Sorceress | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Cover art by Travis Smith | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 30 September 2016 | |||
Recorded | May 2016 | |||
Studio | Various
| |||
Genre | Progressive rock, [1] [2] progressive metal | |||
Length | 56:35 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Opeth chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Sorceress | ||||
|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 81/100 [4] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Blabbermouth.net | 7.5/10 [6] |
Exclaim! | 7/10 [7] |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Kerrang! | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Metal Injection | 8.5/10 [9] |
Metal Storm | 7.2/10 [10] |
Pitchfork | 6.7/10 [2] |
PopMatters | 8/10 [11] |
Sputnikmusic | 4.1/5 [12] |
Sorceress is the twelfth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. [13] The album was released on 30 September 2016 via record label Nuclear Blast and the band's own imprint Moderbolaget. [13]
The album was produced and mixed by Tom Dalgety and recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales. [13] Following the album's release, the band embarked on a world tour with bands the Sword, Sahg, and Myrkur as supporting acts. [14] [15] Thematically, the album draws inspiration from Åkerfeldt's personal life, as he divorced in 2016. [16] The album was streamed via SoundCloud on 29 September. [17]
All tracks are written by Mikael Åkerfeldt, except "Strange Brew" music composed by Åkerfeldt and Fredrik Åkesson
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Persephone" | 1:51 |
2. | "Sorceress" | 5:49 |
3. | "The Wilde Flowers" | 6:49 |
4. | "Will o the Wisp" | 5:07 |
5. | "Chrysalis" | 7:16 |
6. | "Sorceress 2" | 3:49 |
7. | "The Seventh Sojourn" | 5:29 |
8. | "Strange Brew" | 8:44 |
9. | "A Fleeting Glance" | 5:06 |
10. | "Era" | 5:41 |
11. | "Persephone (Slight Return)" | 0:54 |
Total length: | 56:35 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
12. | "The Ward" | 3:13 |
13. | "Spring MCMLXXIV" | 6:11 |
14. | "Cusp of Eternity" (live with The Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra) | 5:44 |
15. | "The Drapery Falls" (live with The Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra) | 10:23 |
16. | "Voice of Treason" (live with The Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra) | 8:10 |
Total length: | 90:16 |
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [18] | 7 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [19] | 10 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [20] | 16 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [21] | 20 |
Canadian Albums (Billboard) [22] | 13 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [23] | 11 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [24] | 3 |
French Albums (SNEP) [25] | 29 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [26] | 1 |
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) [27] | 18 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [28] | 12 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [29] | 28 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [30] | 8 |
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [31] | 17 |
Portuguese Albums (AFP) [32] | 20 |
Scottish Albums (OCC) [33] | 10 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [34] | 31 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [35] | 7 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [36] | 6 |
UK Albums (OCC) [37] | 11 |
US Billboard 200 [38] | 24 |
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1989. The band incorporates folk, blues, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Songs may include acoustic guitar passages, Mellotrons, death growls, and strong dynamic shifts.
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of progressive metal band Opeth. A former vocalist of death metal supergroup Bloodbath, he was also guitarist for the "one-off" band Steel, and part of the collaboration Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson.
Blackwater Park is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on March 12, 2001, in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. The album marks the first collaboration between Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson and the band, as Wilson had been brought in to produce the album. This contributed to a shift in Opeth's musical style. The songs "The Drapery Falls" and "Still Day Beneath the Sun" were released as singles.
Deliverance is the sixth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 12 November 2002. It was recorded between 22 July and 4 September 2002, at the same time as Damnation, which was released five months after this album. The two albums contrast starkly with one another, purposely dividing the band's two most prevalent styles, as Deliverance is considered to be one of the band's heaviest albums, taking on a heavier and more brutal death metal-inspired sound, whereas Damnation experiments with a much mellower progressive rock-influenced sound.
Damnation is the seventh studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 22 April 2003, five months after Deliverance, which was recorded at the same time. Damnation is the last Opeth album to date to be produced by Steven Wilson although he did mix two future albums, Heritage and Pale Communion. Mikael Åkerfeldt dedicated both Damnation and Deliverance to his grandmother, who died in a car accident during the time the albums were being recorded.
Peter Lindgren is a Swedish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former guitarist of Swedish progressive metal band Opeth.
Martín Méndez is a Uruguayan Swedish bassist of progressive metal band Opeth and second longest serving member of the band, behind lead vocalist, songwriter and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt.
Ghost Reveries is the eighth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 29 August 2005. It was their first album after signing with Roadrunner Records, and first album since Still Life (1999) to not be produced by Steven Wilson.
Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive metal band Opeth (2005-2021). Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Known for his intricate playing style, his drumming has been highly praised by Opeth members and fans, with Mikael Åkerfeldt calling him "a joy to play with." Axenrot has also been jokingly referred to as The Lord of the Rings character Legolas by band members and fans.
Karl Fredrik Henrik Åkesson is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist. He is a current member of Opeth and is also active in Krux, Monsters of Metal, and Talisman.
The Roundhouse Tapes is the second live album and video by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. The CD was recorded on 9 November 2006 and was released on 23 October 2007 in the US, on 5 November in Europe, and on 20 November in the rest of the world. A two-disc DVD version was released on 10 November 2008, and includes exclusive menu music written by Mikael Åkerfeldt and Per Wiberg. The title is a play on the name of Iron Maiden's first release The Soundhouse Tapes, as well as the venue where the record was recorded. Åkerfeldt said, "The Roundhouse concert will always be a very memorable gig for us for many reasons, but most importantly it caught the band at the peak of the Ghost Reveries tour". This is the final Opeth release with Peter Lindgren.
The discography of Opeth, a Stockholm, Sweden-based progressive metal band, consists of thirteen studio albums, four live albums, three box sets, three video albums and seventeen singles.
Watershed is the ninth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. Released by Roadrunner Records, Watershed is the first studio album by Opeth to feature guitarist Fredrik Åkesson and drummer Martin Axenrot, who replaced longtime guitarist Peter Lindgren and drummer Martin Lopez. The artwork for the album was made by Travis Smith in collaboration with Mikael Åkerfeldt. It was the band's last studio album to contain death growls or any death metal elements until 2024's The Last Will and Testament.
In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall is the third live album and video by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. The DVD was recorded on 5 April 2010. It was released on 20 September 2010 in Europe and on 21 September 2010 in the rest of the world. The concert was part of the band's Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour, made in celebration of their 20th anniversary, and was the fourth show of the tour, filmed at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, UK.
Storm Corrosion was a musical collaboration between Swedish musician Mikael Åkerfeldt of progressive metal band Opeth and English musician Steven Wilson of the progressive rock band Porcupine Tree. Åkerfeldt and Wilson began a longstanding musical partnership in 2001 when Wilson produced Opeth's fifth studio album Blackwater Park. The two began writing together for a new project in 2010, releasing their self-titled only studio album in 2012 through Roadrunner Records.
Heritage is the tenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 13 September 2011 through Roadrunner Records. The album was recorded in early 2011 at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm and produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt, engineered by Janne Hansson, and mixed by Steven Wilson. It takes on more of a progressive rock sound, something the band had wanted to do for some time. It is a stark contrast to the progressive death metal sounds of their past albums.
Pale Communion is the eleventh studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. The album was released on 26 August 2014 through Roadrunner Records. The album was produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt and mixed by Steven Wilson. Pale Communion is the first album with keyboardist Joakim Svalberg after the departure of Per Wiberg in 2011. The album sold 19,090 copies in its first week of release in the United States, debuting at number 19 on the Billboard 200.
In Cauda Venenum is the thirteenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released on 27 September 2019 through Moderbolaget and Nuclear Blast. It was released in two versions: a Swedish-language version and an English-language version. The band toured in support of the album throughout 2019 and into 2020. At 67 minutes and 57 seconds, it is the band's longest studio album. It is also the band's last album to feature drummer Martin Axenrot before his departure in 2021.
Garden of the Titans: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheater is the fourth live album and video by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released on 2 November 2018 via Nuclear Blast. It was recorded on 11 May 2017 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado, United States, as the band was touring the United States in support of their album Sorceress. It is their final live album to feature Martin Axenrot on drums.
Although markedly different from those albums, Sorceress has something of the mood and tone of that work, driven by Åkerfeldt's personal experience, including a recent divorce, more than a reflective, authored distance.