THE THROAT OF WINTER

Written originally for the God Of War III video game soundtrack, Opeth's 'Throat Of Winter' does remain an intriguing footnote for the Swedish progressive metal titans. After 'Watershed', it was clear that Mikael Akerfeldt was going to change up the style of the band to something else, but it was not yet clear as to what the band would do next. Indeed, 'The Throat Of Winter' is something of an indicator as to the new, non-metal direction that Opeth would be taken in. Described by Akerfeldt as 'strange', I would tend to agree. Compared to the fairly harmonious and beautiful acoustic passages that Opeth is used to playing, this is an acoustic song from the band that is fairly creepy and exotic, even making use of some brief psychedelic effects for good measure. While this track is quite a bit shorter than most Opeth tracks, there is still quite a lot going on here, with constantly changing ideas brought on by the acoustics. Mikael's voice also makes an appearance, but it is not for long, instead letting the acoustics do the trick. 'The Throat Of Winter' is a fairly pleasant and interesting track from Opeth, and certainly unexpected, but certainly not one of their songs that will stand the test of time.

I actually bought this back when it first emerged on the Gods of War soundtrack, and was pleasantly surprised at the new sound. Though this song has no growls and no heavy electrics the feel is not just a rehash from Damnation. Rather than clean electrics, acoustic guitars dominate, and the overall feel is a little more aggressive. I hope this foreshadows that the upcoming album will also be more ambitious and varied.

However, I hope the songwriting is tighter. While "Throat of Winter" has numerous engaging sections of music, it feels very taped together. The main strummed riff feels clunky to me, not really up to Opeth standards. The melodies are pretty standard for Mikael. I'm also getting tired of the muffled effect on the clean vocals that has been used as an accent element ever since Steven Wilson hooked up with the band.

Considering this is a one-off for a video game, I was very satisfied with the offering. It was a nice little morsel while we wait for the next album. Definitely worth the 99 cents I paid for it. But the real test is coming in a few months.