Opeth - My Arms, Your Hearse

  

The two years since Morningrise were quite impactful to this band. Gaining a much needed new drummer Martin Lopez, Akerfeldt decides to take over bass duties as well and we plunge deep into a new phase of the band.

After a brief intro, the opening moments of “April Ethereal” show the band clearly has changed their approach to the heavy riff. They discovered they can do so much more with two guitars than just having one mimic the other on a 3rd or 5th interval, but there are things like countermelodies and chord interplay. The band had matured impressively on here. Rhythmically speaking, they are a completely different band - no longer content to plod forward with that swingy 6/8 double bass riff, things start getting very interesting. “April Ethereal” announces the changes riff-after-riff with full-6 string chords and broken rhythms (check out that “pre-Deliverence” breakdown at the 6 minute mark).

The production has doubled in quality giving Lopez a punch in the kick drum that the band sorely needed. It gives a heaviness to the new direction in stark contrast to the murky, Black Metal-esque sound to the first two records.

Akerfeldt’s growl also has a new intensity to it - suddenly developing its own character rather than blending in with the legions of Swedish growlers before him. The true marvel here though, is how he now sings with such confidence. Nowhere is this demonstrated more than on the downright beautiful “Credence” which clocks in at a mere 5:26. What the hell is going on? Manageable song-lengths? It’s barely the same band. Though, if we’re honest, “Prologue,” “April Ethereal,” and “When” could all be one track (and on record it sounds like one) and “Madrigal” is merely the intro to “The Amen Corner,” so maybe that length change is more of an illusion. Regardless, the album has an urgency to it, which is all the more pronounced when compared to the slow and brooding style of Morningrise.

MAYH is probably best known as the album with crowd favorite (it’s STILL on their set list), “Demon of the Fall.” It is a special track with some of Opeth’s heaviest moments in it, particularly that breakdown with the title growled over and over (one of the rare moments when they sound like a straight forward death metal band). That second riff too - so much cool guitar-interplay going on there.  “April Ethereal,” (which is my personal favorite) “When,” and “The Amen Corner” are all just as strong in my opinion, only “Karma” sounds pieced together but even then - it’s decent. This is the first essential album in their catalogue - they are playing and writing at a very special level here. The truly remarkable part though; this isn’t even their peak.

As a bonus, there are two somewhat surprisingly  faithful cover songs on the re-release: Celtic Frost’s “Circle of the Tyrants,” and the Maiden classic, “Remember Tomorrow.”