In Cauda Venenum
2019 studio album by Opeth
In Cauda Venenum (Latin for "Poison in the tail") is the thirteenth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released on 27 September 2019 through Moderbolaget and Nuclear Blast. It was released in two versions: a Swedish-language version and an English-language version. The band toured in support of the album throughout 2019 and into 2020. At 67 minutes and 57 seconds, it is the band's longest studio album. It is also the band's last album to feature drummer Martin Axenrot before his departure in 2021.
01Critical reception
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 85/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Blabbermouth.net | 8/10 |
| Exclaim! | favorable |
| Consequence of Sound | A |
| Kerrang! | 3/5 |
| Metal Storm | 7.8/10 |
| NME | |
| PopMatters | 9/10 |
| The Quietus | favourable |
| Sputnikmusic | 3.7/5 |
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 using reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 85, based on 10 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim". The album received a score of 10 out of 10 from Wall of Sound, who stated it was "the best album the band has ever created in their prog era". Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019.
02Track listing
All tracks are written by Mikael Åkerfeldt.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Garden of Earthly Delights" | 3:28 |
| 2. | "Dignity" | 6:36 |
| 3. | "Heart in Hand" | 8:30 |
| 4. | "Next of Kin" | 7:10 |
| 5. | "Lovelorn Crime" | 6:34 |
| 6. | "Charlatan" | 5:29 |
| 7. | "Universal Truth" | 7:30 |
| 8. | "The Garroter" | 6:45 |
| 9. | "Continuum" | 7:22 |
| 10. | "All Things Will Pass" | 8:33 |
| Total length: | 67:57 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Livets trädgård" | 3:28 |
| 2. | "Svekets prins" | 6:36 |
| 3. | "Hjärtat vet vad handen gör" | 8:29 |
| 4. | "De närmast sörjande" | 7:10 |
| 5. | "Minnets yta" | 6:34 |
| 6. | "Charlatan" | 5:29 |
| 7. | "Ingen sanning är allas" | 7:21 |
| 8. | "Banemannen" | 6:43 |
| 9. | "Kontinuerlig drift" | 7:23 |
| 10. | "Allting tar slut" | 8:31 |
| Total length: | 67:44 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Garden of Earthly Delights" | 3:28 |
| 2. | "Dignity" | 6:36 |
| 3. | "Heart in Hand" | 8:30 |
| 4. | "Next of Kin" | 7:10 |
| 5. | "Lovelorn Crime" | 6:34 |
| 6. | "Charlatan" | 5:29 |
| 7. | "Universal Truth" | 7:30 |
| 8. | "The Garroter" | 6:45 |
| 9. | "Continuum" | 7:22 |
| 10. | "All Things Will Pass" | 8:33 |
| 11. | "The Mob" | 4:36 |
| 12. | "Width of a Circle" | 5:31 |
| 13. | "Freedom & Tyranny" | 4:35 |
| 14. | "Livets trädgård" | 3:28 |
| 15. | "Svekets prins" | 6:36 |
| 16. | "Hjärtat vet vad handen gör" | 8:29 |
| 17. | "De närmast sörjande" | 7:10 |
| 18. | "Minnets yta" | 6:34 |
| 19. | "Charlatan" | 5:29 |
| 20. | "Ingen sanning är allas" | 7:21 |
| 21. | "Banemannen" | 6:43 |
| 22. | "Kontinuerlig drift" | 7:23 |
| 23. | "Allting tar slut" | 8:31 |
| 24. | "Pöbeln" | 4:36 |
| 25. | "Cirkelns riktning" | 5:31 |
| 26. | "Frihet & tyranni" | 4:35 |
03Personnel
Opeth
- Mikael Åkerfeldt, lead and backing vocals, guitars and ramblings, string arrangements
- Fredrik Åkesson, lead and rhythm guitars, backing vocals, whistles, coughs
- Martin Axenrot, drums and percussion
- Martín Méndez, bass guitars
- Joakim Svalberg, keyboards and backing vocals
Technical personnel
- Mikael Åkerfeldt, production
- Stefan Boman with Opeth, co-production, engineering, mixing
- Tom Jondelius, studio assistant
- Dave Stewart, string arrangements
- Geoff Pesche, mastering at Abbey Road Studios
- Travis Smith, artwork and design for Seempieces
- Jasper Schuurmans, project coordination
04Charts
| Chart (2019) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA) | 20 |
| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) | 15 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) | 17 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) | 13 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) | 49 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) | 16 |
| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) | 2 |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) | 5 |
| Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) | 29 |
| Irish Albums (IRMA) | 65 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI) | 24 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon) | 97 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) | 9 |
| Polish Albums (ZPAV) | 19 |
| Scottish Albums (Official Charts) | 4 |
| Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) | 26 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) | 12 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) | 10 |
| UK Albums (Official Charts) | 13 |
| UK Album Downloads (Official Charts) | 12 |
| UK Independent Albums (Official Charts) | 1 |
| UK Progressive Albums (Official Charts) | 1 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums (Official Charts) | 1 |
| US Billboard 200 | 59 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) | 2 |
| US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) | 3 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) | 9 |
| US Indie Store Album Sales (Billboard) | 4 |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “In Cauda Venenum”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Opeth - In Cauda Venenum.png by Unknown author, Fair use
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