''My Arms, Your Hearse'' is the third studio album by Swedish
progressive metal
Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...
band
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...
, released in August 1998. It was the band's first album to be released simultaneously in Europe, through
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is a British record label based in London, founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bass guitarist Lee Barrett in 1993. The record label originally specialized in black metal, but quickly expanded to various other forms of hea ...
, and in the United States, through
Century Black.
Background
''My Arms, Your Hearse'' was the first Opeth album with drummer
Martin Lopez
Martin Walter López Cardozo (born 20 May 1978 in Stockholm) is a Swedish-Uruguayan drummer, currently a member and co-founder of progressive metal group Soen, but best known as the ex-drummer of Swedish progressive metal band Opeth and melod ...
, who answered a newspaper ad that Opeth put up searching for this spot to be taken after
Anders Nordin left. Shortly thereafter the band also brought in
Martín Méndez
Martín Méndez (born 6 April 1978) is a Uruguayan Swedish musician. He migrated to Sweden when he was 17 years old. He is the bassist of the progressive metal band Opeth and the second-longest-serving member of the band, behind frontman Mikael ...
, a friend and previous bandmate of Lopez. However, Mendez did not have enough time to learn the bass parts for the album, so frontman
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)[Mikael Åkerfeldt](_blank)
, Op ...
played bass for the entire recording session.
[Session diary of ''My Arms, Your Hearse''](_blank)
All of the songs on ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' are shorter than ten minutes, whereas on Opeth's previous album, ''
Morningrise'', every song exceeds this length. The album is dedicated to Lee Barrett (of Candlelight Records).
The title of the album is derived from the lyrics of the song "Drip, Drip" by the band
Comus.
Concept
Åkerfeldt wrote all the lyrics before the music was written,
to create Opeth's first
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
. The album is about a ghost of a recently deceased man who is unwilling to accept his fate. He attempts to reconnect with his loved ones through the spiritual world, but only becomes more frustrated with his inability to do so, often scaring his loved ones rather than reassuring. His frustration culminates in an attempt to kill his beloved (of who the ghost falsely suspects is cheating on him) to reunite with her, which proves to be an impossible task. His attempt only manages to cause his lover to lose interest in him. This failure causes the ghost to grow depressed as all of his loved ones forget about him. The ghost, however, still refuses to accept his fate through a desire to not be forgotten, causing him to be stuck in a never ending limbo, being perpetually stuck between life and death. Each song ends with the title of the next song. For example, "April Ethereal" ends with the word "when", which is the name of the next track. The written lyrics during the epilogue ends with "prologue", signalling the ghost's never ending cycle of the afterlife.
Artwork
The cover of this album was captured by their then-guitarist Peter Lindgren. The original picture was taken in late 1997, somewhere in Sweden. The effects were added later on. The figure seen in the middle is Lindgren's girlfriend in a costume with makeup on.
Reception
''My Arms, Your Hearse'' was widely praised by critics. Steve Huey of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
said that it "flows logically from one composition to the next, and the mostly long songs have enough variation in texture and mood to hold the listener's interest fairly consistently".
Jeb of ''Metal Faith'' magazine said, "each song sort of flows into the next giving the whole album a unified feel".
Jeff of ''Mid West Metal'' magazine commented, "having never been exposed to Opeth, I had them pegged as a typical black metal bands that sings about love and relationships and crap like that. I really didn't expect to get blown out of the water when 'April Ethereal' kicked in, from this point I am converted! And while the album has some mellow parts and some folk-ish characteristics, it's still a very intense album from a band who seems to have not forgotten how the fuck they got their current plateau in life."
Christian Renner of ''Metal Crypt'' wrote, "the musicianship is brilliant as always and the songwriting is just what you would expect from this incredibly talented group. This is another great album that most bands out there would give their right arm to have written and that statement just speaks volumes of the songwriting talent of the Åkerfeldt/Lindgren team."
Pedro Azevedo of ''
Chronicles of Chaos'' said of the album, "though some parts of the drum sound are somewhat awkward at times (new drummer and bass player, by the way), the
instrumental
An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
performance is as great as one would expect, and Akerfeldt's vocals are again amazing. Top quality sections just flow throughout the album, making it truly -excellent-. ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' is a indeed a brilliant proof that Swedish metal isn't entirely stagnant."
''Tartarean Desires critic Cseke Róbert wrote, "this record is more powerful and more beautiful than most of today's music from this genre. The entire record is a mixture of hell-bound adrenalin and soul... ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' is such a powerful album that I consider it one of the best of the genre."
Demonic Tutor (Olivier Espiau) of ''
Metal Storm
Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...
'' stated the album is a "trip to heaven" and also:
Tim Henderson of ''
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles
''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal website and former magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music f ...
'' said "you are in for a treat, easily described as the
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...
version of ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973, by Capitol Records in the US and on 16 March 1973, by Harvest Records in the UK. Developed during live performances before ...
'' in all its pride and glory. In fact, if
Gilmour joined
Emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
, or if
Cradle
Cradle or Cradles may refer to:
* Cradle (bed)
* Bassinet, a small bed, often on rockers, in which babies and small children sleep
Mechanical devices
* Cradle (circus act), or aerial cradle or casting cradle used in an aerial circus act
* Crad ...
took sides with
Yes
Yes or YES may refer to:
* An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no
Education
* YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US
* Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US
* Young Ep ...
, can ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' be truly described".
[MAYH Reviews](_blank)
. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 10, 2011 "''My Arms, Your Hearse'' is a milestone in '90s
extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...
", wrote Chris Bruni in his review for ''Unrestrained!'' magazine. He also wrote that the album is "easily their most stunning achievement" and "the songs are stronger, heavier, more cohesive, with a stronger sound courtesy of
Studio Fredman, and the textures and song movements are some of the best executed structures to be heard in
metal
A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...
".
Track listing
Personnel
Credits for ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' adapted from liner notes.
Opeth
*
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)[Mikael Åkerfeldt](_blank)
, Op ...
– vocals, guitars, bass, piano
*
Peter Lindgren – guitars, photography
*
Martin Lopez
Martin Walter López Cardozo (born 20 May 1978 in Stockholm) is a Swedish-Uruguayan drummer, currently a member and co-founder of progressive metal group Soen, but best known as the ex-drummer of Swedish progressive metal band Opeth and melod ...
– drums
Production
* Fredrik Nordström –
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
, mixing,
Hammond organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...
on "Epilogue"
*
Anders Fridén
Pär Anders Fridén (born 25 March 1973) is a Swedish vocalist, best known as the lead singer of the melodic death metal band In Flames. He was also the vocalist of Dark Tranquillity and side project Passenger.
Career
Early career
Fridén was ...
– engineering
* Göran Finnberg –
mastering
* Tom Martinsen – graphic design
Release history
This is the second Opeth album with a major delayed release (the first being ''Orchid'') and the recording for ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' was done a year before its release, just like ''Orchid''. ''My Arms, Your Hearse'' was released on 18 August 1998 simultaneously in Europe and the United States on CD by
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is a British record label based in London, founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bass guitarist Lee Barrett in 1993. The record label originally specialized in black metal, but quickly expanded to various other forms of hea ...
and
Century Black, respectively. It was released in Poland by
Mystic Production
Mystic Production is a Polish independent record label. It was founded by Barbara Mikuła in 1995 in Skała.
The company was initially releasing and distributing Heavy metal music, heavy metal music, including early albums by artists such as Scep ...
on
cassette. The album was reissued in 2000 on CD by Candlelight Records and on LP by
Displeased Records
Displeased Records was a Dutch independent record label, founded by Lars Eikema and Ron Veltkamp. The label had many Dutch and other extreme metal bands on its roster, but has also re-released albums by Agathocles (band), Agathocles, Cryptopsy, In ...
. The LP was limited to 1,000 copies. These reissues contain two bonus tracks, "Circle of the Tyrants" and "Remember Tomorrow".
[Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse](_blank)
. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 9, 2011. They are covers of songs that were only previously available on two separate tribute albums, ''
In Memory of Celtic Frost'' and ''
A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden'', respectively.
A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden, Vol. 1
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
. Retrieved July 9, 2011. A special edition was released by Candlelight in 2003.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:My Arms, Your Hearse
1998 albums
Albums produced by Fredrik Nordström
Albums recorded at Studio Fredman
Candlelight Records albums
Century Media Records albums
1990s concept albums
Opeth albums
Back on Black Records albums