MORNINGRISE

'Morningrise' is the second studio album by progressive death metal legends Opeth, released in 1996 on Candlelight. Composed of just five lengthy tracks, all of which surpass the ten-minute mark, this is practically an overlong blackened death metal album with a bunch of acoustic passages, as the whole album generally relies on the counterbalance between these mellow, melancholic passages, and the heavy, fast-paced death metal riffing with growling vocals. Much in line with the rest of the Swedish band's early work, this release is very rough and with a slightly muddy production. Heaps of ideas are thrown into these overlong compositions, similar to much of death metal from that decade, most of which never really lead to anything too exciting or innovative.

And while this album can be seen as an improvement over 'Orchid', it is still a mostly bleak (and occasionally blunt) death metal album, with the production values of a typical record of the genre. Mikael's vocals do stand out together with some occasional fine riffs, just like the anticipation of what would become 'Demon of the Fall' (on the following album) at the end of 'Nectar', but most of the compositions on 'Morningrise' are directionless, a far cry from the excellent songwriting displayed on future releases of Opeth. The length of the album is hardly justifiable with its contents and substance; there are decent moments here and there, but at the end of the day, these songs are mostly full of unrelated ideas and lack the exciting movement of a progressive album. Perhaps a highlight of the album is the 20-minute epic 'Black Rose Immortal', a track containing fine heavy moments, and generally favorable transitions between the sections. Yet 'Morningrise' remains a laborious and mostly unsatisfying listen.