Opeth - Sorceress (2016)
Sorceress 10 Years Later
This week was the 10th anniversary of Sorceress by Opeth. The album was originally released on September 30th 2016 via Nuclear Blast Records. I have always enjoyed this album by Opeth and I am glad I sat down and listened to it this week because I hadn’t fully listened to the album in a while.
Sorceress consists of 11 songs and if you have the CD you receive two bonus tracks and three live versions of previously released Opeth songs.
Artwork
First let’s start with the artwork. Even if you are not a fan of this album you can agree that the artwork is eye-catching. At first it just looks like it’s a painting of a peacock, but it actually is darker. The peacock is standing on a human head with the word Sorceress carved into it as well as bones and other body parts under the peacock. The album cover reminds me of an evil version of The Snow Goose by Camel. I think the artwork is brilliant and sets the tone and vibe of the album visually and its memorable. It perfectly encompasses the vibe of Opeth. Classic prog influenced mixed with heavy rock and metal.
Songs
The album starts off with a short but haunting acoustic song called Persephone. It’s short, sweet and beautiful.
Next up is the title track Sorceress. This is probably the most popular song on the album and it’s great. I love the guitars, vocals and lyrics in this song. Some other songs that I want to highlight are...
Will o the Wisp is an amazing song that reminds me a lot of prime Jethro Tull. Mikael captured the spirt Tull wonderfully within that song. The guitar work is also spectacular.
The Seventh Sojourn is one of my favorite songs on the album. Its title is a reference to the Moody Blues album of the same name released in 1972. It’s mostly an instrumental song but the end section is the best moment of the entire album. To describe it in words it’s a quiet but haunting vocal section that evokes a sense of pleasure as well as confusion and sadness.
Era is another one of my favorite songs on the album. The rhythm and guitar work alone is fantastic and I used to listen to this song a lot back when this album first came out.
Final thoughts
While many fans of the band prefer their earlier albums with death growls I actually very much enjoy this heavier prog era of Opeth with clean vocals. Mikael is a great vocalist and even though I also enjoy Opeth’s earlier albums with the growls I also love the mix of growls and clean vocals found on many of their older albums like Blackwater Park. I am also a big fan of their album “Damnation" from 2003 which was the first album to feature clean guitars and vocals. I feel like Heritage, Pale Communion and Sorceress are spiritual successors to the album Damnation. That being said Opeth is a great band and regardless of which era you prefer you can’t deny that Sorceress is a very unique and great album.
Track listing
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Persephone
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Sorceress
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The Wilde Flowers
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Will o the Wisp
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Chrysalis
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Sorceress 2
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The Seventh Sojourn
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Strange Brew
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A Fleeting Glance
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Era
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Persephone (Slight Return)
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