- Country: Sweden
- Style: Progressive metal
- Label: Moderbolaget / Nuclear Blast
- Release date: 30 September 2016
Anyone still waiting for the growls to come back can stop now. Sorceress, recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales with Tom Dalgety producing, goes even deeper into ’70s prog and hard rock than its predecessor, and for the most part it wears that skin well. The title track is the obvious hook, a lurching, fuzz-heavy riff that sounds like it was dragged out of a swamp, while “Chrysalis” is the closest Opeth have come to an outright rocker in years, organ and lead guitar trading blows over a driving beat. “The Wilde Flowers” builds from a jazzy shuffle into a genuinely nasty ending.
The problem is the middle. “Sorceress 2” and “The Seventh Sojourn” drift more than they go anywhere, and even the mood-swinging “Strange Brew” feels pieced together rather than written. Then “Era” comes along at the end, fast, bright and almost euphoric, and you remember how good Mikael Åkerfeldt is at this when he commits. A strong record with a soft centre, bookended by the two quiet “Persephone” pieces.
Best tracks:
Sorceress
Chrysalis
The Wilde Flowers
Era
Author’s rating: 8.0/10
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