Feast Your Ears on "The Devil's Orchard"

On September 20th, one of my favorite bands, Opeth, will release their new album, Heritage.  Opeth is one of those bands that grows and mutates with each album, so I've been anxious to hear a sample of what their new material sounds like.

Well, my wish was granted.  The second track, "The Devil's Orchard", from Heritage can be heard over at Stereogum.com. 

Sadly, I can't say I was that pleased with my first listen.  It is definitely not the heavy, melodic Opeth sound I love.  It has more of a jazzy feel to me, which isn't the "feel" I want from Opeth.  Don't get me wrong, musically it is intricate and cool sounding, with their usual pinpoint timing and changes, but I prefer their heavier material.  I'm also not thrilled to hear that the entire album will feature Akerfeldt's "clean" vocals.

After a couple more listens the song grew on me, so I'm thinking that might be the way the whole album goes for me.  Not love at first listen, but it I might have to spend some time with it to fully appreciate the musicianship.  The solo towards the end of the song is fucking amazing sounding though. 

I can't complain though, this album will be better than most anything else coming out this year...even if it does put me out of my Opeth comfort zone.  Go give it a listen and share your thoughts in the comments!