Still Life

Still Life (1999)

1. The Moor
2. Godhead's Lament
3. Benighted
4. Moonlapse Vertigo
5. Face Of Melinda
6. Serenity Painted Death
7. White Cluster


1. The Moor

The sigh of summer upon my return
Fifteen alike since I was here
Bathed in deep fog, blurring my trail
Snuffing the first morning rays

Weary from what might have been ages
Still calm with my mind at peace
Would I prosper or fall, drain the past
The lapse of the moment took it's turn

I was foul and tainted, devoid of faith
Wearing my death-mask at birth
The hands of God, decrepit and thin
Cold caress and then nothing
I was taken away from my plight
A treason bestowed to the crowd
Branded a jonah with fevered blood
Ungodly freak, defiler

Pale touch, writhing in the embers
Damp mud burning in my eyes
All the faces turned away
And all would sneer at my demise

Outcast with dogmas forged below
Seared and beaten, banished from where I was born
No mercy would help me on my way
In the pouring rain nothing is the same

Vows in ashes
I pledge myself to no-one
Seethed and spiteful
All shudder at the call of my name
If you'll bear with me
You'll fear of me

There is no forgiveness in these eyes
For any of you but one
Dispel the mist for now
Melinda is the reason why I've come

She is waterdrops over the pyre
A thistle in my hands
Stained and torn, aged and brown
Virtous shell with kindred innocense

I awoke from the miasma
Passing swiftly through the moor
This is here, waters stir
And in the distance all that was lost
If you'll bear with me
You'll fear of me
You'd never leave me to
A fate with you


2. Godhead's Lament

Marauder
Staining the soil, midst of stillness
Beloved fraternity to an end
Red eyes probe the scene
All the same
Stilted for the beholder
Depravity from the core
Handcarved death in stoneladen aisles

I hide the scars from my past
Yet they sense my (mute) dirge
This is when it all falls apart
White hands grasping for straws

Sly smile, poisoned glare behind
Undisguised manmade nova
Mute cry, don't dare to tread
Searing beams tracking you down

Adoring what never has been
Some will bring with them all they have seen

Searching my way to perplexion
The gleam of her eyes
In that moment she knew

Thought I could not leave this place
On this imminent day
As I've reached the final dawn
To what's gone astray
What would they care if I did stay
No-one would know
What would they care if I did stay
No-one should know

Thought I could not leave this place
On this imminent day
As I've reached the final dawn
To what's gone astray
What would they care if I did stay
No-one would know
What would they care if I did stay
No-one should know

Still brooding, soothing clam
That rigid, twisted face
Blank godhead, tear my name
Lost virtue, frantic lust

Sly smile, poisoned glare behind
Undisguised manmade nova
Mute cry, don't dare to tread
Searing beams tracking you down

Adoring what never has been
Some will bring with them all they have seen

Searching my way to perplexion
In crumbling faith I saw her
Bearing her pain in the wilderness
The gleam of her eyes
In that moment she knew


3. Benighted

Come into this night
Here we'll be gone
So far away
From our weak and crumbling lives
Come into this night
When days are done
Lost and astray
In what's vanished from your eyes

What came and distorted your sight
Saw you benighted by your fright

Come into this night
Your plight alone
Carry your weight
You are flawed as all of us
Come into this night
You only home
It's never too late
To repent, suffer the loss

What came and distorted your sight
Saw you benighted by your fright

What came and distorted your sight
Saw you benighted by your fright

Come into this night
When you're able
To undo your deeds
And atone with your lonely soul
Once you're into this night
All minds are stable
Forget all your needs
Lose the grip of all control


4. Moonlapse Vertigo

Kept warm by the light of the lantern
Lost sight of everything tonight
My presence blackens their pattern
A pock in the healthy and calm

Their scorn behind your back
My promise would put them down
No trace of reverance left
Immemorial fire in their eyes

I would persih at the given signal
At the slightest touch from my soul
Tainted prophet in flesh
For all the plagued and lost

Dripping sin
Decision in stalemate
Dare to feel death at hand
Surprised me with its voice
Through the forest came the morn

Across the leafy pathway
Their deeds smeared in blood
For all to behold
The council of the cross
Must have sensed my coming
The pest through the air
With despise for squalor
Lashing out at the poor

I turned away my eyes
In pallor escape from the end
Fading time to leave from here
And less to fulfill my task
She would be safe and firm
Nothing of this is in vain
Taken away from stifling grace
And saved from the past


5. Face Of Melinda

By the turnstile beckons a damsel fair
The face of Melinda neath blackened hair
No joy would flicker in her eyes
Brooding sadness came to a rise

Words would falter to atone
Failure had passed the stepping stone
She had sworn her vows to another
This is when no-one will bother

And conceded pain in crumbling mirth
A harlot of God upon the earth
Found where she sacrificed her ways
That hollow love in her face

Still I plotted to have her back
The contentment that would fill the crack
My soul released a fluttering sigh
This day fell, the darkness nigh

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


6. Serenity Painted Death

Returned from a hibernal dream
Voices fell like marble
No longer by my side
Gone all that would linger

Ripped from my embrace
Melinda reflected in shafts
Red line round her neck
Met the earth in silence

White faced, haggard grin
This serenity painted death
With a halo of bitter disease
Black paragon in lingering breath

White faced, haggard grin
This serenity painted death
With a halo of bitter disease
Black paragon in lingering breath

Saw here fading, blank stare into me
Clenched fist from the beautiful pain

Darkness reared its head
Tearing within the reeling haze
Took control, claiming my flesh
Piercing rage, perfect tantrum
Each and every one would die at my hand
Choking in warm ponds of blood
At last, weak and torn, I went down
Drained from strength, flickering breath

Came with the moon
The wayward in concious state
Flanked and barred in destiny's end
Underneath with hope in laches
Swathed in filth, any would betoken
Starlit shadows on the wall
Finally there to collect me
From the bowels of sin


7. White Cluster

Still it came passing by
The pieces weaved together rose the sun
And fooled me with another day
The knocking message called for my life

Sealed the spell of my scrawny body
Soil to skin, my next of kin
Damp air grasped, stole the words
And greeted me with a hiss

This is forgiveness, so I know
Once I repent I seal the lid
I slither for you and I'm dying
I find trust in hate

They wear white for me
Seemingly jaded and lost
I forge myself into your dreams
And here I am your life

Hangman, clutching at his tools
I will come for you

The noose is tied
Murmur through the crowd
Plunging into anywhere but here

Cloak-captured sighs of relief
As the primal touch brought me back
And the last sight I did see is still here
Beckoning right behind me

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My Arms Your Hearse

My Arms Your Hearse (1998)

1. April Etheral
2. When
3. Madrigal
4. The Amen Corner
5. Demon Of The Fall
6. Credence
7. Karma
8. Epilogue



1. April Etheral

It was me, peering through the looking-glass.
Beyond the embrace of Christ
Like the secret face within the tapestry
Like a bird of prey over the crest.
And she was swathed in sorrow, as if born within its mask.
Her candlelight snuffed, the icon smiled.
Emptiness followed by her wake
I could clasp her in undying love.
Within ghostlike rapture the final word was mine.
She faced me in awe. ´twas a token of ebony colour.
Embodied in faint vapour.
Wandering through April´s fire
Compelled to grasp and to hold the one that was you.
I will endure, hide away. I would outrun the scythe, glaring with failure.
It is a mere destiny I thought, a threshold I had crossed before.
The rain was waving goodbye,
and when the night came the forest folded its branches around me
Something passed by, and I went into a dream.
She laughing and weeping at once: "take me away".
I don't know how or why, I´ll never know when

2. When


Red sun rising,
somewhere through the dense fog.
The portrait of the jaded dawn,
who had seen it all before.


This day wept on my shoulders.
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.


So there I was.
Within the sobriety of the immortals.
A semblance of supernatural winds passing through.
The garden sighs, flowers die.


The gate was closed that day,
but I was bound to carry on.
She could not see me through the windows.
In dismay, strangest twist upon her lips.
Graven face, she said my name.


Once inside I heard whispers in the park.
The gilded faces grin, aware of my final

demise.

demise.

demise.

demise.

And I cried,
I knew she had lied.
Her obsession had died,
it had died.


When can I take you from this place?
When is the word but a sigh?
When is death our lone beholder?
When would we walk the final steps?
When can we scream instead of whisper?
When is the new beginning,
and the end of this sad madrigal.



3. Madrigal

Our abode 'mongst the stars is waiting,
long enough for our last breath of life.
You stare at nothing, right through me,
at times resembling the Devil's concubine.
And me, I am the idol that would long
to caress our eyes until they would open no more.
I would comfort you if I only could,
but as we all know by now... I am just thin air.
Unaware as you are of my presence,
you are losing yourself.
Hiding within the amen corner.


4. The Amen Corner


White summer. So far I have gone to see you again.
Hiding your face in the palm of your hands.
Finding solace in the words I do despise.
You snatch at every sound.
And even though you believe that I am shackled within death, memories are tainted with paleness.
Crestfallen still.
Those eyes...empty like a barren well.
It was the only task I would undertake.
To reap the harvest that was mine.
The seed that had sprung into a florid meadow, and left me helpless in your embrace.
The bond we never spoke of, once stark and enticing, now slowly smoldering to dust.
The celestial touch, from grey to black.
A fathomless void enclosing.
Unwritten secrets beneath the cobwebs.
I can not endure. And so I rose from my sleep.
The moon turned away its face.
Overture of the long, black night begins...something you said: "Eerie circles upon the waters".
Until now we have shared the same aura.
My ashes within your hands.
My breath in the sepulchral mound.
You know that your night is my day.
The final spark that blew life into me, the Demon Of The Fall


5. Demon of The Fall

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.

-Rawr-

Demon, Demon of the fall.
Demon, Demon of the fall.
Demon, Demon of the fall.
Demon, Demon of the fall.

Gasping for another breath.
She rose, screaming at closed doors.
Seductive faint mist forging
through the cracks in the wall.
I shant resist.
In tears for all of eternity.
She turned around and faced me for the first time.

Run away, run away, run away.
Run away, run away, run away.
Just one second, and I was left with nothing.
Her fragrance still pulsating through damp air.
That day came to an end.
And she had lost in me, her credence.



6. Credence

Deserted again.
You speak to me through the shadows.
Walking in closed rooms, using cold words.
Captured by the night.
The yearning escapes from my embrace.
Strange silhouettes whisper your thoughts, scream your sadness.
And they all turned away, unable to face more of this death.
Credence in my word.
Written in dust, tainted by memories.
I confess my hope, recognize my loneliness.
Your laughter weeps the truth.
Push me into corners.
Confirming the epitaph of my soul
and displaying the once unknown karma.


7. Karma

And as they say, grief is only able to possess.
The rotting body clad in ancient clothes
is left behind with a wave of the hand.
I have gone away. The bed is cold and empty.
Trees bend their boughs toward the earth.
And nighttime birds float as black faces.
It was the hand reaching out through the mirror.
Unknown and scarred by life...
the luring eyes, you had never seen.
You have nothing more to find.
You have nothing more to loose.
The cold season drifts over the land.
They huddle in the brown corners.
Some would settle for less.
The castles were all empty, asleep.
Long awaiting their king.
Beckoning round the bend.
Amidst the forest one would hear that I had been there.
Draped within a fate I could not change,
and always welcoming Winter's epilogue.


8. Epilogue

There it was. The final destiny. A sunrise that never came,
still the night lamp that never faded away. Farewell was the word,
and the afterglow was the brave morning.
Rising and telling everyone about the beauty of its Prologue

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Morningrise

Morningrise (1996)

1. Advent
2. The Night and the Silent Water
3. Nectar
4. Black Rose Immortal
5. To Bid You Farewell



1. Advent

It was all true
A parlour strode, and the night sets forever
I stray in the quiet cold
And you gird me when I dare to listen

Elastic meadow, endless arms of sorrow
Lips try to form "because"
Trying to adapt to the wilderness
Where even foes close their eyes and leave

We are inside the glade
Every now and then I wipe the dust aside
To remember...

How I drape my face with my bare hands
The same that brought me here
But you were beyond all help
The folded message that wept my name

Shadows skulk at my coming
We survey the slopes
In search for the words to write the missing page
The tainted dogma

Time grows short
As the piper plays his time
We are almost there

You are beyond all help
Dancing into the void
We are almost there


2. The Night and the Silent Water

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

Devoid of death
The aura poises amidst (the storm)
In solid tears I linger
A parlour glade, moonlit sorrow

Lonely resting pools
Relics of the moon-dogged lake
Whisper: "All your words are missgiven"

Am I like them?
Those who mourn and turn away
Those who would give anything
To see you again
If only for another second

Your face was, like the photograph
Painted white
We did not speak very often about it
What does it matter now?

Cloak of autumn shroud
I gaze, dim ricochet of stars
I reckon it is time for me to leave

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


3. Nectar

I arose from the lullaby
Enduring yet another tale
You tempt me again
With your embrace, so tainted
Within the night you beckon
Cursing me with every glance

Bring me through
Carry my empty shadow
And guide me inside your warped labyrinth
To the well of sin
I swear I will always love you

Leave me speechless
Release my yearning
The soil I walk is clad with light
Drifting moons thrust me with their rays
And I fall inside

I lament this heritage
Cannot bid farewell
The pale face...you went as far as you could
And from that moment
I witnessed your beauty, fealt your death

Mine is yours, mine is yours

In the wake of dawn
The mist of morning linger before it leaves
Invisible eyes, red reflection
It is you
Smiling in the midst of the moor


4. Black Rose Immortal

In the name of desperation
I call your name
A lamentation I sigh
Again and again

Spiritual eclipse
The gateways are closed for me to seek

The night...
A veil of stars, watching
My shadow is born from light
The light of the eye, in darkness

Over troubled waters memories soar
Endlessly, searching night and day
The moonlight caresses a lonely hill
With the calmness of a whisper

I wear a naked soul
A blank face in the streaming water
It is cold in here
Frost scar my coat with dust

Eyes attach to your mute portrait
We spoke only through thoughts
Together we gazed, awaited
Hours brought thirst and the rising sun

Sunbirds leave their dark recesses
Shadows glid the archways

Do not turn your face towards me
Confronting me with my lonliness
You are in a forest unknown
The secret orchard
And your voice is vast and achromatic
But still so precious

Lullaby of the crescent moon took you
Mesmerized, its kaleidoscopic face
Granted you a hollow stare
Another soul within the divine herd

I have kept it
The amaranth symbol
Hiddin inside the golden shrine
Until we rejoice in the meadow
Of the end
When we both walk the shadows
It will set ablaze and vanish
Black rose immortal

It is getting dark again
Dusk shuffle across the fields
The evening trees moan as if they knew
At night I always dream of you


5. To Bid You Farewell

I am awaiting the sunrise
Gazing modestly through the coldest morning
Once it came you lied
Embracing us over autumn's proud treetops

I stand motionless
In a parade of falling rain
You voice I cannot hear
As I am falling again

Devotion eludes
And in sadness I lumber
In my own ashes I am standing without a soul
She wept and whispered: "I know..."

We walked into the night
Am I to bid you farewell?

Why can't you see that I try
When every tear is shed
Is for you?

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Orchid

Orchid (1995)

1. In Mist She Was Standing
2. The Twilight Is My Robe
3. Under the Weeping Moon
4. Forest of October
5. The Apostle in Triumph


1. In Mist She Was Standing

Seven milestones...
Under a watching autumn eye
Contorted trees are spreading forth
The message of the wind

With frozen hands I rode with the stars

With anger the wind blew
Giving wings to my stallion
Clouds gathered across the moon
Blazing the white light

Passing the lake I know so well
I am near, yet so far away

Arrival...
I saw her shadow (standing) in the darkness
Awaiting me like the night
Awaits the day
Standing silent smiling at my presence
A black candle holds the only light

Darkness encloses
And the candle seem to expire
In her cold, cold hand
And as a forlorn soul
It will fade away

Touching her flesh in this night
My blood froze forever
Embraced before the dawn
A kiss brought total eclipse

And she spoke
Once and forever
I am so cold
In mist enrobed the twilight
She was standing...


2. The Twilight Is My Robe

Unto you I whisper
The wildest dreams

In the coldness of night

Shrouded in crystals
Through a frosty dusk
Souls of the fullmoon awaits
Their shadows ablaze

We are all bending
Our tired leaves over your empty shell
In the sign of true esteem
Are you beloved lord
Sighing deep under these waterfalls?

The birds of the sun
Seperates these dark clouds
While the winds of winter sleeps gently around
I am sworn to the oath
To breathe...

At the waters I dwell
The waves are still whispering
Ancient lullabies
I die....
While our mystic brothers still seek

Under your command I will obey
In my vision
You are the embodiment of pure freedom
But through my eyes you are made of stone


3. Under the Weeping Moon

Once again I've cried
Unto the moon
That burning flame
That has guided me
Through all these years
The lake from which you flow

With eyes of fire
Once unlit but now alive
This energy, sparkling
Like a morning star

The morning star

Riding the fires of
The northern gold
I've searched the eye
I laugh under the weeping moon

I am the watcher in the skies
Nor the emeralds know my mark
Glisten to mark their presence
Set the enigma ablaze
Searching...
Finding...

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


4. Forest of October

The memories that now rests in this forest
Forever shadowing the sunrise of my heart
Wings leave their nest at my coming
Swaying away unto the cold glowing sky
Dreaming away for a while
My spirit sighs in peace
Gazing unto the stars
Please, take me there

I am so alone, so cold
My heart is to scarred to glow
I wish the sunrise to come
Take my soul (away)
From this cold, lonely shell
I am free

From the eternal sea I rose
Veiled in darkness on either shore
Lost my pride, lost its glow
For me the sun rose no more

The forest of October
Sleeps silent when I depart
The web of time
Hides my last trace

My blaze travel the last universe
Like the sights of magic
Wrapped in aeons
My mind is one with my soul
I fall alone
While leaves fall from the weeping trees


5. The Apostle in Triumph

In solitude I wander....
Through the vast enchanted forest
The surrounding skies are one
Torn apart by the phenomenon of lightning
Rain is pouring down my (now) shivering shoulders
In the rain my tears are forever lost

The darkened oaks are my only shelter
Red leaves are blown by the wind
An ebony raven now catches my eye
Sitting in calmness
Before spreading his black wings
Reaching for the skies

In this forest
Where wolves cry their agony unto the moon
My spirit is hidden
In the form of wisdom
carved on a black stone
The only way to follow

Open your soul
Redeem, I am immortal

Blinded by a light
My soul is held up in glory
I engulf the skies
The apostle in triumph

Through the eternal flame I travel
As the rain keeps falling....


Descargar Album

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Discografía

Álbumes de estudio

Fecha de lanzamiento	Título	Discográfica
15 de mayo de 1995	Orchid	Candlelight Records/Century Black
24 de junio de 1996	Morningrise	Candlelight Records/Century Black
18 de agosto de 1998	My Arms, Your Hearse	Candlelight Records/Century Black
18 de octubre de 1999	Still Life	Peaceville Records
27 de febrero de 2001	Blackwater Park	Music for Nations
4 de noviembre de 2002	Deliverance	Music for Nations
14 de abril de 2003	Damnation	Music for Nations
30 de agosto de 2005[32]	Ghost Reveries	Roadrunner Records
3 de junio de 2008[33]	Watershed[34] [35]	Roadrunner Records

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Opeth

es una banda de death metal progresivo sueca, formada en 1990 por su compositor principal Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Posee en sus composiciones influencias del rock progresivo, jazz, blues y de guitarras acústicas de corte clásico y folk —más notorias en su álbum Blackwater Park (2001), y Ghost Reveries (2005).Además, también se aprecia una evidente influencia del death metal, especialmente en la manera de cantar de su vocalista, Mikael Åkerfeldt, y de doom metal dada la ambientación y velocidad de algunos de sus temas.
Desde la grabación de su primer disco, han lanzado 8 álbumes de estudio, dos DVDs, dos box sets, tres singles y dos álbumes en vivo. Una completa excepción de su estilo musical es el álbum Damnation (2003) que muestra un estilo absolutamente orientado hacia el rock progresivo.


Etimología
Tomaron su nombre de un libro de Wilbur Smith; ya que en dicho libro "Opet" significa ciudad de la luna (la "h" fue agregada posteriormente para el nombre de la banda, por un motivo netamente estético de su pronunciación en inglés).

Integrantes

Integrantes y ex-integrantes de Opeth

Nombre	Instrumento	Estado	Período de actividad
Mikael Åkerfeldt	Guitarra, Voces	Activo	1990 - presente
Martín Méndez	Bajo	Activo	1997 - presente
Per Wiberg	Teclado	Activo	2005 - presente
Martin "Axe" Axenrot	Batería	Activo	2006 - presente
Fredrik Åkesson	Guitarra	Activo	2007 - presente
Anders Nordin	Batería, Piano	Inactivo	1990 - 1997
David Isberg	Voces	Inactivo	1990 - 1992
Nick Döring	Bajo	Inactivo	1990 - 1991
Andreas Dimeo	Guitarra	Inactivo	1991
Kim Pettersson	Guitarra	Inactivo	1991
Johan DeFarfalla	Bajo	Inactivo	1991, 1994 - 1996
Peter Lindgren	Guitarra	Inactivo	1991 - 2007
Stefan Guteklint	Bajo	Inactivo	1992 - 1993
Mattias Ander	Bajo	Inactivo	1992
Martín López	Batería	Inactivo	1997 - 2006

Porcelain Heart- Watershed

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