Opeth releases cover art for ‘Heritage’

Swedish prog metallers Opeth today released the artwork for their upcoming album, Heritage.

The cover was designed by Travis Smith, who also designed for Still Life, Deliverance, Damnation and Watershed.

But Heritage is a significant departure from the look and feel of the band’s previous releases.

Gone are the abstract photographs with blurred edges, anonymous figures turned away from the camera, shadows obscuring our view. This illustration is intricate, precise and clear.

It’s also the first album where the band members are pictured on the cover, albeit as disembodied heads sprouting from a Yggdrasil-like tree.

I was expecting something a little more opaque, brooding, serious. But maybe the band wants to move away from what’s expected. Maybe they want to signal that the next album’s a little different than what we might expect.

I’m not quite sure what to expect from this album now, but I’m definitely intrigued.

Heritage will be released September 20th on Roadrunner Records.

Cover Art Tuesdays

Kudos to the team over at Metal Riot for Cover Art Tuesdays, a weekly feature that highlights metal’s latest album art. The series is still a little rough around the edges; I’m looking forward to seeing it mature and progress. Readers can submit comments and vote on their top picks. (MetalRiot)

The Art of Metal: An Introduction

I was eight years old when I bought my first-ever cassette tape. I credit the purchase to a friend’s older brother, whose ample collection of 80s hair metal and crassly-dubbed MuchMusic videos (including Motley Crue’s “Too Young to Fall in Love” and Megadeth’s “Anarchy in the UK”) piqued my interest. After a brief visit to my local Sam the Record Man, I was the proud owner of Guns N’ Roses debut album, Appetite for Destruction.

Global metal

I’m moving to the United Kingdom next week to pursue work and travel opportunities. Updates will be fewer and further in between until I get settled.

Once I’m there, I’m keen on plugging into the European metal scene, including all of the summer festivals… drool…

 

Stay tuned.

Album Review: Northern

Northern is an up-and-coming post-metal band hailing from Victoria B.C. I recently reviewed their self-titled debut for Hellbound – check it out here.

Wolves in the Throne Room, Shibboleth, Northern @ Sons of Norway Hall, Victoria BC, Jan. 7, 2011

I had the great pleasure of watching Wolves in the Throne Room at the local (and tiny) Sons of Norway hall in Victoria B.C. along with some amazing local openers. You can check out my review at Hellbound.ca.

Calling it quits?

A lot of metal bloggers are calling it quits these days. 

Some have made this decision due to lack of time, interest and attention, others are focusing their writing efforts on paying gigs, still others have not officially quit, but their last post’s been collecting cobwebs since 2008.

Well, I’m not quitting. Not by a long shot. I intend to keep on writing about metal from my perspective and my corner of the world — wherever that may be.

And if you happen to have any recommendations for good-quality metal blogs, feel free to send ‘em my way. Better yet, leave their info in the comments, so everyone can benefit from the knowledge.

Fellow metal scribe Adrian Begrand recently celebrated his 10th anniversary as a blogger – no small feat these days. You can check out his blog here.