MY ARMS, YOUR HEARSE

I have just about every Opeth album thanks to my brother-in-law, and, Damnation aside, they all sound the same to me. Some might be heavier than others, and production quality may differ, but I really can't grasp why this band is so heavily praised.

Opeth has two sounds: dark and melodic acoustic, and heavy/complex death metal with way too much bass drum. The two singing styles fit the two sounds as well, peaceful and soft vs. deep gutteral growling, respectively. I chose to review this album because it is freshest in my head, otherwise this is more of a band review. Now, I am plenty guilty of loving many bands that always sound the same, but I always feel like something is missing when I listen to Opeth, and I think that something is variety. Every song is either soft Opeth or metal Opeth, and occasionally a slight combo of both. The music is surely technical, but the atmosphere is bland.

I wish the first track, Prologue, would go on longer, for it is strangely beautiful. April Ethereal is too much growling and machine gun drumming, which take attention away from the rest of the song. The same can be said for When. Madrigal is short and enjoyable, as are most of Opeth's filler and go-between tracks. Then we have The Amen Corner, my personal favorite on the album. Great varying guitar work on this track, from death metal to almost an 80's metal sound. Demon Of The Fall is a good song in their typical style, but the next two (Creedence and Karma) are easily forgettable. The closing track, Epilogue, is a very good instrumental piece that could easily entertain me for much longer than it is. The standouts on My Arms, Your Hearse (namely Prologue, The Amen Corner and Epilogue) are also the least like the rest of their material...leading me to conclude that this is a band that I just don't get. Even Damnation gets boring after a while. There exist many bands in this genre of prog, and I'm sure many Opeth copycats, but some of the no-names hold my attention far better.

Don't get me wrong, in my opinion Opeth has never made a bad album, they just haven't made a very good one either.

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