeldt would not be gracing the crowd with his legendary screaming. Luckily for the NYC crowd, the vocalist growled out his gutturals during 'The Grand Conjuration' and 'Demon of the Fall' with Luciferian intensity. Isn't that how you would perceive the voice of Lucifer? Beautiful fallen-angel clean vocals with deep, terrifying screams which feel like they're coming from the sky and ground simultaneously?

Mastodon closed out the show with a powerful and atmospheric set consisting of 11 tracks from their latest album, 'The Hunter.' It took a few songs for Mastodon to hit their stride vocally, but their various dual vocal attacks sounded spot-on, especially between bassist Troy Sanders and drummer Brann Dailor. Another highlight of the show was watching guitarist / vocalist Brent Hinds give their sound guy the finger after feedback issues with Hinds' mic and feedback monitors. The moral of the story? Don't mess with a dude who has face tattoos.

After blasting out atmospheric masterpieces such as 'Octopus Has No Friends' and 'Stargasm,' the crowd absolutely exploded when the band began the monster riff of 'Blood and Thunder.'

This tour is an absolute must-see for metal fans looking for a concert experience. For the full list of 'Heritage Hunter' tour dates, click here.

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