My Arms, Your Hearse

Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: 18 August 1998 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Morningrise1996Still Life1999studioMy Arms, Your HearseOpeth MAYH.jpgOpeth18 August 1998August–September 1997Studio Fredman (Gothenburg, Sweden)*Progressive death metal<ref name="allmusic"/>

• progressive rock52:34Candlelight, Century BlackFredrik Nordström, Opeth & Anders Fridénx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}}

My Arms, Your Hearse is the third studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released in August 1998. It was the band's first album to be released simultaneously in Europe, through Candlelight Records, and in the United States, through Century Black.

Background

My Arms, Your Hearse was the first Opeth album with drummer Martin Lopez, 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, 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 played bass for the entire recording session.<ref name="opeth.com">Session diary of My Arms, Your Hearse Template:Webarchive</ref> 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).<ref>Opeth (2000) [1998]. My Arms, Your Hearse liner notes. Candlelight (CANDLE055CD)</ref>

The title of the album is derived from the lyrics of the song "Drip, Drip" by the band Comus.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Concept

Åkerfeldt wrote all the lyrics before the music was written,<ref name="opeth.com"/> to create Opeth's first concept album. 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. <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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 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".<ref name="allmusic"/> Jeb of Metal Faith magazine said, "each song sort of flows into the next giving the whole album a unified feel".<ref name="mayhreviews"/> 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."<ref name="mayhreviews"/> 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."<ref name="crypt"/> 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 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."<ref name="chaos"/> Tartarean Desire's 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."<ref name="desire"/> Demonic Tutor (Olivier Espiau) of Metal Storm stated the album is a "trip to heaven" and also:<ref name="storm"/> Template:Quote

Tim Henderson of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles said "you are in for a treat, easily described as the black metal version of The Dark Side of the Moon in all its pride and glory. In fact, if Gilmour joined Emperor, or if Cradle took sides with Yes, can My Arms, Your Hearse be truly described".<ref name="mayhreviews">MAYH Reviews Template:Webarchive. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 10, 2011</ref> "My Arms, Your Hearse is a milestone in '90s extreme metal", 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".<ref name="mayhreviews"/>

Personnel

Credits for My Arms, Your Hearse adapted from liner notes.<ref>(1998). "My Arms, Your Hearse liner notes". In My Arms, Your Hearse [CD booklet]. Candlelight.</ref>

Opeth

• Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals, guitars, bass, piano
• Peter Lindgren – guitars, photography
• Martin Lopez – drums

Production

• Fredrik Nordström – engineering, mixing, Hammond organ on "Epilogue"
• Anders Fridén – 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 and Century Black, respectively.Template:Citation needed It was released in Poland by Mystic Production on cassette. The album was reissued in 2000 on CD by Candlelight Records and on LP by Displeased Records. The LP was limited to 1,000 copies. These reissues contain two bonus tracks, "Circle of the Tyrants" and "Remember Tomorrow".<ref name="allmusic" /><ref name="opethmayh">Opeth: My Arms, Your Hearse Template:Webarchive. Opeth.com. Retrieved July 9, 2011.</ref> 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.<ref>In Memory of Celtic Frost. AllMusic. Retrieved July 9, 2011.</ref><ref>A Call to Irons: A Tribute to Iron Maiden, Vol. 1. AllMusic. Retrieved July 9, 2011.</ref> A special edition was released by Candlelight in 2003.<ref name="opethmayh"/>

Year	Region	Label	Format	Catalog
1998	United Kingdom	Template:Sort	CD	CANDLE25
1998	United States	Template:Sort	CD	7894-2
1998	Poland	Mystic Production	Template:Sort	159
2000	United Kingdom	Candlelight	CD	Candle055
2000	Netherlands	Template:Sort	Template:Sort	D-00083
2000	United States	Candlelight	CD	CANUS068CD
2003	United Kingdom	Candlelight	CD	CANDLE055TIN
2003	Russia	IROND	CD	IROND CD 03-632
2005	United Kingdom	Candlelight	LP	CVCS 005 PD
2006	Japan	Candlelight	CD	XQAN-1003
2008	United Kingdom	Back On Black	LP	BOBV099LP
2008	Japan	Avalon	CD	MICP-10809