MY ARMS, YOUR HEARSE

Opeth is maturing! i love this CD and it pains me that i cannot in clear conscience give this five stars. Opeth has discovered something here, a sound or atmosphere and while it isnt fully developed or explored, they come close and in doing so take a gigantic step away from Orchid and move closer to Sill Life and then the seminal Blackwater Park. I love how on every disc, every band mate is getting better and better. the guitars, the vocals, the drumming, the production, consitantly getting more and more solid with each release. this is particularly noticeable in the vocals. This disc has some great individual moments and their is a fluidity but the acoustic moments dont add as much here unlike the following discs. it sounds a bit too choppy, forced. Its such a crushingly heavy CD and the soft moments are too sudden and too isolated from the rest of the sound. appart from that and a few. . . lost moments within songs such as Amen Corner and When, this is a very solid effort, which gives us a glimpse at what is to come. Essential? no. Execellent? in a way but it falls short when compared to such strong albums as Ghost Reveries, Still Life, and Blackwater Park. this is a VERY VERY good three star album, but it is, sadly, non-essential.