Opeth's 10th album/observation Heritage - September release

JBnaglfar

A few details have finally been released on Opeth's next album, or observation as they call it. It is called Heritage and Mikael has described it as 'good'.

The tracklisting is available here, and Mikael speaks a little more about the album, describing as an acquired taste and suggesting Alice Cooper as an influence.

I think you'll need a slightly deeper understanding of our music as a whole to be able to appreciate this record. I've realized my influences for this album are so diverse that I can't really say what it sounds like. If I can compare it to any other band, it would have to be Opeth, but it's different from the stuff we've done before.

Fairly cryptic description there, it sounds like Opeth but like nothing Opeth have done before. Hopefully more details will emerge soon, the first single has been announced as The Devil's Orchard. It may be an indication of the album's sound, but imo the singles from the last two albums were weaker than the rest of the fantastic material released.

Anyone have any thoughts or expectations for the new album?

mp3guy

I really hope that they haven't again moved further from death metal to fruity prog rock.

Mushy

Always bashful is Mike, I'm very sure it'll be "good"!

Look forward to hearing it, at least its all done and dusted, so hopefully hear a few tracks at Soni this year.

Mushy

01. Heritage
02. The Devil's Orchard
03. I Feel The Dark
04. Slither
05. Nepenthe
06. Haxprocess
07. Famine
08. The Lines In My Hand
09. Folklore
10. Marrow Of The Earth

Useful.Idiot

hah, there's a song called slither. always reminds me of this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkUo04u2jc

but yeah, I'm slightly looking forward to this. Watershed was a very good entry in Opeth's catalogue, though not as good as earlier albums.

I have no doubt that it will at least be...'good' :pac:

Somnus

It will be quite interesting to hear what this album is like. Watershed was a definite step in a new direction, but I really liked it.

And mp3guy, I always felt that Watershed was a step towards an older prog rock style. So I wouldn't be surprsied to see that go further here. All though I doubt it will be "fruity" :P

RayCon

I think Watershed is fantastic ... looking forward to hearing what the new album will sound like :cool:

Nea

So looking forward to this, especially of hearing of an Alice Cooper influence.
I also hope new tunes get an airing at Sonisphere......along with When

Somnus

Album art unveiled!!



mp3guy, your description is only getting more and more likely :P

SilverScreen

That would be a great album cover if it didn't have the band members heads poking out of the tree

This album could go either way, Watershed was a good enough album but they really need to deliver something on par with Ghost Reveries or Blackwater Park this time. Whether the album is more prog-orientated or more death metal-orientated I don't really care as long as it's more interesting.

OctavarIan

Zero1986 wrote: »

Whether the album is more prog-orientated or more death metal-orientated I don't really care as long as it's more interesting.

I don't think the orientation of the album can be called into question anymore. The only way Opeth could have been less subtle with the cover would have been to actually stamp "70s prog" somewhere on it.

Somnus

A new song has been leaked

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f1nIzdbQJs

Jako8

Dr.Poca wrote: »

A new song has been leaked

Woah, that's a pretty cool track. I've only ever listened to Blackwater Park (which is a great album) but this sounds like it's worth getting. There's a Zappa vibe from some parts.

mp3guy

Well. That's another death metal band kicking the bucket.

JBnaglfar

Sounds pretty good. Some of the other songs might have more of a death metal feel, but even if not I don't mind what the they do so long as its good. On the basis of that song, I'm looking forward to the album.

Somnus

It reminds me of Watershed, but even more old school. I definitely thought you could hear them going this direction in Watershed and now it seems like the new album will be thoroughly down the prog rock route.

Assuming the other songs will be in a similar vein

Nea

Ooooh
Different but deadly.
Definately moving on in direction from Watershed, I can here the Porcupine Tree in there too.

Woo hoo, roll on Sept

mp3guy wrote: »

Well. That's another death metal band kicking the bucket.

The bucket was kicked as a death metal band a long time ago

Richy06

I think they explored the progressive death metal part of their sound enough. I like it when bands don't keep churning out the same record.

spiritcrusher

Like the song, think the band needed a bit of a change in direction. Found the last couple of albums a bit uninspiring. Some really nifty guitar work on the new song.
I have to wonder though, does Akerfeldt listen to his clean vocals? They're so utterly bland, boring and derivative. No defining characteristics to them, he sounds like the million acoustic singer/songwriter types out there, on the last few albums anyway. Very wishy-washy.
But that being said I'm still looking forward to the album to see where this new direction goes.

weisses

a comment Quoted from you-tube on the new song

"Hello, I'm a butt hurt death metal fan boy. I now hate opeth because my extremely narrow taste of music is not satisfied, simply because I cant head bang to this song. Like, I have been listening to opeth forever and could care less about what Mikael wants to do, even though it's his band and musicians grow as artists after years and want to try different things, i still dont give a fcuk due to the fact that i'm an arrogant prick and doesn't know how to appreciate different music." :rolleyes:

Its nice that now and then you need to listen more carefully to appreciate a song (album) :cool:

nyarlothothep

Its kinda standard Opeth fair, with the arrangements eg the use of that particular organ, the middle eastern sounding scales, the atonal sections and so forth. It manages to work rather than sounding like a chilli peppers effort as its just a good/well written song I suppose, but I don't like the guitar sound for the main riff.

devildriver

Song is here via Soundcloud:

http://stereogum.com/766792/opeth-the-devils-orchard-stereogum-premiere/franchises/haunting-the-chapel/

RayCon

devildriver wrote: »

Song is here via Soundcloud:

http://stereogum.com/766792/opeth-the-devils-orchard-stereogum-premiere/franchises/haunting-the-chapel/

:cool: I am diggin that

JBnaglfar

Part 1 of a 5 part interview with Mikael, the other parts on on youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnkdU4QhNUA

Chikablam

I dunno about you guys, but I'm considering actually buying that album, if anyone deserves anything, it's Opeth

JBnaglfar

I will definitely buy it, always buy their albums and have yet to be disappointed. They are one of the most consistently brilliant bands and always do something different on their albums.

Somnus

JBnaglfar wrote: »

I will definitely buy it, always buy their albums and have yet to be disappointed. They are one of the most consistently brilliant bands and always do something different on their albums.

Yeah, I'll always buy an album of a band I really like. And I loved Watershed, it was a step in a new direction... that worked.. and that's not always the case. I'm definitely looknig forward to hearing the rest of this album.

And cheers for the interview! That guy always has good questions and I watched his new Steven Wilson one afterwards

Links234

I'll be getting it! really liking that new song

Undergod

nyarlothothep wrote: »

Its kinda standard Opeth fair, with the arrangements eg the use of that particular organ, the middle eastern sounding scales, the atonal sections and so forth. It manages to work rather than sounding like a chilli peppers effort as its just a good/well written song I suppose, but I don't like the guitar sound for the main riff.

In agreement here, it's very standard Opeth proggy stuff. Part of the middle was almost identical to a passage from Watershed.

I'm a huge Opeth fan, but I found this to be pretty predictable. Not bad by any means, but just really obvious or something.

RayCon

Pre-orderd the CD/DVD set with "Opeth coin" (?):rolleyes: for £8.99 on play.com ... looking forward to listening to the whole album and watching the "makin of ...." DVD...

Mushy

Im liking it, will take more time to grow and cd quality will be better. Cant wait now.

GLaDOS

I really like it

Somnus

My mate put the new album up here

http://www.youtube.com/user/EpicTrollKing?feature=mhee#p/u/18/FBSjnM2dbK8

Along with the new DT album

JBnaglfar

I listened to a few songs from the Opeth album last night, sounds like its a cracker. Bit of a change in direction alright, which I guess may turn some people off, but IMO it could be one of their best albums yet.

drumlover22

Had a listen to the album, and I love it. Completely different to their other stuff, but I think it all fits. I think even if Opeth done a Lady Gaga cover it'd sound great

GLaDOS

Given it a few listens, absolutely love it.

RayCon

Listen to track 4 , Slither and tell me if Dio was singing that it couldn't easily sit on Rainbow Rising ...

devildriver

Full and legal stream here:

http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=140288664&m=140262406

InigoMontoya

Found this fairly boring to be honest. Will need few more listens before judging it definitively but so far... pleasant enough but quite bland.

Elrollo

RayCon wrote: »

Listen to track 4 , Slither and tell me if Dio was singing that it couldn't easily sit on Rainbow Rising ...

Listened to 'Slither', grand song, will download before I buy the album on this one though! I can tell the albums going to be a bit like Damnation which may not be a bad thing!

Somnus

Finally got the album. Absolutely loved it. I was a bit afraid of finding it boring, like I knew what Mike would do or something. And even though it's not particulalrly groundbreaking, it's a masterpiece. I absolutely love it.

Got the deluxe edition with the bonus DVD. The 5.1 mix sounds fantastic and the documentary is good. The two bonus tracks are also very good.

My biggest concern now though is for their tour. With the setlist they played for the first two shows of the US tour it looks like it's gonna be a mellow set. Which means lots of angry metal fans who are gonna ruin the show by shouting at them to play some metal (I've seen this on both the Watershed and Ghost Reveries tours where they were only playing one or two mellow tunes). That could really ruin the gig

Nea

On the first couple of listens, I felt so disappointed, it just seemed so boring and when you adore a band it feels lousy on first listening that its going to be a bad album.

Many listens later I am very happy with it, I do prefer Opeth's earlier stuff but dont mind this direction either. What a song Famine is, the riff from about 4.50 is amazing, its in my head constantly, the flute sounds deadly.

I feel though that they will alienate more fans with this album, a lot of old school fans were losing faith in them anyway, they seemed to be growing in popularity so it does seem an odd decision to release a prog album like this.

I also love the cover, the symbolism with the recently departed Per's head falling out of the tree and the devils around the tree roots depicting their death metal roots.

They havent lost me as a fan anyway

spiralism

Have to give this a try now, really liked watershed so dying to hear how their sound has progressed.... they playing over here any time soon actually?

Somnus

spiralism wrote: »

Have to give this a try now, really liked watershed so dying to hear how their sound has progressed.... they playing over here any time soon actually?

Don't think there's any European dates yet. But based on previous tours I'd say they'll be playing here around June

Nea

They are playing the UK in Nov, I asked H from DME was there any plans for them coming over then but he said they wont be over till next year

iroced

First post here to talk about an album I was expecting for something like 7-8 years...

Mike always acknowledged his prog' rock roots and he was putting more and more of them in every new album (especially since Ghost Reveries). Hence this "Heritage" which seems to me like a somehow "logical" progression...

Up to now I like what I hear but need more time to build a more constructive opinion. What is sure is, as someone already said, you can definitely hear the Opeth touch (the odd arrangements, this oriental vibe, the keyboards...). I like the voice, the riffage, the atmosphere; Doesn't sound like an obvious rip off of 70ies bands. Sounds very promising !

galwayrush

I like this, i see it as more of a compliment to bands they liked from the 70's rather than a rip off.

Somnus

Definitely agree with the two above posts. It's more inspired by that era rather than ripped off. It still has that Opeth sound at parts.

It flows really well. I'm looking forward to seeing how the live performances turn out.