Morningrise

Morningrise
Studio album by Opeth
Released	June 24, 1996
Recorded	March–April 1996 (Unisound)
Genre	Progressive death metal, progressive black metal
Length	66:02
Label	Candlelight, Century Black
Producer	Opeth, Dan Swanö
Opeth chronology
Orchid (1995) Morningrise (1996) My Arms, Your Hearse (1998)

Morningrise is the second studio album by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. It was released on June 24, 1996 in Europe by Candlelight Records and on June 24, 1997 in the United States by Century Black. The recording sessions took place at Unisound studio, in Örebro, between March and April 1996, and once more the band produced alongside Dan Swanö. This was the last Opeth album produced by Swanö. This is also the last Opeth release with Anders Nordin and Johan De Farfalla as band members.

Morningrise showcases Opeth's signature style, exploring the dynamics between the combination of black metal and death metal vocals, and guitar parts with lighter progressive and acoustic elements. The album was very well-received by critics, with some calling it "epic" and "perfect".

Recording and production

With the delay of the first album, Orchid, Opeth began performing a few shows. Lee Barrett of Candlelight Records led them to the United Kingdom to play a couple of shows. One of the performances was held at the London Astoria, and the show also featured Impaled Nazarene, Ved Buens Ende, and Hecate Enthroned. Back home, Opeth rehearsed frequently, and booked Unisound studios again to record the album.^[1]

Morningrise was recorded during March and April 1996 at Unisound in Örebro. They stayed at the residence of the family of Peter Lindgren's girlfriend. Opeth again produced and mixed along with Dan Swanö, similar to how the previous album, Orchid, was recorded. Swanö also engineered the album. This was the last album that Swanö worked on with Opeth.^[2][3] It was also the last album that was recorded with Johan DeFarfalla and Anders Nordin.^[4]

As the release of the first album was delayed, they had already written most part of Morningrise when Orchid was released.^[5] Although some parts of the material recorded date back to 1991, Mikael Åkerfeldt said, "the material we had been writing felt really fresh and new." According to Åkerfeldt, recording Morningrise was "quite boring" because of "the endless drum takes, click track and shit like that". The band spent most of the time in the studio sleeping and smoking. Despite the downtime, Åkerfeldt and Lindgren wrote an instrumental piece that was meant to appear on the album, but they did not have enough time to finish it.^[2]

Artwork

Åkerfeldt said that the head of Candlelight went on holiday to Bath, England, and "he actually walked on the bridge or whatever it is". Later, he sent Åkerfeldt a postcard with the a color version of the same picture that appears on the cover. The picture is of a Palladian bridge, located in Prior Park.^[6] The first pressing was released without the "Opeth" logo on the front cover.^[3]

Musical style and lyrical themes

Along with Orchid, Morningrise shows a sound that is influenced by progressive rock, folk, black and death metal, but with more clean vocals.^[7][8] Despite the singing, Murat Batmaz of Sea of ​​Tranquility said that "Black Rose Immortal" "ends with one of Akerfeldt's most violent and longest screams in his career which could only be rivaled by his guesting on Edge of Sanity's Crimson album", and that Opeth created a "dark atmosphere on this album, which is simply unique."^[8] The album has a "dark melancholic" sound, and features acoustic and jazz styles.^[9] According to William York of Allmusic, "Morningrise is, as far as the metal scale goes, possibly their least heavy album".^[7]

Mikael Åkerfeldt has stated that following the success of this album, he became tired of its style and the number of "copycat" bands using the counterpoint melodies found in this album and its predecessor. He also says that he finds certain sections of Morningrise "unlistenable" and was compelled to change Opeth's sound for My Arms, Your Hearse accordingly.^[10]

Lyrically, the song "The Night and the Silent Water" is about the grandfather of vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt, who had died shortly before the recording of the album.^[8] "To Bid You Farewell", the album's final song, was notable at the time for featuring no screaming and growling vocals.^[8] This album also features Opeth's longest recorded song, "Black Rose Immortal", which lasts over 20 minutes. The reissue bonus track "Eternal Soul Torture" is a demo that was recorded in 1992, and includes some sections that were reused in the studio track "Advent", as well as "In Mist She Was Standing" off of the previous album Orchid.^[8]

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[7]
Chronicles of Chaos	[11]
Metal Crypt	[12]
Metal Library	[13]
Sea of Tranquility	[8]
Tartarean Desire	[14]

Morningrise was released on June 24, 1996 in Europe by Candlelight Records on CD, and on cassette by Mystic Production. In the same year, it was released in Japan by Avalon/Marquee. The album was released on June 24, 1997 in the United States by Century Black.^[15] It was reissued in 2000 on CD by Candlelight Records and on LP by Displeased Records. The LP was limited to 1000 copies. These reissues contains the bonus track "Eternal Soul Torture". A special edition was released by Candlelight in 2003.^[3]

The album was well-received critically. Vincent Eldefors of Tartarean Desire stated "ever since I first heard my first Opeth song "To Bid You Farewell"... they have been among my favorite bands".^[14] "Dan Swanö helped record this epic piece", said John Chedsey of Satan Stole My Teddybear in his review, and also mentioned that "generally the songs flow well from one part to the next, though individual songs are not immediately noticeable. The twin guitars work well with each other, creating some great melodies in the guitars, and often lasping into very tasteful acoustic moods. In my opinion, it's difficult to write on guitar intricate songs that fully involve the listener, but Opeth manages to keep your attention."^[16] Murat Batmaz of Sea of Tranquility wrote that "the melodies, both on this song ["Advent"] and the entire album, are immortal." He also wrote, "Though I prefer their current lineup, I don't believe Morningrise would have been so amazing without Johan DeFarfalla and Anders Nordin adding their touches. They both incorporate subtle jazz harmonies in their playing enriching the psychedelic passages on the album." He was also impressed with the guitar riffs, saying "it is almost shocking how many godlike riffs Opeth are using in their songs. They literally employ tens of changing riff patterns and incomparable melodies on a single track, with which other bands could more than likely write two full albums" and stated that "Black Rose Immortal" is a "magnum opus".^[8]

William York of Allmusic wrote, "the tracks here could best be described as miniature audio movies."^[7] Christian Renner of Metal Crypt praised the album as being "overall another excellent album worthy of extremely high praise and what would be a masterpiece for most bands turns out to be just another great album from the genius that is Opeth."^[12] Jim Raggi of Lamentations of the Flame Princess said that "this is still the most perfect album ever recorded." He also stated "the more personal nature of the lyrics on Morningrise are another thing that make it a much more intense listen than the stories that would follow. It's incredible how everything changed after this album. The lineup, the style, the lyrics... Opeth has never released less than an excellent album. But they have only released one perfect album."^[17] Drew Schinzel of Chronicles of Chaos said that the songs are "melodic and well played, with great vocals and the occasional guitar solo." However, he also commented "maybe I'm just not in touch with my inner-acoustic-child, but the acoustic sections are too numerous, and get old fast."^[11]

Track listing

All lyrics written by Mikael Åkerfeldt, all music composed by Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren, except where noted.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Advent"	13:45
2.	"The Night and the Silent Water"	10:59
3.	"Nectar"	10:09
4.	"Black Rose Immortal"	20:15
5.	"To Bid You Farewell"	10:54
6.	"Eternal Soul Torture" (demo, bonus track on reissue CD and LP only) (Åkerfeldt, David Isberg, Lindgren)	8:35

Personnel

Opeth

• Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals, lead guitar
• Peter Lindgren – rhythm guitar
• Johan DeFarfalla – bass guitar
• Anders Nordin – drums, percussion

Production

• Opeth – production, mixing, mastering, artwork
• Dan Swanö – production, engineering, mixing
• Peter In De Betou – mastering
• Tuija Lindström – photography
• Lennart Kaltea – photography
• Tom Martinsen – artwork

Release history

Region	Year	Label	Format	Catalog
United Kingdom	1996	Candlelight Records	CD	Candle015CD
Poland	1996	Mystic Production	cassette	034
Japan	1996	Avalon/Marquee	CD	MICY-1022
United States	1997	Century Black	CD	7849-2
United Kingdom	2000	Candlelight Records	CD	Candle054CD
Netherlands	2000	Displeased Records	double LP	D-00082
United Kingdom	2003	Candlelight Records	CD	CANDLE054TIN

References

1. ^ Opeth Biography: Chapter III. Opeth.com. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b} Morningrise Session Diary. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Morningrise. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
4. ^ Opeth Biography: Chapter IV. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
5. ^ Mudrian, Albert. Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces p. 248. Da Capo Press, 2009. ISBN 030681806X
6. ^ Interview with Mikael Åkerfeldt. Jensmetalpage. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} York, William. Morningrise Review. Allmusic. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
8. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Batmaz, Murat. Opeth: Morningrise. Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
9. ^ Dupont, Filip. Opeth: Morningrise. Archaic Magazine. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
10. ^ Lamentations DVD interview.
11. ^ ^{a b} Schinzel, Drew. Opeth Morningrise. Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
12. ^ ^{a b} Renner, Christian. Review: Opeth - Morningrise. Metal Crypt. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
13. ^ Xaos. Opeth Morningrise (in Russian). Metal Library. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
14. ^ ^{a b} Eldefors, Vincent. Opeth Morningrise. Tartarean Desire. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
15. ^ Morningrise Opeth. Amazon. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
16. ^ Chedsey, John. Morningrise Review. Satan Stole My Teddybear. Retrieved June 23, 2011.
17. ^ Morningrise Reviews. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 7, 2011.