November 21, 2024 by A.S. Van Dorston

Swedish proggers return to death metal growls on their first concept album since Still Life, and their best since Ghost Reveries.

While there’s been strong progressive elements to Opeth’s style from the very beginning on their debut Orchid (1995), there was no shortage of grumbling when the band went full-on prog rock on Heritage (2011), and did not let up for four straight albums. They still played old songs live, which must of both titillated and frustrated fans, some who were part of the MOGA (Make Opeth Growl Again) group who wished they’d thrown them a bloody death metal bone at least now and then. Just to show that dreams can come true, Opeth have offered up a whole seven course meal, with a concept thrown in.

This isn’t exactly new, as My Arms, Your Hearse (1998) and Still Life (1999) told stories of ghosts, banishment, and death. Always plenty of death. The new album somewhat resembles a cozy mystery on PBS Masterpiece. Being roughly Mikael Åkerfeldt’s age, I can relate to being drawn to mystery over horror, as the real world has an excess of the latter already. It’s about a post-WWI era family where the patriarch has a vast estate built on ill-gotten means, dies. When the extended family gathers for the reading of the will, drama ensues, secrets revealed, and probably more blood spilled. I’m not quite sure, as I don’t yet have a physical copy with a lyric sheet. The song titles are no help either, as the tracks are simply labeled “§1” through “§7”, plus a coda, “A Story Never Told.”

The music always takes precedence for me over lyrics anyway, and the band delivers big time. This is no retread of the early 00s just because they employ growls again. Oh, and guitars take over again, after a decade of focusing on Joakim Svalberg’s keyboards. The music remains progressive, but also accessible, with multiple parts and changes working together more cohesively than ever before, augmented by mellotron-driven cinematic sound effects, orchestration (handled by Dave Stewart of Hatfield And The North and National Health) and call and response vocals, all of which surpasses anything the band has done before. The combination of foley style footsteps and opening doors and atmospherics on “§1” remind me of the 1993 video game The 7th Guest as much as a film.

Prog icon Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull provides some spoken dialogue, and Europe’s Joey Tempest contribute vocals on “§2,” thought they’re fairly deep in the mix. Combined with the expanded instrumental palate and use of Middle Eastern scales on a couple tracks, handclaps and some heroically accomplished drumming from the newest, youngest member, Finland’s Waltteri Väyrynen (Vallenfyre, Paradise Lost) the result is Opeth’s most richly detailed recording so far. “§7” is one of the most gnarly, technical songs, but the way it goes hard and fast may feel comfortably accessible for fans. Final track “A Story Never Told,” which takes place years later, presenting a plot twist, sounds like a deceptively simple symphonic ballad, but with a sneaky odd time signature, which brings to mind much of Kate Bush’s music.

There’s no computer interference with artificially corrected beats and vocal pitch, so the production is fantastic and organic, unlike a lot of current prog metal. Once again, Opeth looms over their peers like the Scandinavian prog metal legends they are and show how it’s done.