"If I can compare it to any other band, it would have to be Opeth, but it's different from the stuff we've done before. I've listened a lot to Alice Cooper for the last year, yet I can't say it sounds like No More Mr. Nice Guy. I hope you'll like it once you hear it."
-Mikael Åkerfeldt, on the musical direction of Heritage
Opeth has been known to experiment with their sound in the past. With 2003’s Damnation, they made a significant (albeit temporary) departure from their Death-Metal roots. Mostly a prog-rock record, it lacked the death growls and some of the heavier arrangements of Opeth’s other releases. With their latest album, Heritage, Opeth has once again stepped away from death metal, but crafts a more mystical and folk-laden sound than Damnation.
I usually find intro songs kind of pointless, but I’m willing to grant an exception to the eerie and compelling title track here. After this haunting piano piece, Opeth throws the listener into a sea of riffs and soaring vocals with The Devil’s Orchard. When I started listening, I was immediately reminded of some of the more progressive moments on Ghost Reveries, especially the middle section of Baying of the Hound. While the band has certainly moved in a different direction here, they still retain that all-important quality: when you hear the song, you know who you are listening to.
According to Mikael Åkerfeldt, Opeth didn’t necessarily turn on “The 70’s Button” for this album, but with I Feel the Dark, you could have fooled me. Smooth and entrancing, the song does indeed remind me of bands like Rush, Yes, and other prog-rock giants. But once again, Opeth manages to shine this all through their looking glass. Even better is the crescendo-like crush at the middle of the track before veering back to its folksy beginning.
Overall, the record has a very smooth feel, complimented by an almost twangy guitar sound. Mixed into the progressive-rock and heavy metal are jazzier compositions like Nepenthe. This infusion is not what I normally look for with Opeth, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Åkerfeldt has indicated that Opeth has expanded its sound. A look at the cover art illustrates this fact: the beautiful tree sprouting from ferocious death metal roots.
As a huge fan of records like Morningrise, Blackwater Park, and Ghost Reveries, I have always admired Opeth for their use of musical “movements” that shift from beautiful and calm pastures to burning rushes of energy and rage. As I mentioned before, the band intentionally left death growls out here, as with Damnation. Throughout Heritage however, there are several heavier movements where I thought “damn, some growling would be great here”. In other words, the record can be a bit of a tease, especially on the fast paced drive of Slither. While I cheer Opeth for not becoming redundant crowd pleasers, I did miss that extra death metal edge. Yes, I know there are plenty of Opeth records that already satisfy this need. And I know that this opinion can only come from someone who has listened to their previous records, rather than one who can objectively look at this record alone. But I cannot ignore what I love about Opeth, and in some ways I felt Heritage let me down to the point where yes, I wanted to listen to some of the aforementioned records instead. Aside from stylistic considerations, there were moments during the second half where I felt the band lacked focus and meandered away from an easily relatable place.
Heritage satisfies a reflective mood and progressive taste, and Opeth carries this out with the expected musical skill and brilliance that they are known for. As a penance for whining about the lack of death growls, I should praise Mikael for his excellent clean vocals, and the rest of the band for crafting such entrancing and almost mysteriously eerie music. While the death metal sound may be subdued here, there is an undercurrent of darkness in Heritage that never ceases to engage and fascinate along with dazzling flashes beauty and energy.
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