Disco de Opeth: “My Arms, Your Hearse”

Opeth stands at the vanguard of progressive metal. The band's first two releases, Orchid and Morningrise, were brilliant and challenging progressive albums. The band was defined by its dynamics, which pitted vicious metal & death growls against soft acoustic music. My Arms, Your Hearse, Opeth's third release, is a bit different. It is the band's most musically aggressive album, no doubt. The recording quality is very dense, almost like a din of chaotic fury. Against Opeth's complex songwriting, beautiful sensibilities, and progressive nature, most bands' music sound like the banal, empty persiflage of mere imitators.

My Arms, Your Hearse is a concept album, told through Akerfeldt stunning lyrics, which are full of brilliant imagery and involved poetry. The story is quite enigmatic and probably open to a number of interpretations. It seems to tell the story of a plaintive ghost who watches his beloved deal with the pain of his death. The liner notes pack all the lyrics into a huge block of text, so it's difficult to read. However, it is interesting the way Opeth has put it together. Each song ends with the name of the next song worked into the lyric. For instance, "The Amen Corner" finishes with the line, "The final spark that blew life into me, the demon of the fall." The next track is called "Demon of the Fall." This is an innovative way of forming lyrical "flow." Also, the lyrics for "Epilogue" end with the line, "Telling...of the beauty of its prologue." This means that everything begins all over again. This coheres with the "seasons" theme running through the album. "Prologue" presents the coming of spring. "The Amen Corner" opens with the line "white summer." "Demon of the Fall" enters the autumn term. The song "Karma" speaks of "winter's epilogue" as "the cold season drifts over the land." This puts forth a theme of recurrence to the story, which may suggest that the ghost is trapped in an everlasting cycle from which he can't escape. Those that believe in the paranormal sometimes say a spirit can be trapped in the material world because of something unresolved that happened in life, or something that anchors him there. Just food for thought, I guess. In any case, I think this adds to the brilliance of Opeth's concept. It is seriously rare that an "extreme" metal band provide such interesting lyrical content.

Vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt has improved a great deal. He has abandoned the pseudo-black metal vocals in favor of a deep, menacing growl. His "clean" vocals, however, are used more sparingly. The production also lends an audible echo to his clean singing, which fits well with the "ghost" story. Likewise, the acoustic passages on this album are also shorter than on previous records, providing less foil for the brutally heavy parts. Instead of devoting full passages to acoustic guitars, this album seems to weave them in and out, integrating them into the heavier music. For example, a section in "The Amen Corner" layers heavy riffing with delicately plucked acoustic strings and death vocals. Very cool. There are still many great acoustic sections, though. The last three minutes or so of "When" is all acoustic. The song "Credence" is 4.5 minutes of melodic acoustic guitars and clean vox, and it's a beautiful song.

The final half of this album is pure songwriting brilliance, beginning with "Demon of the Fall" and ending with "Epilogue." "Demon of the Fall" is a slashing bomb of cut-throat guitars and diabolic vocals (distorted with an effect to sound even more evil). "Credence" is stunning, as I mentioned. Akerfeldt's painful vocals harmonies are mesmerizing. "Karma" is sustained by the velocity of thrash-inflected riffage, Martin Lopez's galloping double-kick drums, but you are given room to breathe with an aching acoustic bit. "Epilogue" is absolutely gorgeous beyond words. I literally become paralyzed by heavenly guitar harmony that carries the album to the end. Good God, it's beautiful. That's not to say the rest of the album isn't great...it is. Every track is simply brilliant. However, in my opinion, Opeth saved the best for last. That's good.

In any case, this is definitely Opeth's most sonically violent album. It definitely focuses more on the band's heavy aspect, with music that sometimes resembles a black hurricane of fierceness. Still, the dichotomy of light & shade pervades and seems more accentuated by the album's heavier focus. Since I was initially drawn to Opeth because of their "softer" aspect, this album took some time to grow on me. Now, however, there is no doubt in my mind that it is every bit as good as anything they've ever done. Every Opeth album is brilliant, and My Arms, Your Hearse is no exception. Buy everything that has anything to do with this band.

Very seldom does a metal band come along that can truly mesh mind-blowing beauty with visceral power. Opeth has long been known for their ability to walk this line with probably more grace than any other band ever, and on My Arms Your Hearse their craft is at its peak.

Their grooving rhythm style is in force here, but retains some of the more aggressive rhythms of their two earlier efforts, a balance best seen on the chorus of Demon of the Fall. The result is a very hard-driving section that arouses harder headbanging than most future Opeth works. They would also never quite be as beautiful during their heavy groove sections. April Ethereal is quite possibly my favorite song of all time now due to the balance struck between that pounding brutality and awe-inspiring, majestic beauty. Later Opeth efforts tend to polarize the songs, with a monster-headbanging-heavy part followed by a stunning acoustic part. While these are also great albums, there's something special in MAYH's balance - it seems more sublime than Deliverance or even Blackwater Park.

This is the first effort by the current Opeth lineup. Bassist Johan DeFarfalla and drummer Anders Nordin had recently moved on and been replaced by the Martins - Mendez (bass) and Lopez (drums), both of whom bring entirely new feels to the rhythm section. Mikael Akerfeldt's clean voice has not matured to the fullest but is still incredibly beautiful, and his growls are as forceful as ever. Guitarists Peter Lindgren and Akerfeldt together master incredibly complex and dense harmony passages that are far more technically difficult than they sound. While their style may put off fans of pure technical flash, more thoughtful listeners will appreciate their depth and power, and may ultimately be touched in a way that few (if any) other bands can top.

There's something here for any fan of rock music. Absolutely perfect. Recommended tracks: April Ethereal (best song ever), Demon of the Fall, Credence.

Well, what can I say about this album? This is my favorite Opeth release, and I own them all (except for the new one). It's hard to explain exactly *why* I love this album as I do, but I will do my best.

First of all, this is a concept album. Normally, concept albums don't excite me that much, but this one is special. No, the story isn't tremendously elaborate and complicated (although it is elaborate and complex, in its own way), but the story, and the way it's told, is simply beautiful. It's the tale of a man who has died, and over the course of the album, his spirit tries in vain to communicate with his beloved, but instead, he only watches her mourn his death, and eventually fall out of love with him. The lyrics (some of the best ever written) are more or less one long prose poem, and the last word or phrase of each song is the name of the next one - a very ingenuitive method of creating flow. This also plays an interesting part in the songs 'Prologue' and 'Epilogue', whereby a cycle is implied.

And now to the music. Strangely, all of the music on this album sounds very similar to me, almost as if it's all one song. This is probably Opeth's most aggressive album, if not their heaviest (it's between this one and Blackwater Park). This aggressiveness serves to portray a sense of longing and desperation, and if the music wasn't enough to do that, then there's Mikael Åkerfeldt's searing vocals and sorrowful lyrics. He manages to throw every feeling of anger, frustration and sadness possible into his growls and screams; an impressive feat, to be sure. Then-new drummer Martin Lopez tears it up on the drumkit, especially in the songs' many drum fills. He's technical without going overboard, and there's soul in his playing. Also new to the band was bassist Martin Mendez. Mikael Åkerfeldt actually played most of the bass on this album, since most of the album was already written, so I don't know which parts featured Mendez on bass. But all of the basswork on this album is flawless, so I can only give props to both of them. The guitarwork of Mikael Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren is simply astounding. On this album, they moved away from the twin-guitar melodies that were so prominent on Opeth's first two albums (Orchid and Morningrise), focusing instead on creating the atmosphere with raging riffage. One need only to listen to 'Demon of the Fall' to hear what I mean.

So far, I've only concentrated on the sonic maelstrom that is so prevalent on this album, but starkly contrasting this are the many quiet acoustic passages and soft clean vocals. Make no mistake, Opeth can create an aural hurricane that can pound you into the ground, but their mellow moments are the stuff of dreams, and they know exactly where to put them. It's something to experience, feeling (for you don't just hear it, you feel it) the music go from roaring to weeping at the drop of a dime. Mikael and Peter are two of the best acoustic guitar players I've ever heard, period; and Mikael's clean vocals drip with despondence and longing.

This album is the reflection of its front cover: obscure, dark, and haunting. You can see a woman, but it is almost just a silhouette; details elude you. You can discern that she is lonely and mourning - but is she really alone?

I don't really know how to wrap this review up, because I could really just go on and on trying to describe how great this music is. The truth is, it can't be described - it can only be experienced. Listen for yourself, and only then will you know the beauty that is Opeth.

There will be those of you whose interest will be sparked by the opening of this album...then the death growling will begin and you will run from the room in an attempt to keep from listening to anything that might be labeled as "evil" or "satanic"...you will miss out on a journey of cascading emotion and dark, horrific beauty. How does this band pull this album off? How are they able to tease the listener's feelings and then turn around and stomp them to pieces...then gather them back up again to rebuild? Unlike 99% of musical groups (who might or might not posess talent) Opeth is multi-faceted and causes the listener to not only delight in the sound but to delight in the imagery the band calls up with their story. Don't EVER make the mistake of pinning a "Death Metal" badge on Opeth...a sharp-minded individual with an appreciation for moving soundscapes will see past any such limiting labels. Purchase this album with a warning: it will require some time and serious attention...you just can't pop this in at your buddies keg party...you have to STUDY this work...you will be greatly rewarded.

This is magic. See the other gloating reviews for this record for song specifics. This whole album is beautiful. Violent, sad, intricate, well executed, refreshing, etc. My list of adjectives could continue ad nauseum. Plus, it rocks! Take a chance with Opeth. You will thank yourself again and again. Trust me.