Opeth – “Still Life”
What we have here is the fourth installment from the progressive death metal band known as OPETH. Like their last brilliant album, My Arms, Your Hearse, this album is also a concept album. With that said, how does one go about putting sheer and utter brilliance into words? This album is filled with so much passion and emotion, that many other bands can’t even come close to reaching OPETH’s level. I can’t even estimate the amount of times that I have listened to this, and I still notice new things in each song. One of the things that I noticed upon first listening to this album was how much better Mikael Akerfeldt’s clean vocals have gotten. I don’t know if he is taking vocal lessons or what, but whatever he is doing, it is working well because he makes the transition from clean vocals to growling vocals very smoothly. The guitar melodies are so memorable and passion-filled that they will surely get stuck in your head and send a chill up your spine. The sheer intricacy of the songs is something that amazes me as the listener. “Benighted” and “Face of Melinda” are two songs that are on the mellow side that are especially emotional. However, don’t start thinking that OPETH have become easy listening, because the heavy, prevailing guitars and death metal vocals still triumph. This is easily noticeable in the last two songs on the album titled “Serenity Painted Death” and “White Cluster.” Another thing worth mentioning is that all of the songs, with the exception of one, are about eight minutes or longer. I don’t want to touch too much on the rather depressing lyrics, as I might ruin the story for someone. But, be sure to read over the lyrics because they play a key role in this album as well. OPETH are definitely on a level that many bands will never even get to, and you would be a fool to not immediately go and get this album.