Album Review // 2020-08-21

Opeth

The Roundhouse Tapes

Released: 2007-11-05

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I normally would never want to listen to a live album by a band that is new to me. After all, there are many bands that are lacking during their live shows. I had heard a handful of songs by Opeth, one of which was live footage. This video showed me they actually are a band that excels live. Among other songs I heard, Reverie/Harlequin Forest and Deliverance made it to my playlist 1.0. I also picked this album because it features songs off of several of their albums. This way it is giving me a taste of them and different pieces they have produced.

Apparently, Opeth is the name of a fictional Phoenician city in South Africa which means "City of the Moon". It comes from the novel The Sunbird by Wilbur Smith. This apparently was the inspiration for their name.

I found out that this band has gone through a lot of members changes. It is interesting when this happens and yet they are a still at it today. I don't know how I made it to adulthood without knowing them.

Album Art

I like that there are only some shades of yellow/orange and reds in this picture. I am guessing this is Melinda. I have seen her picture on other art associated with this band. In this piece she seems to be peeking from behind a mask. If you look closely there may actually be another one behind this one. This tells me that she is very worried about people knowing her identity and she has something to hide. Maybe she is in danger without being hidden.

Mood

This album feels overcast, like there are clouds you are trying to peer through to see what is going on. At times the clouds seem to move out of the way and give you a fuller picture. It also feels like it is giving an account of an experience like a story would. It does something to me that makes me feel very relaxed.

Vocals

The vocals seem very effortless. Almost like if you were talking with Mikael this is what you would hear. Such deep growls that move up to something higher, and his singing is quite melodic. Maybe his voice has a soothing quality?

Music

The music has a progressiveness to it that lends to feeling like a tale unfolding. Sometimes they really sit in quieter moments. Sometimes it feels almost bluesy. The instruments are down-tuned and deep, and there are some great moments for each instrument. In moments when the keyboard kicks in it reminds me of a crazy villain in his tower playing his instrument, consumed by the music. Makes me think of a haunted house I went to as a child that had Gargamel from the Smurfs sitting at an organ playing furiously (yes, I was terrified of it as a child).

When

This songs sounds like it is about someone who has lost their spark and is looking forward to death. I personally have seen when a person has such a strong will to live that they can push through something another person couldn't make it a few hours dealing with. And in the case of a diagnosis that is rough, if someone is ready to die, they often die pretty quick. I think this mental component is huge!

Still the same as yesterday.
This path seems endless, body is numb.
The soul has lost its flame.
Walking in familiar traces to find my way back home.

When is the word but a sigh?
When is death our lone beholder?
When do we walk the final steps?
When can we scream instead of whisper?
When is the new beginning, the end of this sad Madrigal.

Ghost Of Perdition

I feel like whenever "ghost" is written in the name of something it draws a lot of attention. Apparently, it is more common for people to have some kind of belief in the supernatural than to agree on many other things, such as whether there is life after death, whether we have free will, whether there is a God(s), if how we live our lives matter, etc. And even if you don't believe in the spiritual, many people are drawn to it in movies, songs, etc.

I am not sure exactly what the story is in this song. It could be talking in a very abstract way, almost like the mother, that is being spoken about, has developed some kind of disease such as dementia. It is frightening to her son, who doesn't recognize her. Like she is warping into a different person.

Or it could be more of a horror ghost kind of story where for some reason this mother was a person chosen to embody darkness or become a ghost. Also, very unsettling to her son.

In time the hissing of her sanity
Faded out her voice and soiled her name
And like marked pages in a diary
Everything seemed clean and is unstained
The incoherent talk of ordinary days
Why would we really need to live?
Decide what is clear and what's within a haze
What you should take and what to give

Ghost of Perdition
A saint's premonitions unclear
Keeper of holy hordes
Keeper of holy whores

Under The Weeping Moon

For some, the moon is just a part of our solar system that lights up the sky each night. When you are young maybe it seems like a mysterious form that we have spent time gazing at. We have all heard the talk of a full moon making it hard to sleep or putting people out of sorts. There are also many beliefs out there that see the moon as more of a god or something spiritual or powerful.

Once again I've cried
Unto the moon
That burning flame
That has guided me
Through all these years

These words seem to bring the aspect of weeping into play. Maybe at night this person has experienced sorrow consistently and associates it with the moon. Or maybe the moon is associated with a timeframe when a person spent a lot of time awake through the night. 

I once had a job that was steady nightshift. Seeing the moon as I drove or biked to work was comforting, thinking of people in their beds sleeping while I was just getting started (I don't know why).

Burn the winter landmarks
That said I was there
Burn the spirit of cold
That travel through my soul

These words seem to speak to the thought that, if nothing else, the moon gives light or warmth in a cold scenario.

Bleak

This song seems to be about someone that is dying and the person that is experiencing it with them. The support person seems to feel stripped of the person before their actual last breath.

Dying
I am dying fast inside your tears
Plunging towards bereavement faster yet
Clearing thoughts, my mind is set
Devious movements in your eyes
Moved me from relief
Breath comes out white clouds with your lies
And filters through me
You're close to the final word
You're staring right past me in dismay
A liquid seeps from your chest
And drains me away
Mist ripples round your thin white neck
And draws me a line
Cold fingers mark this dying wreck
This moment is mine

Face of Melinda

Seems to be about someone who has married or is promised to someone but does not love them. Makes me think of a situation where maybe there was no choice involved. So, ideally she would have actually married the person she loves.

Failure had passed the stepping stone
She had sworn her vows to another
This is when no-one will bother I took her by the hand to say
All faith forever has been washed away
I returned for you in great dismay
Come with me, far away to stay Endlessly gazing in nocturnal prime
She spoke of her vices and broke the rhyme
But baffled herself with the final line
My promise is made but my heart is thine

The Night and the Silent Water

Seems to be about losing a specific person at a specific time. Maybe now when that season comes your thoughts turn to that person.

And so you left us
Jaded and gaunt, some September
Wilted with the seasons
But hidden inside the delusion

I saw your eyes, somewhere
Devoid of death
The aura poises amidst (the storm)
In solid tears I linger

You sleep in the light
Yet the night and the silent water
Still so dark...

Windowpane

Seems to be about an experience at a window. Whether it was a personal experience you were a part of or you were just witnessing something happening.

Blank face in the windowpane
Made clear in seconds of light
Disappears and returns again
Counting hours, searching the night
Might be waiting for someone
Might be there for us to see
Might be in need of talking
Might be staring directly at me

These words personally make me think of times I have been waiting for someone or for an appointment. Maybe it was a quiet area and a few people had come and gone. I think to myself, "I wonder why that person is here? Hope he/she is okay," etc. If you are like me, you wonder to yourself what their story is.

Blackwater Park

I looked up blackwater in case there was a meaning behind it. I discovered it is the name of a private military company. I honestly have no idea if this song has any association to it. It contains lots of illustrations of pain and suffering. And ends signalling an end to the blackwater park.

Confessor
Of the tragedies in man
Lurking in the core of us all
The last dying call for the everlost
Brief encounters, bleeding pain
Lepers coiled neath the trees
Dying men in bewildered soliloquy
Perversions bloom round the bend
Seekers, lost in their quest
Ghosts of friends frolic
under the waning moon
It is the year of death
Wielding his instruments
Stealth sovereign reaper
Touching us with ease
Infecting the roots in an instant

Sick liaisons raised this monumental mark
The sun sets forever over Blackwater park

Demon of the Fall

I think this is a dramatic illustration of how it feels as the warm weather leaves and fall takes over. There is almost a sense of death and mourning as things get colder.

Silent dance with death.
Everything is lost.
Torn by the arrival of Autumn.
The blink of an eye, you know it's me.
You keep the dagger close at hand.
And you saw nothing.
False love turned to pure hate.
The wind cried a lamentation before merging with the grey.
Demon of the fall.
Gasping for another breath.
She rose, screaming at closed doors.

Playlist Pick

Overall, this album contains some strong elements that produces a mellowing effect on me. It is easy listening with lots of dynamics. 

I will put Bleak on my playlist because it stands out to me as containing progression that moves at a speed I like.

Windowpane will be my second pick. Slower pace, but keeps my interest with the main melody.