New OPETH "Heritage" album streaming online now!

[Kazrog]

I think the title says it all. This is a tribute to Mikael's record collection. It's totally enjoyable, but I can see how they will get some shit for it from some of their die-hard fans.

Still, with so many bands playing it safe, I'm happy to hear these guys doing something completely different than anyone else, paying homage to bands that most people aren't aware existed in the first place.

 

[26]

^+1 Amen! cover has the "just taste it" (the forbidden fruit) character also.

 

[LydonB]

I think the title says it all. This is a tribute to Mikael's record collection. It's totally enjoyable, but I can see how they will get some shit for it from some of their die-hard fans.

Still, with so many bands playing it safe, I'm happy to hear these guys doing something completely different than anyone else, paying homage to bands that most people aren't aware existed in the first place.

I totally agree. It is nice to see them go outside the box, so to say. I am glad they made a record that they wanted to make.

 

[Melb_shredder]

I totally agree. It is nice to see them go outside the box, so to say. I am glad they made a record that they wanted to make.

Is that assuming anything before this was an album they DIDN'T want to make?? Again, but more I listen and hear about this too, the more I wish it was just a side project thing... Not that I'm losing sleep over it, but it's just that this is TOO outside of the opeth I love for me to love it *shrugs*

 

[-Noodles-]

I'm glad that the band have made a record for them, rather than their fans.

It's growing on me - 35 minutes in and I'm already liking it more than Watershed.

 

[Virgil.]

I think the title says it all. This is a tribute to Mikael's record collection. It's totally enjoyable, but I can see how they will get some shit for it from some of their die-hard fans.

Still, with so many bands playing it safe, I'm happy to hear these guys doing something completely different than anyone else, paying homage to bands that most people aren't aware existed in the first place.

+1

 

[Toseben]

I think the title says it all. This is a tribute to Mikael's record collection. It's totally enjoyable, but I can see how they will get some shit for it from some of their die-hard fans.

Still, with so many bands playing it safe, I'm happy to hear these guys doing something completely different than anyone else, paying homage to bands that most people aren't aware existed in the first place.

This!

Is that assuming anything before this was an album they DIDN'T want to make??

I'm not saying they didn't want to make early records but actually Åkerfeldt stated in Finnish magazine called Soundi that Morbid Angel's Domination was last death metal album that impressed him and...
...that he wasn't anymore interested in death metal while making their debut album.

 

[Ermz]

I'm glad that the band have made a record for them, rather than their fans.

That's what they've always done though. The only difference was that in the past the result wasn't terrible.

 

[RemoWilliams]

That's what they've always done though. The only difference was that in the past the result wasn't terrible.

Oh you

 

[Steven Otto]

That's what they've always done though. The only difference was that in the past the result wasn't terrible.

Dude!

You can't call his terrible, maybe it's not your taste, but this far is from terrible.

Aside from the songs, we all can agree the production is awesome and fits the style really good. I love how dynamic it is and really natural. I hope this production will inspire and influence other producers and let's hope they'll think again when they aim for -0.0001 RMS.

 

[Virgil.]

I'm wondering if him touring with Bloodbath to support their newer album had anything to do with the departure of all death vocals on Heritage. Maybe he's getting to a point where he needs just one outlet for brootal music, and Opeth is kind of a safe-haven away from that to express his more melodic writing. Maybe it wasn't even a conscious choice for him. He used to have a balance between beauty and sheer brutality with Opeth, but now doing the Bloodbath thing again (since he took a lot of time off from that for a while), maybe he's finding the same amount of balance, but now between two bands.

I don't know if I'm making sense, and I'm probably wrong in my assumption, but those thoughts had crossed my mind.

I will just create a mix CD with tracks from the newest Bloodbath, and tracks from Heritage and just keep interchanging them so it sounds like a normal Opeth album to me.

 

[Terminus]

watch the documentary. Or maybe even the doc first? Hmmm

Probably the reason for me buying the album is getting those documentaries, i love em.

Album doesnt blow me away, but then I didnt like Ghost Reveries for four years, now i think it's a great album. I'll probably end up getting more into it after a while.

 

[Melb_shredder]

I'm wondering if him touring with Bloodbath to support their newer album had anything to do with the departure of all death vocals on Heritage. Maybe he's getting to a point where he needs just one outlet for brootal music, and Opeth is kind of a safe-haven away from that to express his more melodic writing. Maybe it wasn't even a conscious choice for him. He used to have a balance between beauty and sheer brutality with Opeth, but now doing the Bloodbath thing again (since he took a lot of time off from that for a while), maybe he's finding the same amount of balance, but now between two bands.

I don't know if I'm making sense, and I'm probably wrong in my assumption, but those thoughts had crossed my mind.

I will just create a mix CD with tracks from the newest Bloodbath, and tracks from Heritage and just keep interchanging them so it sounds like a normal Opeth album to me.

+1... here's hoping the new bloodbath rocks!

 

[Ermz]

Dude!

You can't call his terrible, maybe it's not your taste, but this far is from terrible.

Aside from the songs, we all can agree the production is awesome and fits the style really good. I love how dynamic it is and really natural. I hope this production will inspire and influence other producers and let's hope they'll think again when they aim for -0.0001 RMS.

Haha, I actually disagree with all of that, but that's cool, I get that a lot of folks will like this one.

For me it's way too much of an audible priority shift. I feel partially like I'm listening to Dream Theater, where the priority is first and foremost for the music to wank on my face, and to sound coherent only second. It's a musical regression for Opeth, as far as I'm concerned. Elements have been stripped away from the whole and we're left solely with the prog worship, not even cohesive song writing. Just a bunch of elevator ambiance and wanky prog licks to mix things up.

 

[Donovan S.]

Whole CD has been here for over a week now: http://grooveshark.com/album/Heritage/6670322

I personally love it. The only other Opeth song I had ever heard before this album was The Grand Conjuration. I've never really been into them until I heard this.

 

[Kazrog]

...where the priority is first and foremost for the music to wank on my face, and to sound coherent only second.

I'd argue that many of the bands they're paying homage to had the same issue. It's always been a risk with prog rock. When Yes started writing more coherent songs in the 80s (starting with the 90125 record), tons of their fans jumped ship. Heritage is an album for die-hard, old school prog fans, by die-hard old school prog fans.

The whole prog aesthetic, in other words, is always at risk for becoming pretentious, over the top, concept driven, wanky, and lacking compositional elegance. Sometimes you get a record like this, and I definitely agree it's less cohesive (with a couple of exceptions) than past Opeth records. It's still a fun album to listen to in any case, IMO.

 

[DanLights]

I'd argue that many of the bands they're paying homage to had the same issue. It's always been a risk with prog rock. When Yes started writing more coherent songs in the 80s (starting with the 90125 record), tons of their fans jumped ship. Heritage is an album for die-hard, old school prog fans, by die-hard old school prog fans.

The whole prog aesthetic, in other words, is always at risk for becoming pretentious, over the top, concept driven, wanky, and lacking compositional elegance. Sometimes you get a record like this, and I definitely agree it's less cohesive (with a couple of exceptions) than past Opeth records. It's still a fun album to listen to in any case, IMO.

Yes. Not the band, I mean I agree with you. I see it like, to me good prog bands make a good mix of making good, engaging songs while wanking on your face in the process. Yes, I like bands to wank on my face every once in a while.

 

[Uladyne]

Every Opeth album I own had an initial warming up period before I genuinely liked it, even if I could tell from the first listen that it was something I would get into over time. I actually gave my first copy of Blackwater Park to a friend because I didn't care for it, then later bought it again after getting into some of their other albums. For some reason, I'm already liking this one. Maybe it's because I wasn't expecting to like it right away. Or maybe since I've never been into 70's prog beyond Opeth's nods to it in their earlier works, this record sounds totally fresh and new to me.

 

[Aaron Smith]

I've only heard like 2 1/2 songs, I'm just waiting for the official release so I can listen to it properly...

 

[tarbh666]

Not feeling this at all after a couple of listens. Sounds dull and directionless like they couldn't be bothered to write anything memorable. Prog means progression and I can't hear anything progressive about this. They sound tired to me.