Opeth To Release New Album - Sorceress

[100423]

The keyboardist's name is Joakim Svalberg, not Peter, but details....

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Another review. This one from Amnplify:

http://amnplify.com.au/cpt_reviews/o...-album-review/

Opeth – Sorceress (Album Review)

Written by Chris Reid



Opeth are undoubtedly one of progressive metals most revered and important bands. For over two decades the Swedes have built a strong and loyal fan base on the back of putting out album after album of progressive metal gold. Their early career was defined by Mikael Akerfeldt‘s unparalleled ability to switch between guttural growls and soothing yet melancholy clean vocals. In more recent times the band’s sound has developed significantly and has strayed way from their progressive death metal roots to the point that the last two albums, Heritage and Pale Communion, featured no growled vocals at all. Whilst the calls for Mikael to bring back his growl in the studio certainly still exist, I think that a good majority of Opeth fans have come to understand what Opeth at this stage in their career is all about. No Opeth record is the same, so I went into my first listen of Sorceress, Opeth’s 12th album, keen to see what sort of creative work the Swedes had come up with this time around.

Opeth have always had a knack from writing beautiful mellow guitar pieces and Persephone is another example of this. Persephone has a great lead melody and the restrained acoustic arrangement is perfect. Towards the end of the track we hear a sound bite of a female voice who I presume to be Persephone (the mythical daughter of Demeter and Zeus and goddess of the underworld). The addition of the voice adds an subdued, eerie feel to the piece which sets the album up nicely.
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Sorceress was the first song made available to fans ahead of the albums release. I can certainly understand why as it is a damn solid track and not a bad representation of the album overall. I really like this track. Sure, if I’m honest I do miss Mikael’s growls, but this song has a weight and heaviness about it which makes me miss them a little less. Mikael’s clean vocals are quite powerful here, and the musicianship throughout is really strong.
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The Wilde Flowers starts with a fairly strange forward groove but it really gets going as the song develops. The Wilde Flowers is quite a diverse piece of music – finger twisting riffs, an incredibly slippery guitar solo, a mellow and melodic interlude in the middle, and a frantic conclusion really make this one of the top tracks on the album for mine.
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Will O The Wisp is the second single released ahead of the album’s release. It’s a nice mellow track and I must admit that I enjoy it more in the context of the album than I did when streaming it on youtube when it was released. Fans of vintage Jethro Tull will really lap this one up, and for me it’s a refreshing change up at this stage of the album. A modern day Harvest perhaps
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Chrysalis starts with a really big heavy groove. Joakim Svalberg’s keys are high in the mix but the majority of the guitar riffs have an old school flavour to them, to the point that could have been written during the Still Life period. Sure Mikael isn’t growling but the first half of this this song has a really old school Opeth feel and is exactly the sort of material which will satisfy old time fans alike . Joakim really shines on this track, playing some really great leads, but also creating great atmosphere with his parts. The song mellows out into a chilled jam towards the end. A contender for song of the album no doubt.
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Sorceress 2 is a beautiful yet haunting piece of music. Acoustic guitars are accompanied by the familiar eerie tones of a Mellotron – the track has all of the hallmarks of an Opeth ballad. Mikael’s vocals are really great and create a really foreboding atmosphere on this one.
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The Seventh Sojourn is a different sort of track, even for a band like Opeth. Its not so much a song, but rather and extended instrumental jam revolving around a middle eastern motif. It ebbs and flows and seems to building towards a climax that never really comes. The final stages of the song sees a choir singing a forlorn melody. Not the type of track that would find itself onto a best of release or anything like that, but an interesting track in the context of the album.
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Strange Brew exemplifies Opeth in 2016. After a very mellow/restrained intro Strange Brew simply explodes into a technically brilliant instrumental passage. The song is ultra progressive in the traditional sense. A myriad of ideas are explored over 8+ minutes which is heavy and times and mellow at others. One of my picks from Sorceress for sure.
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A Fleeting Glance is anther good song which builds from a restrained introduction. It’s the back end of this track is where I really find myself getting into this song as the lead guitars and vocals are particularly memorable.
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Era starts with a subdued piano line but when the rest of the band kick in you’ve actually got quite an up tempo song – In fact it’s probably the most upbeat of all the songs on the album. The vocals in the chorus are great and it’s a great choice to bring the album to it’s conclusion. Persephone (Slight Return) is essentially the piano interlude from the beginning of Era accompanied by the female voice from the opener Persephone . It’s a nice conclusion to the album but if I was going to be critical I’d question why they made it a standalone track.
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For me, the album Sorceress is comfortably the most enjoyable album that Opeth have released since Watershed. Personally I found the change in both direction and sound on Heritage to be too drastic for me to initially get my head around but I did enjoy Pale communion; even if my enjoyment wasn’t to the same level that I enjoyed their previous works.
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Sorceress is a fantastic album and has done a great job of nailing a balance between their recent and older sound and style. I see now reason why it shouldn’t appeal to new and old fans alike. Mikael actually sums Sorceress up the best when he said ‘It’s both fresh and old, both progressive and rehashed. Heavy and calm. Just the way we like it’. Just the way I like it too.
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[100423]

One last one without the text from Metal Obsession:

http://www.metalobsession.net/2016/0...eth-sorceress/

[progman1975]

I can't believe they are skipping Philly

[gpeccary]

I can't believe they are skipping Philly

I think originally it was like a two city tour! When I first bought my ticket to radio city, I think they were only playing one more show on the west coast.

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Studio Report #8: Keyboards:

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Official video for The Wilde Flowers:

[gpeccary]

I just heard the album all the way through for the first time...it kills! A mix of everything from Watershed up! Grittier than communion and heritage, LOVE It!

[miamiscot]

Love it. Sounds like a combination of the last two (which is a good thing.)

[AncientChord]

Maybe I should give it more time to sink in, but I was not impressed at all by any of the tracks. To me it seems that the band has lost its Mojo. The urgent energy of past albums just doesn't seem to be there. But I've also had a limited taste in their music, liking the more prog orientated releases like Damnation, Heritage and Pale Communion. Many of the tracks are very mellow with an classical based acoustic feel. One track at first listen could be Jethro Tull, and the few harder tracks on this album really didn't raise a eyebrow with me. But I never make a final judgement until an album sinks in for awhile. I'm sure the hard-line prog-metal lovers (growlers) will hate it, and the prog people will probably be disapointed. I do hope it grows on me. But again my first impression was...meh.

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Studio Report #10 - Wrap Up:

]https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=WnjVxg5JzfM

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Opeth is streaming the new album:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pr...ceress-w442549

[eporter66]

Really liking this after 3 listens.

[100423]

The more I listen to it, the less I like it overall. Time to give it a break.

[battema]

The more I listen to it, the less I like it overall. Time to give it a break.

I'm...well, I do rather like the title track. So far, the rest of album hasn't won me over as much. But, we'll see.

[100423]

I listened to it again on my walk this morning and enjoyed it. I think I must be bi-Opethular or something.

[battema]

So far, the title track is a knockout, and the balance of the album is a mixed bag.

[100423]

Persephone > Sorceress =
The Wilde Flowers = Not sure about this one yet.
Will O' The Wisp = okay
Chrysalis = Not sure about this one either, except the Planet Caravanesque ending is way cool.
Sorceress 2 & The Seventh Sojourn =
Strange Brew =
A Fleeting Glance = It has it's moments, but not into it (yet).
Era = Just don't like this song at all (possibly yet).

[100423]

After two more listenings I've started to connect with all the songs except Era, still no love for that one.