MORNINGRISE

Morningrise continues in very much the same direction that was left off from the previous album Orchid, where a folky, black metal style where classical acoustic moments are present throughout. The album before this one, also had quite a few songs that were over the ten minute mark, while this one is composed of five songs which only exceed ten minutes (with "Black Rose Immortal" eclipsing twenty minutes). The formula for this album feels very much similar to the previous album, only this time there is a noticeable improvement to how this album was structured compared to the previous one. The songwriting has improved and matured with an album's worth of an experience under the band's belt and Mikael has noticeably grown more confident in his role as a lead vocalist, showcasing more of his wonderful clean vocals (particularly in the part-ballad "To Bid You Farewell") and further enhancing the quality of his harsh screams which will get even better with every succeeding album. Each of the five songs serves as a wonderfully crafted piece of audial art for people to absorb and take in, almost like mini-albums unto themselves. Highly essential album from Opeth's earliest years.