Opeth
Heritage

The career of Opeth has always been marked by albums of very good quality... until 2008. Yes, "Watershed" is the first half misstep by the Scandinavian band led by the undisputed king of growl, Sir Mikael Åkerfeldt, the band's songwriting mastermind who has consistently delivered outstanding albums to their fans. Always. Perhaps because Opeth can expertly range from prog to death, reaching more acoustic moments. Precisely for this reason, a good part of the fans are enthusiasts (like Åkerfeldt himself, by the way) of progressive rock. Yes, Opeth's music has always had something progressive about it, which in fact has characterized the band's sound at least since "Still Life". From this album came masterpieces like "Blackwater Park" and "Damnation" and good works like "Ghost Reveries".

"The next album will have nothing to do with death metal. It will be purely progressive rock. Fans who appreciate the harder sounds will have to come to terms with this change."

The declaration from the frontman definitely caused a stir, on both sides. Fans more attached to the metal period surrendered, expecting a disappointment, while the entire phalanx of prog fans definitely rejoiced, or at least were curious, about this 2011 version of Opeth with the help of producer Steven Wilson. Some even speculated that a "Damnation, Pt. 2" might emerge. But all expectations were clarified at the end of September, with the release of "Heritage".

As hinted by Åkerfeldt, the album exudes a progressive rock atmosphere. Even the production seems almost typical of the '70s. No digressions or riffs even remotely similar to metal. Just progressive rock. And the album is played beautifully, the rhythm section is always tight (also because Mendez and Axenrot recorded playing together, and it shows) and the guitars have a hard rock stamp. As if that weren't enough, it doesn't end here: the final touch is the inclusion of keyboards and Hammond. It is, therefore, a purely progressive rock album, nothing more, to the listeners' delight.

However, the ten tracks are excessively sparse and played coldly. Almost mannerist. And this is exactly what was feared: zero emotions, all music played like this, almost as if it were a simple divertissement. So much material, so many influences from many bands: a lot is taken from classic progressive rock, something also from the Canterbury Scene and Progressive Folk, and a lot from hard progressive. Opeth become a simple tribute band. And little Mikael even manages to deliver his worst vocal performance ever, trying to imitate the '90s LaBrie and failing at it, losing all that intimacy that had always characterized his clean parts. The poetry of "Damnation" has vanished into thin air, now only a singer without personality remains, searching for an already familiar identity.

Finally, in its hour-long duration (which is not too long for Opeth), "Heritage" manages perfectly in its goal of being long-winded and boring. You can see a tired band, so empty, exhausted even considering only the instrumental parts, which are played perfectly and with millimetric precision. But it's the way the band approaches that is mediocre. It's hard not to yawn during listening. If you indulge daily in massive doses of King Crimson, Jethro Tull, and Focus, don't try it unless you want to listen to a tribute band of the mentioned groups. You will hear almost nothing new. Perhaps one of the few compositions that can be saved is "Marrow of the Earth", but even this one suffers from the problem already discussed: it communicates little, it's calm, too much so. Like the cover, one of the ugliest and most pretentious in the entire progressive rock world. But fortunately, Opeth has accustomed us to something else, spoiled us with previous works, and have a great career behind them. A misstep happens, but there's little to be hopeful about based on the latest events concerning the greats of progressive rock.

"I wanted to make an album like this since I was twenty."

With all due respect, Mr. Åkerfeldt, but was there really a need for a poor emulation of '70s progressive rock, which adds nothing to what was said forty years ago?