The 10th album from one of metal’s most respected bands, Opeth, is an example of how a band can reinvent their sound without forgetting their roots. Opeth have always been a band that stand out in the metal world, as they combine genres to define their own unique sound. And with their latest offering ‘Heritage’ you should forget everything you think you know about their sound.
Mikael Åkerfeldt has written the bravest Opeth album yet, where he has almost completely left metal behind. To remove all growling and the majority of the distorted guitars will not please a lot of fans as the band have developed into a progressive rock band. Gone are the unrelenting drums and ‘wall of sound’ distortion, replaced by a a more natural sound with more emphasis on acoustic instruments and dynamic exploration, unafraid to leave space.
The album starts with a carefully constructed piano piece ‘Heritage’ and leads into ‘The Devil’s Orchard’; a prog metal opus with clean vocals and an eerie sounding Hammond organ, setting the tone for the rest of the album, where both feature heavily. There is a real sense of light and shade throughout the album with songs, in most cases, starting quietly and slowly building up into heavy rock with a strong progressive element. And there is no better example of this than ‘Famine’, which begins ballad-like and evolves into a crunching doom riff with a rasping flute for company. The influence of progressive rock bands such as Jethro Tull and Uriah Heep are no more apparent than on this epic prog opus.
The album also contains a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio, 'Slither'; a straight rock song that, despite its slightly tongue in cheek feel, gives the album variety. Its early placement in the album really gets the record going and is one of the more up-tempo tracks.
There is a real sense of a band broadening their musical horizons and using their technical ability to explore different sonic directions. There will be a lot of fans who will dislike this album greatly, however I feel the majority will feel the raw emotion in the songs and realise that an album this daring deserves accolades for its attempt to break out of all musical restraints.
7.5 / 10
No comments:
Post a Comment