Morningrise
Encyclopedia
Morningrise is the second studio album by Swedish progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...

 band Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...

. It was released on June 24, 1996 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 by Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...

 and on June 24, 1997 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by Century Black. The recording sessions took place at Unisound
Unisound
Unisound is a recording studio that used to be in Finspång but was closed down by Dan Swanö it because of his family but it was relocated to Örebro, Sweden into his Home....

 studio, in Örebro
Örebro
-Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....

, between March and April 1996, and once more the band produced alongside Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...

. Morningrise was the last Opeth album produced by Swanö. It was also the last Opeth release with drummer Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin is a Brazilian drummer , best known for his work with progressive death metal band Opeth.Nordin was asked to join Opeth by Mikael Åkerfeldt, having previously played with him in another death metal band, Eruption...

 and bassist Johan De Farfalla.

Morningrise showcases Opeth's signature style, exploring the dynamics between the combination of black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

 vocals, and guitar parts with lighter progressive
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 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
Orchid (album)
Orchid is the debut album by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, released on May 15, 1995 in Europe by Candlelight Records, and on June 24, 1997 in the United States by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 with one bonus track called "Into the Frost of Winter", an early recording by the...

, Opeth began performing a few shows. Lee Barrett of Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...

 led them to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 to play a couple of shows. One of the performances was held at the London Astoria
London Astoria
The London Astoria was a music venue, located at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. It had been leased and run by Festival Republic since 2000. It was closed on 15 January 2009 and has since been demolished...

, and the show also featured Impaled Nazarene
Impaled Nazarene
Impaled Nazarene is a Finnish black metal band that incorporates elements of grindcore in their sound and punk rock in their aesthetics. The band is currently signed to Osmose Productions of France....

, Ved Buens Ende
Ved Buens Ende
Ved Buens Ende is a Norwegian heavy metal band. Their sound is diverse with quiet instrumental jazz influenced sections and aggressive black metal blast beats and vocals...

, and Hecate Enthroned
Hecate Enthroned
Hecate Enthroned are a symphonic black metal band from Cheshire, England.-Biography :The band formed in 1993 under the name Daemonum by singer Jon and guitarist Nigel, as a black/death metal hybrid. After a few practices and recording a demo, vocalist Jon left the band after taking up an offer to...

. Back home, Opeth rehearsed frequently, and booked Unisound
Unisound
Unisound is a recording studio that used to be in Finspång but was closed down by Dan Swanö it because of his family but it was relocated to Örebro, Sweden into his Home....

 studios again to record the album.

Morningrise was recorded during March and April 1996 at Unisound in Örebro
Örebro
-Sites of interest:Örebro's old town Wadköping is located on the banks of Svartån . It contains many 18th and 19th century wooden houses, along with museums and exhibitions....

. They stayed at the residence of the family of Peter Lindgren
Peter Lindgren
Peter Lindgren may refer to:*Peter Lindgren , Swedish actor*Peter Lindgren , Swedish heavy metal guitarist...

's girlfriend. Opeth again produced and mixed along with Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...

, similar to how the previous album, Orchid
Orchid (album)
Orchid is the debut album by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, released on May 15, 1995 in Europe by Candlelight Records, and on June 24, 1997 in the United States by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 with one bonus track called "Into the Frost of Winter", an early recording by the...

, was recorded. Swanö also engineered the album. This was the last album that Swanö worked on with Opeth. It was also the last album that was recorded with Johan DeFarfalla
Johan DeFarfalla
Johan De Farfalla is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish art metal band Opeth....

 and Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin is a Brazilian drummer , best known for his work with progressive death metal band Opeth.Nordin was asked to join Opeth by Mikael Åkerfeldt, having previously played with him in another death metal band, Eruption...

.

As the release of the first album was delayed, they had already written most part of Morningrise when Orchid was released. Although some parts of the material recorded date back to 1991, Mikael Åkerfeldt
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel...

 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
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

 piece that was meant to appear on the album, but they did not have enough time to finish it.

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
Prior Park
Prior Park is a Palladian house, designed by John Wood, the Elder in the 1730s and 1740s for Ralph Allen, on a hill overlooking Bath, Somerset, England. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building....

. The first pressing was released without the "Opeth" logo on the front cover.

Musical style and lyrical themes

Along with Orchid
Orchid (album)
Orchid is the debut album by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, released on May 15, 1995 in Europe by Candlelight Records, and on June 24, 1997 in the United States by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 with one bonus track called "Into the Frost of Winter", an early recording by the...

, Morningrise shows a sound that is influenced by progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

, black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....

, but with more clean vocals than that of the previous record. Despite the singing, Murat Batmaz of Sea of ​​Tranquility magazine said that the song, "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
Edge of Sanity
Edge of Sanity was a Swedish death metal band. Edge of Sanity are regarded alongside Opeth as being the first to fuse extreme metal styles like death and black metal with progressive rock.- History :...

's Crimson
Crimson (Edge of Sanity album)
Crimson is the fifth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, which is their first concept album and was released in 1996 by Black Mark Productions...

album", and that Opeth created a "dark atmosphere on this album, which is simply unique." The album has a "dark melancholic" sound, and features acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...

 and jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 styles. According to William York of Allmusic, "Morningrise is, as far as the metal scale goes, possibly their least heavy album".

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
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

 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
My Arms, Your Hearse
My Arms, Your Hearse is Opeth's third studio album, released in 1998. This album marks a large stylistic change from their previous release, Morningrise, especially production-wise...

accordingly.

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. "To Bid You Farewell", the album's final song, was notable at the time for having a lighter sound and featuring no unclean vocals. 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.

Release and reception

Morningrise was released on June 24, 1996 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 by Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...

 on CD, and on cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

 by Mystic Production. In the same year, it was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 by Avalon/Marquee. The album was released on June 24, 1997 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 on CD by Candlelight Records and on LP by Displeased Records
Displeased Records
Displeased Records is a Dutch independent record label, founded by Lars Eikema and Ron Veltkamp. The label has many Dutch and other extreme metal bands on its roster, but has also rereleased many classic albums, including albums by Agathocles , Cryptopsy, Infernäl Mäjesty, Sadus, Toxik and Whiplash...

. 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.

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". "Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...

 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." 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
Johan DeFarfalla
Johan De Farfalla is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish art metal band Opeth....

 and Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin is a Brazilian drummer , best known for his work with progressive death metal band Opeth.Nordin was asked to join Opeth by Mikael Åkerfeldt, having previously played with him in another death metal band, Eruption...

 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 riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....

s 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
Magnum opus
Magnum opus , from the Latin meaning "great work", refers to the largest, and perhaps the best, greatest, most popular, or most renowned achievement of a writer, artist, or composer.-Related terms:Sometimes the term magnum opus is used to refer to simply "a great work" rather than "the...

".

William York of Allmusic wrote, "the tracks here could best be described as miniature audio movies." 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
Masterpiece
Masterpiece in modern usage refers to a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or to a work of outstanding creativity, skill or workmanship....

 for most bands turns out to be just another great album from the genius that is Opeth." 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." 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."

Track listing

Personnel

Opeth
  • Mikael Åkerfeldt
    Mikael Åkerfeldt
    Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel...

     – vocals, lead guitar
    Lead guitar
    Lead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...

  • Peter Lindgren
    Peter Lindgren (musician)
    Peter Lindgren is a Swedish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former guitarist of Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth...

     – rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar
    Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...

  • Johan DeFarfalla
    Johan DeFarfalla
    Johan De Farfalla is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish art metal band Opeth....

     – bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Anders Nordin
    Anders Nordin
    Anders Nordin is a Brazilian drummer , best known for his work with progressive death metal band Opeth.Nordin was asked to join Opeth by Mikael Åkerfeldt, having previously played with him in another death metal band, Eruption...

     – drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

    , percussion
    Percussion instrument
    A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...



Production
  • Opeth
    Opeth
    Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...

     – production
    Record producer
    A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

    , mixing
    Audio mixing (recorded music)
    In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...

    , mastering
    Audio mastering
    Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...

    , artwork
    Cover art
    Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...

  • Dan Swanö
    Dan Swanö
    Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...

     – production, engineering, mixing
  • Peter In De Betou – mastering
  • Tuija Lindström – photography
    Photography
    Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

  • Lennart Kaltea – photography
  • Tom Martinsen – artwork

Release history

Region Year Label Format Catalog
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

1996 Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...

CD Candle015CD
Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

1996 Mystic Production cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

034
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

1996 Avalon/Marquee CD MICY-1022
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

1997 Century Black CD 7849-2
United Kingdom 2000 Candlelight Records CD Candle054CD
Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

2000 Displeased Records
Displeased Records
Displeased Records is a Dutch independent record label, founded by Lars Eikema and Ron Veltkamp. The label has many Dutch and other extreme metal bands on its roster, but has also rereleased many classic albums, including albums by Agathocles , Cryptopsy, Infernäl Mäjesty, Sadus, Toxik and Whiplash...

double LP
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...

D-00082
United Kingdom 2003 Candlelight Records CD CANDLE054TIN
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK