MY ARMS, YOUR HEARSE

MYAH doesn't belong to either bunch. The first two albums were more experimental and had a more classic death metal feel to them (though they were still very prog) and the later albums were put together way better, you can just hear they are very confident about themselves and they know where they are going with their music. This album is, in my opinion, a mix of both. It doesn't sound like any other Opeth album. With this album, I'd say they found their true sound, the perfect mixture between awesome, eerie clean parts and just brutal death metal, even if this album leans a little more to the latter.

If I could only use one word to describe this album.. after some thinking, the word of my choice would be 'violent'. Yep, 'violent'. With tracks like Demon of the Fall, The Amen Corner and April Ethereal, I find that word to be very fitting. Even though Opeth features a lot of clean parts in their music, I find them heavier than most of the current death/black metal acts out there. If you mix that stuff with clean parts, it just hits you harder.

I know that a lot of prog fans will have a have a problem with the death metal vocals. There's just no way around that; Opeth has and always will use them (with the only exception being the album Damnation which is totally free of growling). Though there is a 'but'; when there is growling involved in Opeth's music, it is done well. Mikael Åkerfeldt, the person responsible for the vocals and guitars in Opeth, does his job damn well. And unlike many growlers, Mr. Åkerfeldt also does 'normal' vocals very well. Although at this point, both his growling and 'normal' singing wasn't yet quite as deep and strong as on later albums where it just wounds up awesome, it is still exceptionally good.

Even though this album is mostly a death metal album, it is still very progressive. Mikael is a huge fan of old prog music and and it is his main influence rather than metal, believe it or not. And you can clearly hear the influence in Opeth's music.

If you are new to Opeth, I wouldn't recommend starting with this album. I just don't find it that accessible, even if it is a masterpiece. No matter if you are into prog or not, get the album Blackwater Park first and if you like it, move on to this one and all the other albums. If you are really dead-set against death vocals, there's still Damnation for you, which is completely free of growling, but in that case you should know that you're missing on a lot. :)

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