Morningrise

At first I didn't like Morningrise; I thought that it was too progressive, too complicated for its own good. Filled with long, moody atmospheric passages that seem to meander through infinite themes, Morningrise is a difficult album to take in all at once. Nevertheless, it is an Opeth classic for many reasons, as it has all the great musicianship that made Opeth famous in their later releases. This release sees Opeth in their early phase, heavily experimenting with their unique metal techniques. It has death metal elements, progressive metal elements, and even some doom sections to it as well. Morningrise takes awhile to warm up to, but the dedication is worth it.

The opener "Advent" is an excellent example of Opeth's hallmark blending techniques. Soft passages with an interesting groove are interspersed between death metal riffs and growling vocals. These techniques are also used in all the other songs of this album (save growling vocals on the last song). Unfortunately Akerfeldt's voice isn't as good and deep at this point as on the later albums, but it still manages to get aggressive and raspy, with an interesting black-metal edge to it. The lyrics are also more esoteric on this album, and include some bizarre grammar which may turn off some fans.

The best part of Morningrise is the atmosphere conveyed by the music. The band weaves a series of rhythms that keeps you off-balance and thinking. The song "Advent" is a perfect example of this: the song manages to be so tangibly tense, that you almost crave the slow passages to come and give you relief. However, the slow passages only serve to increase your tension, with excellent use of contrast to keep you guessing. By the end of "Advent," the less intense "The Night and the Silent Water" actually feels like a great weight has been lifted from you. For this reason, I recommend Advent as the greatest Opeth song off their first two albums; it simply cannot be matched in terms of power.

Perhaps the most unique part of Morningrise is the heavy use of bass guitar. It is a very prominent and important instrument in the album, unlike later Opeth albums and many, many modern extreme metal albums. I think that Johan DeFarralla certainly played a huge role in the overall result of this album with his excellent bass-work. It would most definitely be interesting to see if they had used the more prominent bass on their later works, and I wish that the bass was this up-front and dynamic in more metal. "Advent" includes the best bass on the album, and it certainly ratchets up the tension of that song.

Morningrise is an Opeth classic. It would be a shame for a fan to miss this early history of the band, and see where their great works began to take form. Give it a few listens and you will come to be intrigued by the album and the craftsmanship of the music.