Band:	Opeth
Album:	In Cauda Venenum
Style:	Progressive rock
Release date:	September 27, 2019
A review by:	musclassia

Swedish version:
01. Livet's Trädgård
02. Svekets Prins
03. Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör
04. De Närmast Sörjande
05. Minnets Yta
06. Charlatan
07. Ingen Sanning Är Allas
08. Banemannen
09. Kontinuerlig Drift
10. Allting Tar Slut
11. Pöbeln [extended edition bonus]
12. Cirkelns Riktning [extended edition bonus]
13. Frihet & Tyranni [extended edition bonus]

English version:
01. Garden Of Earthly Delights
02. Dignity
03. Heart In Hand
04. Next Of Kin
05. Lovelorn Crime
06. Charlatan
07. Universal Truth
08. The Garroter
09. Continuum
10. All Things Will Pass
11. The Mob [extended edition bonus]
12. Width Of A Circle [extended edition bonus]
13. Freedom & Tyranny [extended edition bonus]

Opeth still haven't quite nailed their prog rock sound, but they're getting closer.

Although true for many people, the mere fact that Opeth abandoned growls and extreme metal isn't what has rendered me less enthusiastic about their post-Watershed output. In 2011, Opeth already had a widely beloved soft prog rock album in their catalogue (2003's Damnation), in addition to a litany of popular softer tracks ("A Fair Judgment", "Face Of Melinda" and "Harvest", just to name a few). Additionally, Watershed clearly showed stronger prog rock influences than any of its immediate predecessors. The stage was set for a successful long-term transition into focusing on the softer side of their sound.

However, Heritage, whilst a perfectly serviceable retro-influenced prog rock album, lacked a degree of that compelling dark melancholic atmosphere that previously rendered Opeth so undeniable; the passion was no longer unadulterated. Additionally, the hard prog rock parts of the album, whilst clearly not aiming to match the intensity of the band's metal side, failed to provide a similarly captivating alternative listening experience, with too many moments ranging from middling to actively irritating (hello, flute section of "Famine"). Pale Communion was a marked improvement, and suggested that the band were developing a clearer idea of how they wished to shape their revised musical approach, relying less heavily on 70s influences such as Camel. 2016's Sorceress was a step back, however, with less interesting ideas and cohesion, and greater reliance on the past (with "A Fleeting Glance" the worst culprit). In Cauda Venenum puts Opeth back in the right direction; however, there's still small niggles holding me back from fully embracing it the way I'd like to.

In Cauda Venenum makes a strong impression right off the bat with "Dignity/Sveket Prins" (the album comes in both English and Swedish), with its impressive early guitar solo and punchy-yet-lush midsection. However, the next two tracks, "Heart In Hand/Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör" and "Next Of Kin/De Närmast Sörjande", are both somewhat guilty (albeit not to the extent of "Charlatan") of a persistent issue I've had with certain modern Opeth songs; the band has clearly always possessed progressive songwriting and technical ability, but I've never really found it to stand out on their older music, whilst later records have regularly featured moments that felt progressive for progressive's sake in a way that detracted from the song. "Heart In Hand" is an energetic, twisting song with some solid hooks, but it also spends an unnecessary amount of its runtime showing off with exercises in complexity and technicality that disengage me. "Next Of Kin", on the other hand, opens with a slow, majestic riff possessed with a compelling authority; whilst the rest of the song somewhat sustains this vibe, there are several patches dominated by vocal and keyboard lines incessantly going up and down in a manner that reminds me a bit of Mozart's excesses maligned by Salieri in the movie Amadeus.

"Lovelorn Crime/Minnets Yta", mercifully, sees the band holding back the flair to deliver an effective ballad containing some smooth vocal harmonies. "Universal Truth/Ingen Sanning Är Allas" heralds the arrival of the strong tail to the album, with its dramatic and powerful choruses, and soothing verses and midsection (the years of collaboration with Steven Wilson are fully on display on this song), whilst "Continuum/Kontinuerlig Drift" is a consummately crafted soft prog track full of excellent vocals and instrumental arrangement. The album saves the best for last; "All Things Will Pass", or its more popular Swedish name, "Allting Tar Slut", is a slow, imposing closer imbued with serious gravitas during its heavy moments, and climaxing in a measured, uplifting lead guitar and vocal duet carrying ten times the power of the convoluted keyboard/vocal duets in "Next Of Kin".

More than anything, In Cauda Venenum is a frustrating listen; given the at times unconvincing nature of the heavier side of their sound on recent records, this record demonstrates that the band can still deliver when they turn up the volume. This is comfortably the greatest demonstration this decade of Opeth as a heavy prog rock band (Pale Communion shined more in its softer parts), whilst a fair few of the quieter moments similarly deliver, particularly "Continuum". Additionally, this is a far more complete and cohesive record than something like Sorceress. However, for some reason, turning into a prog rock band has meant that the progressive side of the band is no longer fully committed to serving the sound of a song. A song such as "Next Of Kin" could've been genuinely fantastic with a modicum of restraint and greater focus on the dark triumphant atmosphere.

Opeth is still lacking the rich melancholia that made their earlier work so universally adored, and there's yet to be a side to the new prog rock sound that quite matches up to it (as complimentary as I am about some of the songs here, none are remotely in contention for career-wide favourite Opeth songs), but they're demonstrating strengths that point towards it being within the realm of possibility. If Opeth could extract the high points of this album, take the best parts of Pale Communion, and dial down the proggy wankery, their next album could genuinely be great.