After their debut album,
Orchid, Swedish death metal band Opeth went into the studio to record their follow up,
Morningrise. The songs were all long, epic compositions, with not a single one under ten minutes in length. To say these songs ever get boring would make me a dirty, dirty liar who deserves to be beaten. The band shines at changing the song enough to make it worthy of those ten minutes. This album features the classic Opeth sound, though in a more prog-ish fashion. It seamlessly blends achingly heavy parts with double bass and death metal vocals with soft, mellow acoustic interludes. The result is quite a rockin' good time, and gives it a large replay value.
Morningrise would prove to be Opeth's instrumentally best album. Dual guitar riffs are to be had by the overflowing handful as Åkerfeldt and Lindgren weave their melodic guitars to and fro. Even the bass joins in on the fun, making the ever rare triple riff. It's often times near breathtaking, and worth sitting back and paying close attention to as the Swedes work their magic, so to speak.
Nectar features a wonderful bass heavy bit towards the end, which should tickle your fancy if you enjoy bass being above those greedy guitars.
Black Rose Immortal is the apparent star, with it's 20 minute length. The riffs are so great, you'll just want to rewind and listen again and again. Moods are changed often, from heavy riff to slow acoustic back into a heavy riff. It's sort of predictable, when you think about it, but it sounds so good, it doesn't really matter. Any song that can be this long and not boring has to have done something right, and with this one, it's no different. Well worth every 20 minutes, if for nothing more than the three minutes of dual riff heaven a bit over a minute into it.
Vocals are done in death metal fashion, with the occasional break into soft, clean vocals. Unfortunately, unlike later records, these breaks are few and far between and not as well refined.
To Bid You Farewell, however, is the exception and stands as one of their best acoustic-type songs to this day, outshined by the one and only Face of Melinda. Åkerfeldt's voice is soft and fragile sounding, and he whispers the opening line of
"I am awaiting the sunrise." The guitars do a wonderful job, here, and sound great throughout. The whole second half is nearly all instrumental, and easy to just sit back and stare off into space as they shift into distortion and riff away with a bit more vocals. This also seems to be the main downfall of the album, besides the raspy vocals. Since all the songs are so long, they're bound to scare someone away. Ultimately, if you enjoy metal, you shouldn't really have a problem with it, as long as your attention span isn't too faulty. If you're a fan of Opeth's later works, do yourself a favor and pick up one of their more instrumentally exciting albums. It shouldn't disappoint. Those looking to get into the band should probably look elsewhere, as the clean vocals aren't as prominent. Overall, it should be a worthwhile listen, even if it's just every now and then.
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