Sorceress 2 is indeed rather dull (and too heavily inspired from Pink Floyd), but I like the other two. Will o the wisp especially is in the same vein with Windowpane and I love Windowpane.

This is not a real Opeth. They should move into a side project and let Opeth remain the band we used to know. Are we talking of the marvelous metal band that we can listen on Orchid, Morningrise, My arms your hearse, Still life, Blackwater park and Deliverance, Ghost reveries and Watershed? I don't think so... Ok for damnation, once in a lifetime could be interesting. The other albums are something I can describe as metal nor Opeth. I didn't buy the last one but while listening to it I almost fall asleep... If I wanted Prog music I would listen to something else. I expect Opeth to do something better. Very disappointed. It is my opinion and I respect everybody but Opeth for me are musically dead.

It is a good or even a great album. But Opeth used to be magnificent, capable to ascend a human soul into eternity. I am not judging solely the lack of power or the inexistence of growls in vocals .

I always expect perfection from Opeth, that´s all.

However, one cannot expect eternal perfection of something or someone, only moments of perfection. And Opeth holds a ton o perfection in their career!

All you need to do is listen to Ghost Reveries one more time!

The best album during their new era for sure! (the last 3 albums)

I can honestly say that this is the first album by Opeth that utterly bored me. I liked some songs from Heritage and I really loved some songs from Pale Communion, but this album is just a chore to listen to. I was quite positive about Opeth's change of direction back in 2011, I thought they might end up creating some great albums once they perfected their new approach, alas, wasn't meant to be.

Almost a year later, and I'm finally giving this album a listen. Weird, considering Opeth is the band that got me into extreme metal in the first place, and is thus the reason for my current music taste...

I wouldn't say that they're making bad music now, but I will say that it's just not really that interesting to me. I liked Heritage just fine, and I'm glad they're still changing up the sound a bit on each record, but all the same I'm already tired of this sound from them. I don't need growls, or even metal, necessarily, but it would be nice if they brought back that dark, gloomy, brooding feeling they used to have. Re-treading a sound that has already been done before (while of course putting their own spin on it, to be fair) doesn't really seem like much of a progression to me.

Anyway, I generally really love the production quality of the album--sounds simultaneously clean and organic. Not too polished, not too rough, very real and in-your-face. The songwriting is still good, it just isn't something I care to listen to as much as their older albums. Eh.

Pretty cool prog rock album. Doesn't really hold a candle to Pale Communion, Heritage and Damnation. Much more sterile and over-polished sound. Also somewhat uninspired by their standards and quite monotonous and generic. But then again uninspired Opeth is still better than a lot of other bands at their best.
The worst thing to me about Opeth's 70s prog rock oriented albums were always Åkerfeldt's clean vocals. Here they are as monotonous, emotionless and boring as ever. Which is especially frustrating since he is actually an excellent singer who can do so much better if he wants to. Opeth was never a band that I listened to because of the vocals anyway, but it's still something that's completely incomprehensible and annoying to me.

Guys, 'member when the avg for all Opeth albums were in green colour? I 'member.

Pretty good album

One of the songs from this album came up in a Spotify radio after hearing the new album. The difference in sound quality was striking. The production here is just trash. I wonder what went wrong, since Opeth usually has (someone that really knows how to get) a great sound.

Written by Zap on 26.10.2019 at 01:43

One of the songs from this album came up in a Spotify radio after hearing the new album. The difference in sound quality was striking. The production here is just trash. I wonder what went wrong, since Opeth usually has (someone that really knows how to get) a great sound.

In a recent interview Mikael said this album wasn't mastered, with just the mix they said "oh, it sounds good" and released it. Not that the mastering would have done much magic to the already poor sound, but it would have helped certainly. They didn't make a big effort with this one, it is the only bad Opeth album for me...

Written by Unhealer on 26.10.2019 at 02:18

In a recent interview Mikael said this album wasn't mastered, with just the mix they said "oh, it sounds good" and released it. Not that the mastering would have done much magic to the already poor sound, but it would have helped certainly. They didn't make a big effort with this one, it is the only bad Opeth album for me...

Interesting, didn't know that. Usually when I see interviews with Mikael it's the same tired questions about the change of direction, which he has answered countless times. I think a good master could have definitely made it more listenable, but yeah, it's not gonna entirely save a poor mix.
Regardless of the sound, it's easily the worst Opeth album in terms of songwriting as well. I can't remember a single song that stuck out to me or that I would want to listen to again. Heritage and Pale Communion (and now In Cauda Venenum) at least had some songs worth revisiting, this has none.

Album is average, but +1 for how these tracks sound live - really enjoyable. Maybe it is indeed the horrible album production.

It didn't start off half bad but then it got really boring.

Tracks 2, 3, 4 and 10 are very good, the rest are good for sleeping. Opeth needs to take more time to release a new album to work more on their ideas.
The best album of their progrock era (until now).

7.3/672 votes
That's about right I guess.

Revisiting this before the new album drops, and very positively surprised. Sure, as many points out, the production is not the greatest. I find Deliverance to have horrid production, and their two first obviously, but after those this is the worst. It's a bit muddy. But other than that, really solid album. Not as proggy as I remembered, more coherent. Sorceress and Wilde Flowers are really good, as well as Seventh Sojourn and Era. Most Opeth albums have a few super great tracks, and the rest is so-so, kind of in-between songs. The only exception to that is Blackwater Park for me, which is why I think that is their best album to date. Really looking forward to the new album now, having listened to all of Opeth's disco repeatedly the last week.