Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Opeth
Label: Nuclear Blast
Release: 2016
Length: 56:35
Rating: 5/5
With their new twelfth studio album, titled »Sorceress«, the untameable Swedish experimenters Opeth once again test the flexibility and open-mindedness of their longtime metal followers, who have experienced the band’s gradual transformation from progressive death metal to progressive metal and progressive rock in very different ways. For listeners unburdened by genre boundaries, the previous two Opeth albums, »Heritage« (2011) and its even better successor, »Pale Communion« (2014), were some of the best things to happen in recent years to experimental, atmospherically rich music that doesn’t insult the listener’s intelligence. Led by singer, guitarist, creative director, producer and sound engineer Mikael Åkerfeldt, Opeth have come a really long way without falling into the trap that catches most modern metal bands: sonic predictability and generic sound.
Quite the opposite, every new Opeth album so far has offered something new and refreshing, even though some more ‘straight-ahead’ metalheads, stuck in the past, accused Opeth of drawing way too much inspiration from seventies progressive rock on both of those albums. Åkerfeldt fell in love with that stuff especially after he met the chief patron of modern prog, Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), in 2000. After the almost pure prog-rock experiments of the previous two records, Opeth went back to a slightly heavier sound on »Sorceress«, trying out a few more new sonic experiments and noticeably dialing back the Mellotron. They struck an almost golden middle between prog rock and prog metal, with shorter excursions into jazz rock fusion, psychedelia and folk along the way. Even though »Sorceress« draws noticeably less on seventies prog rock, in most places it’s even more experimental than both of its predecessors, and it differs from them quite a lot.
The opening instrumental »Persephone««, whose title refers to the wife of Hades, the sinister ancient Greek god of the underworld, is adorned with subtle acoustic guitar arrangements and makes for an atmospherically bright yet melancholic opening to the album. All of that changes already on the title track, which thrills with obscure, raw sonic touches, while jazz-fusion rhythmic elements get free rein amid furious guitar passages. It’s all neatly tied together by Äkerfeldt’s charismatic, commanding vocal performance. Once again, every song on the album is sung with clean vocals, which some followers from the prog death metal era will (again) grumble about. But Mikael’s voice is simply too good to go back to the past and keep wasting it on the occasional screaming growls that made his lyrics rather hard to understand on some earlier songs.
»The Wilde Flowers«, which is probably named after the cult sixties band of the same name that gave rise to the Canterbury scene of progressive rock, with legendary acts like Caravan, Gong and Soft Machine, is soaked in a distinctly dark, mysterious atmosphere, while heavy guitar riffs drive its furious rhythm. A short, psychedelic instrumental section with guitar improvisation adds extra spice, and so do the acoustic guitar interludes. Of everything on »Sorceress«, the Celtic-tinged »Will O The Whisp« is the closest to seventies progressive (folk) rock. Thanks to its symphonic and acoustic arrangements, it also has folk-rock elements, and at times it sounds a lot like the legendary Jethro Tull at their best. Even Åkerfeldt’s singing gets a little closer to young Ian Anderson here, and it’s more than obvious that this is a stylistic tribute to one of his favorite prog bands. If this leads some metalhead to stumble upon Jethro Tull, who sadly retired in 2011, there’s certainly no harm in that, quite the contrary. Maybe Opeth could add a (real) flute to their sound in the future, though the keyboards simulate it pretty successfully most of the time.
On »Chrysalis«, Opeth head back into somewhat more prog-metal territory, with plenty of complex time changes and dramatic vocal harmonies. Most of the guitar passages carry a strong hard-rock charge, while keyboardist Joakim Svalberg also shines on the Hammond organ. Despite the telling title, the lyrics make it almost certain that this isn’t a reference to Chrysalis Records, Jethro Tull’s longtime label. There are quite a few acoustic moments on the album, and so it is with the pastoral-mystical-psychedelic »Sorceress 2«, which stylistically recalls early Pink Floyd a bit. The gorgeous instrumental »The Seventh Sojurn«, whose title surely at least partly nods to the eighth studio album by the legendary The Moody Blues, is steeped in an oriental ambience that Åkerfeldt has already been enthusiastic about on some earlier Opeth records. The song is built on pentatonic scales and the ethnic sound of various percussion, courtesy of drummer Martin Axenrot.
The complex sonic roller coaster »Strange Brew«, one of the centerpieces of the album, opens with a quiet, slightly psychedelic intro that gradually builds a rather gloomy mood. Then it shifts into a chaotic, cacophonous instrumental section where avant-garde rock and progressive metal join hands. That state of affairs doesn’t last long, though, as Åkerfeldt’s chameleon-like vocals steer things in a completely different direction, when hard-rock guitar passages take over along with a bravura solo worthy of the guitar heroes of rock’s golden age. The ending is utterly bleak and melancholic, just as it should be for masters of Scandinavian darkness. The again more folk-tinged »A Fleeting Glance« features baroque passages on acoustic guitar, while the mystical vocal harmonies, under Åkerfeldt’s superb command, sound like they come from some ancient era. The guitar and keyboard harmonies are executed in an extremely subtle way, with complex transitions supporting it all. After a quiet piano intro, »Era« morphs into an intense prog-metal march with an epic vocal performance and mighty time changes, delivering an intense and very fitting finale for »Sorceress«. »Persephone (Slight Return)« is a piano-tinged outro lasting less than a minute, hinting at a conceptual nature of the album, even though, officially at least, you can’t really call »Sorceress« a concept album.
With »Sorceress«, Opeth have created another masterpiece in building unpredictable bridges between progressive metal and progressive rock. It’s on par with its outstanding predecessor »Pale Communion«, yet quite different from it, and in a good way. What’s most thrilling about »Sorceress« is the sonic and atmospheric duality between punch, darkness and some truly beautiful ambient moments. Amid all this (cross-)genre variety, it’s sometimes hard to believe it’s the same band. Some of the more ‘hardcore’ metalheads will surely grumble that Åkerfeldt left the album’s production entirely to Tom Dalgety this time. He’s best known for working with Simple Minds, Pixies and other acts that have little in common with Opeth, but Dalgety did a great job on »Sorceress« and polished their sound to perfection. »Sorceress is fine proof that Opeth, despite the grumbling of some longtime followers who simply can’t accept that the »Blackwater Park« (2001) era is gone for good, are far from written off. Their unpredictable sonic evolution keeps going with every new album, toward exciting new chapters of their colorful career.
Lineup
Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals, guitar, production and mixing
Fredrik Åkesson – guitar, backing vocals
Joakim Svalberg – piano, keyboards, backing vocals
Martín Méndez – bass guitar
Martin Axenrot – drums, percussion
Production
Tom Dalgety
Tracklist
1. Persephone
2. Sorceress
3. The Wilde Flowers
4. Will O The Wisp
5. Chrysalis
6. Sorceress 2
7. The Seventh Sojourn
8. Strange Brew
9. A Fleeting Glance
10. Era
11. Persephone (Slight Return)
