STILL LIFE

This album is one of the alltime metal classics which many of the greatest metal bands would be proud to call their own. This is where Opeth really took a full step to greatness. Songs like "The Moor","Godhead's Lament","Moonlapse Vertigo" and "White Cluster" are classics of the death metal and prog metal genre and most great metal bands would be proud to call them their own. Then there are gentler songs, the short but lovely "Benighted" and the magnum opus "Face of Melinda". They really display the diversity and depth of Åkerfeldt and co's music. Where else but here could you get death growls and acoustic ballads?

I personally rank this one above "Blackwater Park". The production is not as smooth here and that is another part of the special charm of "Still Life", it's raw, original and has a more vintage feel. Very few records alltogether can be compared to this one. I love the way it finishes, with guitar and bass alone, a great touch. All in all, this is an epic achievement by one of the last true original progressive metal bands. After this, I find Dream Theater shallow.