Morningrise is the second studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 24 June 1996 in Europe by Candlelight Records and on 24 June 1997 in the United States by Century Black. The recording sessions took place at Unisound studio, in Finspång, during March and April 1996. Morningrise was the last Opeth release with drummer Anders Nordin and bassist Johan De Farfalla, as well as the last Opeth album to be produced by Dan Swanö.
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.
Recording and production
After touring, Opeth returned home to rehearse frequently, and booked Unisound Studio again to record the album.
Morningrise was recorded during March and April 1996 at Unisound in Finspång. 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. It was also the last album that was recorded with Johan De Farfalla and Anders Nordin.
As the release of the first album was delayed, they had already written most of Morningrise when Orchid was released. 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 smoking. During the downtime, Åkerfeldt and Nordin wrote a guitar/piano duet, which would have been the album's instrumental track, but they did not have enough time to finish it. The first pressing was released without the "Opeth" logo on the front cover. However, according to William York of AllMusic, "Morningrise is, as far as the metal scale goes, possibly their least heavy album".
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.
| rev2 = Chronicles of Chaos
| rev2Score = 8/10
| rev3 = Metal Crypt
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| rev4 = Metal Library
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| rev5 = Metal Utopia
| rev5Score = 7/10
| rev6 = Sea of Tranquility
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| rev7 = Tartarean Desire
| rev7Score = 9/10
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". 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 De Farfalla 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 claimed that the song "Black Rose Immortal" is a "magnum opus". 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."
Opeth
- Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals, guitars
- Peter Lindgren – guitars
- Johan De Farfalla – bass
- Anders Nordin – drums, percussion
Additional personnel
- Stefan Guteklint – bass guitar on "Eternal Soul Torture"
Production
- Dan Swanö – engineering, mixing
- Peter in de Betou – mastering
- Tuija Lindström – album cover
- Lennart Kaltea – photography
- Tom Martinsen – layout
- Timo Ketola – logo
Release history
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. 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. Another LP reissue of Morningrise was released in 2008 by British label Back on Black.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" border="1"
|-
! scope="col" | Region
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Label
! scope="col" | Format
! scope="col" | Catalog
|-
! scope="row" | United Kingdom
| 1996
| Candlelight
| CD
| Candle015CD
|-
! scope="row" | Poland
| 1996
| Mystic Production
| Cassette
| 034
|-
! scope="row" | Japan
| 1996
| Avalon/Marquee
| CD
| MICY-1022
|-
! scope="row" | United States
| 1997
| Century Black
| CD
| 7849-2
|-
! scope="row" | United Kingdom
| 2000
| Candlelight
| CD
| Candle054CD
|-
! scope="row" | Netherlands
| 2000
| Displeased
| Double LP
| D-00082
|-
! scope="row" | United Kingdom
| 2003
| Candlelight
| CD
| CANDLE054TIN
|-
! scope="row" | United Kingdom
| 2008
| Back on Black
| LP
| BOBV098LP
|}