Opeth Heritage

[espquade]

Ok so maybe I'm a little late to the party , but I picked this up the other day ( Opeth Heritage ) and have been listening to it the past few days and .... It is got a lot going on so I'm patient that it will grow on me and overall I like it , but.....
This really sounds almost like a side project that Opeth put out rather than the new direction they are now going in .

I do like what I have been hearing , but honestly ( Watershed ) blew me away and picked up a few other earlier ones I must admit that Heritage is a far departure from everything else in every way .

I watched a few interviews and this seems like the direction they are going in and they are feeling like they have taken metal as far as they can go after Watershed .

Like I said I am getting into Heritage , but it just seems like a side project for them really and i hope they will return to another heavier record the next time around , but even if they don't I will still pick up anything they put out .

Just hopefull it will be darker and heavy again !!!!

 

[Atropos_Project]

I like the sound and vibe of Heritage, and I like his vocals. What I don't like is how mailed in the tracks are as far as song structure / composition. The disc has way too many "hey, lets throw this utterly random part in because that'll be edgy' moments. Granted, this band has always strayed (thankfully) far away from typical song structures, but most of the time sections would weave in / out of each other in a way that made things quite special.

Add to that, the latest tour, or at least the show I attended, covered absolutely none of their heavier work. 'A Fair Judgment' is as close as they got.

 

[espquade]

I like this much better though !

 

[Spaceboy]

The album would've been golden if Akerfeldt had been more creative with his vocal melodies. It honestly ruins the entire record for me, and I can barely sit through three tracks before I'm bored. I'm into what they're trying to do, and I'm interested to see where they're going. They really fell short with Heritage though, IMO.

 

[hawkeye17]

It's a departure for them but it's a departure that's growing on me. I agree with the OP and I think this is an album Mikael always wanted to make. These guys have been doing this for so long it just sounds to me like they wanted to really try something totally different just to change the pace a bit and keep the band fresh creatively. I admire it it, but I also hope they go back to their heavier roots on the next album.

 

[noseminer]

I don't mind that they made the album but if this is truly their new direction and they wont even do songs with death vocals at concerts then, well then I guess I need to find a new favorite band.

 

[Spaceboy]

I don't mind that they made the album but if this is truly their new direction and they wont even do songs with death vocals at concerts then, well then I guess I need to find a new favorite band.

I think after 20 years of the doing the death metal thing, it's okay if they want make some more mature music. This album really isn't that huge of a leap from their past work, and something most fans predicted they would do (again, since this isn't their first time making a 'clean' album).

 

[moltisanti]

it's a really interesting move to put this record out now, personally i think parts of it are fantastic and other parts less so, i respect the decision to go with what he wanted to do rather than put out something to please anyone else. I think Mikael's heavy vocals have diminished in recent years, if you watch them live on Lamentations his growling is awesome, on the Albert Hall DVD it's much less aggressive, but as a trade off his clean vocals are vastly better now.

It'll be interesting to see if they do another heavy album, personally I could live with a heavier album with clean vocals if he struggles to physically do it anymore, i always thought being able to sing in two completely different styles was a pretty amazing ability, it must take it's toll.

I love the production on Heritage, it sounds really warm and full, and there are some really great passages, going to see them here in the UK next week

 

[spirit7]

In my opinion it should have been released as a Mikael solo record. Granted, Opeth has always been a band prepared to push boundaries, but in many ways this record bears absolutely no resemblance to their classic period (Morningrise to Deliverance). It's not a bad record, it's just purposely unfocused and seems to have sections implemented just for the sake of being 'edgy' or 'proggy'...it really doesn't flow at all.

Looking forward to Storm Corrosion though - Mikael and Steven Wilson's collaboration album!

-C

 

[thegame]

I wouldn't mind one bit if they used all clean vocals on the old songs in concert, if it meant that was the only way to hear those songs live now.

 

[espquade]

I wouldn't mind one bit if they used all clean vocals on the old songs in concert, if it meant that was the only way to hear those songs live now.

I totally agree ... Also just bring back the the heavy Guitar's

 

[thegame]

I wouldn't mind one bit if they used all clean vocals on the old songs in concert, if it meant that was the only way to hear those songs live now.

I totally agree ... Also just bring back the the heavy Guitar's

They still use the heavy toned guitars in concert, fortunately.

 

[CaseyCor]

I picked it up on day 1, and didn't make it even half way into the 3rd track before I shut it off and threw it back in the shit pile. I've never been more bored by "quality" music in my life. Everything I heard was so plain, forced, and just straight up fucking uninteresting.

Oh well, I've still got Still Life to listen to I guess.