Reviewed by Morthore
Opeth's first two recordings, while being way ahead of their time as well as technically and musically brilliant, were still lacking a certain completeness, a missing spark that "My Arms, Your Hearse" had, and this spark is what, at least in my mind, elevated Opeth from an extremely talented progressive death metal band to one of the best bands of ANY genre ever to pick up instruments. It's tought to pinpoint the magical essence that makes this album so special, but for the sake of this review I will attribute it to flawlessly crafted songs with a perfect balance maintained throughout, even though it is obviously much more. There's never a dull moment on "My Arms, Your Hearse". At every second the listener is forcefully drawn into the song being played, and is made to experience every deep emotion the piece evokes. And indeed a full range of emotions are expressed beautifully throughout the recording; as one song glides into another, the listener also transitions emotional states almost without even noticing. "My Arms, Your Hearse" can often call up memories from my past that have nothing to do with the lyrics, nor had I even listened to the album when the memory was formed. The music is just so powerful, so evocative, that it thrusts old memories back into my mind through the sheer depth of emotion. The only other recording that has ever done this for me is Queensryche's 1988 album, "Operation: Mindcrime", quite a powerful work in it's own right. I don't have to talk about the production, or the technical mastery, because although these elements are all perfect and are essential to the success of the work, the listener is so focused on the emotions he or she is experiencing, that little time is left to notice how skilled the musicians are or how well-produced the album is. Brilliant.