Still Life (Opeth album)

Like its predecessor, My Arms, Your Hearse, Still Life is a concept album. Frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt explains: "Still Life was not Satanic but an anti-Christian theme. It sounds pretty naive when I explain it like this. It kind of takes place a long time ago when Christianity had a bigger importance than it has today. The main character is kind of banished from his hometown because he hasn't got the same faith as the rest of the inhabitants there. The album pretty much starts off when he is returning after several years to hook up with his old 'babe'. Obviously a lot of bad things start happening with, as I call it on the album, 'the council.' The big bosses of the town know that he's back. A lot of bad things start happening. They see him as a hypocrite in a way. It's almost like a devil's advocate or whatever it's called. "[4] The album then proceeds to portray Melinda's proclamation of love towards the protagonist. These events lead to her murder and the main character going on a rampage against the ones responsible. The last song of the record, "White Cluster" concludes the story with his execution and him meeting Melinda in the afterlife.

Due to time constraints, the band was able to rehearse only twice before entering the studio. Delays with the album's artwork pushed the release back an additional month, and the album was released in Europe under the Peaceville/Snapper label on 18 October 1999. Due to problems with the band's new distribution network, the album was not released in American stores until 27 February 2001.[5]

Still Life was the first album recorded with bassist Martín Méndez and the first Opeth album to bear any kind of caption on the front cover besides the band logo upon its initial release.[6]

Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic called Still Life a "formidable splicing of harsh, often jagged guitar riffs with graceful melodies".[1]

In 2014, TeamRock put Still Life at #83 on their "Top 100 Greatest Prog Albums Of All Time" list with Jordan Griffin stating that it is "still regarded by many fans as a career high point, Still Life’s deft blend of beauty and brutality was lauded by metal and prog fans. Opeth’s first true classic.".[13] Loudwire placed the album at #54 on their "Top 90 Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Albums of the 1990s" list commenting that Opeth closed out the 90s with their strongest album yet.[14]

• Mikael Åkerfeldt − vocals, guitar
• Peter Lindgren − guitar
• Martin Mendez − bass
• Martin Lopez − drums

• Fredrik Nordström − engineering
• Isak Edh − engineering
• Opeth − engineering
• Göran Finnberg − mastering
• Jens Bogren − 2008 reissue remastering and 5.1 remix
• Travis Smith − album art[12]