"There is a wound that's always bleeding ...
There is a road I'm always walking ...
... And I know you'll never return to this place"
What can I say ... somewhere in the middle of "Hope Leaves", I remembered having watery eyes ... I have listened to a lot of music from Norah Jones through Dream Theater to Pantera, but no music has ever struck such a strong emotional chord than this one 43-minute effort from a death metal band. The songs are generally about post-relationship sadness and depression. I believe that there is a certain beauty to the feeling of sadness that Opeth has captured in a highly emotional outpouring of melancholic guitars, mellotrons, amazing drums and the gorgeous voice of Mike Akerfeldt.
There is absolutely no moment in this record that sounds boring, "Hope Leaves" being the strongest point. The only moment that I was dissapointed was at the end of the last song when I longed for the sadness to continue ...
A lot of negative reviews for this album are based on comparisions to other prog. rock legends. Please folks, this is a unique piece of work that needs to be appreciated on its own.
PS: It really helps if you imagine yourself alone in a dark alpine forest in Sweden during peak-winter before beginning to listen to this album. (Or better yet, imagine yourself in the place that appears on the album cover of Opeth's Morningrise).
"Summer is miles and miles away ..." - indeed.
