Opeth - Heritage [2LP Black Holland Import]

Heritage is the album where Opeth stopped growling and started exploring, presented here as a Holland import on two 180-gram black records with a gatefold jacket and poster.

Released in 2011, it marked a bold left turn. Mikael Åkerfeldt, who produced the record himself, set aside the death metal vocals that had defined much of the band's work and steered them toward the progressive rock of the seventies, with longtime collaborator Steven Wilson handling the mix. Some fans were baffled at first, but the album now reads as the start of a fascinating new chapter.

The Devil's Orchard is a thrilling statement of intent, with knotty rhythms, swirling keys and clean, declamatory vocals. I Feel the Dark drifts from folk-tinged calm into thunderous menace, and Slither, a galloping, hard-charging rocker, pays tribute to Ronnie James Dio, who died while the album was being written. Famine sprawls over eight minutes of flute, percussion and eerie atmosphere.

Folklore and the instrumental Marrow of the Earth bring the record to a haunting, melancholy close, the final notes fading like mist over still water.

It's dark, adventurous and gorgeously played, a record that rewards patience and sounds wonderfully rich spread across four sides of heavy vinyl.