Opeth "Sorceress" - Fall 2016

Great music. Bought the pink vinyl version today From my local Indy. Unfortunately, the vinyl is less then perfectly flat. I hate to take it back. It doesn't effect the playback so.

Is it to much to expect a quality record for $29.00?

 

You got the picture disc already? I thought that wasn't shipping until the 7th.

 

U.K. Based, got through Amazon UK for £17:99. Bargain.

 

Yes! Like some have mentioned, it definitely does have a 70's feel. Opeth always had some elements of 70's prog - even on Orchid, but on this album, it's way more apparent. In fact, all the classic 70's prog instruments are there: Hammond C3, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, etc. The acoustic guitar moments - and there are many - are ethereal. Everything on this album just seems to flow. It's very organic. By the way, I listened to this on a radio station vinyl copy at a friend's house, and it sounds fabulous. Very warm with a pounding bass. Will check tomorrow if the ''regular'' vinyl is available yet. This is one that's going to get A LOT of play.

 

Even so, I just checked my order on the Nuclear Blast store out of curiosity and mine has been shipped and it due to arrive Monday. A pleasant surprise!

 

I am enjoying last track side 1 onwards. I run a system with a sub and this is the first time I have needed to adjust it in a long time. I feared I could induce unintended fracking in the neighbourhood !!!!

 

Definitely a little "Temple of the King" action going on....Great reference points!

 

Difficult to over-emphasise SW's influence when the new album sounds as muffled as Sorceress does.

When I read RichardG's complaint before hearing the album I thought that it was just the typical SHF whining & overstatement, but now I hear the album I'm just astonished at the low standard of the mastering/mixing on the heavier tracks. I don't mind the little acoustic sections so much - at least the mixing is nice there - but when you bear in mind that Heritage was close to audiophile it's astonishing for a band's sound quality to crash so badly in such a short time. The compression is super-ugly ... and I'm one of the people here who is quickest to defend albums with low Dynamic Range. This may be DR8 but it sounds more like DR1.

"Chrysalis" is like a masterclass in bad production: the drums have zero punch, and the woodblock taps towards the end (if that's what they are) have more presence than the lead guitar, which may sound like a neat psychedelic effect (bearing in mind the cheesy modulation effect that is on that track) except that none of it works at all. I had to go listen to Our Host's Deep Purple remasters to remind myself the sort of thing that they were aiming for and missing by a country mile.

What makes it worse is that the music itself sounds quite promising.

 

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. I'm only on the title track on my first playthrough and usually wouldn't be on the forum writing my thoughts this soon. The sound is abysmal, it really is and that is no exaggeration. The acoustic guitar on the intro track sounded so damn good and then soon as the title track kicks in it sounds so distant. Best way I can describe it is batteries slowly dying and losing all the clarity. I even thought I could have had a bad copy.

The snare drum sounds like it was recorded with a towel over it. There is seriously something funky going on with the EQ too. It reminds me very much of how the recent Maiden albums sound with dodgy EQ by Shirley.

I wouldn't even call it bass heavy either as it seems above those frequencies where the issue is. It's just boomy, especially the snare (it's unbearable on Will O The Wisp).

The vocals are completely buried also. Guitars murky (are they even guitars? They're barely audible at times). It's a bloody mess as far as I'm concerned. The DR/compression completely irrelevant here, that is not what is making this sound so lousy.

 

Really surprised at the negative comments on the mastering and sound of this so far. It is not audiophile like pale communion but it is far from what people are describing here. It is for sure a strange mix and some of the choices I could see them making people wonder. Wherever I crank this CD though on my home system, car or through my tube headphone amp with HD600's it sounds ****ing glorious. I am probably one of the biggest bitches when it comes to DR and ****ting on 99% of modern rock and metal masterings.

 

The DR isn't the issue for me personally. It's the ****ed up EQ/production or whatever the hell they did to make it sound so distant and murky. No wonder Steven Wilson only listened to it once.

I would love to know what he thinks of the sound/production of this album.

 

Same thoughts here. Actually, it may be that we've grown so used to the ''Brightness Wars'' that anything else sounds ''muffled''. Personally, I find the highs to be perfectly balanced, and goes well with that 70's sound many have commented about. In fact, most of my original 70's records sound very similar (in the high frequencies). The only negative thing I have to say, from one listen and in my personal opinion, is that the bass is too prominent. Also, the compression on the ''louder'' parts doesn't seem to sit well alongside the ''softer'' parts, that just seem to breathe a lot more.

 

Have an extra ticket for the Radio City show tonight if anyone is on the fence about going. Let me know

 

Cleaned the EU vinyl today. The artwork and packaging is very nice and the fact that the records are 180g is saying something - Nuclear Blast has been making mostly 140 gram records the last couple of years.

The sound though is exactly what I was afraid of - typical Nuclear Blast trademark brickwalling. I havent compared the CD and vinyl side by side but they seem to be the same. The sequencing of the vinyl sides is not the best also - Nuclear Blast like to squeeze albums to three sides for some reason. Side C suffers because of this the most - the album ending has some nice inner groove distortion, very anticlimactic. Side D on the other hand has too much room and the bonus songs sound a lot better than the actual album.

Nuclear Blast has done some great choices with some of their other albums though, Carcass - Surgical Steel was cut at 45 RPM and its one of the best sounding metal albums I have. the reissue of Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve is louder than the original but its 45 RPM and also sounds fantastic.

 

I'm having a hard time digesting this album so far and I think the reason why is both the mix & mastering. This one was definitely mastered too hot and could very well be contributing to the bass bloat. Really like the title track 'Sorceress' but the rest is not resonating with me at the moment. Will continue to listen to this album over the next couple of weeks as it may grow on me. I did download the 24/44 version but there is not much of a difference to the CD release. Really a shame as both Heritage and Pale Communion were great releases sonically to listen to.

 

After one listen I found it pleasant enough, and I think that it ends stronger than it starts. I need more plays to really get all that is in the grooves.

Regarding some of the sound quality comments posted above, the snare drum sounds like it was recorded with the snares disengaged. I think this is what is throwing some people. Hence, the blanket-over-the-snare comments. The snares being off removes that cutting edge smack you normally get when the snares are on. Instead, the snare is producing more of a combination pop/thud like you get from the toms. I assume this was done to get a more warm, analog-ish presentation from the kit. But I could be wrong, of course.

While I was listening to Sorceress I found myself asking (no one in particular), "What would Steve Hoffman do as far as EQ moves to bring a bit more vibrancy to this recording?" My first thought was he would probably apply a bass frequency reduction at around 50 to 60 hz to remove some of the muddiness and bloat. The bass volume is OK, but it does need some taming in that mud zone. It could be the low frequency problem is a byproduct of whatever compression the mastering engineer did apply to this recording.

I also thought that Steve might do another reduction in the area where the upper bass meets the lower midrange. The upper midrange and treble are fine. The guitars do have some bite, and the cymbal work is present without being in your face. In short, a subtle rebalance of the overall frequency range would do this album good. Of course, this is in my humble opinion.

 

A great album.

But my vinyl is a big pink mess. Warped. Dirty. These record companies are doing everything in their power to kill the vinyl revival.

Why do I have albums that went through endless college parties, suffered the worse possible abuse for years and sound awesome.

Yet an album fresh out of the sleeve is a mess today? What are they thinking?

The music is wonderful. Listened 3/4 times and it feels like a classic. IMHO.

 

I don't think they'd go that far, doesn't sound that way to my ears. There are other ways to dampen the sound, starting with tea towels to wallets or a sneaker taped to the skin.

More than anything I think the record sounds the way it does is by design. Like it or not, to me it all sounds like something they were aiming for more or less. I see a little bit of the same in the way the Damnation/Deliverance remixes reduced the top end from the original versions - not as drastically but direction was the same.

 

I received the Deluxe Edition yesterday!
Musically a TOP album!
Soundwise it differs to the last two albums. But it is listenable! Trust me! The Vinyl sounds better than the CD!

 

any pressing/mastering info ?

 

I'll go against the grain here as well; I find the basement-y bass heavy mix a refreshing change of pace. I've only listened to the album once in its entirety so I can't come to any solid conclusions on how I feel about the music other than I like it so far. It seems to rock more than the last couple of albums. But it still has a real 70s feel. I was initially a little afraid that we were going to get "Pale Communion II" but Opeth have surprised me with "Sorceress" and that's definitely a good thing. Hell, if they keep putting out music this interesting, I don't care if Mikael and Co mix the damn thing in mono and shave off the treble entirely .

 

As I stated previously there are only a couple instances where the sound quality bothers me. But I like the sound otherwise and I think the recording is excellent. The album has good dynamics (listen to The Ward or Strange Brew), the mastering only has issues with tracks like Chrysalis which aren't dynamic in the first place.

 

My pink vinyl arrived today. I was fully expecting to hate this album after reading the comments here. I'm glad I don't.

First of all the pink vinyl is pristine, both visually and with respect to sound.

As the album got going, I found it to be kind of meh. But then some diversity set in and it really opened up. Sounds fine throughout but a couple tracks were a bit muddy. Not enough for me to lambaste the entire record over.

After one listen though, I find it to be less autumnal than other Opeth records, ironic given the 9/30 release date. Still, I am liking it a lot.

 

The 2 bonus tracks actually sound better than the main album, sq wise imo. Really hope the vinyl is better EQ'd. Anybody know who cut it?

 

I picked up it today and haven't opened it except to let the band sign it at the record signing earlier today. But discogs has it as being pressed at Optimal I think.