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This is my third stop on my reviews of the Opeth's back catalogue. Being a new listener to the band I just recently purchased the entire discography and so far it was money well spent.

I have come to the realization that this band could be playing Ukulele's and farting on a snare drum and still make it sound awesome. The talent level of this band is just off the charts. I have sat down and intently listened to three albums now, "Blackwater Park", "Still Life" and "My Arms, Your Hearse" and have yet to here a song that could be even slightly referred to as filler. I honestly believe that Mikael Akerfeldt couldn't write a bad song even if he were trying.

Now that I have kissed enough ass I can get to the point of this review. This is the heaviest album that I have heard from Opeth thus far. There is more of the growling vocal style present and it seems like there is a slightly darker vibe and sound to the sound overall. The musicianship is brilliant as always and the songwriting is just what you would expect from this incredibly talented group. The only complaint I could come up with is the bass sounds a little low in the mix and there is nothing really impressive about how it is being played. This being the first album with their new bassist I get the impression he is kind of nervous. I am not saying the bass parts are bad just a little less technical comparatively speaking. This is another great album that most bands out there would give their right arm to have written and that statement just speaks volumes of the songwriting talent of the Akerfeldt/Lindgren team. The music is just so deep and complex you need to listen to it numerous times just to begin to grasp the full levels of emotion that are being evoked. There is no way you can just throw this (or any Opeth album for that matter) in the CD player and offhandedly listen to it. Opeth write music that requires and deserves your undivided attention. This is what I like to call the thinking man's metal.

Beginning to end another excellent album and highly recommended.

Track by track

Prologue (Intro)-N/R
April Etheral-8.5
When-9.5
Madrigal-9.5
The Amen Corner-9.5
Demon of the Fall-10
Credence-9
Karma-9.5
Epilogue (outro)-N/R

Ratings

Vocals-9
Guitars-9.5
Bass-8
Drums-9
Production-9