OPETH SURVIVOR 2016: Results -> The sun sets forever over Blackwater Park!

I definitely think it is a more solid release than Heritage, and the songs (in general) flow better. Regarding the tracks themselves, people really seem to dislike Sorceress 2 and Seventh Sojourn, but I think they're great. Will o' the Wisp may be one of the best songs the band has written in that style (it's like Harvest but far catchier). Other obvious standouts are the title track, Era (containing one of the band's best choruses), and the odd Wilde Flowers.

Two tracks I do not understand at all are Strange Brew (reminds me of a Heritage leftover) and A Fleeting Glance, which starts cool with the minstrel stuff but devolves into stock Opeth soon after. It's like they tried too hard to be complex with some of the riffs and it's very obvious.

Persephone
Persephone (Slight Return)
Strange Brew
A Fleeting Glance
The Ward
Spring
 
Can't play Spring. YouTube version is silent.

For the most part, this album tires me. Heard-before-songwriting. Sometimes annoying, vocal lines. Dull music. Disturbing snare drum sound.
 
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Will need a few more spins before I start writing a proper review, but the "best" songs, which are songs 2, 3 and 4, are all super repetitive for Opeth's standards. The only song that nails the style I like is A Fleeting Glance.
 
I mean, at least they are kinda memorable, just really repetitive. Either way, every single song from Pale Communion is better than the best song from this album. Dunno, it might click with me one day. As I said, I didn't rate Pale Communion when I first heard it and now I think it's awesome.
 
With the exception of Elysian Woes and Goblin, I would completely agree.

However, every single song on Sorceress is better than everything from Heritage except Devil's Orchard.
 
Era is better than everything on Pale Communion except Eternal Rains Will Come. It's also better than everything on Heritage except The Devil's Orchard and Folklore.
 
Night Prowler said:
Will need a few more spins before I start writing a proper review, but the "best" songs, which are songs 2, 3 and 4, are all super repetitive for Opeth's standards.
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You don't think Era is one of the "best" songs? Not that I think it's perfect (the verses drag on for a bit too long), but it's a very emotionally heavy song.

Night Prowler said:
Either way, every single song from Pale Communion is better than the best song from this album.
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Now that's a stretch. Will o' the Wisp and Era could have fit right in with Pale Communion, and Sorceress and Wilde Flowers are at least as good as the weaker half of PC...

MrKnickerbocker said:
However, every single song on Sorceress is better than everything from Heritage except Devil's Orchard.
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You think the Persephones and Sorceress 2 and the mess that is Strange Brew are better than Folklore? Than Face in the Snow? Than Pyre?
 
Night Prowler said:
I mean, at least they are kinda memorable, just really repetitive. Either way, every single song from Pale Communion is better than the best song from this album. Dunno, it might click with me one day. As I said, I didn't rate Pale Communion when I first heard it and now I think it's awesome.
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Of course. Pale Communion is a very strong Opeth album. This one is bottom three, maybe even the worst for me, although on some tracks I find that it has more going on than the total of Still Life.

Strange Brew is good and Seventh Sojourn too! Era is so bland compared to these two. Vocal melodies suck tremendously. Can't believe people tolerate this.
 
Well it's pretty easy for me to tolerate the vocals on Era since they're the best thing on the album.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
You think the Persephones and Sorceress 2 and the mess that is Strange Brew are better than Folklore? Than Face in the Snow? Than Pyre?
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FITS and Pyre do not count. I don't love the Persephones or Sorceress 2, but they are at least songs. Strange Brew and Folklore are probably equal, though the strong parts in SB are infinitely stronger than anything in Folklore. They both suffer from the same garbage mixing and terrible structure.
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Strange Brew and Folklore are probably equal, though the strong parts in SB are infinitely stronger than anything in Folklore.
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Are you sure you're not mixing up Folklore with Famine? The second half of Folklore is one of the most interesting things Opeth has ever recorded, and easily the strongest point of Heritage...
 
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