Review Summary: What is this new devilry?
I find that album artwork is often overlooked when bands make their albums. Who doesn’t recognise the Pink Floyd’s prism, The Rolling Stones’ mouth, the Nirvana smiley face or Eddie from Iron Maiden? The sheer amount of bands that owe part of their colossal success to their album art could go on forever. But aside from commercial advertisement, album covers are principally the visual representation of what music the artist concocts.
In the case of Opeth’s 12th album, “Sorceress”, the dazzling artwork perfectly illustrates what we can expect. Within this iridescent façade, a vicious, spiteful and deadly tone is sheltered beneath the magnificent peacock whose plumage serves as a reminder that Opeth continue to stay true to their own colours; which above all is purely progressive.
The amount of influence that “Sorceress” is built upon is substantial. Obvious kudos comes from Jimi Hendrix in the calming closer, ‘Persephone (Slight return)’ while the acoustic pleasantness of ‘Will O The Wisp’ has similarities to Jethro Tull. Psychedelic patterns of Pink Floyd and Porcupine Tree can be heard in ‘A Fleeting Glance’ which newly features some peculiar harpsichord and lurching riffs from Fredrik Åkesson. ‘Strange Brew’ is much the same but the devilish lyricism contrasted to the charming bluesy tone does give these songs a distinct Opeth identity amongst the shameless influences.
Irritatingly, the main stand out factor about “Sorceress” is the influences it is built upon, rather than the instrumentalism itself. Considering the album is bookended by a simple intro and outro, there are nine songs left to grasp our attention and, at times, it slips between desperate fingers. ‘The Seventh Sojourn’ is a queer Eastern sounding instrumental and ‘Sorceress 2’ is a glossy acoustic track except neither features any memorable moments other than the fact that the pitch of Mikael Åkerfeldt’s vocals are at an all time high in the latter. Opeth are a band known for their progressiveness however instead of pushing their own sound forward, it sounds like they’re simply using the ideas of other bands while casting a few of their own spells over it. The fact that some songs sound alike to other bands is the ultimate curse to “Sorceress”.
While the majority of “Sorceress” is a 70’s prog-tinged metal album that is decorated with blatant influences, there are some aspects that hearken back to their “Ghost Reveries” or “Watershed” days. ‘Chrysalis’ instantly introduces itself as a heavier track with cantankerous riffing. While you can hear the keyboards clearly, they are not overly obvious for once which allows the guitars to expose themselves more, conjuring a kaleidoscopic solo battle between Fredrick and Joakim Svalberg; indicating the aforementioned beauty vs. deadly nature of the album further. The jovial ‘Era’ is another example which features the fastest playing on the album. These songs are the ones that illustrate the true majesty of “Sorceress” and indeed the band themselves- they’re dynamic, charismatic and memorable. Even when stripped of barefaced influence they still display the natural progression from previous work, like they did with “Damnation”, without sound like a different band.
A lot of people will mark this album as witchcraft and want to burn this album at the stake for sound just too different to their past efforts but Opeth are so, so far from being sell outs. They’ve been experimenting with their own unique sound since their 2001 landmark album “Blackwater Park” and it was only a matter of time before it manifests into the luxurious, mellifluous and vivid sound that “Sorceress” echoes.
