Right this was a review done ages and ages ago by a mate of mine, for a promotions company we are involved with......www.rawnervepromotions.co.uk Check the site out and enter the forum....
anyway, here it is,,,,enjoy
"OPETH
"My Arms, Your Hearse"
Candlelight Records
9 Tracks 53 Mins
(2 bonus songs; a cover of Celtic Frost's "Circle of the Tyrant", and Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow")
Mikael Akerfeldt- Vocals, guitar, bass
Peter Lindgren- guitars
Martin Lopez- drums
Opeth's finest album. As I take you through this album, you first have to realise two things:
a) I do not have as large a vocabulary as Chris (My Cross To Bare), so the repeated useage of words like "powerful","perfect","roar","beautiful" can be doctored by those with a larger lexicon than I, and should not detract from my sentiments about this masterpiece of an album.
b) It is a concept album, with a definite story that it follows with the lyrics. In short, a couple's love is broken when a man dies. We watch the woman grieve through the first-person perspective of the ghost, which the man comes back as.. The lyrics make the listener feel the emotion and heartache as the man comes back to the woman he loves as the ethereal being and watches her slowly get over him over the course of a year... it's harsh, but it works so well. The last word on each song is the title of the next, so the story flows perfectly. On the instrumental tracks, lyrics are written to convey the reasons and feelings behind each track.
PROLOGUE is first on the album, and the lyrics are written not sung on this, setting the morbid scene of a rain-sodden coffin being silently watched. Slow, haunting piano chords, rain in the background marking "the coming of Spring". Lasting under a minute, it's the perfect lead in for the song that changed the way I look at music and life forever:
APRIL ETHEREAL. A five second harmonious choir introduction becomes full on deep black metal riffage, with Mikael's gutteral growls adding so much depth and power. The song concentrates on the ghost's realisation that he has lost his soul partener, and he has nothing left. The lyrics are beautiful, and create a perfect picture of the man's pain, and the complete song is like a story in itself. The depth and feeling behind "She faced me in awe" is astounding, and after that a complete rythmn change occurs which ultimately leads the song into a quieter section. This manages to retain the power while being relaxing. There is about two seconds of superb bass which can be heard after "glaring with failure", but this is pretty much the only point in the song where they are audible. This may be the production, but as Mikael took on the roll as bassist for this album, perhaps it was a deliberate move on Opeth's part. The final section of the track is my favourite piece of any song to date. It continually builds up in intensity until the final death-like growl from Mikael, when fantastic melodic chords plow into the foreground, with the driving double bass leading us to the next song.
WHEN has got groove after groove!! The second proper riff is 'bouncy death metal' if such a thing can exist. The short solo comes in better than I have heard than most bands, and it fits the song perfectly. It leads to a typically emotive classical Opeth section, which the next heavy riff is cleverly semblant towards. "The gate was closed that day" is sung over yet another brilliant heavy chuggy riff, which is then followed by another flawless solo. Once again this leads to a quiet section, but entirely different from before. It has a more relaxing, flowing feel, with haunting volume swells in the background raising the tension levels somewhat dramatically. One of the few times the bass can be heard occurs here again, and it all adds to a calming build up to the majority of Opeth fan's favourite section in their entire archive. Mikael sings five sentences starting with the title of the song, and then "When is the new beginning, and the end of this sad Madrigal" with such perfect underlying chords and rythmn, with the drums taking the song to the next in wonderful style.
MADRIGAL has the most ethereal sound on the album, and lasts under two minutes. The lyrics, like Prologue, are written and unsung. It is the ghost's thoughts of longing and despair which makes this song powerful, and it's quiet nature makes the kick in from the next song all the better.
THE AMEN CORNER is about the ghost slowly realising that the woman, although still desolate, is beginning to forget him. "Those eyes...empty like a barren well"- so suggestive, and so good when sung. A complete half-time section comes up after these lyrics, when Mikael's voice drives the song on so forcefully, and the guitars are (dare I say it?) almost immaterial. I cannot help but listen to the depth his voice brings to the song at this point. The end of the song has another fantasic, epic heavy rythmn, but it really is all about the drums- fast, heavy, powerful...in short, superb! Another great fade-out sparks the beginning of (until the release of The Drapery Falls) Opeth's most 'famous' song, which is played at every gig. Reasons? Because it is AWESOME!!
DEMON OF THE FALL comes out of haunting reverse guitar sounds into the ( sorry for the description) Opeth style riff, which leads into a full bodied black-metal-riffage. When sung over, "Silent dance with death. Everything is lost", it seems to become a darker riff as a result. To me, the song is about the woman sensing a presence, and being terrified in her own room. This leads her emotions to finally turn to petrified anger, which took until the beginning of Autumn to emerge, and hence the title of the song. But what makes this song so good is it also shows the man's conflicting feelings of desolation and devostation, with these three sentences summing up more emotion than I ever could while trying to describe the song: "Everything is lost", "In tears for all eternity", and "Just one second, and I was left with nothing." The man realises it's over between them, her feelings to him had changed, and is so inexplicably emotive when you hear the song. Riff after riff emerge faultlessly during the tumultuous course of this track. It sounds heavier and slightly different to the others as the guitars are tuned lower than on the rest of the album. It unfortunately never seems to last long enough as it flows seamlessly right through to one of the most beautiful sections I have found in all of Opeth's offerings- the guitars provide a sublime question and answer fade out with the ghost's pain being voiced by Mikael in a heartfelt fashion. The classical guitar rendition at the very end of the song is a perfect start for the next track.
CREDENCE starts with a haunting drum beat getting louder, until the dramatic entrance of beautiful 'gothic' chords, arpegiated in such a way that it lends itself to the fact the main theme is yet to come. The song is 'typical' Opeth if there is such a thing, with the epic introduction and fade out, but this is one of the finest songs on the entire album. It is the only song that has pure clean vocals all the way through on the whole of the masterpiece that is My Arms, Your Hearse. The lyrics to Credence are among the best sung I have heard, and portray the ghost's despair in such a way as to make it impossible not to empathise with him. "Tainted by memoties, I confess my all", and "recognise, my lonliness"- it is such a calming song after the full on effects that Demon of the Fall can have on the listeners ears, that the repeated fade-out at the end was the only way it could end. The bass is promonant throughout the song, another welcome change, and it is perfectly placed on the album after the hurricane that was Demon... and before the onslaught that is Karma.
KARMA comes as such a shock after Credence as you are so relaxed by the end that the full-on gutteral screaming of Mikael is incredibly powerful. The song changes constantly but has a distinctly morbid feel. "The nighttime birds float as black faces" is wonderful imagery, and this is why the song works so well- perfect lyric after perfect lyric. After 3mins50s, another fantastic calming question and answer riff comes through, and then after a cleverly worked rythmn and feeling change, a deathly angry section is created. The guitars build up, double bass pedals enter, Mikael growls deeply and it leads into my favourite screaming roar. 6mins40s the riff comes through, Opeth up the tempo, and from 7mins to 7mins40s, ONE long growling, gutteral, heartfelt deathly scream is all that can be concentrated on. More powerful than any I have heard elsewhere, it manages to sum up an entire year of the ghost's anger, hatred and despair, yet still undying love for the lover he lost. It goes completely through you, almost sounding like howling wind and wolves at times as loops and fights it's way through the music which is bellowing majestically in the background. No need for a fade-out here, but an abrupt acouticly strummed halt takes us to the final offering to the story.
EPILOGUE is the last track which completes the story, the conlusion. "A sunrise that never came, still the nightlamp that never faded away." It is a Hammond organ, played by Fredik Nordstrom who helped to record the album, and a predominantly slow guitar instumential. This is not just an excuse for some pointless flashy guitar either, there is a quick flurry of notes, but this is emotive guitar at it's best. One last time, there is a repeating riff fade-out at the end, "Rising and telling everybody about the beauty of it's PROLOGUE"
Paul Carter "
anyway, here it is,,,,enjoy
"OPETH
"My Arms, Your Hearse"
Candlelight Records
9 Tracks 53 Mins
(2 bonus songs; a cover of Celtic Frost's "Circle of the Tyrant", and Iron Maiden's "Remember Tomorrow")
Mikael Akerfeldt- Vocals, guitar, bass
Peter Lindgren- guitars
Martin Lopez- drums
Opeth's finest album. As I take you through this album, you first have to realise two things:
a) I do not have as large a vocabulary as Chris (My Cross To Bare), so the repeated useage of words like "powerful","perfect","roar","beautiful" can be doctored by those with a larger lexicon than I, and should not detract from my sentiments about this masterpiece of an album.
b) It is a concept album, with a definite story that it follows with the lyrics. In short, a couple's love is broken when a man dies. We watch the woman grieve through the first-person perspective of the ghost, which the man comes back as.. The lyrics make the listener feel the emotion and heartache as the man comes back to the woman he loves as the ethereal being and watches her slowly get over him over the course of a year... it's harsh, but it works so well. The last word on each song is the title of the next, so the story flows perfectly. On the instrumental tracks, lyrics are written to convey the reasons and feelings behind each track.
PROLOGUE is first on the album, and the lyrics are written not sung on this, setting the morbid scene of a rain-sodden coffin being silently watched. Slow, haunting piano chords, rain in the background marking "the coming of Spring". Lasting under a minute, it's the perfect lead in for the song that changed the way I look at music and life forever:
APRIL ETHEREAL. A five second harmonious choir introduction becomes full on deep black metal riffage, with Mikael's gutteral growls adding so much depth and power. The song concentrates on the ghost's realisation that he has lost his soul partener, and he has nothing left. The lyrics are beautiful, and create a perfect picture of the man's pain, and the complete song is like a story in itself. The depth and feeling behind "She faced me in awe" is astounding, and after that a complete rythmn change occurs which ultimately leads the song into a quieter section. This manages to retain the power while being relaxing. There is about two seconds of superb bass which can be heard after "glaring with failure", but this is pretty much the only point in the song where they are audible. This may be the production, but as Mikael took on the roll as bassist for this album, perhaps it was a deliberate move on Opeth's part. The final section of the track is my favourite piece of any song to date. It continually builds up in intensity until the final death-like growl from Mikael, when fantastic melodic chords plow into the foreground, with the driving double bass leading us to the next song.
WHEN has got groove after groove!! The second proper riff is 'bouncy death metal' if such a thing can exist. The short solo comes in better than I have heard than most bands, and it fits the song perfectly. It leads to a typically emotive classical Opeth section, which the next heavy riff is cleverly semblant towards. "The gate was closed that day" is sung over yet another brilliant heavy chuggy riff, which is then followed by another flawless solo. Once again this leads to a quiet section, but entirely different from before. It has a more relaxing, flowing feel, with haunting volume swells in the background raising the tension levels somewhat dramatically. One of the few times the bass can be heard occurs here again, and it all adds to a calming build up to the majority of Opeth fan's favourite section in their entire archive. Mikael sings five sentences starting with the title of the song, and then "When is the new beginning, and the end of this sad Madrigal" with such perfect underlying chords and rythmn, with the drums taking the song to the next in wonderful style.
MADRIGAL has the most ethereal sound on the album, and lasts under two minutes. The lyrics, like Prologue, are written and unsung. It is the ghost's thoughts of longing and despair which makes this song powerful, and it's quiet nature makes the kick in from the next song all the better.
THE AMEN CORNER is about the ghost slowly realising that the woman, although still desolate, is beginning to forget him. "Those eyes...empty like a barren well"- so suggestive, and so good when sung. A complete half-time section comes up after these lyrics, when Mikael's voice drives the song on so forcefully, and the guitars are (dare I say it?) almost immaterial. I cannot help but listen to the depth his voice brings to the song at this point. The end of the song has another fantasic, epic heavy rythmn, but it really is all about the drums- fast, heavy, powerful...in short, superb! Another great fade-out sparks the beginning of (until the release of The Drapery Falls) Opeth's most 'famous' song, which is played at every gig. Reasons? Because it is AWESOME!!
DEMON OF THE FALL comes out of haunting reverse guitar sounds into the ( sorry for the description) Opeth style riff, which leads into a full bodied black-metal-riffage. When sung over, "Silent dance with death. Everything is lost", it seems to become a darker riff as a result. To me, the song is about the woman sensing a presence, and being terrified in her own room. This leads her emotions to finally turn to petrified anger, which took until the beginning of Autumn to emerge, and hence the title of the song. But what makes this song so good is it also shows the man's conflicting feelings of desolation and devostation, with these three sentences summing up more emotion than I ever could while trying to describe the song: "Everything is lost", "In tears for all eternity", and "Just one second, and I was left with nothing." The man realises it's over between them, her feelings to him had changed, and is so inexplicably emotive when you hear the song. Riff after riff emerge faultlessly during the tumultuous course of this track. It sounds heavier and slightly different to the others as the guitars are tuned lower than on the rest of the album. It unfortunately never seems to last long enough as it flows seamlessly right through to one of the most beautiful sections I have found in all of Opeth's offerings- the guitars provide a sublime question and answer fade out with the ghost's pain being voiced by Mikael in a heartfelt fashion. The classical guitar rendition at the very end of the song is a perfect start for the next track.
CREDENCE starts with a haunting drum beat getting louder, until the dramatic entrance of beautiful 'gothic' chords, arpegiated in such a way that it lends itself to the fact the main theme is yet to come. The song is 'typical' Opeth if there is such a thing, with the epic introduction and fade out, but this is one of the finest songs on the entire album. It is the only song that has pure clean vocals all the way through on the whole of the masterpiece that is My Arms, Your Hearse. The lyrics to Credence are among the best sung I have heard, and portray the ghost's despair in such a way as to make it impossible not to empathise with him. "Tainted by memoties, I confess my all", and "recognise, my lonliness"- it is such a calming song after the full on effects that Demon of the Fall can have on the listeners ears, that the repeated fade-out at the end was the only way it could end. The bass is promonant throughout the song, another welcome change, and it is perfectly placed on the album after the hurricane that was Demon... and before the onslaught that is Karma.
KARMA comes as such a shock after Credence as you are so relaxed by the end that the full-on gutteral screaming of Mikael is incredibly powerful. The song changes constantly but has a distinctly morbid feel. "The nighttime birds float as black faces" is wonderful imagery, and this is why the song works so well- perfect lyric after perfect lyric. After 3mins50s, another fantastic calming question and answer riff comes through, and then after a cleverly worked rythmn and feeling change, a deathly angry section is created. The guitars build up, double bass pedals enter, Mikael growls deeply and it leads into my favourite screaming roar. 6mins40s the riff comes through, Opeth up the tempo, and from 7mins to 7mins40s, ONE long growling, gutteral, heartfelt deathly scream is all that can be concentrated on. More powerful than any I have heard elsewhere, it manages to sum up an entire year of the ghost's anger, hatred and despair, yet still undying love for the lover he lost. It goes completely through you, almost sounding like howling wind and wolves at times as loops and fights it's way through the music which is bellowing majestically in the background. No need for a fade-out here, but an abrupt acouticly strummed halt takes us to the final offering to the story.
EPILOGUE is the last track which completes the story, the conlusion. "A sunrise that never came, still the nightlamp that never faded away." It is a Hammond organ, played by Fredik Nordstrom who helped to record the album, and a predominantly slow guitar instumential. This is not just an excuse for some pointless flashy guitar either, there is a quick flurry of notes, but this is emotive guitar at it's best. One last time, there is a repeating riff fade-out at the end, "Rising and telling everybody about the beauty of it's PROLOGUE"
Paul Carter "
