IN CAUDA VENENUM

The cd issue I have contains both the Swedish and English sung albums so I spun the English one twice before switching to the Swedish one which I find more to my tastes. I'll still use the English song titles though. How about that art work! Travis Smith has outdone himself. He's worked with OPETH since the 90's and he and Mikael collaborate on it, sharing their ideas. I shared this art with some co-workers warning them that it was a scary picture. Showing them first the cover art and pointing the the pink strip at the bottom and saying that's a tongue. Two jumped back. Opening the gatefold they see this giant demon with his long tongue stuck out carrying the house containing these shadowy figures. One is King Diamond not sure about the rest. As far as the music goes this album has jumped into my top three OPETH records along with "Pale Communion" and "Damnation". They thank ANEKDOTEN for the kind use of their M400 mellotron and we get it on six of the ten tracks.

Talk about mellotron how about the opener "Garden Of Earthly Delights" where we get these heavenly choirs before electronics join in around 1 1/2 minutes. Church bells a minute later so we know we're doomed especially when we start to hear footsteps. A child's voice ends it before we get crushed with "Dignity". Sounds like a song title. Hey that opener is a top five. Mellotron on this second track and some vocal melodies. Nice guitar solo then a calm. It kicks back in heavily but how about that symphonic calm, so beautiful then it's heavy again after 5 minutes. The song ends with a sample of multiple people laughing hysterically.

I like "Heart In Hand" for it's energy and how about that screaming guitar. Just a beast but then the last couple of minutes feature this beautiful calm with reserved vocals. "Next Of Kin" sort of plods along but it sounds really cool late with those strings produced and arranged by Dave Stewart but written by Akerfeldt. "Lovelorn Crime" is one I really connect with and a top five. Quite moving at times with plenty of piano. It does kick in dramatically as contrasts continue. How good is this 2 minutes in. Come on!

"Charlatan" is a top five as well for the mellotron and power. Lots of depth here and energy. Love the nasty keys too. Some samples of people saying things and I love that chorus. Another top five is "Universal Truth" and man this might be my second favourite after the opener. Just the contrasts alone blow me away. The only section on the whole album that I'm not big on is the opening on "Continuum" but this is a song that gets better as it plays out. The closer is my final top five and what a song! "All Things Will Pass" has it all, the mellotron the great sounding heavy sections, trippy stuff, and man so uplifting after 6 1/2 minutes, I think I have something in my eye.

Congrats Mikael and the band for still bringing it. Without question one of my favourites from 2019. This is the album where Akerfeldt's favourite band CAMEL gets the most nods in my opinion. They really are a Heavy Prog band now.