Ranking Every Opeth Studio Album From Worst To Best

This one will surely be the most controversial placement on this list, but it’s extremely deserved. After all, if Heritage found Opeth unevenly but admirably dipping their toes into the aforementioned retro templates, successor Pale Communion found them diving in headfirst and without a moment of miscalculation.

Eternal Rains Will Come alone is a knockout of lively atmosphere, riveting verses, and densely colorful musicianship (due mostly to the presence of Wiberg’s replacement, Joakim Svalberg). Cusp of Eternity is almost as absorbing, whereas the multipart Moon Above, Sun Below is fascinatingly sinister and solemn.

There’s also the dreamily regretful Elysian Woes, the punchily flamboyant Goblin (whose title and techniques pay tribute to Dario Argento’s favorite soundtrack maestro), and the radiantly folksy River. As the cherry on top, Voice of Treason foreshadows In Cauda Venenum with its mischievous orchestration; it then bleeds into Faith in Others, which is a clear contender for the quintet’s most devastatingly beautiful track.

Many Opeth devotees easily dismiss Opeth’s LPs after Watershed due to their abandonment of death metal attributes. That’s particularly tragic with the immaculate Pale Communion since it’s the only one of the four to rival, if not surpass, many of their earlier “classic” albums.