Opeth – Heritage

Raising the bar, and setting tall hurdles for everyone else dropping an album this fall, Opeth return with Heritage. Heritage is sheer brilliance and progressive metal at it\’s finest. Everything is here, and flawlessly incorporated into one unit. This album is an audiophile\’s dream; from the funky jam outs, classic rock snippets, beautiful acoustics, piano and much more. This four-piece Swedish band did not skip over the small details that are insignificant alone, but incorporated them into the tracks give them a dash of musical excellence that marks quality amongst the common. Track five, “Nepenthe,” is so jazzy and brilliant it seems as if Miles Davis stopped by the studio. The entire album flows marvelously, like many streams pouring into a river. Nothing is out of place with this recording, including Mikael Akerfeldt\’s dynamic vocals. The only thing that saddens me about this recording is that it is slated to be Per Wiberg\’s last recording with the group as keyboardist and synthesizer. His talent is displayed over and over on this monster recording for the Swedish band. Sometimes thick and metallic, other times, spacey, dark and whimsical, Heritage promises to be an enjoyment to inhale from start to finish and is a masterpiece of rock. Rating: 9/10