Prediction: You will hate the new Opeth album

[EvA]

I really like Heritage
I listened to that album for weeks straight when I got it, It doesn't really 'flow' it has odd fade out bits which I didn't understand but it didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying it.
I am excited to hear what the next album will sound like, to be honest, whatever Mikael writes just shits on anything I can come up with

 

[Blitzie]

Opeth is done being heavy. Akerfeldt has said it himself. That, I'm fine with. I accept that.

But I didn't "get" Heritage. Maybe I'm of the wrong generation or I haven't listened to the proper 70s prog bands but I didn't get it. I don't mind it not being heavy but I want it to make sense, have flow, and be coherent. I didn't get that from that record.

A fantastic example of that, to me, is Famine. The intro has this strange ambient moan to it, accompanied by drums. Then it breaks into one of the most beautiful piano parts I've ever heard, with Akerfeldt singing wonderfully on top of it. Singing lyrics from the pit of his heart...

...que weird ass guitar riff. The piano cuts right the .... off and there's this strange guitar riff that seemingly was the product of someone saying "I like this riff, let's shoehorn it into a song somewhere"...it isn't a bad riff but quite out of place.

As the song goes on, the "prog" kicks in and there are some cool rhythmic riffs with some indecipherable singing going on over it. Livable, for sure.

After that, comes a heavy riff. Such a heavy, doomy riff that even if you played it on a xylophone, it would sound heavy as shit.

Then, jazz flute. For no good reason. Jazz flute. JAZZ FLUTE.

Okay, fine. Whatever. The rest of the song is forgettable. The doomy riff (AND THE ....ING FLUTE) make their appearance again to finish out the song.

Compare this fecal matter to Deliverance. Or even Damnation and it sounds like a terrible B-side record that they'd release 5 years after their retirement.

 

[Pat_tct]

^This x100

 

[DLG]

Opeth is done being heavy. Akerfeldt has said it himself. That, I'm fine with. I accept that.

But I didn't "get" Heritage. Maybe I'm of the wrong generation or I haven't listened to the proper 70s prog bands but I didn't get it. I don't mind it not being heavy but I want it to make sense, have flow, and be coherent. I didn't get that from that record.

if you grew up on proper 70s prog bands you would dislike Heritage even more for being a lackluster copy of the original.

just buy some Camel albums instead.

 

[Majkel]

[..] It just seems that Mikael is trying his hardest to turn the band into a Swedish version of King Crimson or Porcupine Tree instead of just coming to grips with the reason people love Opeth... [..]

To me it seems that he would have done both his legacy and his fans a bigger service had he just chosen to release Heritage under a different name. Keep all the same players, sure, but don't call it Opeth - because it's not.

I struggle a bit with how to view this specific issue. Bands always go on about how they want to try new things and not release the same record over and over again, and that is obviously the way it should be, but at some point they just deviate so far that it just stands alone in their catalogue. At that point I wonder - is the artist or the music more important in terms of 'what this is'?

By that I mean that I like the band Opeth and the music they've released. Mikael Åkerfeldt is secondary even though he essentially is Opeth. I'm absolutely fine with him releasing whatever he wants, but releasing something that doesn't even resemble Opeth and wondering why fans don't like it just doesn't make sense to me. I'm here for Opeth and that bands music, not Mikael Åkerfeldts sense of exploration in whatever genre catches his fancy, because that is in fact NOT Opeth.

What if next year he got into his mind that Lady Gaga-esque pop is the shizzle for his record collecting, and that's the direction he wants to take the band - how is that still Opeth? How do I have an "obligation" (yes, I know I don't have to like it) to even give that a listen? I listen to this band for it's music, and this is not it.

I may be entirely wrong about all this, but it just seems really conceited to me to expect people to love whatever you release no matter if it even resembles what drew them in in the first place.

"The fans didn't like it because it's not heavy" - yeah, I don't listen to Opeth because I'm way into pure 70's prog rock with clean vocals...

 

[Datura]

Opeth started to lose it after morningrise IMO.

 

[toothbrush]

Still, they've struggled for years to top Morningrise and I don't see it happening soon, so he can do whatever he likes.

Still Life, Blackwater Park, and Ghost Reveries do exist, ya know...



Heritage was really cool. It's not exactly a "go-to" listen in Opeth's discography, but there were some extremely unique tracks on there (for the better). I Feel The Dark and Häxprocess to name a couple. I maintain high hopes for the new album.

 

[3074326]

Not excited for this. I remember when they were my favorite band. Didn't care for Heritage outside of two songs, and not because it wasn't heavy. It just wasn't good.

Guess it's time to change the avatar.. The Opeth I knew and loved is no more.

 

[wankerness]

Not excited for this. I remember when they were my favorite band. Didn't care for Heritage outside of two songs, and not because it wasn't heavy. It just wasn't good.

Guess it's time to change the avatar.. The Opeth I knew and loved is no more.

I was about ready to write them off after I felt D1/D2 were so lackluster compared to everything that came before, but then they released Ghost Reveries and all was right with the world again. If they managed to recover from what I considered 2 crappy albums in a row before, then I won't give up on them unless this new one is as bad or worse than the previous two! That said, D1/D2 were both way, WAY better than Heritage.

 

[wankerness]

Opeth started to lose it after morningrise IMO.

I love morningrise but I don't get this attitude at this point...maybe back when SL or BWP had just come out or something, but it's been several more albums since then. I feel like they really figured out their sound on MAYH and came up with a truly unique riffing style while Orchid/Morningrise were much more derivative of classic metal riffs. MAYH was basically where they came out fully formed and everything since then besides D2 and Heritage is pretty much just variations and refinements of the same general idea.

 

[The Omega Cluster]

I will love it.

 

[Discoqueen]

Is this relevant because Opeth announced something?

 

[tribalfusion]

That is so closed-minded. I listen to all kinds of music and flat out dislike that album. Accept that without trying to tell me that if I don't like the album I'm just not cultured enough to appreciate it.

You have some reading comprehension issues in addition to a very aggressive stance.

I in no moment said you were not cultured enough; I implied you and I have DIFFERENT cultural backgrounds which is certainly the case and I directly stated that the people I frequent who are mostly older than members of this board tend to share my views on Opeth and this album.

 

[WhiteWalls]

I have come to the conclusion that it's impossible to discuss about Heritage.

The style change I can understand: Akerfeldt is clearly burnt out of heavy music, but it's not easy to just start a new project and have it be as financially successful as Opeth, so that's probably the reason he released this album as Opeth, but in my opinion it was simply a bad album with bad songs. I'm always interested in what they'll do next but my expectations are pretty low

 

[tribalfusion]

I couldn't care less what anyone else on the forum thinks, I like a lot of different styles of music thanks very much, and no-one bar one person out of my friends likes Heritage. Are they all closed-minded as well? Where are all these non-modern metal fans on sevenstring who love it? I think you've got it backwards, a lot of people on this forum are metal fans and don't like it, sure, doesn't mean the opposite is true too.

I bloody love Damnation, for the record, cheers.

I think you have some real issues with insecurity and aggression. You obviously care what others think as you are replying in a very forceful manner.

I am older than the mean on this board and have noticed both here and elsewhere that what I and the people I mostly frequent prefer is not what the more typical younger user here tends to like.

I prefer Heritage to most Opeth records in the past, as do they. Surely that's neither a coincidence nor a conspiracy.

 

[tribalfusion]

if you grew up on proper 70s prog bands you would dislike Heritage even more for being a lackluster copy of the original.

just buy some Camel albums instead.

No that's just false and reflects your own tastes more than anything else. I grew up on the progressive and fusion scene and it's precisely why I enjoy Heritage and the same is true of others I know from that time; we found it very refreshing in fact.

 

[ArtDecade]

I think you have some real issues with insecurity and aggression. You obviously care what others think as you are replying in a very forceful manner.

I am older than the mean on this board and have noticed both here and elsewhere that what I and the people I mostly frequent prefer is not what the more typical younger user here tends to like.

I prefer Heritage to most Opeth records in the past, as do they. Surely that's neither a coincidence nor a conspiracy.

I'm older than the mean here too. I love Progressive Rock and I love Heavy Metal. That said, I still think Heritage is a very mediocre progressive rock album. Camel did it first - and better. And, I don't even think Camel were as good as a lot of other stuff that was coming out at the same time. I like Opeth, but they aren't always my cup of tea. Early on, I figured they were just another Death Metal band, but they brought in some different influences and started to expand the genre. But, Heritage doesn't resonate with me. Rather than expanding their own genre, they jumped ship and began emulating progressive rock. Its a bummer, because they aren't evolving anymore - rather they are paying tribute to what has already been done. Of course, others love Heritage. That's the brilliant thing about music.

 

[tribalfusion]

I'm older than the mean here too. I love Progressive Rock and I love Heavy Metal. That said, I still think Heritage is a very mediocre progressive rock album. Camel did it first - and better. And, I don't even think Camel were as good as a lot of other stuff that was coming out at the same time. I like Opeth, but they aren't always my cup of tea. Early on, I figured they were just another Death Metal band, but they brought in some different influences and started to expand the genre. But, Heritage doesn't resonate with me. Rather than expanding their own genre, they jumped ship and began emulating progressive rock. Its a bummer, because they aren't evolving anymore - rather they are paying tribute to what has already been done. Of course, others love Heritage. That's the brilliant thing about music.

How old are you out of curiosity? I am in my 40s and to be honest while of course individuals can have different views it has struck me how sharply they tend to diverge on this one along age/genre lines,

My fellow musicians who have grown up on prog and fusion tend to like Heritage and Opeth whereas they can't stomach listening to most of the bands loved on here for more than 30 seconds.

I have no problem with people not liking Heritage but instead of trying to claim that the album was incoherent or they "gave up" on their music you should just accept that this is simply your point of view which has a lot to do with your cultural presuppositions as well.

 

[ghost2II2]

I've never met an Opeth album I didn't like. And the ones involving or influenced by Steve Wilson I love. I'm not concerned.

 

[bigswifty]

I'm a young dude (21), I don't think it's an age thing - more of an entitlement issue.

Do I like Heritage - You bet. Do I prefer older Opeth - Most definitely.
Am I upset that Opeth is taking new direction? No.

I'd love to have another Ghost Reveries/Still Life/BWP/Damnation as much as the next guy, but it would only be fresh to a certain degree. With the new direction, you're getting Opeth's approach to different music. Let them make what they feel is right.

And guess what? The back catalogue isn't going anywhere!
So be glad that you have the option of listening to the greatness that is Opeth, in all forms