Classic Review — Opeth — Morningrise
I’ve done so much Opeth but they’re one of the bands that I’m most comfortable writing about. I’ve been listening to Opeth since around 2001 or 2002 when a friend gave me a mix CD with “Bleak” from Black Water Park on it. I was hooked by the fact that the song breaks down into a jazzy sounding sequence for the bridge of the song.
The opening salvo of Morningrise, “Advent” gives way to a slower jazzy acoustic scenario. This, in turn, gives way yet again to a more odd timed section. The vocals on this album in general sound more like Black Metal than anything else I’ve heard from Opeth. The acoustic returns at around the 3:20 mark and gets an interesting bass element added to it for a while. The bass element lingers after the sound gets more distorted later. It all breaks down into a rather triumphant sounding NWOBHM sound. The vocals here keep it sounding black metal.
I could go on about the bass. I love higher-pitched bass parts and they seem to use this one lick as a bookend between different parts of the song. I love double bass work, and “Advent” has a lot of good steady double kick.
Even more acoustic work follows. Mikael Åkerfeldt writes some of the most mesmerizing and sad sounding acoustic work I’ve ever heard. We also get to hear more of the clean vocals that Opeth is more recently known for. I have to be honest I’m listening to this album for the first time in roughly 10 years. Time sure has flown. Despite the age of this work it still sounds 100% Opeth. Some of it kind of sounds like Judas Priest with black metal vocals. The thing I love about the screaming is that it is much more shrill. Just when I think I’m covered in blackness by this track it brings back in some clean vocal elements.
As a general rule, I don’t review a whole album track by track all the way through. What I want to say about this album is that it is well put together even though Mikael Åkerfeldt has said he doesn’t like to listen to the older work anymore. I love the strong chugging of the riffs toward the end of Advent. the last 2 minutes are layered in acoustic work. It’s not more complex like some of Mikael Åkerfeldt’s work but it has the same ghost-like quality that any Opeth fan would be familiar with.
The only other track I want to break down is the epic “Black Rose Immortal” It’s crazy just how much went into this song. It clocks in at just over 20 minutes. And when it starts it hits with the black metal sounds and double bass. The snare is pretty reserved so it doesn’t make the whole feel of the track too intense. There are some deeper growls that sound like the more modern Mikael Åkerfeldt. One thing I love about this album is that the bass is audible and is complementary but not entirely similar. At around 2 minutes we get to hear some of that awesome Opeth acoustic material that leads into a similar high flying triumphant lead guitar.
One thing I love about this early stuff is that the more thrash and punk rock elements are still there. It’s not really prog-rock Opeth that we have today. Then all at once, it dies down, and in come the ghostly acoustic bits again. All the while you can hear the bass weaving its sad gothic tone in the background. I love Opeth because they marry the heavy with the more classical elements as most artists do but they are one of the most authentic-sounding groups out there. These progressions are a lot more simple than their later work but I think they’re no less powerful.
I could go on about the back and forth from acoustic to more metal sounds. There are a lot of them in this song and it comes in waves, not unlike those on a beach. Opeth, in the beginning, really brought the emotion with their lead play. They still do, but this track has some of the best simplistic solo work I’ve heard on an Opeth album. As the song intensifies so too does the lead play. It wasn’t until later, on Watershed that their lead play blasted off into space. They managed to make the solos on “Black Rose Immortal” sound epic even though they’re are more on the simple side.
“We’re not Jeff Loomis” -Mikael Åkerfeldt
Except now they’re more like him with the addition of Fredrik Åkesson. That’s not the point though. This track really brings the emotion. In my opinion, it leaves you fulfilled but wanting more still. Is the songwriting simpler? Without a doubt it is, but no less impactful. Between the soaring NWOBHM sounding leads and acoustic parts that die with hushed, whispered vocals this song never leaves you feeling bored.
At around 15 minutes we’re treated to more sorrowful acoustic work. then at around 16:30, we’re blasted again with more double bass, and it dies back down at around 17:30. You would think being a piece from early on in their career that it wouldn’t sound as confident. Less complex but full of that strength you’re used to from Opeth. The string sounds in the end I have no idea how they produced those. It could have been keys, but Mikael Åkerfeldt said they didn’t really get into keyboards until later. The song dies in reverb-drenched single notes that play back and forth.
What does this mean for you? You’ve suffered through my breakdown of two of the best tracks on the album. What I want you to take away from this is that it is a progressive masterpiece even though it’s not as complex as their later work. Pick it up if you see it, or seek it out on a platform like Spotify. It’s all definitely worth a listen and it isn’t all screams and chugging. The acoustic parts are relaxing and help bring you in and out of the more heavy sections. I find it to be great music for getting things done, but that doesn’t mean much coming from a guy who sleeps listening to Black Metal. Have fun and enjoy the musical journey.
