Funeral Rain Press Corps

Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: Roadrunner Records
Format: Double Gatefold 2LP (Personal Collection)

Mikael has done it again. A stunning display of technical prowess (which he seems to always humbly undermine in interviews) and a deft hand at good old fashioned songcraft takes an epic win once again for Opeth. Also showing Opeth and their fans love, Roadrunner has put out a great collection for us all. It’s simple, but still wonderfully done.
A double gatefold with beautiful art from Travis Smith containing two black records is what I got. The records themselves are held in old school styled sleeves, plain white paper with clear plastic over the holes to see the record’s label. A lyric sheet is included, with all the album credits on one side and all the lyrics on the other.
The inside of the gatefold is photos of the band in the studio during the recording of Heritage, while the back is a simplistic tracklist. Visually, the album really stands on the front cover, as you can see above.
Musically, it’s quite different from what we’ve grown accustomed to. Gone are Mikael’s death growls, which most people are going to hear this change first. Also gone is the metallic sounds, relying on hard rock and prog rock to take the listener through a sometimes psychedelic journey. There are still Opethian things, parts that remind me of the Ghost Reveries album and even touches of Watershed and Still Life are present, too.
Hammond B3, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, grand piano, and acoustic guitars, all in use by Opeth in the past, are even bigger in the sound now, sometimes taking the song delivery away from the electric guitars and becoming lead instruments rather than just pretty backing colors. Personally, this is a good thing. Growth has always shown between albums for Opeth, and between Watershed and Heritage there has been the largest growth for the band, and it’s because of their desire to just write a prog rock album rather than flirting with the idea.
Album highlights for me are numerous, but the songs “The Devil’s Orchard”, “Slither” (written as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio and a killer live song) and “Famine” really stand out as favorites. The only problem, and the main problem for all Opeth albums really, is that there just are not enough songs to hear.
10 out of 10.

Heritage 2LP Tracklisting:
Side A
1. Heritage
2. The Devil’s Orchard
3. I Feel The Dark
Side B
4. Slither
5. Nepenthe
6. Häxprocess
Side C
7. Famine
8. The Lines In My Hand
Side D
9. Folklore
10. Marrow Of The Earth

Heritage Personnel:
Fredrik Åkesson – Electric rhythm and lead guitars
Martin Mendez – Electric and upright bass guitars
Martin Axenrot – Drums and percussion
Alex Acuña – Percussion on “Famine”
Per Wiberg – Hammond B3, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and Grand Piano
Björn J:son Lindh – Flute on “Famine”
Mikael Åkerfeldt – Vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, Mellotron, Grand Piano, FX
Joakim Svalberg – Grand Piano on “Heritage”

Genre: Progressive Rock, Hard Rock
Label: SG Records

Another review in which I get excited before I even heard the album in question. I reviewed Mr. Mihaljevic 2008 release, Sandcastle a while back and I’m not ashamed to say that it’s still in my monthly rotation of progressive rock.  So yeah, I’m stoked to have Destination Unknown spinning in front of me.

A noticeable change from Sandcastle (aside from the addition of back up band, the Side Effects) is the production value. Everything was given an uber glossy coat and amped up to eleven. Ivan’s combination of shredding, lickin’ and mad soloing is still as deadly as ever with a bit of a Zakk Wylde (as a Derek Sherinian contributor) feel to some songs like Choosh Pies and Dreascapes. His voice is another matter altogether. In Sandcastle, it was serviceable at best. But here in Destination Unknown, it’s obvious that he’s has some time to tune up more than his riffing. He’s got more of a broader range in his high notes and bit more variation all around. This pleases me greatly.

Unfortunatly, there are some “side effects”. While there is a bit of variation with some of the songs having long instrumental breaks (something I admired from Sandcastle), other songs seem a little to… melodramatic for me. Like the song Post-Apocalyptic Images for example. I understand the need for mood setting and whatnot, but this one just came off as whiny and it broke the flow that the album was building. Same goes for Shadows two tracks later. It just feels misplaced.

Overall: I’d say that this is another win for Ivan Mihaljevic! If you consider yourself a fan of progressive rock or just plain hard rock, I suggest you give him a listen. You won’t be disappointed!

8.5/10

Ivan Mihaljevic On MySpace
Ivan Mihaljevic Offical

Genres: Hard Rock, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock
Label: Independent

I found an email from Thesis in my inbox, asking if I could do a review of their new body of work, Channel 1. They described themselves as a progressive rock with metallic leanings, so I said sure. I’d be happy to.
And if only I knew what I was getting into.
Thesis don’t fall into an easy to define area of music, because they are very progressive, with some psychedelic elements. Amazing musicianship, with an extremely strong voice, Thesis remind me of a slower, more melodic and pretty sounding Tool or Cynic. At times even reminding me of Opeth.
Violins, heavy riffs, and an occasionally oppressive feeling fill this album, and it’s great. Check it out if you’re into progressive music.
8 out of 10.

Thesis on MySpace.

Genre: Hard Rock, Progressive Rock
Label: Dynamic Art Records

I’m not going to lie here… this album was difficult to review/listen too. The songs on Babies Of Revolution are either one of two things: Either 1) Genius or 2) Complete Crap. Seriously, this album probably holds the strangest state of perfect homeostatic symmetry between auditory gold and musical horse shit! Tracks like Panda Girl, Wash My Sins Away and End Of The World are fountains of joy, containing catchy licks, fun vocals and intricate synths. But on the flip side, tracks like Fake, Cherry Pit and Sweet Revenge are rife with junkyard leavings. The vocals sound… off, like during the recording of those tracks, the vocalist had a huge lump of phlegm in her throat and never bothered to hack it out or something. Even the synths sound lacking (which sucks since those are my favorite part of this album), as if the keyboard itself knows that this album has potential, but it’s already been doused in other areas. “So fuck it,” it thinks.

Overall: A mixed bag of entertaining neo-gothic, The Gathering-esque rock/metal and “what the hell were you thinking” garbage. Luckily, it still manages to be entertaining in a couple of ways.

6/10

Manzana On MySpace