Even though Swedish progressive-metal juggernaut OPETH seems to have been indulging their old-school fans with the luxury of those lovely bangers from the band’s death-metal days of yore, at least in the live setting as the recent Tuska Festival 2024 performance aptly demonstrated, it had not been like this for quite some time. In 2019, bassist Martin Méndez kicked off his death-metal side-hustle WHITE STONES as if to confirm that this itch had clearly not been scratched by the mustache-prog direction OPETH has been heading since 2012. For some reason, this offshoot never appeared on my musical radar until now. With two studio albums already on their belt – “Kuarahy” (2020) and “Dancing into Oblivion” (2021) – the third WHITE STONES endeavor was sneakily released on June 28th, 2024, via Reigning Phoenix Music; Tuska 2024 kicked off on the very same day, so I almost missed this one, too. The thing is, being the second longest serving member in OPETH – behind only the band’s primus motor, songwriter-guitarist-and-vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt – Méndez has developed quite a knack for unique and highly delicious basslines. Yes, he is one of the absolute best metal bassists around. So, his solo endeavor is something not to let slip by!
Opening the album, “Memoria Viva” is a bit of a soft landing into the band’s craft; an ambient intro eats up more than half of the 3-minute track, so that the actual song narrows down to a single riff banged a few times with vocalist Eloi Boucherie croaking the album title once (it stands for “living memory,” if I am to believe Google Translator). My first impression? Well, this opener sounded more artsy than OPETH but, then again, I probably shouldn’t rush to any conclusions based on a brief, cinematic intro.
The second track is way more like it! The song is a 7-minute riffage where Méndez‘s signature basslines take the limelight. Yes, there are subtle echoes of vintage OPETH but, overall, “Humanoides” nods toward a tad more minimalist death-metal aesthetic. Is this even death metal? I’m not sure. The throaty vocals would obviously suggest so, along with the stop-and-go transitions from mid-tempo riffing to sudden outbursts of blast beats. Yet, the unisono riffing is way groovier than your average death-metal banquet, so… I guess Méndez cannot escape his proggy past.
Next, “D-generación” rolls out something even more intriguing. The chorus could be FOO FIGHTERS – except that the vocals are throaty death-metal croaks in Spanish. The verses, in turn, bow down to early OPETH. I’m sure this might not come off as such a cool idea on paper but somehow this crazy bunch makes it work! Death metal goes pop? Well, yeah, something like that and, yet, not. I have talked about the beauty of contrast, probably way too often, but this is yet another case in point of how it works wonders. This is outrageous, in a way, but the band sounds very sincere. This is by no means a piss-take on mainstream college rock but a song that bloody well rocks! (Try to request this one on the radio, though…)
As eccentric as “D-generación” was at the first bite, it sure as hell didn’t prepare me for what was to come next. “Zamba de Orun” is a chill flute-adorned instrumental – jazzy in a somewhat “Patterns in the Ivy”-esque way – remember that ambient interlude from OPETH‘s 2001 masterpiece? Oh, Martin & Co, you slick devils! (The band returns to this aesthetic on “Somos,” later) I guess being such a renowned and slinky bass extraordinaire, you get nothing short of liberal amounts of artistic freedom with your musical undertakings. Not that we mind – quite the opposite! Speaking of which, “La Ira,” up next, gears up on something completely different, once again: death-metal growls and croaks, diabolically groovy basslines, and funky death-guitar licks with a little bit of shredding even. The song ends with a gritty Hammond-organ rendition of the main riff and it suddenly hits me! It sounds almost like one of those PROPELLERHEADS‘ electronica bangers from the late 1990s! No wonder these metal tricksters make me want to shake my groove thing…
The album has yet another 7-minute epic – “Grito al Silencio.” After a few spins, I noticed that it turned out to be the song that I wish to put on repeat most often, along with that FOO FIGHTERS-cum-death-metal one. The song kicks off with a Latin percussion groove, then gears up on beefy and proggy death-metal riffing. A brief ambient section cuts in somewhere along the way, in a somewhat “Blackwater Park”-esque manner, before the riffs make a comeback, enforced with perhaps the best guitar solo on the outing. Finally, the song ends with an ambient fade-out. While traversing different sonic realms, the song arrangement has OPETH written all over it. These rogues are on to something, for sure. The balance between all the eccentric extremes is still a bit off, at times, though. So, this third album is not yet THAT grand achievement but I wouldn’t be surprised if the next installment in their catalog proved to be something massive.
After the 4-minute riff maelstrom of “Vencedores Vencidos,” this wild sonic journey is brought to a close with yet another plaintive instrumental, “Yemayá.” It could be a leftover from OPETH‘s “Heritage” sessions with its mellow, triplet-meter guitar legatos and flute motifs. Yeah, vintage prog rules, alright. There is only one thing wrong – the song is way too short for a closer!
All-in-all, “Memoria Viva” is something genuinely unique. For the death-metal purist, it probably has too much prog influences – flute might not be considered particularly evil in those circles. Then again, for those with an affinity for all things progressive, experimental, and quirky, diversity of this sort could be just what the doctor ordered. For sure, this album requires more than one spin to get to the bottom of it but that’s the beauty of it – the music unfolds, layer by layer, with each new spin. “Memoria Viva” is not for the weak of heart but it has all the telltale signs of a musical gift that just keeps on giving for those with an acquired taste for the unconventional.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
Tracklist
- Memoria Viva
- Humanoides
- D-Generación
- Zamba de Orun
- La Ira
- Somos
- Grito al Silencio
- Vencedores Vencidos
- Yemayá
Lineup
Martin Méndez – bass, guitars
Eloi Boucherie – vocals
Albert Martí – guitars
João Sassetti – guitars
Joan Carles Marí – drums
Label
Reigning Phoenix Music
