DAMNATION

When Mikael announced his intension of making these two albums I was actually expecting the heavy side of Deliverance to be a bit more hard-hitting. What we've got was just a slightly heavier version of the Blackwater Park format and so when once Damnation hit the shelves I was automatically expecting a mellow version of Blackwater Park. Needless to say I was very surprised upon hearing this release for the first time since it felt like a complete re-invention of the band's sound. This was of course not entirely the case and a few revisits uncovered layers of familiar Opeth sound that my shocked ears must have missed upon listening to Damnation for the first time.

Due to the lack of any transitions between the mellow acoustic section and Death Metal parts, that have become important trademarks of then band's sound, the song format has been literally sliced in half. A few extra tracks were added to fill out the 43 minutes long album which is far from the 60+ minute releases of the past which might have justified a purchase in its originally intended form as a double album but not as much in the current form. This can explain why it took a while until I actually took a risk and listened to this material, but in retrospect it definitely felt like a worthy investment!

Damnation might not be as important as Still Life, Blackwater Park nor even Ghost Reveries but it shows that Opeth isn't afraid of taking risks and do whatever they please with their music. If that doesn't make it progressive then I honestly think that you're missing the point of the term. On top of that the album does offer quite a few complex textures like the ones demonstrated on Windowpane, To Rid The Disease and Death Whispered A Lullaby. This is definitely another excellent album well worth the price of admission.

***** star songs: In My Time Of Need (5:47) Death Whispered A Lullaby (5:50) Closure (5:16)

**** star songs: Windowpane (7:44) Hope Leaves (4:27) To Rid The Disease (6:18) Ending Credits (3:36)

*** star songs: Weakness (4:09)