So I finally had my first listen of Heritage with the 5.1 last week. I was kinda let down, and figure I'll definately need more time and spins to fully appreciate it. I put it in the car yesterday, and that didn't help at all. Definately not a good car cd.
So while I will give it a fair amount of exposure in the next weeks or months, I think it's safe to say I will not consider it as a good album. And it's not 'cos of the new orientation the band took. In fact, I'm glad they got rid of the growls and try to write prog stuff, as I am as much a prog fan as I am a metal fan. The problem is that the songs are just not great. There are some good passages and a couple of decent tracks (including the 2 bonus songs!), but nothing really mindblowing. It sounds more like a bunch of song ideas put together without any effort to create a whole. I kept hoping it would get better as it went along, but was never satisfied. In the future, I just hope they put more effort in the songwriting than the execution.
I knew the album would be recieved with mixed reviews, but thought I'd be on the positive side! Maybe too much so. I know I should never expect anything beforehand, but in this case, maybe I did. I mean, Opeth, prog, no growls, mixed by Steven Wilson,...of course I'm gonna expect a masterpiece.....but re-listening to it again, I don't know how to better describe what I'm feeling than "annoyed!" I mean, some (if not most) of the riffs just annoy me! 'Cos in the past, even in their heaviest form, Opeth's music has always been soothing to my ears. The way the mood is created with all the noise and melodies would take me somewhere, like watching a great movie or reading a great book. Heritage just doesn't work on that level, to me. And maybe it's why I still can't get into it. I don't wanna say it's full of clichés, even though it kinda is...., but I feel cheated! It's like yeah, there's a flute, played by a master, but I don't feel it. There's bongos, or whatever, but it doesn't add anything to the song.
I know this review was more about the songs than the surround mix, so I'll go a bit into it. It sounds really amazing. I love how mr. Wilson was able to really open up everything the way an Opeth album should sound in 5.1. Their previous engineer Jens Bogren was getting there with Blackwater Park, but I'm glad he wasn't involved here. Maybe he'll learn from it! Nice to hear something else than ambiant layered guitar and keys in the backs. Anyway I give it a 10 for mix and a 5 for the music, rounded up to a 7