DAMNATION

In 2003 metal band Opeth released their first full non-metal album. I can think of only one word to describe this album: poetic.

Most compositions can be compared o the mellow tracks on their previous albums, but all tracks included here are far more thought-out and more complex than any of those.

One of Opeth's trademarks is their mix of grunt vocals and mesmerising, beautiful clean vocals by Mikael Äkerfeldt. Although none of the grunt vocals were included here (you'll have to listen to this album's counterpart "Deliverance" if you want to hear metal), this album still feels as a true Opeth album. Perhaps it is the Porcupine Tree-esque soundscapes that Opeth has managed to incorporate in their music over the last few years that makes it all so familiar? Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Blackfield) being the band's producer for the last set of albums as well as a guest musician, a friend and maybe even more important: an inspiration, clearly effected the band's output. and for the better I think.

I have listened to this album many times; it is one of those chilled-out albums which one can listen to regardless the time of day or the mood he or she is in. The overall tone is melancholic and laidback, which might be a bit tricky on first listen for prog music fans, because it does not come across as highly complex music, but when you give it a more in-dept listen, you'll hear layers of sounds that were sort of inaudible at first. You'll even notice that although it is a mostly acoustic album, i.e. the 'feeling' of the album comes closer to acoustic rock such as ANTIMATTER's "Planetary Confinement" album, there still are several metal elements included here. For instance Martin Lopez's drumming on the track Closure is pretty heavy compared to the rest of the composition of the song, well maybe even heavier than any of the other drum patterns on the album. Or what about the fairly aggressive guitar solo's in the song Death whispered a lullaby (which was co written by Steven Wilson)?

In combination with the album's counterpart "Deliverance" this sums up what Opeth stand for nowadays and if you listen carefully to both albums, you'll see what triggered the perfect balance of pure metal vs. space rock and prog on Opeth's most up to date album: 2005's "Ghost Reveries".

Oh and as I said in the introduction to this review, I cannot help but notice the poetry. each of the songs sounds melancholic and mostly as if someone is in some sort of mental agony. But instead of showing these emotions by composing heavy music to comfort the feeling, these Swedish musicians decided to show it via beautiful soundscapes with gentle melodies and vocals. Just take one look at the lyrics of the songs and you cannot help but notice that Äkerfeldt has a thing for writing in a cryptic and mysterious fashion, but perhaps even more important: his words work as the perfect background for this gloomy 45 min long trip.

Share this OPETH review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Tristan Mulders
• Report this review (#85560)
• Buy OPETH music online with PA partners
• Show all OPETH MP3/Stream
• Go to OPETH page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Damnation page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for OPETH related discussions