OPETH

Once again Opeth turns to the gloomy and icy imaginary to present "My Arms, Your Hearse", their third album and the first one with a conceptual theme. Set in hostile landscapes of a mouldy and darkened nature very similar to the standards of black and death metal, it configures the ideal framework to develop a story full of anguish, anger and impotence, and where the Swedes led by Mikael Akerfeldt unload their instrumental arsenal with raging forcefulness. And although the acoustic transitions persist, they are brief and less recurrent than in their previous works.

A rainy "Prologue" with its heavy piano notes begins the ghostly story of a soul in pain who, after passing away, is not resigned to leave this world and tries to continue by the side of his beloved companion. And as the story unfolds, the raw "April Ethereal" with the explosive double bass drum of newcomer Martin Lopez, Akerfeldt's guttural vocals and the piercing guitars of the Akerfeldt/Lindgren duo, begins to outline the dark path that "My Arms, Your Hearse" would follow thereafter, underpinned by the desolate "When" and its hurtful guitar riffs that accompany the feeling of anger at the presumption of betrayal, and the volcanic energy unleashed in search of revenge in the ruthless and spiteful "The Amen Corner" and "Demon of the Fall".

And after such an instrumental and emotional barrage, the spectral character understands and accepts his fate on the resigned and anaesthetised "Credence", an unplugged mid-tempo dominated by Akerfeldt's brooding, clean singing, paving the way for the ferocity of "Karma" to set things right and for the protagonist to finally find rest. The instrumental "Epilogue" and its Pinkfloydian airs bring the story to a close with a halo of peace hovering in the air.

"My Arms, Your Hearse" is another thumbs up in the band's career and an ideal preparation for what was to come.

Very good.

3,5/4 stars

A few months after "Orchid", Opeth's second album, "Morningrise", sees the light (or darkness...). Keeping that combination of the most inhospitable metal tonalities constantly contrasted and complemented with acoustic oases (or lakes...), the Swedes led by Mikael Akerfeldt deploy their instrumental arsenal over a thematic base that runs through mossy and gloomy landscapes of nature and mortality in extensive pieces with no respite in between. Each song is carefully thought out, and despite their lengthy running times, the band manages to keep them gripping and intriguing throughout.

From the opening "Advent" and its light jazzy touches when the decibels drop in intensity, the confessional melancholy of the black-metal "The Night and the Silent Water", the overflowing and demonic "Nectar", and the versatility of the huge "Black Rose Immortal" that runs through all the metal and folk nuances of epic tinges, the band builds an impassable, hostile instrumental wall that suddenly dissolves to give way to gentle, arpeggiated touches of sanity, and rebuilds again with the same virulence in a cycle that repeats itself over and over again. Akerfeldt again shades his guttural vocals with more passages of clean vocal development, accompanied by Peter Lindgren with whom he shares saturated and bent guitars, Johan De Farfalla's well-assembled bass and Anders Nordin's, at times, less corrosive percussion than on "Orchid".

The album's closing track is reserved for "To Bid You Farewell", an aching ballad unplugged and given over to a sober rhythmic development that towards its last stretch features a dramatic dose of guitars to give it an even greater emotional charge, something that will be repeated in the band's later works.

With the participation of the influential and prolific Dan Swano, responsible for the bipolar and very successful production of the album, "Morningrise" represents another step forward in Opeth's career.

3.5 stars

Originally from the lands that cradled the sordid tonalities of death and black metal, the Swedes Opeth give a twist to the characteristic rispidity of the genre and its gloomy guttural voices, adding folk and progressive elements to conceive "Orchid", their debut album, a novel mixture of chiaroscuro that mutates smoothly from the extreme instrumental gravity to luminous acoustic landscapes.

"Orchid" shows an almost natural inclination for long developments (a characteristic that will be repeated in later works) in humid wooded scenarios and crepuscular reflective moments that Mikael Åkerfeldt describes with his guttural voice transformed at times into crystalline and peaceful. From the opening "In the Mist She Was Standing", surely the most outstanding piece of "Orchid", the atmospheric "Under the Weeping Moon" and its pinkfloydian airs delays, or "Forest of October" and "The Twilight Is My Robe", the pieces are around ten minutes or more, and resort to the constant play of Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren's raspy riffs combined with their arpeggiated acoustic guitars, sustained by the correct percussion of Anders Nordin and the at times unmistakable double bass drum at the speed of a fugitive pursued by the police, and the almost invisible bass of Johan de Farfalla.

And in between, to give a greater contrast to the album, the interesting piano solo "Silhouette" by Nordin, something unusual being the percussionist of the band, and the very short and acoustic "Requiem", are a breath of classical airs and prepare the onslaught of "The Apostle in Triumph", another powerful theme that refers to nature with mystical touches and that ends the first musical adventure of Opeth.

Still with a sound to be polished and rudimentary at times, but already showing their particular way of doing things, Opeth begins with "Orchid" to outline their own path.

3/3.5 stars

Orchid is an album that has its flaws, but honestly, it's a great debut, there's a unique and otherworldly atmosphere that surrounds this album every time i listen to it, be it the raw mixing, the abstract black metal lyrics, the lack of structure of the songs and the constant change of rhythm, this is an album that has a very peculiar and unique sound, the experimentation that the album has is something that i admire and really like, one thing that i find very interesting about Orchid, is that one of the characteristics of Opeth which are the acoustic parts, while in other albums they are used to convey melancholy and calm, in Orchid i feel that it sounds more sinister and disturbing, which is really cool. It's not a perfect album, what makes Opeth Opeth is here, but it's quite initial, it has a lack of cohesive direction, however, Opeth in this debut right away proved themselves to be a different band and their potential, it's worth the effort. especially for songs like ''In The Mist She Was Standing'', ''Forest of October'' and ''The Twilight Is My Robe'', really great album.

Its predecessor, Ghost Reveries, was phenomenal, a perfect album, so my expectations for this album were pretty high and after giving it a chance... my jaw dropped after finishing. Watershed is easily one of the best Opeth albums, this album is far from being a clone of Ghost Reveries as i thought it would be, yes, elements of it are present here, but with even more diversity. This is a creative album, which brings a lot of surprises.

The album begins with the acoustic "Coil" Featuring duet female vocals, this is an intriguing start of what's to come and then the album continues with the overpowering and aggressive "Heir Apparent" easily one of the most aggressive songs ever made by Opeth, powerful, aggressive, melodic it is excellent, this is a very brutal and very dynamic song, the album goes to the crazy and ambitious "The Lotus Eater" and it is on this track that the album demonstrates dynamism and creativity of Watershed, the song is unpredictable and full of layers, but with a very interesting cohesion, the addition of a keyboardist for the band it proves effective in this song, giving more dimensions and even more versatility, easily one of the best songs on the album and in Opeth career and one of my favorites on the album, "Burden" is calm and quite beautiful, the musicality is excellent and i love Mikael clean vocals and the organ solo by Per Wilberg, further demonstrating the album versatility, really great song, then comes "Porcelain Heart" very underrated song, the Mikael clean vocals are very beautiful here, the riffs are great, and the atmosphere of the song is really great, it's a song that slowly grows on you and i feel like this is the song where Martin Axenrot shines the most as a drummer, the next song, "Hessian Peel" is the most prog song on the album, an epic of over 11 minutes, this song together with "The Lotus Eater" is the best song of the album, excellent in every way, "Hex Omega" it's a good song with great riffs but i feel like it's not the best way to end the album, but it's still a good song, in conclusion, Watershed is incredible, is the most versatile and prog release of Opeth, be it the crazy and creatives "The Lotus Eater" and "Hessian Peel" the dynamics "Heir Apparent" and "Porcelain Heart" and the beautiful "Coil" and "Burden", although the album is very creative and has a lot of experiments, it has an impressive cohesion, which never makes the album confusing to listen to, each track has layers and new features, this is easily one of the most versatile and incredible releases ever made by Opeth, a true prog masterpiece and my third favorite album by them.

Review Nº 640

"The Collection" is a compilation album of Opeth that was released in 2014. It has tracks from nine studio albums of the band. So, it has one track from their debut album "Orchid", one track from their third album "My Arms, Your Hearse", one track from their fourth album "Still Life", six tracks from their fifth album "Blackwater Park", four tracks from their sixth album "Deliverance", seven tracks from seventh album "Damnation", one track from eighth album "Ghost Reveries", one track from ninth album "Watershed" and one track from their tenth album "Heritage". "The Collection" has also a cover of a Deep Purple's song from "Stormbringer" and that appeared on "Ghost Reveries" as a bonus track.

So, "The Collection" has twenty four tracks. "Ghost Of Perdition" is from "Ghost Reveries". It starts with a few quiet chords and that explodes into a progressive death metal track. It's full of great vocals and musicianship. "Soldier Of Fortune" is the Deep Purple's cover. It's a nice cover but doesn't represent one of the best parts on this compilation. "Death Whispered A Lullaby" is from "Damnation". It's a nice composition most notable for its vocal harmonies and the fairly aggressive guitar solos, on some parts of the song. "Forest Of October" is from "Orchid". It has some of the most beautiful and sorrowful melodies of that album. It's a memorable and perfect composed song. "Dirge For November" is from "Blackwater Park". It starts with a mellow singing and a nice acoustic guitar work. Harshly, the music turns louder with a distorted guitar work. "Hessian Peel" is from "Watershed". It's a complex, ambitious and dense progressive epic that starts darkly. It has a pastoral part before a ranging heavy section. "Ending Credits" is from "Damnation". It's a pretty and romantic instrumental that sounds much like an Andy Latimer's song for Camel. "Master's Apprentices" is from "Deliverance". It can be considered one of the best tracks on that album. The first main riff is one of those that have an unsophisticated memorable charm. "The Drapery Falls" is from "Blackwater Park". It starts as a powerful ballad, before morphing into heavy. It has an emotional interlude, where the growls return in a nice form. "Harvest" is from "Blackwater Park". It has a fantastic use of diverse dynamics to create a nice and perfect atmosphere. "April Ethereal" is from "My Arms, Your Hearse". It has nice acoustic interludes and clean vocals. The riffs are memorable, from its technical to the melodic sections. "Deliverance" is from "Deliverance". It has a sinister sound. It's not only the lyrics or the music that makes it sinister. The way how Akerfeldt sings is strange and terrifying. "Windowpaine" is from "Damnation". It's a tasteful song, a beautiful and creative composition, with a pleasant guitar backed by the Mellotron sound. "The Devil's Orchard" is from "Heritage". It's a great song with intricate moments, nice passages and that keeps a strong atmosphere. "A Fair Judgement" is from "Deliverance". It's a dreamy ballad. It progresses to a brilliant and heavy lead without seeming to change from mellow to heavy parts. This progression repeats with no rapid changes. "Closure" is from "Damnation". It's a song with some nice guitar work that oscillates between the calm and aggressive parts, during all over the theme. "Hope Leaves" is from "Damnation". It's a beautiful and calm ballad, probably the most beautiful on that album. It has some pretty good lyrics too. "Wreath" is from "Deliverance". It's one of the heaviest songs of Opeth, a fast song with its devastating atmosphere, sounding like a piece depicting the end of the world. "Patterns In The Ivy" is from "Blackwater Park". It's a short track that explores an excellent acoustic guitar work and a nice piano work too. It provides a nice break after the hard driving tracks performed on that album. "Weakness" is from "Damnation". It's the softest song on that album, and ironically, because its name, it represents perhaps, the album's weakness. "The Leper Affinity" is from "Blackwater Park". It's a song with heavy guitar riffs and great growled vocals. Suddenly, the song changes to soft. The way this song flows from the heavy to the soft is wonderful. "The Moor" is from "Still Life". This a mini epic that contains both acoustic and heavy parts with both cleaning and growling vocals, staying progressive as well. "Bleak" is from "Blackwater Park". It's a song fantastically composed with an incredible musical work. It has also an amazing guitar work with some power riffs. "In My Time Of Need" is from "Damnation". It's a beautiful ballad, with some of the best lyrics on that album, and where Mellotron continuous sounding on the back.

Conclusion: "The Collection" is a very nice and interesting compilation album of Opeth with a nice trip to almost the entire career of the band at the time. From the ten studio albums of Opeth at the time, only one isn't represented here, their second one, "Morningrise". It's true that "The Collection" isn't a very well balanced compilation album because it's essentially focused on three of those albums, "Blackwater Park", "Deliverance" and "Damnation". I've nothing to oppose to the quality of the tracks chosen, but I would have preferred to see here a greater balance in their choices. For instance, I wish had seen to be chosen some more tracks from "Still Life", "Ghost Reveries" and "Watershed" and one track from "Morningrise". Besides, I can't see any interest to choose a cover song to be part of a compilation like this.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

This is exactly what I expected from Opeth at this point in their career. It's perfectly competent proggy hard rock. Organ is more prominent than ever, reminding me at times of Jethro Tull's sound on Thick as a Brick. The use of their native Swedish adds a nice twist, and as someone who tunes out lyrics most of the time, not understanding doesn't detract. However, a lot of this feels paint-by-numbers and soulless. I'm not sure if it's a result of the songwriting itself, or if the production is just too slick for its own good. This is their best album since Watershed, but unless you've really loved their non-metal output, this is an eminently skippable album.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2019/10/21/odds-ends-october-21-2019/

Garden of the Titans captures a live set from Opeth which, coming after the release of Sorceress, follows a string of albums (beginning with Heritage) where they had more or less abandoned metal entirely. The set list mixes their gentler progressive rock material with more progressive metal-oriented pieces in a setlist which seamlessly blends both sides of their sound, and so the album stands as evidence that if Opeth have stopped making metal albums, it's not because they are no longer able or willing to play metal - they're just working on a different aspect of their portfolio for the time being.

Several of the songs here are Opeth live standards - indeed, if you have The Roundhouse Tapes you have renditions of several of these from about a decade earlier - but there's enough tracks which haven't seen the light of day on an official Opeth live release to ensure it doesn't feel redundant. And if you've convinced yourself that Opeth can't do justice to their metal side any more, just listen to the furious version of Deliverance that rounds out this exceptional set.

Emerging in between Ghost Reveries and Watershed, The Roundhouse Tapes chronicles an Opeth live set from the latter days of their metal phase - a point when they'd been working their style of prog-death metal sufficiently long to become elder statesmen of the extreme metal-influenced school of progressive music and the prog-influenced side of extreme metal, but before the run of albums starting with Heritage saw them move away from metal entirely.

Here they are on fine form, offering up a slew of tracks from a wide cross-section of their discography - with pieces ranging from Ghost Reveries, then their most recent album, to their debut Orchid. As such, the setlist mingles iconic tracks with deep cuts from early days given new life and a greatly refreshed take thanks to the years of additional experience the band are able to bring to bear.

"In Cauda Venenum" is the 13th full-length studio album by Swedish progressive rock/metal actOpeth. The album was released through Moderbolaget Records in September 2019. It´s the successor to "Sorceress" from September 2016 and features the exact same quintet lineup who recorded the predecessor. "In Cauda Venenum" was released in three different versions. One double album version featuring the album in a Swedish language version and an English language version (on two discs), and two seperate one-album versions featuring the Swedish language version and the English language version. The instrumental part of the music is the same on all releases/versions, only the lyrics and the language are different.

Stylistically the material on "In Cauda Venenum" is in the heavy progressive rock style with folk leanings that Opeth have played since "Heritage" (2011). It´s dymamic music featuring both louder heavy parts, epic progressive parts, but also mellow acoustic parts. There is an omnipresence of vintage keyboards/synths/organ, along with equally organic sounding bass, guitars, and vocals. It´s arguably 70s influenced progressive rock, but the early 90s Swedish progressive rock revival scene and artists like Landberk and Anekdoten are also valid references. Opeth compose solid and relatively memorable material, but they don´t exactly invent the wheel here. Most of the elements, timbres, and atmospheres have been heard and experienced before on preceding progressive rock releases by other artists.

"In Cauda Venenum" features a detailed, powerful, and well sounding production, which suits the material well, and although the material could have prospered from more original compositional ideas, the high quality musicianship and Mikael Åkerfeldt easily recognisable voice and passionate delivery save the day, even when the material doesn´t shine. The idea to sing in their native language is a good one, and the Swedish language version is a nice new element, which provides the album with a needed touch of something unique. Other Swedish progressive rock artists have sung in the Swedish language, but for Opeth it´s a first on a full release, and it makes "In Cauda Venenum" stand out in their discography. So upon conclusion "In Cauda Venenum" is a good quality release by Opeth and it should please fans of heavy progressive rock featuring a melancholic atmosphere. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)