DELIVERANCE

I am actually (probably) not a die hard fan of Opeth but when I look at my CD shelf, I have got quite a number of albums of Opeth including this one. I have also shared with you before (in my other reviews) that at first I did not like the growl vocal style as it did not sound quite nice to my ears. But the more I spin the CD, I finally realized that the music of Opeth is quite unique and I gradually could accept the growl of Mike Akerfeldt. The only thing I applied was that I considered the growl was just a sound similar with other sound of other instruments. In fact, I finally enjoy the growl style of Mike because it's quite heavy and powerful, it fits nicely with the music of Opeth.

So, I got no problem at all with the first spin of this CD because the music is quite familiar with me. The opening track "Wreath" (11:10) is a killer really. The song has no room for mellow or soft style as when it starts it's already has heavy rhythm section using powerful riffs and dazzling drum work. It moves nicely from one segment to another with Mike Akerfeldt's heavy growl vocal and stunning guitar solo. Only at the later part of the song it provides some sort of break with the use of tabla which helps accentuate the composition. The next track is also another heavy one with title track "Deliverance" (13:36) where the guitar riffs sound rougher than the previous track. But the guitar solo is, again, another attractive part of the song. Well, I believe that Peter Lindgren provides the long guitar solo while Mike gives his rhythm section while growling. Steven Wilson backing vocal sounds nice here and it provides a break from long growl line.

"A Fair Judgement" (10:24) starts beautifully with nice piano solo with melodic notes in dark nuance. The music moves in crescendo with the entrance of vocal line (no growl) in relatively slow tempo with nice guitar solo. The kind of music reminds me to Porcupine Tree or RPWL with its psychedelic touch. The song moves gradually to heavier part in faster tempo and it returns back into slower parts with great guitar solo. It really reminds me to the kind of Porcupine Tree music. The music moves to a nice break which function as a bridge, "For Absent Friends (instrumental)" (2:17), to heavier riffs and rougher guitar in the next track "Master's Apprentices" (10:32) where Arkefeldt sings as heavy, as low as he can, which makes powerful growl.

"By The Pain I See In Others" (13:51) opens nicely with a music loop mirroring guitar rhythm followed with a blast of heavy music with nice riffs combined with dazzling drums. Mike enters his vocal line with growl in screaming mode "Aaaarrrrgghhhh ." combined beautifully with heavy music. The music suddenly moves into ambient break for a while and then it returns back to heavy (in fact, it's heavier) guitar riffs in metal vein. It's really cool.

To summarize, this album will do good for those of you who can appreciate growling style of vocal and can enjoy heavy side of prog music. It's basically a metal music with various tempo and style changes that make it a progressive band. For me personally, this album is solid and cohesive - where I can see the music flows nicely and naturally from opening to end of the album. It's heavy, but it's still prog man! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW