DAMNATION

Damnation was my first album of Opeth, recommended to me by someone who also liked Porcupine Tree and Riverside. I fell in love with this album at first spin and it didn't come out of my cd-player for days!

Deliverance and Damnation were both produced by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson and the idea was to create two albums that would be counterparts; meaning one mellow album and one heavy album. Deliverance would be the heavy one. SW once said in an interview (on the Lamentations dvd) that he thought he could especially be of great help on the mellow album Damnation. I think he was right.

Okay, maybe some hardcore head banging Opeth fans weren't pleased to hear that even Opeth had a "mellow-side" to them. However, why does all music have to fit in boxes and shouldn't bands or artists explore their limits and different styles? I think that's what PROGRESSIVE music is all about!

You could also put it like Mikael Akerfeldt put it: what's wrong with people other than Opeth fans start to listen to the band because of this mellow album? I got interest in this album myself because it was recommended to me by a Porcupine Tree fan, like myself. This album literally blew me away and I couldn't help it just to push the "repeat all" button and listening to it over and over again! And after liking Damnation so much I also purchased Blackwater Park and Deliverance. Musically all great stuff, but personally the "growling" of Mikael is not really my cup of tea. I just keep wondering why a singer with such a great voice prefers to use his "cookie monster vocals" rather than his "clean vocals". As I learned that there's many "clean vocals" again on their latest album Ghost reveries so I also decided to buy this one. Just waiting for it to arrive.

Okay, enough about the general Opeth stuff! Lets get back to Damnation. Great album from track 1 to 8. Or should I say 1 to 7, because actually I find track 8 Weakness a bit strange. My personal favourite tracks definitely are the album opener Windowpane and the tracks In my time of need , Hope leaves , To Rid The Disease and the SW track Death Whispered a Lullaby . But actually it's only a question of good, better, best, because all tracks are really worth it!

Funny thing to me is that it seems that Steven Wilson gets the best out of Opeth's "mellow part" while SW himself is moving from the mellow stuff towards the heavier side in his band Porcupine Tree. E.g. "Deadwing" is quite a bit heavier than "The sky moves sideways", "Signify" or "In absentia". Why is this? Maybe due to the collaboration with Opeth? Who knows! Only thing that matters is that they were able to do well without each other, but they are doing GREAT together! Enjoy Opeth and Porcupine Tree!

To me this album is essentiall: a masterpiece of progressive music!