Opeth - Heritage (2011)

So we have finally reached the most controversial Opeth album in our discography review series, an album that saw the band shift from their highly original blend of prog and death metal, to a more mellow rock sound. This is actually something Mikael and the rest of the band had wanted to attempt for some time (and kind of did already in "Damnation"), and critically, it actually got favorable reviews at the time of release, but the fans did not show any mercy, panning it for the complete lack of metal, claiming that the band sold out. But is this album really that awful, or was the change of style simply too much too handle for the Opeth lovers that forced them to go towards the other extreme of the spectrum?

Honestly, I was a part of the crowd that said "What kind of wimpy shit is this?" at the time of release, but looking back at it now, I realize two things. 1. I was a stupid young brat who did not know squat, and 2. I was easily persuaded by crowd majority. The fact of the matter is, I had not heard of any other Opeth record prior to "Heritage", so I did not have any valid argument to say that it was trash. Well, now I do, and after listening to the rest of the discography, I can honestly say that "Heritage"... is not that bad actually.

Let us start with the change of style, which is definitely different from what the band has done before, but it is not THAT different. As stated before, they kind of tinkered with the idea already in "Damnation", only that they put in some other moods and speeds in this album. Yes, it lacks all of the classic metal traits Opeth has (blast beats, harsh vocals, heavy guitars), but it still has that distinct Opeth sound, and that should really be enough for fans to enjoy "Heritage" really, but noooooooooo, they have to have that precious metal element too. Man, we fans are greedy bastards.

Besides, I think this change of style opens up new gateways for the band to express themselves, to expand into more unknown territory, sort of like the roots on the album artwork. However, I do not think Opeth takes full advantage of this opportunity, almost playing it safe actually. We certainly get enough prog for the price of admission, but I do not feel that sense of mystery that the band is so good at presenting, the thing that keeps you guessing throughout the album. Not saying that the album is predictable, but there is no part of the record I can point at and say "damn, I did not expect that". It still sounds alright, and the band does a good job in performance and production, but it just does not push its boundaries far enough.

Then we have the ultimate question, should we even consider "Heritage" as a metal record? Probably not, it is more like a Rush record, it is definitely rock, but with some heavier elements to it. There is definitely some heavier bits and pieces to be found here, and I definitely think that songs like "Famine", "The Lines In My Hand", and "The Devil's Orchard" could find a place in any other Opeth record and fit right in. It is the rock influence that rules this record though, with its melodic organs and Mikael's engaging voice as the main force behind it all, and it does a really nice job. It might still be a little bit underwhelming in most places, but you could definitely see "Heritage" as a prototype, as a first step to the new era of the band.

So yeah, looking back at it, I do not understand what all the fuzz was about. Yes, it is a shame that we lose the death metal aspect of the band's sound, but this is what 95% of highly successful bands do to stay relevant, evolve. "Heritage" definitely takes a brave step into the unknown, but it is not that humongous leap that everyone says it is. The reactions this album created are over exaggerated, and it hurt the album's reputation quite a bit. This is most certainly not a brilliant album, and it might be the Opeth album that could be considered the "worst", but it still has some charming qualities that should not be over looked, even if Mikael does not scream his lungs out.

Songs worthy of recognition: The Lines In My Hand, Slither, Famine

Rating: 7/10 Folklores

www.opeth.com/
twitter.com/officialopeth

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Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising (2011)

If the song "Twilight of The Thunder God" got my eyes up for Amon Amarth, it was the following album, the 2010 offering "Surtur Rising", that got me hooked. This album continued on the same success recipe that its predecessor perfected. By mixing melody and brutality, and adding some really catchy choruses, the vikings had the right idea to make both its critics and fans happy.

For those of you wondering, Surtur (or in his Swedish name, Surt) is a jötunn, a mythological race of giants that lives in Jötunheimr, one of the nine Norse cosmology worlds. When Ragnarök occurs, he will be one of the leaders against the asagods, wielding a burning sword that shines brighter than the sun. I do not know about you, but it sounds like Surtur is one bad ass giant, and a great character to portray for a metal album.

And as usual, Amon Amrth does just that well. Their lyrics holds the quality you would expect from the band, ranging over several events in the Norse mythology, from Loke's treachery to the battle grounds during Ragnarök. All of this is splendidly told by the band, and well sung by Johan Hegg. If I ever would take a class on Norse mythology, I would love any of these guys to be my teacher.

Just like in "Twilight of The Thunder God", it is the excellent riffing that makes "Surtur Rising" such a great force. Just listen to the opening track "War of The Gods". Here, Amon Amarth unleashes their whole arsenal of riffs, the grinders, the melodic, the catchy, you name it. And to top it all off, they deliver one of the tastiest solos I have heard from the band. The tasty action continues in the groovy "Töck's Taunt - Loke's Trachery Part II", the follow up to the first part that was released in "With Oden On Our Side", and with "Slaves of Fear" that has some incredibly catchy riffs that are very easy humming along to. And I should not forget "For Victory Or Death", a beautiful creation and yet another track with awesome riffing.

The melodies certainly makes the album, but it is actually two extremely heavy tracks that highlights it and separates it from "Twilight of The Thunder God". The first one is "Destroyer of The Universe, a huge steamroller that runs over you with aggression and more aggression. A grim song that brings out orgasmic emotions from the listener. The other heavyweight is "A Beast Am I", probably the most brutal song I have heard from the band since their early days. The speed plus the crazy riffs and drum beats makes this song a big, ugly monster that cannot be contained. The surprise calm ending is a weird, but nice touch that works as a good transition to the last song of the album, "Doom Over Dead Man"

"Surtur Rising" is certainly another high calibre release from the Swedes, but it does lack some momentum in some songs to take it among "With Oden On Our Side" and "Twilight of The Thunder God" and their perfection. I will always remember this album as the one that got me into the band and secured my love for them, but after hearing out on their entire discography, I will not rank it as my all time favourite. None the less, an amazing album that deserves the praise.

Songs worthy of recognition: Destroyer of The Universe, War of The Gods, For Victory Or Death, A Beast Am I

Rating: 9,5/10 Slaves of Fear

https://www.amonamarth.com/
https://twitter.com/amonamarthband

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Megadeth - Th1rt3en (2011)

We all know that Megadeth can change their musical and mental mood in a dime, and judging by the cover of the band's 13th album, they turned a couple of other things as well. I mean, why in god's name would you turn around your beloved mascot so that his back is shown on your cover? It just doesn't make sense, and neither does the title. Who in their right set of mind would name their album "Th1rt3en"? Sure, this is album number 13 for the band, but just because your band has reached a impressive goal in your career, it does not mean you can do anything to boast that achievement. This makes Megadeth look like fools, which unfortunately is not the first time.

So it could have been a better start for the return of bassist David Ellefson, and it didn't turn any better when it was discovered that most of the set list in "Th1rt3en" consisted of old songs that has been previously released in deluxe editions, b-sides and video games. For the common man, these songs might be new, but not for the hard core Megadeth fan, which ultimately takes away some of the excitement that comes with a new album.

So let me go through which songs are "old". Both "New World Order" and "Millennium of The Blind" appears as bonus tracks in the 2004 remaster of "Youthanasia" ( "New World Order" is also featured in the Duke Nukem soundtrack from 1999), "Black Swan" was released as a bonus track for those who pre ordered "United Abominations", and "Sudden Death" was originally special written for the game "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" (A game that also includes "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "This Day We Fight!", all three songs are incredibly fun and difficult on guitar). Out of these 4 songs I would recommend 2 of them. "Sudden Death" is a fantastic shredding piece that fits perfectly in the game it was written for and the solos are just a blast to listen to (the chorus is pretty wimpy though) and "Black Swan" is a great song with fine musicality and sweet catchiness.

The new songs holds a great variety when it comes to pure quality. Some songs does succeed in standing its ground and delivers a pretty good mix of thrash beats and more commercial melody lines, while others could more or less be described as train wrecks, especially when you look it from a lyrical stand point. The first single, "Public Enemy No. 1", may be a cool catchy tune about Al Capone with a galloping main riff, but I just face palm when I hear Dave trying to find as many words as possible that rimes with one, and why is the band bragging so much in "Guns, Drugs, & Money"? Just why? Then we have the out right weak songs, like "Whose Life [Is It Anyways?]" and "Fast Lane" that just makes you want to hit the skip button as soon as they come up.

Fortunately, "Th1rt3en" is not completely filled with awful songs. I really enjoy the aggressive, but still very melodic "Never Dead" that brings one of the coolest solos the band has made in the 21st century, and the ending "13" is a nice way to end the album with its slow and hauntingly beautiful tempo. These songs together with the old material definitely makes up for some of the inconsistencies that this album is displaying, but it is obvious that the band went a little too experimental with "Th1rt3en", even if it at first sounds like a normal modern Megadeth album. I miss the anger, I miss the fury, and most of all, I miss the guitars that only gets the spotlight in like two and a half out of the thirteen songs.

So yeah, "Th1rt3en" is a step back for the band in a lot of points, but the overall image of the album is still pretty decent, just not fantastic. Several songs in here are good and worthy of giving a listen to, but to each good song in this album, there is at least two bad/mediocre songs to accompany it. It might have been because of that Dave Ellefson is back in the band and influenced the song creating process enough to steer it back into the 90's direction, but I really do not care since it would have been difficult for the band to top "Endgame" anyways. "Th1rt3en" will always be a decent album that just happens to have a really stupid name and a cover that doesn't make sense. Not Megadeth's finest work, but far from their worst.

Songs worthy of recognition: Black Swan, Sudden Death, Never Dead

Rating: 6,5/10 Wreckers

Devin Townsend Project - Ghost (2011)

Another ambient album made by Devin Townsend? Oh, lord Jesus. Well, even if I did not get the very least excited about "Ghost", I was not surprised that Devin would release this album since the Devin Townsend Project was created to show Devin's diverse musical influences. And since he already gone through progressive metal ("Ki"), pop metal ("Addicted") and bone crushing death metal ("Deconstruction"), ambient music was the only thing that Devin had not shown in his new project.

Luckily this album is miles better than his previous ambient efforts ("Devlab" and "The Hummer"), mostly because "Ghost" actually sounds like a music record. There is some singing, some soothing flutes and an overall soft and cosy sound that just makes you wanting to go back to bed and fall asleep. So for those of you who wanted screaming vocals and blistering solos, tough luck.

There is no track that really stands out in this album because "Ghost" feels like a unity. The bonds between the tracks are so strong that it is difficult to tell when the next song starts and ends. I see it as an advantage since these kinds of albums should be experienced in its entirety and not in individual tracks. Of course there are some tracks, like "Heart Baby", "Feather" and "Texada", that are more enjoyable than others, but it is still not an valid excuse of skipping the rest of the songs.

Even if it is Devin's best ambient effort so far, I still cannot help but squirming around while listening to this album. I am not made for listening to this type of music, I am a sucker for metal. It does not mean that I do not enjoy listening to "Ghost", it just means that I would pick "Deconstruction" (who got released the same day as "Ghost") before "Ghost" 24/7, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. No matter what, I like this album, and if I was more into this kind of music, I would probably love it.

This album is a mellow effort that may not be for all fans of Devin, but I still think that everyone should give this record a try since it shows Devin's wide range in musical styles. "Ghost" is a beautiful record that would ease the worst of head aches without any problems. It is not my musical style of choice, but if I can learn to enjoy "Ghost", then so can you.

Songs worthy of recognition: Texada, Heart Baby, Feather

Rating: 6/10 Monsoons

Devin Townsend Project - Deconstruction (2011)

So after going progressive in the first record and going pop metal in the second, what awaited us on the third album by Devin Townsend Project? This time, the crazy Canadian gives us a comedic concept album named "Deconstruction". The album follows a man that wants to find out the true nature of reality. He ends up in hell where he meets the Devil and finds out that the secrets of the universe lies within a cheeseburger. But since our protagonist is vegetarian, he refuses the cheeseburger and admits that his journey was completely pointless.

So yeah, it is another great and hilarious concept made by Devin. But the comedy is not as much apparent as it was on "Punky Brüster - Cooked On Phonics" and "Ziltoid The Omniscient". There are no dialogues between the tracks that explains the story, so you have to go deeper into the lyrics to find the humour and the plot. It is the little things that makes you laugh, like hearing that all bands rip off Meshuggah, Oderus Urungus shouting shit a brick, or even the mentioning of Ziltoid the omniscient. I also get a laugh of the fact that when Devin screams sorrow man in "Planet of The Apes" it sounds like he is screaming Saruman (the evil wizard in The Lord of The Rings for those of you who do not get the joke).

This album is packed with a lot of personnel and guest artists from more or lesser known bands. For instance, we have Oderus Urungus (Gwar), Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth), Floor Jansen (ReVamp, Nightwish), Tommy Giles Rogers (Between The Buried And Me), and many more. Hell, we even have an entire orchestra that has helped out with this album. So it comes as no surprise that even with this many guest artists, the quality of the music is at its top. It sounds chaotic from start to finish, but it is still holding up well thanks to the concept and the well constructed structure.

The complete chaos that this album brings makes it the heaviest album Devin has done outside of Strapping Young Lad. Just listen to the chugging blast beats in "Juular" or the incredible speed in "Pandemic". If that does not remind you of SYL, then I do not know what will. But this album also impress us with the big and epic songs. From the slow and technical "Stand", to the diverse "Planet of The Apes", this album brings some of the best epics Devin has ever created. Even "The Mighty Masturbator" sounds good despite the carnival scene around the end of this 16 minute epic. I also have to mention the title track, since it is the main track for the overall concept (and also for its goofiness).

"Deconstruction" is just another proof of why I like to call Devin the Jim Carrey of metal. This is a weird and funny concept, and together with some heavy and progressive music, this album goes down as one of Devin's finest albums. This is the perfect album for those of you who wants to take out your aggressions on, oh I do not know, an ignorant vegetarian hipster who refuses to eat a cheeseburger. I do not know about you guys, but this album gives me a big boner and it is making me hungry. I WANT A CHEESEBURGER!!!

Songs worthy of recognition: Planet of The Apes, Stand, Juular, Pandemic

Rating: 9/10 Poltergeists

Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events (2011)

To say that a lot happened to Dream Theater after the release of "Black Clouds & Silver Linings" is an understatment. The drummer Mike Portnoy thought that the band should take a much needed break, an idea that the rest of the band did not agree on. So without going further into details, Mike left the band who instantly started the search for a drummer who would be able to take over the giant kit that Mike left behind. The spot eventually went, not surprisingly, to another Mike. Mike Mangini has previously worked with Annihilator, Steve Vai and the solo project of James LaBrie so he had good connection with the band from the start. But the big question was still standing, would he be able to handle the pressure and be a solid part in the Dream Theater sound?

During Dream Theater's carrier we have seen many sides of the band. From heavy to epic, commercially attractive to progressive. But on "A Dramatic Turn of Events" is the band taking the safe route by making a mix of ballads, heavy songs and epic mastodons. Maybe the reason for this safe approach is because the band wanted to make it as easy as possible for Mike Mangini to slide in to the band before he starts contributing to the song writing process. Well I do not care are as long as the album sounds good in my ears, which it does.

The single "On The Back of Angels" opens up this album like a technical version of "Pull Me Under". A great song where Mangini directly is showing what he is made of with several difficult fills and edgy beats (listen especially closely around 3:30. The speed Mike is showing is ridiculous). A perfect choice for a single. The commercialism continues on "Build Me Up, Break Me Down". Even though I enjoyed this song I feel that the chorus is a little too mainstream and the musicality is not at top. Such a shame since this song had good potential.

We have a total of four songs that have a length of 10 minutes or longer on this album. Out of the four there is two songs that really stands out and raises the quality of this album to a much higher level. "Lost Not Forgotten" is a good mix between the heavy and the melodic Dream Theater. A thrilling ride where the band is showing of most of their register. But the real top of this album is "Bridges In The Sky" that is very similar to "Lost Not Forgotten" but the chorus here is one of the most beautiful choruses the band has ever made and the technicality is just pure awesomeness. Just the music you would want to hear if you was riding actual bridges up on the sky. The other two mastodons are not the worst I have heard from the band, they are actually great as well but compared to "Bridges In The Sky" and "Lost not Forgotten", "Outcry" and "Break All Illusions" is easily left in the shadows. But they are still worth checking out if you are a Dream theater fan.

We also have three ballads in "A Dramatic Turn of Events" but sadly, they do not cut it for me this time. Out of the three I would say that "This Is The Life" is bringing out the most emotions and has the best musical structure while "Beneath The Surface" is close behind and "Far From Heaven" is just plain boring.

So to answer the question I asked in the begginging, yes, Mike Mangini is a great replacement for Mike Portnoy. His technical skills and perfect timing are just what Dream Theater wants so they can keep doing what the have done for over twenty years. As far as "A Dramatic Turn of Events" goes, it is an unstable album where the long songs rule and the ballads fail. It is far from their worst album but this album is a clear evidence that the band took the safe way to ease it up for their new drummer as much as possible. But for the next album, I expect that Mangini gets in to the writing process and that the band at least tries to write more exciting material. So welcome to the band Mike Mangini. May you have several fun years with one of the best bands in the progressive metal scene.

Songs worthy of recognition: Bridges In The Sky, Lost Not Forgotten, On The Backs of Angels

Rating: 7/10 Outcries

dreamtheater.net/
twitter.com/dreamtheaternet

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