PALE COMMUNION

Building upon their rediscovered musical identity, Opeth released what is often considered the second installment of their "prog rock era" - 2014's 'Pale Commuion', a satisfyingly ominous album with a strong influence from classic rock and exuding this alienated sense of longing that defines many of the band's best works. For this album the keyboard duties are handed over to Joakim Svalberg who does a pretty fine job and provides a very brooding and solid Hammond organ sound to the album, which is at times incredibly acutely informed by hard rock and prog-folk from the early seventies, definitely two of the genres over which Mikael Åkerfeldt obsesses. Stylistically 'Pale Communion' takes up where the band had left off with the "shaky" 'Heritage' album but offers a much more focused sound, an overall better production and better writing as we have much more compelling compositions that often reminisce some of the classic albums like 'Damnation' or 'Ghost Reveries'.

At the same time, 'Pale Communion' only reveals its novelties upon repeated listens as this is somewhat of a colder album, not necessarily among the more overwhelming Opeth releases; instead, this album requires a bit of effort from the listener who ought to be duly invested in the album in order to appreciate it for what it is. And with all this in mind, we have a really solid first half, containing the more straightforward tracks, some of which are truly magical and among the best pieces of this era of Opeth. The opening notes of 'Eternal Rains Will Come' are gorgeous and retro, almost as if they have come out of a Purple or a Uriah Heep album. The song then becomes quite moody and ethereal, followed by the monstrous 'Cusp of Eternity', this is a moment of sheer brilliance from the band. The 10-minute-long 'Moon Above, Sun Below' is another strong entry that is rather proggy and memorable. We also have the more acoustic 'Elysian Woes', a song that might have been influenced by Steven Wilson who mixed the album and the quirky instrumental 'Goblin', an ode to the namesake Italian band. The rest of 'Pale Communion' is more experimental but lacks the excitement of the typically longer Opeth compositions, wandering around between various ideas, some of which might seem too pastoral or too folky. The album is an ostentatious improvement over 'Heritage', occupying an interesting place in the discography - equally melancholic and moody, many of the ominous textures of 'Pale Communion' look back at past achievements, while trying to lead the contemporary band into unexplored territories.

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