2011 Album of the Year

Heritage by Opeth.

I'll admit, right out the gate, that this selection leaves me with a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth.  The reason being that my music listening year seems so incomplete this time around. The fact that I still haven't had a chance to get in a full listen of Mastodon's The Hunter, let alone the ten plus listens I prefer before giving something a review really sticks in my craw.  In many ways, this selection feels almost like a default selection.

Sure, it is a new album from my favorite band, but I can't exactly say that I love this album, so that sorta takes away from the whole Album of the Year thing.  Which is strange because in terms of volume, I listened to a lot of new* music this year.  (*Not necessarily a 2011 release, but new to my ears.) I delved into Amon Amarth's back stock of albums, dabbled in the melodic crunchiness of Baroness and Kylesa, journeyed to the dark lands of Black Metal with Immortal by my side and even explored the rock genre with The Black Keys.  Despite all that, I didn't exactly discover anything that'll be getting steady play in my stereo.

So suffice it to say that this was a down year for me in terms of music.

So was Heritage a great album? Is it worthy of such exalted status?  Well, my review wasn't exactly favorable, but that was based more on terms of how I liked it in comparison to the rest of Opeth's output rather than it's individual merits.  All told, the album is quite good.  The music is beautiful, and expertly crafted.  Heritage has an appeal to non-metal music listeners as well as long time fans of the band, so in many ways this album is very much worthy of high praise and the lofty title as Battle Hymns' Album of the Year.  And, for better or worse, whether I like the results or not, it is still the best piece of new music I listened to this year.  So there you go.

By the way, if you aren't a fan of Opeth, you really should listen to their stuff.  It is wonderful.  Well, that's my album of the year.  Aside from the Mastodon album, were there other glaring oversites?  What was your favorite album of the year?

Music Review: Opeth- Heritage

It's been three years since Opeth's last release, Watershed. With great anticipation, Sweden's (and possibly all of Metal's) finest, Opeth returns with their tenth studio album Heritage.

It's a pretty significant accomplishment for any band to reach the ten album plateau.  By this point, most bands have either given up, broken up, or burnt out. If they are still making music, it is likely formulaic bullshit just to make a few bucks on record sales and kick start another high-priced tour.

Opeth on the other hand, is a band that appears to be constantly evolving, both in terms of their music, and in terms of their lineup.  Since 2005, four new members have entered the ranks of Opeth, one of which, Keyboardist Per Wiberg, has since been replaced.  You might think that the dude playing keys in a death metal band has little effect on a band's overall sound, but in my experience new band line-ups always result in a band who's sound scape is altered.

Heritage is definitely a unique sounding album, and a definite departure from their previous works.  From the melancholy piano intro on the first track, Heritage, it is clear that this album is going to take the listener to new places.  Those new places are even more evident on the following track, The Devil's Orchard, a song that serves as a good example of what you can expect from the rest of the album.  You might think: with new members comes new influences, new approaches, and the end result: new sounds.  However, I would argue that Opeth's new direction is less a product of who is new to the band and more likely due to who is still there.  

It seems pretty clear to me that Opeth is fully Mikael Akerfeldt's band, and the rest of the band marches to the beat of his drum.  It could be argued that this has been the case for some time, but with additions like Martin Axenrot and Fredrik Akesson, guys with death metal in their blood, I wonder how they feel about the band taking the less heavy road.

The Devil's Orchard  makes three things distinctly clear: First off, this is by far Opeth's softest album since Damnation.  Secondly, this is most likely Opeth's most progressive, and experimental album yet.  Altering time signatures, tempo shifts, and trippy sounds are all in abundance here.  Lastly, and maybe the most important factor of them all, is that Heritage is an album completely devoid of the death metal growl.  A detail the metal lover in me had a hard time coping with.

That said, it is really only on the first few listens that the death metal growl is missed.  Once I had a better taste for the album, and I had adjusted to it's sound, it became pretty clear that there really is no place for the growl on the album.  This set of compositions is truly much better served by Mikael Akerfeldt's liquid honey vocals. For a guy who can deliver some beastly growls, he really does have a beautiful singing voice.  That voice does have it's limits though.  There are times when Akerfeldt sings high, with less than great sounding results.  Still, for this set of songs, the clean lyrics work well in harmony with the music.

Instrumentally, Heritage breaks new ground for the band.  Not only is it softer than most of their previous output -look no further than the lovely guitar riff intro to I Feel the Dark- it also features some musical elements not often used by a metal band.  Aside from the occasional acoustic guitar, you'll also find some stand-up bass, hand percussion djembes and congas, and in the case of Famine, a healthy dose of some flute.  These elements all serve to prove the fact that Opeth has taken a much more progressive and experimental approach with Heritage.

For the most part, Opeth's new approach makes for some beautiful music, but at other times, the band goes a bit overboard with the progressive elements and, as is the case on Slither, wanders into the danger zone of rhythm damning avant-garde nonsense. While The Devil's Orchard is a great example of progressive metal done well, complete with time changes, and tempo shifts, it never stops being a good song with it's roots firmly planted in metal soil.  Slither on the other hand, takes the progressive elements to the extreme and becomes an incomprehensible mish-mash of buzzing, swirling sounds that barely resembles music.  Maybe this is a case of the listener needing more time to acquire an appreciation for the unique sound, but I'm more inclined to say Slither is a dud. When a band takes a new approach to music and explores new avenues, one dud out of ten isn't too bad, and Heritage delivers 57+ minutes of mostly wonderful music.

There will definitely be some fans out there disappointed with Opeth's new sound, and while some may say this album is just a departure, I get the feeling that Clean Vocals Progressive Metal-land is now Opeth's permanent residency.   Heritage is an album I initially struggled to enjoy, but it is an album that continues to grow on me with each listen.  I definitely prefer Heritage to the band's previous effort, Watershed, but I still find myself preferring their earlier, heavier albums.  Overall, an impressive effort, far superior to just about everything else in the music industry, but in terms of what I look for in an Opeth album, I'm left wanting a bit more.

Grade: C+

Live in Concert: Opeth

This past Saturday, along with my buddy Justin from Oceans of Ale, I stood witness as Opeth rolled into Seattle wielding their mighty Metal war hammer and proceeded to smite their fans with their punishing brand of death metal...Ok, so it didn't go exactly like that, but it was still quite wonderful.

This was my second time seeing Opeth.  I first saw them when they hit town a few years ago touring for the Ghost Reveries album.  This time around, it was almost like seeing a completely new band.  There were a couple new guys in the line-up and the set list consisted completely of songs where Mikael Akerfeldt sang  in his clean vocal style.  From reading about other shows from this tour on the web I had a feeling it would be a pretty mellow set, but I wasn't expecting the show to be completely devoid of death-metal growls.

Despite not playing their heaviest songs there were definitely some metal moments, but I couldn't shake the feeling that the show was lacking because of the lack of growl-age.  Still, Opeth is a band that is so musically gifted that seeing them live is a real treat.

They kicked off the set with The Devil's Orchard which is one of the best songs off Heritage.  Around the middle of the set, in minstrel like fashion, Mikael sat down with an acoustic guitar and played three obscure Opeth tracks.  One, which can be found on the deluxe edition of Heritage, another which I think he said was a song they wrote for a game, and the last which was written around the Blackwater Park era.  On the one hand, it was cool to hear three Opeth songs that were completely new to me, but at the same time, I was a bit frustrated that such a large chunk of the set was dedicated to music that was totally obscure to all but the most devout Opeth aficionado.

My disappointment was almost immediately erased when Porcelain Heart and A Fair Judgement (my favorite Opeth Song not titled Black Rose Immortal) followed the obscure songs in close succession.

Like most things in Seattle where lots of people are drawn together, the crowd enthusiasm would best be described as tepid.  There was also a strong sense of disappointment in the air when it became quite clear that the band was intent on putting on a mellow performance.  I think a lot of fans still yearn for the Opeth of old where blistering, yet melodic riffs shredded the silence and the double foot bass pounded out the beat to yet another epic song.

After hearing Heritage, and seeing them live, one thing seems abundantly clear: Opeth has evolved from their death metal roots into a progressive, technical metal band.  Like many fans, I'm also still coming to terms with this fact, but unlike many fans, who seemed unsatisfied with the show on Saturday, I enjoyed the show.  Sure there may not have been any growly vocals, but Opeth is still incredibly gifted and talented.  As a band they are incredibly tight, and play together well.  They slowed down and sludged out the ending of A Fair Judgement, and it was one of my favorite moments of the show, and seemed completely spontaneous rather than a rehearsed alteration to a back catalog song.

All told, it was a great show at a less than great venue, with great company.