Sorceress was one of my favorite albums of 2016. I’ve listened to Opeth until then but just some songs on that point. It was not until that album that I drove into the entire discography, which is quite amazing by the way.
When it was announced that the Swedish prog band would release a new album I was excited, hoping to hear a similar album that the latest one but with some twist on it. They released this one both in English and Swedish, which I think it’s kinda cool, not for me, but for the Swedish fans of the band, it would be cool to hear your favorite band singing in your native language.
The version that I’ve heard was the English one obviously. And that’s the one we’re going to review right now.
Track by track:
1 – Garden of Earthly Delights: Listen to this part and tell me if it reminds you of the opening track of Stranger Things. I like how this opening track goes in crescendo but it gets quiet by the end, it makes the next track to have a more exciting start.
2 – Dignity: after the Opeth’s classic hypnotizing effect of the start, this guitar just suits perfectly, it makes a permeating effect hitting to your brain. If you want to get hypnotized listen to this song with the visualizer video that it’s on YouTube. It won’t matter that it’s in Swedish, you’ll get stuck there no matter what.
3 – Heart in Hand: I imagine warriors running to the next battle hearing the first part of this song.
4 – Next of Kin: it’s no doubt that Opeth has created a sound signature with their changing sounds, from explosive to acoustic in a heartbeat, this track has my favorite transition on this album.
5 – Lovelorn Crime: I understand when hardcore Opeth fans complain about the new approach of the band, making more melodic singing. But I have to say that with this approach we can appreciate Mikael’s voice more in my opinion. It’s not that his singing was bad in their early years, not at all. But now we can hear his voice to do things like this. He’s able now to make different and cool stuff with it, it’s less predictive now. Like having a new instrument.
6 – Charlatan: This was definitely the song that caught my attention the most on the first listens. That fat guitar and the keyboards over the top sound awesome.
7 – Universal Truth: second favorite transition of this album. (maybe it’s my favorite). And very deep lyrics.
8 – The Garroter: You can feel like being on a flamenco session hearing the start. Then you’ll take a trippy jazz session dose. Ok, this is definitely my favorite transition. Very pleasant and experimental sound.
9 – Continuum: the word continuum means “something that changes in character gradually or in very slight stages without any clear dividing points. This song surely does that you’ll be from here to here without noticing it.
10 – All Things Will Pass: this in another example of the other instrument that Opeth has been using in their latest albums. Man, that’s a killer voice Mikael has there.
My thoughts
Like any other prog record, you will like this album more as you listen to it. You’ll find new sounds in every spin. Like the album itself, I got what I was expecting really. Opeth has never released a bad album. They have surely come out with different approaches from time to time. But you can tell by hearing any of the album that this band surely takes time and commitment with all the work that they do. The only bad thing I could say about it is that it’s very similar to Sourceress, but having liked that album so much I don’t think that is a bad thing at all in my opinion
My favorite three songs are:
- The Garroter
- Charlatan
- Hearth In Hand