Death metal growling may detract some listeners, but lead singer Akerfeldt's vocal range, when singing cleanly or roaring away like the Cookie Monster with a case of strep throat, is absolutely superb. Mikael Akerfeldt, the man who has been the helmsman and chief songwriting influence on the band ever since his late teens, is a masterful lyricist and also bears a charismatic stage presence, his banter between songs generally laden with irony and wit. To give you an idea of just how diverse and talented Akerfeldt and his band is, here is a video of 'Ghost of Perdition' from Ghost Reveries, my all-time favourite recording of theirs:
By the time I discovered Opeth, they were already well over ten years old, with 8 studio albums under their belts, ranging from their first effort Orchid in 1995, a more primal recording with hints of black metal influence, to 2003's Blackwater Park, an album which really brought the band to the attention of the world. With the addition the stellar album Watershed in 2008 they had 9 albums, and I'd still struggle to pick one I liked the least. I was lucky enough to catch the Watershed tour at the Birmingham Carling Academy in November 2008, and seeing them perform easily placed them at the top of my favourite live bands, maybe just a head above Nine Inch Nails at Reading Festival 2007. Watershed so gracefully gave us everything that Opeth were maturing towards that I was left wondering where the band could possibly go from there. There were hints of a new direction, specifically a more 70's prog overtone to the whole affair, but generally, it seemed as though they had mastered everything that they encompass.
At last, three years on, we have a new album on the horizon. Here is the album artwork for their new release called Heritage, coming this Autumn:
The artwork is actually quite a significant break from their older album covers, generally monochrome affairs and obscure images of human figures. I think the tree bearing the heads of the Opeth band members and the lining of skulls beneath it could be a direct metaphor of the band itself - many musicians have come and gone from the Opeth project down the years, including the more recent departure of their keyboardist Per Wilberg. It certainly bears more of a resemblance to the type of covers you'd expect to see of 70's rock bands like Deep Purple. This suggests to me that the new album will be focusing more heavily along this exciting prog rock direction (Indeed, Opeth have covered Deep Purple's 'Soldier of Fortune' not a while past, as well as Robin Trower's brilliant 'Bridge of Sighs'). And with news circulating that Heritage will be completely absent of any death growling whatsoever (much like their 2003 album Damnation, one of their most popular efforts), I would bet on it. Of course, Opeth are full of surprises, so the album could prove to be a massive departure from anything they've done before - Some of the song titles that have been released don't even bear much resemblance to any of their forerunners. All I can say is that I haven't been this excited about a new album since Mastodon's Crack the Skye.
For this one, it looks like the best remedy is a dose of wait-and-see, but I will proceed to follow the developments and all the anticipation about this hotly awaited 10th album and bring it back, kicking and screaming, to my blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment