Opera IX
The Black Opera
[Avantgarde]
My expectations for this album were very high. Probably too high despite my
realization that for Opera trying to top their previous masterpiece would be
akin to trying to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. And indeed,
this album does not eclipse the amazing "Sacro Culto." It is a decent work
nonetheless, with Cadaveria's excellent vocals being particularly impressive
and holding everything together. If a less known or respected band released
something like that, it could probably be considered an achievement. But for
Opera IX the bar was raised very high, and there are a couple of major
gripes that I want to whine about.
I don't know about others, but to me Opera circa 2000 sound way more conventional than before. Yes, the song writing remains above average. Yes, some of the occult feel as well as traces of Southern flavor have been retained, and the band's technicality has increased a great deal, but what good are these things if something more vital has been lost along the way? The overall feel, the whole aura that I've come to love is not what it used to be.
Take the keyboards for example. Sure, they are more complex and sophisticated now, but while on "Sacro Culto" its peculiar usage created an ingenious and unique atmosphere, here, the keyboards are sort of just there and, with exception of a few instances, they don't really do much for me. The riffs have been hardened and brought forward for the full-on frontal attack, but I can't help thinking that being stripped of the right atmosphere causes them to merely trample around most of the time. I think a major contribution to the problem is the production itself. Opera basically cleaned up their sound, which inevitably lost those distinct, shadowy traits that made "Sacro Culto" such a haunting, darkly mystical and unique work.
One could possibly build a counterargument by saying that if the band completely stuck to their original style, I would just accuse them of not trying to do anything different. That could very well be true, but the fact is that I really do miss Opera of old. It's kind of strange because on one hand the band did not attempt to explore any fundamentally new ground. But on the other hand, they compressed and polished an already established framework, pushing it into a more aggressive yet somehow more ordinary direction, so that the end result came out short of being truly fulfilling.
If on the scale of 1 to 10, "Sacro Culto" gets a 10, then this one gets a 7, or 7.5 at most, which is still good but obviously not great.
Despite my complaints "The Black Opera" still stands above your average doom-goth album. But let's hope that the band will create something truly awe-inspiring the next time around.
© 2000 boris
I don't know about others, but to me Opera circa 2000 sound way more conventional than before. Yes, the song writing remains above average. Yes, some of the occult feel as well as traces of Southern flavor have been retained, and the band's technicality has increased a great deal, but what good are these things if something more vital has been lost along the way? The overall feel, the whole aura that I've come to love is not what it used to be.
Take the keyboards for example. Sure, they are more complex and sophisticated now, but while on "Sacro Culto" its peculiar usage created an ingenious and unique atmosphere, here, the keyboards are sort of just there and, with exception of a few instances, they don't really do much for me. The riffs have been hardened and brought forward for the full-on frontal attack, but I can't help thinking that being stripped of the right atmosphere causes them to merely trample around most of the time. I think a major contribution to the problem is the production itself. Opera basically cleaned up their sound, which inevitably lost those distinct, shadowy traits that made "Sacro Culto" such a haunting, darkly mystical and unique work.
One could possibly build a counterargument by saying that if the band completely stuck to their original style, I would just accuse them of not trying to do anything different. That could very well be true, but the fact is that I really do miss Opera of old. It's kind of strange because on one hand the band did not attempt to explore any fundamentally new ground. But on the other hand, they compressed and polished an already established framework, pushing it into a more aggressive yet somehow more ordinary direction, so that the end result came out short of being truly fulfilling.
If on the scale of 1 to 10, "Sacro Culto" gets a 10, then this one gets a 7, or 7.5 at most, which is still good but obviously not great.
Despite my complaints "The Black Opera" still stands above your average doom-goth album. But let's hope that the band will create something truly awe-inspiring the next time around.
© 2000 boris