Ranking Every Opeth Studio Album From Worst To Best
8. In Cauda Venenum (2019)
It’s the band’s newest venture and their first to be recorded and released in both English and Swedish. Whereas Heritage was a bit too abstract and noncommittal, and Sorceress was a bit too familiar and forgettable, In Cauda Venenum (Latin for Poison in the Tail) is wonderfully wicked and gratifying from start to finish.
The ambiently gothic prelude, Garden of Earthly Delights, sets the stage well with its foreboding choir, wavering synths, and spooky voices. Then, Dignity erupts into a multifaceted behemoth peppered with diabolic harmonies, regal chaos, and bittersweet interludes. It’s as magnificent as it is malevolent.
Although subsequent tunes like Heart in Hand, Next of Kin, and Continuum fit into similar categories, the album has more tricks up its sleeve. For one thing, Lovelorn Crime and Universal Truth are gorgeously repentant experiences with plenty of scrumptious nuances. In contrast, the intensely playful The Garroter and Charlatan incorporate modern darkness with quirky vintage jazz fusion detours.
If not for an earlier post-death metal magnum opus – which we’ll get to soon enough – In Cauda Venenum would undoubtedly be Opeth’s finest hour in over a decade. It’s surely their most engrossingly macabre.