When I first received "Still Life" from a friend of mine, I was speculative about the level of enjoyment I would achieve from listening.
In the past I had heard a lot of negative feedback regarding the band "Opeth". Normally, I acknowledge opinions regarding music but rarely do I take them seriously. However in the case of "Opeth", I'd been assured before even hearing a single track that they were 'mainstream' and 'amateur'.
How wrong I was to even acknowledge such garbage-talk.
It is not often in the modern times of 'NU Metal' and "Rap 'music'" that one is able to encounter a piece of awe-inspiring music, and on the off chance that it does happen, it is usually in the form of some long forgotten classic from the 80s.
So it's always much more exhilarating to find modern music that stretches the boundaries of all types of music, and especially the metal world - but of course I thought such an occurrence would never happen after hearing Spiral Architect.
I was once again delightful to rediscover how naïve I have been.
"Still Life" is the fourth album from Swedish bred band, "Opeth" (meaning city of the moon). Much like a lot of great music, this album requires time and balance. Those who listen to it may not find it satisfactory on the first, second or third time round of listening.
However, in my experience, after persistently and patiently listening to the album while working out at my local gym, I found the first track to fall into my category of "All time greats".
It took me much longer to realise that every single song on this album is a work of genius, but for the time being I will explore the first, longest and my favourite track of the album.
For those that are unaware, the term 'Still Life' is a picture of inanimate objects such as flowers or fruit.
When queried in an interview, Mikael Åkerfeldt, frontman of "Opeth", explained that the term "Still Life" in the context of this album meant "Calm life or Dead life."
This is certainly conveyed in the introduction to this album, which begins with soft, backwards sounding guitars, a mellow bass and a lead guitar finger picking some clean chords. In essence what one finds is our first immediate contrast.
Åkerfeldt explained to an interviewer that the album had a 'simple theme of Good versus Evil', which one might within the exhibition of clean and dirty guitar playing.
The opening guitars set up an atmosphere reminiscent of something calm, but with dark overtones that represent something grim or unpleasant, which is achieved by the minor tonality. A lovely touch.
This introduction reaches a climax that gradually dissipates, almost conjuring up an image of a fade to black. However, without warning a Spanish/Latin acoustic guitar riff enters the foreground, surprising the listener. It is genuinely a beautiful riff because it lies over heavenly, arpegiated guitar chords and slowly builds up as the textures thicken, creating an eerily calm or even tense mood for the listener.
The responder is again given no warning when the entire band kicks in and displays what 'Opeth' is really about. This is where the death-metal aspect of this band really shines as they exercise inspiring recording techniques with all the instruments, particularly the vocals. If one listens to this song with headphones, they will notice a significant amount of panning techniques and works with the balance.
The album "Still Life" is actually a concept album and to begin the collaboration of what conveys itself as being a very dark and depressing story is the song
"The Moor".
This song deals with a nameless individual who returns to his hometown after being ostracised for 15 years for questioning his faith in Christianity. The return is compelled by his desire to seek out his past love, Melinda. Sadly he is far from welcomed home after he discovers his return sparks a wide scale manhunt by the town's local council who wish to execute him.
The title of the song "The Moor" refers a broad area of open land, often high but poorly drained, with patches of heath and peat bogs. The mood conveyed by this song matches the atmosphere one might find in a landscape similar to an open area of peril, which is described above.
The melodic lines of the guitars and the double kicking of the bass drum give off an image of a person tearing through a mud-drenched forest type landscape, and I believe by achieving this the band have essentially given a sense of time and place to the listener. Bear in mind, this is something that is rather difficult to achieve in most music. In doing so, the band establishes a link or connection with the listener and thus gives the concept of the album greater authenticity.
"Still Life" manages to convey that "Opeth" have created their own unique sound, which is an aspect I tend to highlight in my reviews. This is because I don't see the point of regurgitating other music and passing it off as one's own. I love hearing influences within the music, but I do not approve of a blatant plagiarism or adapted riffs.
Certain characteristics that define "Opeth's" style can be found in "The Moor". The sudden louds, softs and the almost 'Call and response" style between the acoustic and electric guitars create a sense of uniqueness for this band. Another aspect of their style is the vocal styling of Åkerfeldt. This man has a very special voice that is simply gorgeous when singing clean, and absolutely mental when singing dirty.
I always get great satisfaction from hearing my favourite death metal singers being able to sing clean and melodically, as well as the growling and virtual eating the microphone. This might best be illustrated on Tracks 3 and 5, entitled "Benighted" and "Face of Melinda", which essentially proves that they are not tied down to one genre of metal.
The genius of this band is that they've managed to forge an album where every composition is magnificent, and tremendously close to a great work of literature. If one takes the time to examine the lyrics closely, there is evidence of great precision and care in terms of word choice.
The concept of a man returning to his home to search for his love where he has been banished may not seem so incredulous by today's standard. However if we consider the historical context of this story, one might see the brutality and gore involved in what is actually taking place.
During these times religion was considered the base of society. Everything known to everybody, including gentlemen, nobles and even the king was based on the assumption of gods will. In a religious society, renouncing one's own religion and taking on the status of a heretic was enough to be burnt at the stake.
So what has been done to further enhance the authenticity of this album and what evokes such emotion out of the songs is the word choice and style of the lyrics, which seem to sound like epic or narrative poetry.
There is not much more one can ask for in a modern, metal album.
Dare I call this a masterpiece?
Written by
Yoni Thursday, March 20, 2003
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