Opeth’s transition from a progressive
death metal juggernaut into a metal-free progressive rock group (rife with
vintage keyboards and nods to King Crimson and Genesis) should have come to the
surprise of no one, with the possible exception of infants or people who only
heard Orchid in the mid ‘90s then
promptly forgot about the band until 2011 when Heritage was released.
Perhaps not even that. Even Orchid displayed plenty of progressive
rock leanings and a generous amount of acoustic guitar passages that would lead
anyone to believe that Mikael Ǻkerfeldt and his crew were clearly listening to
more than their Swedish contemporaries Entombed and Dismember in their spare
time. Anyone following the band after Orchid
should also be aware of 2003’s Damnation,
an album of much lighter material devoid of death growls that was very far from
anything “metal” eight years before Heritage
saw the light of day. Yet, some people still cried out in shock upon first
listening to Heritage. Regardless,
anyone hoping that it was just another brief foray into lighter territories
would be disappointed yet again by their latest offering, Pale Communion, another disc of prog rock that is cut from the same
cloth as their previous one, but while Heritage
sounded like the band trying really hard to be vintage prog, Pale Communion sounds like the band
literally came from that era, minus some modern flourishes.
Heritage was by no means a bad album, but
it gave off a feeling of the band still trying to find its place in a style
that they were so intent on succeeding in. With Pale Communion, the band sounds
fully confident in their songwriting abilities, and have even brought back
lengthy, multi-faceted song structures reminiscent of classic albums like Still
Life and Ghost Reveries and applied them to their new musical direction, like
on the ten minute “Moon Above, Sun Below” witch features all the drama,
darkness, and unpredictability of their best material that extends past the ten
minute mark from their past. In all, Opeth sounds absolutely deft in its
approach to recreate classic progressive rock, but with modern production and
instrumental technique. The “awe” factor that wasn’t quite there with Heritage
is on full display here, like on the thrilling instrumental “Goblin” or the symphonic
rock dirge “Voice of Treason”. Both of these tracks show Opeth fully distancing
themselves from their musical past while doing their very best to craft a sound
that suits them in the present, and it builds upon the foundation of Heritage
in an impressive way. The closing track “Faith in Others” in particular
perfectly sums up the album’s intent of revisiting the glory days of progressive
rock, and the way this track begins with its gorgeous strings and flute is almost
overwhelming. In fact, it sounds an awful lot like the beginning of “Starless”
by King Crimson…
Which leads to the biggest criticism to
be had against this record: it technically isn’t progressive. It does an A+ job
of recreating the past in a very convincing way, but one must realize that that’s
actually the opposite of what
progressive is supposed to be. “Retro-prog” is a humorous oxymoron, and that is
precisely where this album sits in the grand scheme of rock music, and you
either love it as a fan of the ‘70s prog rock sound or hate it as a shameless
rip-off. Opeth do an admirable job playing tribute to the past triumphs of
their selected style, but some points are certainly going to be knocked off if
their next effort treads the same water.
Score:8.9/10
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