OPETH — Heritage (review)

Album · 2011 · Metal Related

3.5/5 · 2011-11-02
bartosso

Time Travel

In the year 2008 Opeth, my favourite ever rock band, have released WATERSHED, album of such a variable artistic quality, that I often had problems with listening to it in its entirety. It is, therefore, small wonder I was worried about their future. When I read that Opeth leaves extreme metal for 70s prog rock I really didn't know what to think. On the one hand, it ruled out the possibility that I would waste my money for another mediocre prog death album. On the other hand I was afraid that Opeth would lost its identity. The second one turned out to be partly true after all. Don't worry though, HERITAGE is much better than their previous record, and what's more, it shows that Mikael Akerfeldt still has a lot of musical tricks up his sleeve.

There's a tendency in Mike's songwriting, tendency that made itself noticeable in GHOST REVERIES to become almost intolerable in WATERSHED. What I mean is his gradual leaning towards conceptual(banal) atmospherics("Porcelain Heart") and technicality at the expense of musical/emotional value, known from such albums as MY ARMS YOUR HEARSE or DELIVERANCE. If you've noticed the same thing, I have good news. While HERITAGE is dripping with synthetic atmospherics more than any other Opeth album, it doesn't really sound cheap. In fact it is an extremely eclectic blend of 70s progressive rock and Opeth signature atmosphere. Prog rock means abundance of vintage synthesizers, mellotrons, rhode pianos etc. It also indicates multi-layered structure, in HERITAGE taken to extremes at times. As for Opeth signature atmosphere, it means dark, a bit gothic/chamber feel known both from GHOST REVERIES and WATERSHED. There are also distinctive vocals of Mikael A., who experiments with his voice more than ever before. As a result we've got a modern sounding prog rock record in the vein of King Crimson and Jethro Tull, with distinctive, still quite emotional, feel of Opeth.

As I have already hinted above, the songwriting seems to be a little bit abrupt at first and even if the impression mostly fades away with subsequent listens, it doesn't completely disappear. That's another thing I have already noticed in WATERSHED and didn't really like it. It's pretty strange to me, but as Mikael is a musician who doesn't have to prove that he's able to write well flowing 10+ minutes epics, I'm inclined to forgive him this time. Especially as it suits the eclectic nature of the record.

The only thing that makes me a bit sad, is that Opeth lost a big part of its identity. It's the first time that they abandon their musical core and replace it with a whole, pretty much unchanged, genre. That's why I think it would be better if HERITAGE was a side project album, a tribute to progressive rock of the 70s. Yes, it is still Opeth in a way, yes, it's well performed and well written but... But being unpredictable, what Mike is so proud of, is not a good thing when you abandon your own style, almost completely, and start to experiment with this and that. And no, I don't mean growls and I don't mean heavy riffage.

TRACKS BY RATINGS: 9/10: Häxprocess; The Lines in My Hand; Folklore 8/10: The Devil's Orchard; I Feel the Dark; Slither 7/10: Heritage; Famine; Marrow of the Earth; Nepenthe || OVERALL = 79/100