Comentarios del pre-listen de Heritage por parte de la prensa Finlandesa (mini-spoilers)

Even poor albums have a tendency to sound good when you get to hear them during a pre-listening session.
With that being said, I have to say that the new Opeth album sounds damn good.

Facts:

The record was played in 5.1 surround sound. "I heard the album for the first time this way today and I didn't know that the record would be played this way for the label directors. I had a premonition that it would but in the end I got goosebumps from hearing it this way" said Mikael Åkerfeldt.
The 5.1 mix works well even though I'm usually against listening to rock in any other way than in stereo. Mikael seems to think so as well.

The album is about 56 minutes long and during that time there is a lot going on. It feels complete.
Things that spring to mind during my listen: Sabbath, Beatles, jazz, King Crimson, Cream, Rainbow, Floyd, funk, Purple, Piirpauke, classical music, My Dying Bride, folk, Love, Jethro Tull, Maiden…

The albums does not remind me of death metal or growling.
The sound reminds me of the 70's where modern guitars haven't become the focal point.
Synth, piano and mellotron are big parts of the overall sound. In the intro, for example, you can hear contra-bass and clarinet.

"We don't care what other people think" says Åkerfeldt. "and if the death metal fans don't like it, it's their problem".
The frontman also says he grew tired of the "growl metal" as early as the 90's, but can't really explain why earlier Opeth album have had growls in the songs.
The death metal days are over. At least for now.

"I've been wanting to do an album like this since I was in my twenties", explains a satisfied Åkerfeldt.
When the label management listened to it they didn't have anything bad to say at all. People can make up their own minds this fall if this is saying something about the critics or the album itself".

In any case, if you like older stuff from the 70's you will like this album, I can say that much having only heard the record once.

The first seven songs are awesome and the last three are average.