HERITAGE

I think it is shameful to give this album 1 star as some have here, Most of the complaints here and elsewhere are the cliche' "not metal", Even some reviewers are crying sellout, The most shameful of critiques, Heritage is no sellout, Heritage is in My opinion the best and most original True Prog Rock album I have heard in quite some time, Unfortunately when you build a fan base upon a certain style, and build a niche audience, you will no doubt alienate many a fan, But this Alienation is not like say Metallica or Megadeth Going commercial and selling Millions upon millions to new fans and causing old fans to gnash their teeth in disgust, A huge and different risk, this direction is for Opeth, I will spare you the track by track analysis, King Crimson, Jethro Tull seem to be The biggest influence, But this music is original, The drumming and bass in particular really shine. The guitar and vocals are superb. I don't know if Opeth will continue this direction, after all, if The record Label doesn't sell enough units, They will get massive pressure to return to the death metal style. That will be OK, but I really like Heritage for what it is, A great progressive rock album. One complaint I have about Death Metal and Progressive Metal in general, I always feel as if to many nuances of the music gets lost in the Heavy Guitars. I can't remember a one of those albums where the bass is all but lost in the mix, Not so on this Non Metal Album.