This is Opeths 3rd record after the equally brilliant Morningrise. Opeth play a unique highly technical
brand of metal that incorporates Black, Death, Folk, Traditional Metal and even Jazzy parts. They are world
renowned as great musicians and this is arguably their finest hour. It starts out with sounds
of flowing water which is interrupted by a deep piano chord, the short melody fades out and just
as your getting comfortable April Ethereal kicks in. Riffs like thunder and Akerfeldt's stunning
vocals. He alternates between a deep growl and superb clean melodic singing. He is
considered one of Metals finest voices and you can see why on tracks like When, Credence and the stand out
track Demon of the fall. The album is a concept album where every last word of a song is the
title of the next. The lyrics are not the standard Black/Death Metal fair and are in fact quite
pleasant and even romantic. The songs are quite long although not as long as on other Opeth
albums. Most tracks are around the ten minute mark. The beauty of this and all Opeth records is their
ability to go from thunderous death metal to gorgeous acoustic passages and back again without seeming in
the least forced or pompous. Similarly the change from growled to clean vocals is seamless.
Included on the album are covers of Celtic Frost's 'Circle Of The Tyrants' and Iron Maiden's 'Remember Tomorrow'.
If you’re a fan of great powerful dark metal then this a band you really need to know.
