SORCERESS

3.5 stars. OPETH's latest was recorded in 12 days at Rockfield Studios in Wales, by far the quickest they've been in and out of the studio. I would say this is the most diverse album this band has done, a bold move. I like ProgShine's final words in his review because I was thinking the same thing "I am not sure, but I believe Opeth burned all the "fan credits" they still had with this album... bad move." As much as I applaud a band for trying to progresss or change things up, I feel a lot of stuff on here doesn't work. Yes there's some amazing music on here but like the album cover it seems to be an album of one extreme to the another. The song titles seem to pay homage to bands, album and song titles and a record label. Just knowing what a huge Prog fan Akerfeldt is I'm not surprised.

"Persephone" is mostly nylon string guitar with some female spoken words late. Hmmm. "Sorceress" caught my attention right away with those nasty keyboards as the drums pound away. Soon the guitar is helping out and we get heavy riffs after a minute as the vocals kick in. Catchy stuff. A calm around 3 minutes with outbursts of drums then the vocals return as it kicks back in like before. Another calm before 5 minutes with intricate guitar only then some filthy organ joins in. Nice. Then drums as it builds. "The Wilde Flowers" was the first song written for the album. The lyrics are pretty dark but the music is catchy. Like the previous song we get the contrasts between mellow and heavy. A rampage of sounds ends this one.

"Will O The Wisp" opens with strummed guitar and vocals. There's a real JETHRO TULL vibe with this one. I like the guitar before 3 1/2 minutes. "Chrysalis" is heavy with passionate vocals. Yes they are kicking ass and taking names right here. Some excellent organ runs after 4 minutes. It then settles down before 5 minutes with laid back vocals eventually joining in and it stays this way to the end. "Sorceress 2" is a track that Akerfeldt says reminds him of LED ZEPPELIN's "Black Mountain". Picked guitar and some atmosphere as high pitched vocals join in just before a minute. I really like the mood of this one.

"The Seventh Sojourn" was inspired by the band FAMILY and their song "Summer '67". The strings here and throughout the album are done by Will Malone who surprisingly produced the first IRON MAIDEN record. Strummed guitar and percussion before strings and a fuller sound arrive before 1 1/2 minutes. A change after 4 minutes as we get intricate guitar, piano and distant sounding vocals. "Strange Brew" is inspired by that CREAM tune. Akerfeldt was listening to "Disraeli Gears" a lot during the recording sessions to this one. He even tried to get the same guitar tone. The middle section of this song was inspired by MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA. We get reserved vocals and a mellow sound to start as the piano is played slowly. Suddenly it kicks in hard as all hell breaks loose after 2 minutes. It settles as Akerfeldt cries out the vocals after 3 minutes. It kicks back in instrumentally before 4 minutes. This is heavy with some killer guitar. The vocals join in then we get a calm before 5 1/2 minutes. Again it kicks in hard. Powerful stuff before a calm ends it.

"A Fleeting Glance" like the song "Wilde Flowers" has dark lyrics but a lighter sound including harpsichord and lighter vocals. I'm not really into this until we get some depth to the sound after a minute although these sections will be contrasted. There's a surprisingly uplifting passage before 4 minutes that makes me smile. "Era" according to Mikael is a 80's heavy metal tune that's hard to play. Piano to start then it kicks in heavily after a minute. Vocals around 2 minutes. A hard rocking tune but I'm not a big fan of it except for the guitar before 5 minutes. "Persephone(Slight Return)" is a minute of piano and spoken female words. It's like the ending of "Era" really and there's a nod to Hendrix with the song title.

This new OPETH era of growl free music hit it's high for me with "Pale Communion", I'm not saying they won't reach those heights again but for me "Sorceress" is a step back even though it is a good album. There's just certain things about this record that bug me for some reason. Things that I wouldn't expect from an OPETH album. I would think traditional Prog fans will really dig this one though.