DAMNATION

This album makes me go in between pleasant surprise and total confusion. Don't get me wrong, if you don't like harsh vocals or death metal at all, this is a great album for those looking to start an Opeth collection. But I still feel like something is missing here...

Oh, that's right; this album suffers from not having any harsh vocals or death metal. That may sound like an oxymoron, but this album only properly displays the pleasant, non-metal half of Opeth. I can appreciate what Mikael and Co. were trying to do with this release, and the Porcupine Tree influence is definitely there, but I almost feel ripped off. It feels like I'm getting half of an Opeth album. I honestly don't get why people recommend that those who don't like extreme metal vocals start here. The music is good, but it doesn't adjust such a person to the furious side of Opeth that will appear on all their other albums.

Alright, frustration aside, this is a good album and quite a revolutionary one at that. No metal band to my knowledge has ever made an entirely soft album and been able to pass it off as completely authentic. The fact that Opeth can make an album that reaches out to symphonic prog fans that don't care for extreme metal sounds and/or vocals and make it genuine really says something. Although given Mikael's influences I'm not too surprised that he tried this. The music is significantly different from anything Opeth had released before this or anything to this date. I'd wager to say it's even softer and more beautiful than any of the acoustic sections present in the rest of the Opeth discography. And yet this is still extremely dark and brooding music, although that is to be expected since this is Opeth.

Despite the pluses of this album, I mentioned how I sometimes get frustrated that only part of the Opeth sound is present here. The individual songs are all good and I have nothing to complain about with them, but only having half of Opeth here makes me stand somewhere in between giving this 3 and 4 stars. I'll give it 3.5 but round down for the negative aspect I previously mentioned. If you are indeed new to Opeth and are a more traditional prog fan that shies away from anything extreme metal related, you should start here. But know that you will only be getting part of the experience.