STILL LIFE

While sticking to My Arms Your Hearse formula of long songs with alternating death metal and acoustic sections and some more traditional metal riffs and solos, Still Life improves in major areas. Songs are longer, extreme parts are better integrated, creating for some interesting textures, as opposed to just juxtaposing the two extremes. Some of the riffs and solos are actually catchy to nod your head to in a thrashy sort of way, as opposed to just skull crushing and dissonant. But I still think this is overrated. Almost every song from the My Arms-Still Life period repeats the same formula heavy-less heavy-acoustic etc. and you'd be pretty much content with one of them, say, The Moor, or Godheads Lament. Fortunately, the album redeems itself with Face of Melinda, which is a classicist tune that has nothing to do with modern metal, foreshadowing things to come in Heritage and Pale Communion, proving that talented people would be talented in all the styles they try.