Opeth - Heritage

Artist: Opeth
Album: Heritage
Date Released: September 14 2011
Genre: Progressive Death Metal

While their older releases more resemble the "progressive death metal" tag, I will attribute it to this release for the sake of simplicity (and to avoid senseless trolling). With that, I have already alluded to the final stage in Opeth's metamorphosis: their complete departure from conventional metal. Relying heavily on the already established guitar virtuosity heard in older albums, most of the album is based around morose, acoustic instrumentation. The harsh growls and screams of Mikael Akerfeldt are almost absent, and any guitar work even resembling metal is very minimal. The most upbeat track by far is "Slither", with a Mastodon-esque guitar riff breaking the album up. Otherwise, The album is very low-key, which is by no means a bad thing. In fact, amidst all the over-produced and jam-packed releases out there, this one is a breath of fresh air, masterfully utilizing space and silence to evoke all the emotion these Swedes are able to muster. Akerfeldt expressed this in the recording process, and with 9 studio albums under their belt, no one is in a position to judge them. This album was a very pleasurable experience, and I recommend it to anyone with a yearning for the baroque, the quaint, and the calmly expressive.

9/10