STILL LIFE

Still Life is the third Opeth album I have listened to seriuosly, after Ghost Reveries and Damnation. Before then, I had been ghastly afraid of growling vocals and death metal overall, but Ghost Reveries really turned me on to this band. I had high expectations for Still Life, but I was somewhat disappointed. Nevertheless, this is still one of the greatest progressive metal albums ever produced, and I would think it essential for a good understanding of the genre as a whole.

One of the first things I noticed about Still Life is the production quality. Damnation and GR especially had excellent sound quality, but SL seems sub-par in comparison. I'm no expert in studio engineering or anything, but I can pick up on those things. Mikael Akerfeldt has the best voice in the entire prog metal universe. His death growls could frighten a bear, which somehow makes it more bearable than less powerful voices, and his clean vocals kick ass up and down the board as well. Even so, Akerfeldt has gotten better over the last few years, and coming from damnation and GR I was expecting better.

My friend Scott explained something I had been feeling about this album, that it sounds blockish. Still Life is heavily riff-oriented; they take a riff, repeat ot for 24 measures or so, then go on to a new one. The sound of the music lacks diversity; they present the music in basically two formats, one in heavy guitar riffs and growling vocals, intermixed with lamenting acoustic sections and clean vocals, with some mix of the two. I liken it to stairs in a musical progression, as opposed to a ramp or a slide in more flowing music like Yes or Genesis. Another thing pointed out by Scott is a lack of emotional contrast: Still Life is either somber or angry or both.

The song that really hooked me is The Moor. On this track the band really takes its time to build, and the musical ideas expressed seem more concrete to me. Behind Ghost of Perdition it is my favorite Opeth song out there.

Of course in this style of music there is not a lot of room for the drummer to shine, but coming from a fusion or Rush standpoint, I feel the drums in SL are particularly lacking in ingenuity. This probably would not bother if I did not play drumset, but as I do I have an ear for it.

A great redeeming factor is the lyrics. In my ideal world all albums are concept albums, and this one is even more lyrically intriguing/cryptic than most, which is surprising seeing as Akerfeldt speaks English as a second language. The lyrics stand out on the ir own as great poetry even outside the music, and every time I listen to them I feel more of the meaning is revealed to me.

I'm not big on Progressive Metal overall, but this album is really a gem in the ruff. The riffs are ingenuous, exciting, and have the potential of great listening over and over again. I'm sure Still Life will grow on me over time, but the aforementioned flaws bring my rating down to four stars. I enjoy Damnation and Ghost Reveries more, which means that Opeth is growing better over time and I'm really looking forward to the one in the works.