Not a Metal album, not even close. However still being very much an Opeth album. Opeth have done so before, releasing something other than a Metal album with 2003’s Damnation, but as far as comparing Heritage to the aforementioned, the only really similarities end there.  For comparison’s sake where Damnation was an exercise in purging the heaviness to focus on their softer elements, here we have a completely different beast all together.

Heritage is an album conceived and written as an ode to the past, mainly 70’s progressive and hard rock, jazz, maybe a little blues, Swedish folklore, Ronnie James Dio/Rainbow and a variety of instrumentation and influences other than Metal. No harsh vox, no real distortion. So what does the album really entail you may wonder…does it sound like Opeth? Well yes it does, very much so indeed. It sounds like Opeth given a bit more freedom to explore their roots and spread their wings like they’ve never really done before and making it a unique, ambitious, lively and satisfyingly affair.

The album starts with a nice little somber piano piece that although not quite a theme that is, nearly but not quite, revisited later in the album. It’s a great start really. A memorable little piece that resonates in the listener’s mind and kicks off a ride that will have many different stops along the way. And that’s one thing I enjoy so much about the album is it’s not a one trick pony and is such a multi-faceted soundscape of ideas and sounds. The influences may seem easy to hone in on, but not making it any less diverse. The first couple of tracks have a real jazz feeling to them with lots of changes and little intricacies. It’s not until the fourth track “Slither” we hear a real Rainbow-inspired, fast-paced hard rocking number.  One of my favorite tracks on the album actually. With a chorus of “summer’s gone” organs blazing and nice guitar work in a variety of styles even to boot.

The guitar work is really worth praising and pointing out. Åkerfeldt and Åkesson really accomplish something quite different than anything they’ve done to date. It takes on so many different moods and styling to make each song have a distinctive feeling and resonate within each song to give them a strong imprint apart from each other. Truly wondrous and masterfully done and unlike anything I can think of.

Another of my favorite tracks, the seventh and longest song “Famine” starts with a Pink Floydish use of odd samples and sounds from laughing to monkey grunts and much more to build an audio mindscape with some bongo like drums giving into a haunting little reed like sound and piano interlude with emotional, powerfully somber and lonely vocals. From there it goes all over the place into a 70s’ prog rock monsterpiece of flavors and shades.

So while this may not be  an album some people will like or give a fair chance, and it probably needs to be given a fair chance by some, it’s a fantastic release in my humble opinion. It has so much to offer and marks such a bold and personal work by the band to stretch its legs, jump off the ledge and instead of going splat, flying high above to burst brightly into a flaming phoenix of something new and a rebirth in the process. Longtime Opeth listeners deserve it to themselves and the band as well to give it more than a couple listens and soak it in and just give in and reserve judgment in the process till maybe even a few more listens after that.

TRACK LISTING

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*Comments:

1. Heritage
2. The Devil's Orchard
3. I Feel the Dark
4. Slither
5. Nepenthe
6. Häxprocess
7. Famine
8. The Lines in My Hand
9. Folklore
10. Marrow of the Earth

Total playing time:  57:04

Release Date: September 14, 2011
Label: Roadrunner Records

Opeth - Heritage

Reviewer: Greg

October 9, 2011