Opeth - Heritage

Right....you keep telling yourself that

Written by Ivy Patterns on 15.05.2023 at 18:41

Right....you keep telling yourself that

A rating of 3 here on MS means the album is "very bad". It's a very low rating. So why do you think Heritage deserves that?

Even when comparing this to all the excellent work they have put out before this, it is closer to a 10 than to a 3 for me.

To think they went from their monumental Blackwater Park anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall in April 2010 to this stinking pile of faeces in less than 18 months.

The death of Opeth.

Written by gavdann on 15.05.2023 at 23:29

To think they went from their monumental Blackwater Park anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall in April 2010 to this stinking pile of faeces in less than 18 months.

The death of Opeth.

LOL. Hilariously True.

Written by gavdann on 15.05.2023 at 23:29

To think they went from their monumental Blackwater Park anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall in April 2010 to this stinking pile of feces in less than 18 months.

The death of Opeth.

The album must have upset you very much to use such language.
While I understand why some dislike this, I don't mind the change at all. I found Watershed rather tedious, tired, my least favorite of the prog-death years of Opeth.
I also think Sorceress is less interesting than Heritage.

Written by John_Doe on 16.05.2023 at 11:54

I also think Sorceress is less interesting than Heritage.

I wouldn't know. sHiteritage was the last album I've listened to by them. In fact I very rarely listen to any Opeth these days.

Written by John_Doe on 16.05.2023 at 11:54

I also think Sorceress is less interesting than Heritage.

I agree.

I always think that changing style is not the basis for judging the quality of a work, but boredom is. This album is clearly the latter.

I didn't understand this record until Pale Communion came out. PC kind of like taught me how to listen to Heritage. And since then, Heritage became my favorite of their "new" era, still is. Maybe not their best one, but emotionally - the closest one. It's got a lot of hidden, lurking energy that I can't find on later records. It's almost ominous and evil, like Watershed or even Orchid, but in subtle ways. Later albums were way more melancholic.

And now that I think about it, it was probably Steven Wilson's work that has taught me how to listen to PC. So the journey was kind of like this: "Classic Opeth" (particularly BP/Deliverance/Damnation) -> Porcupine Tree -> Steven Wilson -> Pale Communion -> Heritage.

If you consider this album, and the whole change of direction, within the narrow context of just Opeth and their discography, it maybe looks sudden, unjustified, etc. But if you look wider, at everything that had surrounded Mike at that time. It all looks perfectly valid in hindsight. Not certain, he could go anywhere and dive into anything instead, but - valid.

Written by MadHatter on 17.10.2024 at 12:13

...

I had a similar experience where I got to appreciate this album more, the more time passed by and also understanding it in the context of the Akerfeldt/Wilson partnership. To me it was the Storm Corrosion album that helped me like this more. I still prefer PC from the Newpeth era but I´ll defend Heritage every chance i get. I especially like how it´s sinister in a more circus witch/fortune teller way rather than a satanic corpse paint way.

Opeth is my favorite band, and I generally dig about everything they do, but this one is a fucking CHORE to get through for me. I love listening to bands like Gentle Giant, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Camel, etc. So the progressive rock doesn't bother me, so much as the boring atmosphere. The songs have long drawn out sections of quiet instrumentation that is sleep inducing for me.

This is not especially interesting.. but Slither is a banger!