Opeth
Still Life

THE REVIEW

A Saturday night like many I return home in the late hours, after a fun evening with friends. Insomnia had trapped me in its castle and the sacred and due sleep was drifting further and further away. I decided to put on a record, with the aim of falling into the arms of Morpheus. "Still Life" by Opeth was my choice to defeat the ghosts of the night.

I fell asleep and the dream began...

My senses experienced intense, unclassifiable emotions. I was transported to fantastic and evocative landscapes. "The Moor," refined and inimitable, is the beginning of the end as it weaves its web of acoustic guitars, ghostly yet fascinating. The complexity of the sound, never trivial, is accompanied by Mikael Akerfeldt's wonderful voice, ready to implode within my heart with dark and powerful growls. I continue on my path and encounter stronger sensations with "Godhead's Lament," more decisive than the others, but still an episode of great elaboration and immediacy.
My brain cells undergo a relaxing daze on the arpeggios of "Benighted," crafted by Akerfeldt with the help of Lindgren.
The dream pauses for a limited period: just enough time to return to reality and sense that "Moonlapse Vertigo" could become one of the soundtracks of my life.
I get back on track and feel like I'm touching the sky with a finger listening to "Face of Melinda," inspired by the woman responsible for the apocalypse depicted in the lyrics of the entire album. Touches of class intertwined with original ideas, gently and passionately caressing my face.
"Serenity Painted Death" is dark and deadly. It contains a great touch of genius, made even stronger by an enchanting atmosphere, rich in colors and evocative sounds. A melodious and captivating voice brings pleasure to my soul, giving it unique sensations, thanks to a songwriting that is long, inimitable, sensitive, and never tiring, accompanied by the melody that makes this music unique. I end my journey with "White Cluster," the final mix of neoclassical refinement and dark experimentation, definitively vanquishing the darkness.

The dream is over. I wake up and return to the harsh reality, flanked by a life full of pitfalls and crossroads to face with courage and determination.
With one more awareness though: that of having a wonderful album in my personal collection and that Opeth is a unique band, guilty of inventing a genre that guarantees extraordinary imagination, absurd technique, and fascinating melody.