OPETH — Morningrise (review)

Album · 1996 · Progressive Metal

3.5/5 · 2024-10-14
UMUR

"Morningrise" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish progressive death metal act Opeth. The album was released through Candlelight Records in June 1996. It´s the successor to "Orchid" from 1995. It took almost a year for Opeth to be able to release "Orchid" after the recording sessions were finished in mid- 1994, and they were keen on that not happening again, so after only playing a few show in the UK supporting "Orchid (1995)", they went straight into rehearsal and writing mode and was ready to enter Unisound Studio with producer Dan Swanö in March 1996 (same producer and studio used for recording "Orchid (1995)"). The "Morningrise" recording sessions were finished in April 1996.

Stylistically the material on "Morningrise" is a continuation of the progressive death metal foundation laid in "Orchid (1995)"), but further developed and refined. Featuring four tracks which are over 10 minutes long and one track which is over 20 minutes long, "Morningrise" is a highly progressive and structurally adventurous release. Opeth go all in here with loads of different riffs and sections on each track. Many of the riffs are counterpoint lead themes weaving in and out of each other or harmony themes played in unison, and you won´t find many "normal" death/doom metal riffs on this album. That doesn´t mean it´s not a heavy and doomy death metal release, because for all its intricate songwriting ideas (the album for example features many atmospheric, melancholic, and tranquil acoustic sections) and progressive and skillful performances, the foundation of the music is still death/doom metal.

Bassist Johan DeFarfalla´s performance needs a mentions as it´s out of the ordinary and his contributions are pretty dominant and important for the sound of the album, often complimenting the guitar harmonies with a third harmonic layer or a different counterpoint melody. Lead vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt has a snarling blackened growling vocal style, and occasionally also sings some clean vocals.

While the complex structure of the tracks are praised by many, to my ears main composer Åkerfeldt still wasn´t sure of the direction he wanted for Opeth´s music, and sometimes he overloads the songs with too many different songwriting ideas. Some sections work better within songs than others, and some transitions between different parts of the songs happen in an abrupt way which lack compositional elegance. While this isn´t a major issue, it still means that some parts of the album appear directionless and that some parts become a little tedious. Not because not enough is happening, but because some tracks lack memorable moments. The sound production is not great either. It´s a bit hard on the ears because the drums and the guitars have a harsh tone to them, which doesn´t really fit music in this vein.

Upon conclusion I think of "Morningrise" as a transition album for Opeth, where they got to try out a lot of different songwriting ideas and honing their craft as both composers and performers, and despite my above critique of the songwriting and the sound production, "Morningrise" is still a quality release and pretty unique sounding too. Both on the contemporary scene and within Opeth´s own discography. Quite a few lineup changes would take place between "Morningrise" and Opeth´s next full-length studio album "My Arms, Your Hearse" (1998), and with them also quite a few adjustments to their sound, which again supports my theory of "Morningrise" belonging to the transitional album catagory. Transitional albums are almost always extremely important for the development of a band´s sound, but they aren´t always the best representation of said sound, and the same goes for "Morningrise". Still a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.