Just finished listening to it and it is as I feared. Unforgettable and Mediocre. This was actually even more of an earache than 'Heritage'. If i could say something to Mikael, "I hope that this shift in sound and retro style has made you a happy person, because you have lost a lot of fans over it"

Written by Opethian on 29.08.2014 at 22:51

Just finished listening to it and it is as I feared. Unforgettable and Mediocre. This was actually even more of an earache than 'Heritage'. If i could say something to Mikael, "I hope that this shift in sound and retro style has made you a happy person, because you have lost a lot of fans over it"

Just curious if this is your opinion after just one spin through or have you listened to it multiple times? I thought it was very average after one listen but with many more listens, it really grew on my and I really like it now. I know everyone isn't the same in that regard, and I've had discussions on this site with others in the past who say they can always rate an album after just one listen, but for others (like myself) multiple listens is required.

Written by Ace Frawley on 30.08.2014 at 00:22

Just curious if this is your opinion after just one spin through or have you listened to it multiple times? I thought it was very average after one listen but with many more listens, it really grew on my and I really like it now. I know everyone isn't the same in that regard, and I've had discussions on this site with others in the past who say they can always rate an album after just one listen, but for others (like myself) multiple listens is required.

I probably will but to be honest this album doesn't convey any action to the listener other then doubt and anger lol. I'm going to shelve this one for now. In other words, "I'm not missing out on anything"

Written by Opethian on 30.08.2014 at 01:00

I probably will but to be honest this album doesn't convey any action to the listener other then doubt and anger lol. I'm going to shelve this one for now. In other words, "I'm not missing out on anything"

Oh well, each to their own. Right now, I'm captivated by this album. More interesting than most metal albums I've listened to this year and you can hear all the instruments. And it has a singer that can sing clean vocals.

It's good stuff, but nothing which makes me wanna see them live this autumn. I fucking love Opeth but I remember last time I saw them. They opened with six Heritage songs in a row, after that they played something from Damnation. After that The Grand Conjuration came on, so it took seven songs before some headbanging was a must.

Yes, I just watched a YouTube interview and Akerfeldt acknowledged that they would now be playing a variety of songs, including their older "classics", or heavier songs. He knows that there are fans that come away disappointed from a show if they don't hear them play some of these older songs (myself included). I've also noticed from looking at setlist.fm that they haven't started playing any of the songs from Pale Communion yet. I wonder when that is going to happen?

Written by Guest on 31.08.2014 at 10:59
They haven't started playing any PC because all the gigs they've done have been before the PC release

That's not necessarily the reason, as plenty of bands play material from upcoming albums.

The more I listen, the more I like it. Might not be a 10 but when I see ratings of 1 makes me wonder if Justin Bieber fans have just joined Metalstorm. Haters gonna hate, Mikael hears you, Mikael doesn't care

This is a modern day PROG rock MASTERPIECE.

Congratulations..I gave it 9! (too many reasons for repeat listening to this album in first time).
first time hear it I think it would be bad, too many variations of each song.. but wow really nice.

I dont love this album as much as i've loved Watershed and Ghost Reveries. But its still a good album. I really love the first three songs. Some songs are pretty boring but some really innovative. So all and all pretty descent album.

This is amazing. Stop whining and learn to appreciate real prog music.

Written by robpal on 07.09.2014 at 12:13

Stop whining and learn to appreciate real prog music.

Ok.

*goes and listens to Chimp Spanner and Last Chance To Reason*

This album is a masterpiece. Wonderful melodies, great songs. The 7.5 average rating is very unfair and not representative for its quality. Ok, it is not metal, so what? The inspiration flows non-stop in the veins of that guy. Well done, Mikael.

It is a grower indeed. "Moon Above, Sun Below" is my favourite song so far. Still need more listens to process the whole thing but so far, I think it's a good, solid album.

Yeah, definitely liking it more and more each passing day. It has this strange addictive quality and I keep coming back to it. Not a bad album by any means.

This is a real grower. It took be like 4-5 spins before I really started getting into it.

I really adore the first 3 songs. The last half, has its moments and its wonderfully expressive side to look forward to after the first 3 tracks.
Overall I'm impressed with how it all comes together. The drums especially, Axe has great 'thwacky' feel and really makes the rhythm ebb and flow throughout the tracks.

my favorite parts are scattered throughout the various progressions that take the stage at different times, like the "Moon above, sun below" crooning on the track of the same name, and the Dueling guitar solo section that lands about 2/3 through "River". The last 2 tracks vocal atmosphere and lyrics, cut in with the bass and cascading keyboards.

a facsinating release, with a good deal of opeth's signature sound and creativity. I couldnt stop listening to it for several days, it just has a certain addictive quality to it.

As an Opeth fan for a long time I had really hard time to make my mind about my vote, it's not as bad as their previous shit but it's not really that good either, it's totally new Opeth which I can't relate to.

I've grown to actually really love this album after a lot of listens. One of this year's best for me.

This album has really taken me by surprise! This is the first Opeth that I liked in a long time.

Dissapointed ! Only "Eternal Rains Will Come" is good to listen :(

It is really bad when a band that I deeply like changes completely its style of music (my first great deception was with Paradise Lost, but let's not change subject). Opeth last two albums, besides being very different from the previous ones, are simply bad and boring. I like progressive rock, but it definitely something Opeth can't do well. I was hoping Heritage was just an unique album like Damnation was, but it seems my hopes were in vain.

I finally listened to it and was pleasantly surprised. Glad that they have moved beyond piecing random whole-tone scale riffs together. I still feel that all the vocal lines sound like Mikael just improvised them, nothing memorable about them at all. River and Eternal Rains are my favourites so far.

This is a good album, enjoyable, easy going. But after thinking about it, won´t buy it for now. This one was definitely a relief after their previous production. Maybe I could give them an 8, but a 7.5 will do. Anything from Opeth is worth listening to and everything above 7 is valuable. Goblin, good track.

Does anyone care something more than just MUSIC ? ! for examples lyrics ! if u know what i mean !

Overall, it's a pretty good album.
But the one thing that really bugs me with this one is that there doesn't seem to be a single standout track. Everything's just "good" and never tries to be anything special. Even Heritage didn't suffer with that problem.

Written by Illwill on 31.08.2014 at 20:03

Might not be a 10 but when I see ratings of 1 makes me wonder if Justin Bieber fans have just joined Metalstorm.

You have a weird train of thought if that's what you conclude from the amount of 1s given to this album.

This album's a weird one for me right now. Every listen shifts my view of it slightly, be it a good change or bad.

I really don't know where to place it. It's easily more coherent in its vision than Heritage was, but Heritage also had songs like Famine that REALLY impressed me, whereas this album just doesn't have any songs with a similar impact.
I can also really see, and appreciate, some of the risks they took on this recording, but not all of them really paid off.

It frustrates me when an album is this much of a mixed bag to really analyse. It has a number of good and bad traits, but never anything that particularly sets it off in either direction. So I feel like I'm stuck trying to analyse something that simultaneously has too much and too little to look into.

I like this one more than the previous Heritage (that was the only disappointment in Opeth discography).
This time I enjoyed a lot more Mikael singing, and the "ambience" part are cut out.

Im beginning to love this album