Opeth - Sorceress (2016)
A new album by Opeth is up there for being one of my most anticipated albums for this year. I know the general consensus of post-growl Mikael Opeth is not a popular choice among fans, but I don't give a **** about that at all. I used to care about that a bit because I felt the clean vocals didn't add much, but Sorceress takes that opinion and squashes it completely.
If you've listened to Opeth for years, you've come to expect the sound they put out, so anything new is just an extension of their other work, whcih Sorceress does as well. I don't say that to fault the album though, because consistency is vastly important for a band that you expect a lot out of.
Sorceress is a 13 track album with 3 additional live tracks, and from a first listen, I can say I'm not disappointed with any of the tracks on this album. Each hold their own and there are some instances where you hear Mikael attempt some post-metal'ish vocals while still maintaining his clean demeanor. I don't necessarily have any favorite tracks on the album yet since I've given it one listen. The album is filled with a few instrumentals here and there, which is a nice touch so that you don't get too overwhelmed with everything going on. You also have a badass guitar solo thrown in here and there as well.
As an album, I say this is up there with being one of their strongest releases in quite some time, but with Opeth that's not an insult to their previous releases, if anything, this just proves once again that Opeth are not willing to stop any time soon, and I don't expect them too. They're still holding on and pushing music out better than most bands these days.
Definitely worth a listen, and a nice addition to the large catalog of music that we've seen come out this year.
Not disappointed in the slightest.