UMUR "Heritage" is the 10th full-length studio album by Swedish progressive metal act Opeth. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in September 2011. There´s been much speculation about how "Heritage" would sound after the band made it clear that they would drop the growls and focus on playing progressive rock. Of course we´ve heard Mikael Åkerfeldt talk about this before, being the prog rock head he is, but he has talked about other projects before that hasn´t materialized yet. For instance I remember he talked about releasing a black metal oriented Opeth album once, and that project certainly hasn´t surfaced yet. With "Heritage" it turned out to be more than words though as the band have completely left their progressive death metal roots behind and focus on playing a 70s influenced progressive type of rock.

...especially keyboard player Per Wiberg, is given a lot of space and opportunity to flash his vintage keyboards (ironically Per Wiberg left the band before the release of the album), but everything from the jazz rock influenced drumming, the warm bass sound to the dynamic and structurally challenging compositions, to the fuzzy distorted guitars, scream 70s progressive rock/hard rock.

The album starts out with a piano intro and then "The Devil's Orchard" kicks in. It´s one of the more energetic tracks on the album even though it´s quite dynamic too with some mellow sections thrown in. "I Feel the Dark" and "Slither" are pretty great too but "Nepenthe" is kinda dull to my ears. From that moment on it´s like the album only captivate me in glimpses. The last track "Marrow of the Earth" is quite the beautiful instrumental piece though. My issue with many of the tracks is that they don´t sound like fully developed compositions, but more like a lot of ideas put together to form tracks. The interesting thing is that the earlier material by the band is also structured like that, but that type of songwriting approach works much better within the context of a progressive death metal album than in does on a full blown progressive rock album.

...so while the playing is excellent (I´m especially impressed by drummer Martin Axenrot, who really shines on the album) and the production is warm and organic, the songwriting simply isn´t strong enough. "Heritage" is loaded with great ideas and for the most part the album is very enjoyable but the full promise is too seldom fulfilled. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted.

optisailor2002 When Opeth in 2008 announced the upcoming release of their new album, Watershed, the emotions that it evoked were mixed, especially with two of my favourite members of the band, Martin Lopez leaving the band in 2005 and a year before the release of the album, Peter Lindgren left the band as well, being replaced by Bloodbath's Martin Axenrot and ex-Arch Enemy live guitarist Fredrik Åkesson respectively. Furthermore, 2005's Ghost Reveries marked the transition of the band's songwriting from a heavier edge to more progressive territories, leaving one to wonder what Watershed was going to sound like.

Album opener Coil brings listeners back to the band's Damnation album, with the acoustic guitars and Mikael Åkerfeldt's trademark clean vocals. The guest female vocals present on the song also helps in making this track an extremely soothing and beautiful one, and just from this intro track, one can almost be sure that there will be a markedly increased presence of such moments on the album. Imagine the surprise then, as Heir Apparent assaults the listener with a heavy, crushing riff, and one is brought back to the darker moments that were present on the band's previous effort, Ghost Reveries, and as sudden as these heavy riffs come in, they fade out and instead, the keys of Per Wiberg takes over, giving the music a chilling and haunting atmosphere before going back into their heavier mode. Mikhael's growls are stellar here, with a somewhat spacey sound to them, compared to the more aggressive and sharp style that he utilises on Bloodbath. Fans of Deliverance and Blackwater Park era Opeth, be prepared to be slightly disappointed as Heir Apparent could possibly be the heaviest song that is present on this ninth release of the band.

The reduction of heaviness on the album though, is fortunately made up for by the brilliant songwriting on Watershed, and this is evident throughout the album, with tracks that run for as long as 11 and a half minutes (Hessian Peel), yet containing not a single boring moment. The progression of the tracks are also typically Opeth, with the constant switching between heavy and soothing moments, though compared to prior releases, the death metal moments are notably fewer throughout the album. The Lotus Eater also progresses like a more updated and progressive version of The Baying of the Hounds, with the melodic and catchy yet heavy riffs on the guitar, and the usage of clean vocals on top of the heavy riffs. Burden would have easily fit on the Damnation album as well, with the song being filled with mostly instruments played in cleans, yet this manages to stand as one of my favourite tracks on the album with the calming yet somewhat desolate mood that it rouses in the listener.

Throughout the album, Fredrik also proves his abilities as a guitarist, and his ability to fit in the band, with the numerous face-ripping solos that he unleashes effortlessly, yet staying within the style that Opeth has crafted over the years through the capable playing of the acoustic guitars as well. Mikael's characteristic soaring guitar solos are also present alongside those of Fredrik, like on Burden. One of the main highlights on the album as well is the duel between Fredrik and Mikael on Burden, giving listeners a glimpse to the prowess of each of the musicians. The detuning of the guitar at the end of the track also provides a quirky moment, ending with a sinister laugh by Mikael. The Lotus Eater also shows Per Wiberg's ability on his instruments with the extremely complex solo slightly after the halfway mark. On top of that, Axenrot also shows that he is not only the blast-beats machine (like in Bloodbath), but is also capable of providing some jazzy moments like his predecessor, Martin Lopez, helping to address any displeasures from long time die-hard fans of the band. Martin Mendex also uses his bass like a third lead instrument, providing a constant soothing background melody underneath all the other instruments.

Watershed also stands as one of the shortest albums of the band's career, with all tracks having a combined runtime of under 1 hour, and this, combined with the large change of musical style could make this album the band's first divisive albums before their final transition into a full-on prog band with 2011's Heritage. While fans of what was on Deliverance and Blackwater Part could probably hate this, Watershed has over time become one of my favourite albums of Opeth, with the perfect balance between and fusion of heaviness and melody.

Originally written for http://www.heavymetaltribune.com/

Warthur Steven Wilson and Opeth got together on Blackwater Park, with Wilson both performing on some tracks and producing the album. His influence can be particularly heard in the quieter passages of the album, which at points remind me of the indie rock-prog rock mashups Porcupine Tree produced on albums such as Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun.

To be honest, the mix of technically flashy but emotionally distant death metal and approximations of Porcupine Tree doesn't really appeal to me very much, though the experiment was doubtless worth trying and the album may be of interest both to Opeth fans and Porcupine Tree fans interested in what transpired between Lightbulb Sun and In Absentia to prompt the band's radical musical change during that time period.

Warthur Opeth's Still Life opens with one of the band's best tracks - the progressive death metal epic The Moor - but it soon loses its way as the band find themselves unable to focus their musical experiments into a cohesive and rich sound. Whilst Mikael Åkerfeldt is indeed mighty, his clean vocals are much less interesting, and the clean backing vocals that turn up at points verge on the cheesy. The flow of the album is disrupted horribly by the overlong and overproduced acoustic ballad Benighted - which might have been a decent enough interlude if its running time had been trimmed back and the simple acoustic guitar of it first stages hadn't been drowned under studio effects.

After that, the album's momentum is lost, and to be honest a lot of the death metal segments in its second half seem rather average for the genre. It's an OK listen, but I feel it's rather overrated.

Doomster I just don't know about this...

"Heritage" is the long anticipated 10th studio album by the very renowned progressive death metal band Opeth. The album recieved generally mixed reviews - older Opeth fans generally disliked it, but some of the more "open minded" ones hailed it as a work of progressive genius. And me, well, I really just don't know about this. I love Opeth a whole lot, and I was drooling over the release of this record for pretty much the entire year, only for me to listen to it and come off this roller coaster as quite dissapointed, in general.

It's not a bad album, at all. It just lacks the "oomph" present on older Opeth albums. This is like a watered down version of "Damnation" - it features the same clean vocals, no heavy sections at all, and progressive rock tendencies. However, while "Damnation" actually sounded like Opeth, "Heritage" sounds more like a shameless rip of older, better progressive rock bands like Jethro Tull and Gentle Giant and King Crimson. Opeth were definetely in an experimental mood with this album.

I know people are likely calling me out right now for not being "open minded enough", but like I said, I absolutely loved "Damnation". It was catchy and beautiful while still managing to be haunting and dark. This album, however, just sounds a bit shallow - like it wants to be "Damnation" but ends up falling flat. The only thing I could think of while listening to this was "If I want Jethro Tull, I'll buy a Jethro Tull album".

Even though the album is, as a whole, mediocre and average, there is a few parts which are just downright terrible. Case in point? "Folkore". It has some of the most God awful vocals I have ever heard in an Opeth song - whiny, annoying, and I just couldn't help to wait for this 8 minute song to end.

A few parts are VERY good, though. The intro title track, "Heritage" is a beautiful piano solo which has a lot of emotion behind it. "The Devil's Orchard" is the closest this album has to heavy, with a very nice drum track. A perfect choice for a single. Setting aside the vocals in the aforomentioned "Folkore", Mikael's vocals other than that are top notch.

Even though this is a mainly disappointing release in my opinion, Opeth's artistic passion still shows here, and even though it let me down, it is an OK album in it's own right. I wouldn't really reccomend it to anyone unless you're a die hard Opeth and prog rock fan. If you're looking for the best prog album of 2011, though, get DT's "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" instead.

AtomicCrimsonRush "Big gig today, people, big gig".

Okay, I finally got around to seeing Opeth live at Royal Albert Hall with a bunch of fans, and as usual with Opeth, as far as I am concerned, it is a real hit and miss affair. Parts of the concert send me into bliss with gorgeous guitars and vocals and amazing dextrous lead guitar with choppy riffs, and parts make me search for the skip button. Okay let's get past the first point of concern for me; the concert is perhaps designed for the younger target audience who prefer death metal growls over actual singing. To be honest there is a heck of a lot of gravel voice vocals on this, more than I expected or wished, as I have 4 albums and there are definitely large chunks without growling on albums; though not so here. Unfortunately, this live performance really focuses on the heavier side of Opeth with only the occasional let up in speed and growling. When Akerfeldt sings clean vocals it is mesmirising so I wish he'd shut the dang death growls up as it is really not that impressive. The band play all of Blackwater Park but I would have preferred Still Life.

Another point about the DVD is that the crowd are rather a subdued lot. Their preferred colour is black and mostly guys are present with a smattering of females. The crowd stand still, not much bouncing and moshing as they are there to listen I guess, not have a full body thrash work out. They are definitely into the music and enjoying it, but it is not a mosh session, which shows how different Opeth are in comparison to death metal bands that incite a virtual riot when playing live. The crowd are head banging and raising the horns as you expect. You can hear then yell out stuff during the pauses between tracks, at times quite amusing too.

Yet another point to make about this live DVD is it really is a no frills concert, a bit of smoke and some cool lighting, occasional strobes and an ominous glowing logo with the large screen showing pictures of forests and water, and album covers, to generate a part of the atmosphere, with nice swirling lights cascading across the transfixed crowd. The band pretty much stand in the one place and thrash one track after another, and head bang during the instrumentals. They don't speak much at all at first. At one point Akerfeldt pretends he is going to say something and then stops and just plays; quite a humorous touch. At the end of 'April Ethereal', Akerfeldt begins to open up, he does mention that the band have gone through changes; "a few people have been (pause) fired (laughter) and we have a new lineup". He then intros the guys that are new to rapturous applause. Then he mentions how he used to write when he was too poor to afford a demo and recording equipment. He just wrote things like the Morbid Angel riff 4 times, freaked out bridge and the Bathory section. Ironically I referenced those two bands on my review for Still Life ("The growling reminded me of the black metal I used to listen to with the likes of Bathory or Morbid Angel.") so I wasn't far off the mark as Opeth definitely are influenced by this extreme metal sound. Akerfeldt mentions that Still Life is their most complicated album and then proceeds to play the awesome 'The Moor' from this.

From the beautiful acoustic guitar, it leads to the familiar distorted riffs that blast in without remorse. Akerfeldt's growls are brutal and soul chilling. There is a clean vocal chorus and it is so refreshing. I longed for more of this. At 6 minutes in the riffing stops and we have an acoustic interlude, a moment of respite. The Damnation style clean vocals chime in and they are so good, like a different band. I was drawn into the music at this point. At the end of 'The Moor' Akerfeldt asks "was it good?" which is funny as obviously the response would be a massive roar. He tells the tale of how Steven Wilson emailed him once. The crowd roars at hearing that name mentioned in their presence. He goes onto say that "we hooked up, had dinner, kissed, and I asked him to produce the next record which was gonna be Blackwater Park." But Steve was also involved in Deliverance "making it more sick and evil and twisted" he continues, and he says they should play something nice as they are in such a nice environment "but we want to be bad." I kind of like these moments as it shows the humour of the band and their personalities come through.

Another point about this section of the concert during 'The Wreath', is that Akerfeldt snaps a string and does a very fast guitar switch. His hand signal to the roadie is interesting as he just stops playing but keeps growling away. The roadie just hands him a new guitar and plugs it in as Akerfeldt screams "cover me with sweat" and he just hooks it over his shoulder and starts playing it as if nothing happened. Well worth checking that out. Axe's drumming should be commended too as it is fantastic, though many might miss the style of Lopez of course. I liked his cymbals with holes in them. 'The Wreath' is a thrashy fast thing that has the cookie monster vocals, (I know, I stole that phrase from a reviewer here but that's what it is) and I prefer Oscar the Grouch vocals myself. 'The Wreath' comes from my least favourite Opeth album but was tolerable due to the amazing chord changes and structure.

In the pause between the songs, a girl yells out that she loves Akerfeldt, and he replies "how you doin'?" as he seems quite shy and nervous which is better than being obnoxious of course. The girl has leaped over the barricade and as she is escorted off by guards everyone applauds. Akerfeldt says it's a long show for a metal singer but luckily he still has a bit of voice. At this stage I was hoping that meant he would sing some quieter stuff. He does the beautiful 'Hope Leaves' from Damnation and of course it is a highlight for my ears. I love that album and every song on it is compelling; in fact that is how I came to know Opeth so it is personally one of my favourite moments of the show. The purple and blue lights with sparkling logo give the stage an ethereal appearance.

Then next is a moment of brilliance from Ghost Reveries, 'Harlequin Forest'. I must admit the concert was improving for me as the band moved onto the more progressive sound. The concert ends with Watershed's 'The Lotus Eater', which is of course is excellent as always. Akerfeldt mentions the leaving of Peter and Martin and intros the new members again. Axe has dyed his hair just for this concert, he says. This track is a masterful progressive thing with amazing time changes and innovation throughout. This time Fred breaks a string, or has a technical goof, and stuffs up his solo and it is quite humorous how he plays silently while the roadie tries to rig up a new guitar. Akerfeldt and the others watch with amusement as Fred is hooked up. The crowd quietly clap observing with interest. When Fred begins to play again there is a roar and the whole thing is an unforgettable moment. The band could easily have edited this out but kudos for keeping it in as it provides some entertaining and interesting footage. I believe in the interview mention is made of how a camera man stepped on a pedal and screwed up the sound, and these moments are what make this concert so compelling, as it is a raw concert DVD with all the mistakes unedited but left for us to talk about. There were some conversations about this section with the guys I watched with. It actually provided more intelligent conversations than the rest of the DVD which were basically phrases like, "awesome, unbelievable, shredder, what's he on about, Axe is better, I miss Lopez, and, shut those bloody growls up." At the end the band have a photo opportunity with lots of Opeth addicts and after a bow it is over with a standing ovation.

The special features are generally similar to Pain of Salvation, and Dream Theatre DVDs, in that they show a lot of behind the scenes stuff, tour footage, some interviews, fans spouting off "I am dead serious when I say Mikael Akerfeldt is the reincarnation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart", and a few outtakes from songs. They sign CDs and apparel, take photos of fans and talk at the fans meet and greet, one says "best day ever" and another is shivering with excitement. The sound check was intriguing, done in front of some chosen fans. I like the comment when they are heading down the stairwell to the stage and we hear someone say "It's Spinal Tap." We see a bit of the clean up afterwards, meeting fans back stage who are terminally polite and grateful and Fredrik turns to the camera and says, "you are nothing without your fans never forget that", and there are roadies loading the trucks while the band have a quiet drink with friends. In the truck Fred talks about the mistakes but said they were part of it all after months of build up and the tension they felt. We see Opeth hanging round bars and visiting a Deli with an eccentric owner, and we see them in the trucks getting drunker and funnier.These moments were highlights for me and held more interest than the actual concert.

Overall, this is a great concert for Opeth addicts of course, there are quieter moments but you have to search for them, but it delivers the heavier side of the band with brutal aggression. That is the target audience and it definitely is an extreme sound, and the Opeth fans sitting with me are obviously under the impression that it is a flawless DVD. Seeing past the fan boyism it really is not a masterpiece at all but certainly an excellent live record of the very special event. Personally I look forward to them touring Heritage as that would be worth seeing.

bartosso Valuable music - Voluble Mike

I'm a huge Opeth fan so I bought this release on spec. I'm not disappointed, oh no. Quite the opposite, it's one of the best live releases I've ever seen. Absolutely flawless execution, almost perfect sound, very good set list = fantastic DVD release!

What is a very distinctive feature of this concert, and every Opeth concert in general, is a lack of any kind of rock/metal pose or showing off. There is professionally illuminated stage of Roundhouse and an old good folk sample which serve as a introduction to their concerts since I remember. The band members enter the stage and without unnecessary fuss start to play.

If you remember Mike from LAMENTATIONS as a shy and mellow guy you might be surprised by his present stage behaviour. Mike from Roundhouse is a funny guy with many good (and sometimes not so good) jokes to hand. He feels at ease on stage and with the audience and it's admirable. Still, for some people his long conversations with the fans might be slightly irritating.

ROUNDHOUSE TAPES is a very well produced album, and what's more, almost completely devoid of mistakes usually made by musicians playing live. However, there is one thing which might be annoying for minimalism fanatics. Namely, the producers decided to ornament mellow and atmospheric parts of the concert with retro filters which are supposed to enhance the Opeth experience. If it worked you should check on your own.

bonnek Opeth have a thing with classic UK venues. Lamentations was their first DVD and it was shot at Shepherd's Bush. The Roundhouse and Royal Albert Hall would follow suit. Lamentations captures the band on the Damnation/Deliverance tour and mainly concentrates on the material from those two albums. The only other album featured is Blackwater Park, making this set into a sort of Wilson-years retrospective.

Especially Damnation features in all glory and is played in its entity during the delightful first half of the show. The band goes fluently through the material and Akerfeldt delivers his clean vocals just perfectly. It's a shame that this quiet material didn't really seem to connect well with the young and very meteul audience. Prog fans would have greatly enjoyed this delicate mix of early Camel and Floyd with Nick Drake. The performances evoke a mood very similar to Swedish prog acts such as Landberk and Paatos.

New man in the band is Per Wiberg who adds great backing vocals (mixed a bit too much to the background though) and of course excellent keyboards, often changing the arrangements slightly in comparison to the studio originals. The most outstanding part of the set would be Closure, where the bands explores the psychedelic closing section more thoroughly and more intensely then on Damnation. The second part of the set features heavier material and is more likely to please the metal fans. These songs deviate less from the studio versions but they sound a bit rougher and harsher, which suits them fine.

The audio on this release is superb, the DTS version blasts from the speakers and especially during the quieter songs, it brings out a lot of details. The drums and bass are nicely upfront and have a lot of oomph, with a deep kick and a very warm and round sound. The photography could have been better though, unless you're a fan of extreme close-ups and think it's fun to be able to count Akerfeldt's nasal hairs.

Overall a superb release that should primarily please the more prog-oriented part of Opeth's fanbase. DVD's are always fans-only territory, but it would seem a bit iffy to rate this 2 stars just for that reason. So, for fans only, but excellent it is.