Still Life (Opeth album)
| Still life | ||||
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| Studio album by Opeth | ||||
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Publication |
1999 |
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| Label (s) | Peaceville Records | |||
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Format (s) |
CD |
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Title (number) |
7th |
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running time |
62 min 29 s |
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| occupation |
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Fredrik Nordström |
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Studio (s) |
Maestro Music, Fredman Studios |
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Still Life is the fourth album by the Swedish Progressive - death metal band Opeth , which in Europe in 1999 under the label of Peaceville Records was released. It was the band's most commercially successful album to date. After the previous album My Arms, Your Hearse , it is the band's second concept album . It is also the first album with Martin Mendez as bassist , replacing Mikael Åkerfeldt , who played both guitar and bass in the previous album . From this album until May 2006 the line-up remained the same.
Music genre
Like all other Opeth albums (except Damnation , Heritage , Pale Communion and Sorceress ) the album shows the characteristic amalgamation of Death Metal and Progressive Rock . Passages with distorted guitar melodies and deep growls and those with acoustic guitar and normal vocals alternate throughout the album.
Texts
The plot cannot be clearly taken from the lyrics, as they often allow multiple interpretations.
The protagonist is a born Christian who over time begins to question his faith and continues to lose it, until he is ultimately excluded from the village community as a result. 15 years later, the story begins with the return to his former homeland, where he is looking for his then lover Melinda.
He finds out that Melinda swore her oath to someone else. It is not clear whether this means that she married someone else or whether she became a nun. The text passage “ a harlot of god upon the earth ” (German: “a whore of God on earth”) indicates the latter . He asks you to come with him with the words “ all faith forever has been washed away ” (German: “all faith was washed away for ever”) which can be understood as a final break with Christianity , but also as an expression of disappointment. Melinda confesses her love for him, but does not promise to come with him.
The following song describes Melinda apparently being strangled. It remains unclear who killed them. The protagonist loses control under the impression of her death and causes a bloodbath in the village until he finally collapses from weakness. Finally, it is hung , the last lines being “ and the last sight I did see is still here beckoning right behind me ” (German: “and the last thing I saw is still here and waving behind me at the same time”). This can be interpreted as a portrayal of death, another interpretation is that he sees Melinda behind him in the crowd waving to him.
particularities
- In the first song The Moor , only one audio track can be heard at times. This is due to an error in the production, which initially ran through the entire song. After Anders Fridén from In Flames pointed this out to the band, the errors were eliminated except for two places.
- The abrupt end of the sixth song, on the other hand, is intentional, according to Mikael Åkerfeldt.
- Although Mikael Åkerfeldt's first daughter is called Melinda, he pointed out that this is not related to the song.
Track list
- The Moor - 11:28 am
- Godhead's Lament - 9:47
- Benighted - 5:01
- Moonlapse Vertigo - 9:00 am
- Face of Melinda - 7:59
- Serenity Painted Death - 9:14 am
- White Cluster - 10:02