It just feels so perfectly COMPLETE. It's tight, focused, and very dark yet very emotional, with amazing music and a wonderfully spooky concept (which loops back into itself, adding to the completeness).
It's really everything I want to hear in a metal album... from the soft sound of the rain falling in the intro, all the way to the last notes of "Epilogue", it really just all goes together perfectly. When I play this record, I get pissed if for some reason I have to hit "stop", because to listen to it from start to finish is really an 'experience', I think.
I don't need to talk about the music. You can hear how the song structures have tightened from "Morningrise"... you can also hear what I would call an improvement in Mikael's vocals (even though he had a cold when he recorded them, they sound WAY more brutal than "Morningrise"... and the clean vocals sound much more confident, as well)... The music absolutely slays, no one can argue this.
I think what really seals the deal for me is the story behind the record... there are so many little inferences that you can make from the lyrics once you've figured out what's really going on... The story takes on more depth for me every time I listen to the record, because I'm placing little details into the gaps between the lyrics with MY OWN imagination... as I imagine everyone else does. I'm also very impressed with the general craftsmanship of the writing... Especially considering that Akerfeldt's native language is Swedish; he has a remarkable command of the English language. The lyrics are suggestive without being COMPLETELY obvious... he gives you clues without coming out and saying "this is what's happening". This really helps set the mood of the record for me, giving it a more dark and cryptic feel (like ALL Opeth albums, really)....
MAYH, for me, is just eldritch perfection, and it continues to amaze me. I'd be interested to hear other people's interpretations of the story or ideas about the lyrics/setting/etc.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
It's really everything I want to hear in a metal album... from the soft sound of the rain falling in the intro, all the way to the last notes of "Epilogue", it really just all goes together perfectly. When I play this record, I get pissed if for some reason I have to hit "stop", because to listen to it from start to finish is really an 'experience', I think.
I don't need to talk about the music. You can hear how the song structures have tightened from "Morningrise"... you can also hear what I would call an improvement in Mikael's vocals (even though he had a cold when he recorded them, they sound WAY more brutal than "Morningrise"... and the clean vocals sound much more confident, as well)... The music absolutely slays, no one can argue this.
I think what really seals the deal for me is the story behind the record... there are so many little inferences that you can make from the lyrics once you've figured out what's really going on... The story takes on more depth for me every time I listen to the record, because I'm placing little details into the gaps between the lyrics with MY OWN imagination... as I imagine everyone else does. I'm also very impressed with the general craftsmanship of the writing... Especially considering that Akerfeldt's native language is Swedish; he has a remarkable command of the English language. The lyrics are suggestive without being COMPLETELY obvious... he gives you clues without coming out and saying "this is what's happening". This really helps set the mood of the record for me, giving it a more dark and cryptic feel (like ALL Opeth albums, really)....
MAYH, for me, is just eldritch perfection, and it continues to amaze me. I'd be interested to hear other people's interpretations of the story or ideas about the lyrics/setting/etc.