Comus

The much awaited new album from Opeth leaked tonight when I was at work, and it will most certainly be living up to expectations. Coil starts off with clean guitar and singing, a trademark for bits of the newer Opeth albums, and I must say it's done masterfully. Mike's singing has changed a bit but I certainly can't say that it's bad. It also introduces soem beautiful female vocals that are done very effectively at the end of Coil. I wasn't expecting the first track to be completely clean, but Opeth immediately deliver at the end of it, with some awesome guitars at the beginning of Heir Apparent. Again with the trademark heavy/clean interludes this is unmistakeably Opeth, yet there's something so awesomely different.

The album feels more organic than their earlier efforts and there's so much life in this, the guitars sound absolutely stunning and much better than they have on earlier releases. At times the ambience created will completely blow you away, and the soft interludes fit perfectly in. Mike's growls are even better than ever, and they add more of a natural harsh feel to the music, Bloodbath was a good testament to his vocal abilities, but this just blows them out of the water. The progressive influences can be heard so much clearer here than on for example Ghost Reveries and it really adds a new, greater dimension to the album.

The Lotus Eater brings another dimension to Mike's vocal expertise, with both the growls and clean vocals outshining even Heir Apparant. The guitars are incredibly catchy and memorable, and you can really see Opeth have matured from their earlier material, if such a thing was even possible. The drumming is constructed brilliantly, and it stays away from many of the downfalls of metal drumming, it keeps everything together brilliantly without being overboard. The guitar solo in Lotus Eater is even better than Heir Apparent and it's great to see some well played solos as I've never really found that to be Opeth's strong point. Quiet bits continue to impress as Lotus Eater reaches the halfway point with some incredibly ambient pieces, that despite their generally slower approach never completely lose the momentum of the song.

Burden starts out with a slow piano and ambient effects that sets an incredibly dense atmosphere, which just keeps building as drums and vocals are added. The instrumentals on Burden are some of the most stong and progressive that Opeth has ever done, and it's a joy to behold the band maturing in such a way. The guitars are brilliant, and the same can be said for everything else within the song. It's the second song completely devoid of metal and it's great to hear such progression.

The album progresses further with some lovely acoustic guitars on Porcelain Heart, the lyrics are an obvious downfall but then again they are basically just an afterthought for Mike. The dual guitars work perfectly, and in places such as Porcelain Heart are simply glorious, there is so much depth here, on just the first listen that I can feel this being even more of a grower, definitely with a very high replay value.

Hessian Peel is a very heavy listen despite the acoustic/clean instrumentals, there's something primal about it, and this works so effectively within the album. There are some incredibly 70's styled riffs filtered through the song, and it's starting to become clear that there's a lot of nostalgia throughout the whole effort. This is certainly delivering and has been well worth the wait since 2005's Ghost Reveries. There are a lot of influences that only become apparant if you really look for them, but it is certainly well worth the investigation. There are some incredibly psychedelic parts to Hessian Peel and it's definitely the best layered song on the album.

Some of the more quiet parts of the album are, to me, very reminiscent of Ulver's Shadows of the Sun, yet it's so brilliantly balanced with the heavier metal parts. Although there are some death metal vocals, it never even borders on the genre, this is pure progressive metal/rock and I'm incredibly pleased Opeth have decided to go even further in this direction. The whole album just simply sounds more fun and experimental than the earlier work, and it's clear it's got a lot less pretentia in the production.

Overall the album was incredibly refreshing and certainly didn't dissapoint, actually I don't think much of it dissapointed at all. It's certainly one of the top three releases of this year so far and the score I give will be deserving of such a place. Brilliant from start to finish, with great production, incredible intro's and outro's. The progressive element has been taken up to a whole new step, however it feels a bit more like immitation than their own progression, but that really doesn't take away from the enjoyment. Brilliant album.

__________________

You dangling swinging
Hanging, spinning, aftermath
Your soft white flesh turns past me slaked with blood
Your evil eyes more damning than a demon's curse
Your lovely body soon caked with mud
As I carry you to your grave my arms your hearse
You stand before me defenceless
Your stare unchanging silent, cold, intense sears my brain

Molecules

i need to catch up with this thread, it's doing alot

__________________

Substix
Last FM
'Institutionalised cruelty is one thing. But the twisted brainwrong of a one-off man-mental is quite another.'

Comus

A piano plays softly on a scratched vinyl record, a fitting intro to this beautifully melodic black metal effort by the band formed by the former keyboardist for Windir. Staying far away from the tinny black metal guitars the focus is a lot more on the atmosphere. The vocals are as grim and frostbitten as any black metal fan could wish for. The opening track and dare I say "lead single" Ei Fane Svart which was released for free download by the band previous to the album being released is a brilliantly melodic piece of music. The production on the drumming is incredible when it comes to the dynamics it creates within the sound.

The guitars and keyboards continue to add an incredible amount of melody to the album and fans of the more melodic side of Windir will love this type of black metal. However it strays away from the weaker side of melodic black metal in which such bands as Dimmu Borgir and other ****e bands reside. The vocals are incredibly catchy and before long you'll be doing your best to sing along. There are some beautiful quiet parts in the album with focus on the keyboards and bass which is incredibly strange for this type of black metal. The bass guitar is incredibly well produces and can be easily heard throughout the whole album, and it yet again adds another layer of atmosphere.

I, the damned includes some incredibly lush sounding guitars, to put it this way, black metal has never sounded this awesome. This album breaks all the boundaries while remaining soundly inside it's own little square, it's full of contradictions, but that's certainly not a negative aspect. The effort as a whole is incredibly well thought out and it shows, the tracks flow together well and each song is incredibly well layered. There are some infectious folky melodies which carry on the legacy of Windir, and does so in spectacular form. You won't find another Arntor here, Cor Scorpii go far beyond imitating Windir's sound, it all feels incredibly fresh.

The drumming, while adding an incredible energetic atmosphere is the most black metal influenced thing about the album as a whole, apart from the vocals. The drums keep the speed up, while everything else is going along at quite a leisurely pace, this adds a great contrast to the album, and does so to great effect. Some of the longer instrumental pieces are again very reminiscent of Windir, but it's truly a resemblance only in style. Helvetesfossen is one of the more accessible songs on the album, and one of the most dynamic songs on the album. The drumming is nice and fluid, the guitars are beautifully crafted, the whole beat is more rock than metal.

The song is beautifully atmospheric and left me in a complete daze, the layering is dense yet an easy listen, the whole effort is overly melodic and beautiful with some lush passages. The fast paced drumming returns on the Eepic Oske og Innsikt which includes some of the heavier parts of an already heavy album. You'll never be bored despite the length, because there is absolutely always something to hold onto and grasp with your mind. The album is overall too short, clocking in at just under 47 and a half minutes, but if you crave more, play it again sam. The guitars continue to impress here, there's nothing spectacular on a technical level, but it just sounds so incredibly good, and in the end, that's what makes the music.

The album can get quite mentally draining at times, and you can feel yourself slipping, the end effect is that it can feel like a few minutes until it ends, a generally gutted feeling that will leave you wanting more and more. I'm not entirely sure how it's attained but a lot of the great black metal bands and albums evoke the same type of reaction. The music as a whole is very upbeat and not very angry despite the vocals, yet it's still quite aggressive. Kjettar is an incredible song, with some great interesting instrumental/vocal combinations which sound very fresh. The song as a whole is very catchy and works very well after the comparatively straight forward Oske og innsikt.

The guitars are brought far more into the spotlight on the second half of the album and Kjettar is a perfect example of this. With this album Cor Scorpii have created a sound which is unmistakably theirs, and it's one hell of a sound. On an interesting sound note, I'm sure that's a black metal version of the Loituma song levan Polkka in Bragder i stein, a grimmer more frostbitten version definitely, and very awesome. The whole song is very folky and it's a brilliant end to the album.

Make no mistake, this is so far and will be the best black metal release of this year, nothing can possibly top it, I'd be very glad to be proven wrong, but this is just overly too brilliant. My second favourite album of this year, and I can't see that changing. Great album.

__________________

You dangling swinging
Hanging, spinning, aftermath
Your soft white flesh turns past me slaked with blood
Your evil eyes more damning than a demon's curse
Your lovely body soon caked with mud
As I carry you to your grave my arms your hearse
You stand before me defenceless
Your stare unchanging silent, cold, intense sears my brain

Seltzer

Nice reviews. I haven't had a chance to listen to Watershed yet because I've been away from home, but I'll probably give it a spin today. And I've been meaning to check out Cor Scorpii.

__________________
Last.fm

Rainard Jalen

I like the reviews, but feel 9.5 for Watershed is, well, let's just say...not entirely accurate.

Comus

Note to all: review corner postponed due to broken arm.

__________________

You dangling swinging
Hanging, spinning, aftermath
Your soft white flesh turns past me slaked with blood
Your evil eyes more damning than a demon's curse
Your lovely body soon caked with mud
As I carry you to your grave my arms your hearse
You stand before me defenceless
Your stare unchanging silent, cold, intense sears my brain