PALE COMMUNION

My opinions on Opeth's recent release have changed considerably over time. As someone who got into them through albums such as Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries, the change that I saw them going through was a little too much for me. I saw Heritage as good one off album, but nothing I'd want to hear again. Then came Pale Communion and I was very disappointed, deeply missing the death metal elements that made me fall for Opeth.

However, the things about palettes and tastes is that, with proper training, they mature over time. Many bands in both the heavy metal and progressive rock community that I initially loved I don't listen to anymore. When you love something at first, you consume as much as you can, but once the taste becomes familiar, you begin to weed inferior options out. From a heavy metal perspective, Opeth still survived and as a heavy metal fan, their pre- Heritage material will always have a special place in my heart. But what about from a progressive rock standpoint? I gave this album a listening to again about a year later, and I realized how unfair I was towards it.

I deeply respect Mikael Akerfeldt as a musician, and I can sympathize with him that he was tired of doing heavy metal and wanted to do something different. His love of seventies music is seen all throughout the album and the death metal elements are fading away. There are barely any "death metal" guitars and no death growls. I know some are disappointed by that, but I've always been surprised of how beautiful Akerfeldt's normal singing voice is and that is the only voice used on this album.

Because of this, Pale Communion is Opeth's most accessible work, even though I know that in both the metal and prog communities, that might as well be the genre's red letter. But I feel like it works for Opeth's benefit here. Many people I have introduced Opeth to enjoy it to an extent until Akerfeldt's death growls come in, and while I believe he's one of the few that can actually do those growls very well, I can understand why people would be turned off by them. This album allows people who would normally be turned off by the extreme metal aspects of Opeth to see just how talented Akerfeldt and his team are.

Eternal Rains Will Come and Cusp of Eternity seem to be the two most popular songs on the album and for good reason. They both feature strong vocals, strong songwriting, and that perfect mixture of the heavy 70's prog and Opeth's unique style. However, there are two songs I feel the need to comment on. The first is Goblin, the album's instrumental and a direct reference to seventies music. It's catchy and ethereal, something that I have never seen Opeth produce. The second is the album's finale, Faith in Others, a simply beautiful song that sounds like the perfect marriage of their albums Damnation and Watershed, which really, is the style of the entire album. It reminded of the two immensely, especially the latter is it was cleaned up a bit.

While it's not a perfect album, I feel like I can in good conscience give it an essential rating. It is essential because it shows a well known musician exploring a different style and pulling it off well. The only other band I can think of in the past who pulled that off successfully was King Crimson with Discipline. Now speaking to those on the heavy metal side of the spectrum, yes, the old Opeth will be missed dearly, but judge the album on it's own merits and not on the band's past output. I say this because certain album's that I have dismissed outright I ended up enjoying based on their own quality and merits rather than what I thought the band should be or should do (Deep Purple's Purpendicular for example, but that's another story for another day).

Five stars easily. Stands side by side with Blackwater Park and Ghost Reveries as Opeth's best.