Morningrise [Extra tracks, Original recording reissued]

Opeth | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 17, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued
• Label: Candlelight
• ASIN: B00009W8MF
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (119 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,621 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Double 180gm grey vinyl LP reissue of Opeth's 1996 sophomore album housed in a deluxe gatefold sleeve. Six tracks. 2009. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original, visual, romantic, poignant, beautiful..., December 23, 2001

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morningrise (Audio CD)

Does Opeth introduce the extreme metal world to the glorified complexities of progressive rock? Or do they merge the dynamic, anti-song qualities of prog with an aesthetic of death metal? I guess it doesn't matter, but whatever they're doing, they're doing it brilliantly. Based on a blend of Swedish death metal, melodic progressive rock, and acoustic interludes, they can't be classified easily. In the end, though, classifications are irrelevant. To sum the band up quickly, Opeth presents a ceaseless onslaught of dynamics, where a grinding metal assault (with death growls) can be exchanged for a gorgeous acoustic lull (with soft "clean" vocals) in a heartbeat. However, though the change happens very often, it never becomes a cliché of itself. It's perfectly natural and fits well, never disrupting a song's flow. Apart from Opeth's musical brilliance, they have a knack for conveying real emotion and beauty in their music. This album also just about has the coolest title ever - Morningrise.

The album features only five songs. This is no EP, however. Impressively, the shortest song here is about 10 minutes ("Advent") and the longest track is an incredible 20 minutes ("Black Rose Immortal"). Or at least that's what the back of the CD case says. It's hard to believe it, though. After all, when listening to the music of Morningrise, time slips away and long epic songs end far too quickly. 10-minute songs seem to end in 4 minutes... the 20-minute opus feels no more than 10-minutes. When the album is over, the listener is not exhausted...one is compelled by Opeth's seducing power to play the album again and again.

It is not, however, an easy album to put together on the cerebral level, even considering their epic nature. Individual songs don't involve repeated themes...they just flow smoothly from one movement to another. While most bands will reuse themes and melodies to establish cohesion, Opeth just goes through movements with less regard for unity. A gale of heaviness will assault you at one moment, only to replaced by a beautiful acoustic passage the next. I like what AMG's William York wrote about the album. He said: "[The musical changes] happen much like scenes changes in a movie, as there is very little repetition within the songs...the tracks here could best be described as miniature audio movies." Because of this unusual writing style, the songs on Morningrise don't really "stick." The album is very melodic, but without repetition, it doesn't sink in too fast. Only through countless listens can Morningrise be pieced together and understood musically. This is no chore, however -- it is a musical experience rivaled by few albums I've heard. There is also the possibility that the album may be some sort of concept (lyrically, all the songs seem to be about lost love). The lyrics are very visual and poetic...nothing like the Satanic-orgy-murder-sacrifice krap one might expect from an album with death metal vocals. The lyrics, like the music, are fairly unbound in terms of structure, again making it difficult to assemble mentally. There are no verse-chorus-verse-chorus structures here...nothing that even resembles conventional song structure.

I expected one problem: the lyrics are pretty spaced out, and I thought the epic songs would need lots of superfluous instrumental padding. Normally this is a criticism I raise against the many bands who meander into "nowhere land" with tripped jamming. (Usually long songs require lots of lyrical sections to give them form and cohesion.) Remarkably, Opeth easily evades any such reproach. The instrumental sections are never boring. The band's instrumental interplay is nothing short of brilliant, each passage meticulously constructed melodically. This is not random jamming. The detail, precision, and distinctness of the instrumental sections is nothing short of stunning, and they never release the fettered listener from their vice-like grip.

Tracks 1 to 4 are all fairly similar (but not interchangeable), blending amazing heavy-but-melodic riffing with sumptuous acoustic sections. The track that really sticks out musically is the 11-minute ballad "To Bid You Farewell." For seven minutes it is beautiful acoustic melodies and clean vocals. There is a brief but powerful electric section near the finale, but the soft vocals persist...there is no growling in this song! It doesn't matter that I haven't heard every ballad ever written...this is still one of the best ever! (Listen to the interplay between the acoustic guitars and the bass, and how it builds to the heavy part...so cool.) Vocalist/guitarist/lyricist Mikael Akerfeldt seems to be a romantic at heart, and I admire that. His vocals have improved tremendously on later records (especially his growl, but also his clean singing and enunciation). Still, he sounds excellent here -- full of passion. He's a favorite.

Morningrise is absolutely one of the most unique albums I've ever heard. But being original doesn't automatically make you good. Without the melodic sense and the passion to back it up, originality doesn't mean that much. Opeth is one of the rare bands with everything. I'm sure some people would sell their souls to have this band's sophistication and ingeniousness.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Morningrise Returns..., July 31, 2003

By 

Nicholas Alla Koholick "anonymousnick2001" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morningrise (Audio CD)

Much like my other Opeth reviews, I have to say that listening to an album of this caliber and then attempting to convey the feelings it arouses in the form of words is both foolish and futile. Nothing can prepare you for Opeth. Although the band has attracted its share of detractors now, I must say that any music listener with an open mind and long attention span should find hours of perplexing enjoyment here. Those who fail to understand, power to ya, but don't pollute this website with tasteless reviews on why you hate Opeth.

Morningrise is different from every other Opeth album. Each has its own appeal, something you look for as you're listening. With My Arms, Your Hearse it is the aggression and heavy riffs that I search for as I listen. With Still Life I listen for the enchanting vocal performance given by Mikael Akerfeldt. Blackwater Park has everything. Aggression, melody, awesome growling, awesome singing, beautiful acoustics, sweet riffs, and progressive song lengths. On here it is just the riffs. Oh, the riffs. And the twin guitar melodies. Amazing. The lyrics pale in comparison to future albums', although they are still good, and Akerfeldt has a different style of singing here. It's more of a black-metallish high shriek than the deep inhuman growl of late, and his clean vocal performance is less catchy and haunting. Therefore the guitar leads and segues into acoustic dreamland are what I look forward to when sitting back to this eclectic journey of a CD. The mood given by the amazing guitar lines on Morningrise make it my favorite, with Blackwater Park a close second.

Morningrise is also the least 'metal' of all their albums. When compared to MAYH or Deliverance, it is very soft. While those make Pantera and At the Gates sound light, Morningrise is like a heavy thrash album. The riffs do not reverberate in your skull like the opening to "Bleak," or "Godhead's Lament," or "When." They glide soothing over you, flowing in an ambient manner, rather than a percussive one. The song lengths are also unbelievable. There are five songs here, the average length 13 minutes or so, the longest being "Black Rose Immortal," at a Dream Theater-esque 20 minutes! An epic album in all proportions.

"Advent" kicks the album off with a short acoustic beginning and following with a 12-minute rollercoaster of double-bass drums and awesome riff after awesome riff, balanced with the needed, yet arbitrary acoustic interludes spicing up the mix. "The Night and the Silent Water" is a much more laid-back track, with less aggression, clocking at about 11 minutes. "Nectar" is another piledriver, this time with Medieval-sounding riffs similar to In Flames. "Black Rose Immortal" is the epic, which feels 8 minutes long at most. "To Bid You Farewell" is a largely jazzy-acoustic/clean vocals all through piece, with a bit of electric guitar finishing it off.

Opeth are beyond death metal. The incorporation of acoustic guitar is what makes them sound so classical. Many people compare bands like Suffocation or Emperor to the likes of Beethoven and Mozart. That's not accurate. Here's the real statement:

If Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg, and Mahler were transported to the present and were forced to form a rock band together, it would sound something like Opeth's Morningrise.

***This is a reissue, containing the bonus track "Eternal Soul Torture," a rough, poorly produced demo that was later cut up and used for the other songs. It sort of throws off the album's mood, but whatever.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "I Am Awaiting The Sunrise...", November 14, 2002

By 

Nicholas Alla Koholick "anonymousnick2001" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Morningrise (Audio CD)

Much like my other Opeth reviews, I have to say that listening to an album of this caliber and then attempting to convey the feelings it arouses in the form of words is both foolish and futile. Nothing can prepare you for Opeth. Although the band has attracted its share of detractors now, I must say that any music listener with an open mind and long attention span should find hours of perplexing enjoyment here. Those who fail to understand, power to ya, but don't pollute this website with tasteless reviews on why you hate Opeth.

Morningrise is different from every other Opeth album. Each has its own appeal, something you look for as you're listening. With My Arms, Your Hearse it is the aggression and heavy riffs that I search for as I listen. With Still Life I listen for the enchanting vocal performance given by Mikael Akerfeldt. Blackwater Park has everything. Aggression, melody, awesome growling, awesome singing, beautiful acoustics, sweet riffs, and progressive song lengths. On here it is just the riffs. Oh, the riffs. And the twin guitar melodies. Amazing. The lyrics pale in comparison to future albums', although they are still good, and Akerfeldt has a different style of singing here. It's more of a black-metallish high shriek than the deep inhuman growl of late, and his clean vocal performance is less catchy and haunting. Therefore the guitar leads and segues into acoustic dreamland are what I look forward to when sitting back to this eclectic journey of a CD. The mood given by the amazing guitar lines on Morningrise make it my favorite, with Blackwater Park a close second.

Morningrise is also the least 'metal' of all their albums. When compared to MAYH or Deliverance, it is very soft. While those make Pantera and At the Gates sound light, Morningrise is like a heavy thrash album. The riffs do not reverberate in your skull like the opening to "Bleak," or "Godhead's Lament," or "When." They glide soothing over you, flowing in an ambient manner, rather than a percussive one. The song lengths are also unbelievable. There are five songs here, the average length 13 minutes or so, the longest being "Black Rose Immortal," at a Dream Theater-esque 20 minutes! An epic album in all proportions.

"Advent" kicks the album off with a short acoustic beginning and following with a 12-minute rollercoaster of double-bass drums and awesome riff after awesome riff, balanced with the needed, yet arbitrary acoustic interludes spicing up the mix. "The Night and the Silent Water" is a much more laid-back track, with less aggression, clocking at about 11 minutes. "Nectar" is another piledriver, this time with Medieval-sounding riffs similar to In Flames. "Black Rose Immortal" is the epic, which feels 8 minutes long at most. "To Bid You Farewell" is a largely jazzy-acoustic/clean vocals all through piece, with a bit of electric guitar finishing it off.

Opeth are beyond death metal. The incorporation of acoustic guitar is what makes them sound so classical. Many people compare bands like Suffocation or Emperor to the likes of Beethoven and Mozart. That's not accurate. Here's the real statement:

If Beethoven, Mozart, Grieg, and Mahler were transported to the present and were forced to form a rock band together, it would sound something like Opeth's Morningrise.