Still Life

Artist: Opeth
Label: Peaceville UK
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 801056707826
EAN: 0801056707826
ASIN: B00008AWOG

Release Date: 2003-04-29

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Tracks:

Moor
Godhead's Lament
Benighted
Moonlapse Vertigo
Face of Melinda
Serenity Painted Death
White Cluster

Similar Items:

My Arms, Your Hearse
Morningrise
Blackwater Park
Opeth - Lamentations (Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003)
Deliverance

Customer Reviews:

Have I Told You Lately..........2007-03-16

I love this band. Everything Opeth puts out into this world is original and great. They are awesome in concert, too.

Kind reader of this review: If you buy only one CD by Opeth, let it be Still Life. Every song is a chapter in a story. Imagine, a story being told to you in a voice which you find dually lulling and frightening. Imagine music playing--music harsh and gentle. You see a woman, there, up ahead. She's standing at the edge of a dark forest. The first things you notice about her is a pale face, black hair, and you take notice that she's dressed in old time garb (maybe gothic wear?). She stands as a woman saddened by something which is unknown to you--a pain which you'll never understand. Can you save her? Would you put your life down for her salvation? Would you dare to love Melinda?

Both haunting and beautiful. Still Life is a magical experience!.......2006-11-05

There are certain terms and phrases of praise that can be applied to everything Opeth does. Wonderful musicianship, epic tracks of varying styles and textures, consistent class and quality all come to mind. But with "Still Life", Opeth's fourth album, you can add a few more. The music on this release is incredibly beautiful, enchanting and haunting. While I always listen to their albums in awe of their brilliance, this one touches me much deeper. The artwork, the lyrics, the melodies, the intertwining acoustic, the mixture of tender and brutal vocals, it all combines to form something that's purely...magical!

"Still Life" is a concept album, following the journey of a man who returns to his home, long after being banished, attempting to find his beloved Melinda. From what I can gather, she is in no position to be with him as he is still an outcast, and yet she still loves him. Unfortunately, they are discovered together and Melinda has her throat cut. In a rage, the man begins to slaughter the town members until he himself is finally executed and joins Melinda in the afterlife for good.

As you can tell, the mood of the album is that of despair. Album opener "The Moor" is a perfect example of the feelings of loneliness, anger and loss that is consistently portrayed throughout. The quiet intro sets the scene perfectly, seguing into beautiful acoustics which in turn mixes seamlessly with heavy guitars and Mikael's awesomely crushing vocals. Within a few minutes the music transforms without losing the mood and before you know it the band are playing death metal. While other bands fail to combine styles seamlessly, Opeth have become experts and this is the release that proves it.

Highlights include the above-mentioned "The Moor", "Godhead's Lament" (which has a simply awesome heavy riff, "Benighted" (an exquisite acoustic track) and "Face of Melinda" (the centrepiece of the album). But every track plays it part in the story both musically and lyrically to form a wonderful, moving piece of art. If you like death metal (but don't expect brutality throughout) or progressive metal (but can handle things a little more extreme at times) then check Opeth out. "Still Life" is a perfect place to start!

Simply beautiful..........2006-09-30

I never thought that I might say this about an album that has elemements of death metal, but I shall about this one. The guitar work is technically proficient enough to rival any, and they are able to integrate the acoustic with the hardest electric FAR BETTER than ANYONE I have EVER heard. Its rare to find music where all of the songs on the album are just about equally as good, but this one does just that for me. This is probably my second favorite Opeth album behind Blackwater Park.

Still Life: Essential Opeth.......2006-09-07

I have Ghost Reveries, Blackwater Park, Deliverance, and My Arms, Your Hearse in addition to Still Life. Every single Opeth album I have is excellent and well worth it. Opeth is downright mesmerizing, and Mikael Akerfeldt has the best death metal growl in the business. The highly skilled band members can be brutal, but they also take you on a journey. If you are into this style of music, Opeth is VERY fulfilling. Still Life is definitely one of my favorites.

A statement to Opeth's greatness.......2006-07-17

Still Life marks Opeth's most noticeable foray into exploring more progressive sounds, utilising a cleaner and more pristine production work compared to their first two albums produced by Dan Swano. Not as heavy as My Arms, Your Hearse, their first album engineered at Fredman Studios, Still Life contains more clean vocals than before, merging the band's interest in death metal, progressive rock, and Scandinavian folk, while still retaining their heavy approach to songwriting. After this disc, Opeth would move on to work with Porcupine Tree mastermind Steven Wilson, venturing into more 70's prog with thicker soundscapes and layered melodies.

For starters, there is a wealth of clean vocal harmonies on this album, which have Akerfeldt sounding a lot more emotive and elaborate. This would be the album where he found his true self as a clean vocalist. Still alternating between demonic death growls and fragile, soothing clean passages, the album became a logical next step for the band's future albums, where they experimented with more complex harmonies. However, the first two songs on Still Life are arguably Akerfeldt's finest moments, as far as clean choruses are concerned. "The Moor", the album's first track, is comprised of innumerable threads of melodies that range from the slow, haunting intro to the acoustic and electric riffs respectively. Actually the acoustic intro of this song remains among Opeth's most remarkable to this day. Infused with clear folk elements which particularly come to the fore during the amazing chorus that starts with the lyrics "If you'll bear with me, you'll fear of me", the melody of this section is reproduced on guitar impressively. There are several guitar themes soaring above the piece, while neat acoustic elements are played on top of them, and Akerfeldt's melodies convincingly hummed. Without doubt, when contrasted with his possessed death growls, the dynamics make for an incredible song overall.

"Godhead's Lament" is another Opeth classic. Starting with sudden shifts of metallic riffage and a paralyzing lead solo, the song retreats to its anticipated calm mood, where a fantastic guitar theme is played to generate atmosphere. Unlike the opening song, this time Akerfeldt delivers the lyrics staying true to the theme played, singing "What would they care if I did stay, No one would know", stressing the final word and producing heart-wrenching melodies. For a brief moment, the bass, acoustic and electric guitars are all played in synch before the song ventures into its initial heavy path, only to highlight another clean chorus that is arguably the most moving part on the album.

The all-clean sung "Benighted" and "Face of Melinda" are both sublime. The former maintains its careful flow throughout, with subtle blues-inflected leads; while the latter does take on a heavier vibe in its second half with a great electric solo. By many considered Opeth's most engaging ballad, it is also interesting Mikael Akerfeldt would name his new-born daughter Melinda a few years later. On the heavier side, "Moonlapse Vertigo" and the amazing riff-master "Serenity Painted Death", besides highlighting Opeth's death metal heaviness, are also punctuated by creepy middle sections underpinned by tranquil elements and quirky sound effects. Needless to say, these parts are very brief and only serve to enrich the dynamics, as they are both followed by punishing death metal riffs and brutal growling. "Serenity Painted Death" particularly stands out for its endlessly creative riffing and climactic ending that follows a throbbing bass and syncopated drum workout.

Still Life is one of Opeth's two concept albums (the other one being My Arms, Your Hearse). The lyrics are poetic and rather hard to understand on first reading; it's a tragic love story based around the Middle Ages about an exiled man who returns to his village after many years in order to find the woman he loves. Also, as was the case with My Arms, Your Hearse and Blackwater Park, the title seems to have been inspired by another 70's band Akerfeldt highly respects: namely Van der Graaf Generator's 1976 album. However, given the amazing artwork by Travis Smith, it could also be the art term for a type of painting which consists of predominantly inanimate objects. Speaking of which, the packaging is among Opeth's best as well.

If you have never heard any Opeth before, start with Still Life.

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Let Love Out ~ Grant King

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Under Cover ~ Ozzy Osbourne

Jupiter Eye ~ Das Damen

Hitchcock 100 Years: A Bernard Herrmann Film Score Tribute ~ Bernard Herrmann

Distance ~ Karsh Kale