OPeth last album

Man With Hat wrote: Pale Communion is the album Heritage should have been. And I say that as a non-hater of Heritage.

I completely agree, Heritage was nice but lacked any real focus to it's music, Pale Communion really hits home. I'd even go so far to say it's their best album since Blackwater Park, but I've been a lot more critical of their 2000's output than most.

That said, I do hope they try for something different next time, they've kind of gone from being leaders of a sub genre to just another retro prog band, all be it a very good retro prog band. 

Count me among the ones that dislike, bordering on hate, death growls. However, because of such great reviews, I have been interested in Opeth since before they released Heritage, but as much as I tried I couldn't get to enjoy their songs with growls, however, I did find many songs without them that I have come to like a lot. Still, the one album that sounded like the one for me at the time, Damnation, just didn't click with mee... too soft and just without much melodies that I would enjoy, except mainly "Closure", which I happened to like much, much better on the live version from "Lamentations" (in general, the whole Damnation is a bit better on the live version, but Closure it particular is spectacular). So far, my favourite album would be Watershed, because it had some really great non growling songs. Then came Heritage, which I did like, but still lacked something (focus, I guess, as many have said before). And now Pale Comunion, and indeed so far, it's my favourite album from them, really beautiful all along. I had not enjoyed any album from them from beginning to end until this one. Still, I do with they would do a real metal album without growls, because so far they seem to either drop metal altogether, or do metal with growls. Strangely enough, given that growls so easily turn me off, my very favourite song from them at the moment happens to be one with growls, "The Drapery Falls", (the version on the Lammentations live album, too)... no other song from them with growls has managed to do that for me, though.

Death growls sound like Fozzie Bear on a bad trip

I bought Pale Communion the day it came out.  Unfortunately, I still have yet to truly connect with it.  "River" has been the only song that has jumped out at me so far.  I'll continue to be patient with it.  

I love Heritage and Pale Communion equally. The band's remaining body of work didn't really click with me until Watershed, which I find to be their most adventurous. Even the growl sections were enjoyable . Up to that point I just liked 1 or 2 songs on any given album. And Damnation really bored me.