DELIVERANCE & DAMNATION

"Deliverance & Damnation" is a very special compilation album of Opeth released in 2015. It's an economic package that includes their sixth studio album "Deliverance", released in 2002, and their seventh studio album "Damnation", released in 2003, on a double CD. The band originally intended for "Deliverance" and "Damnation" to be released as a double album, but the record company eventually decided against this and released them separately, approximately five months apart from one to another in order to promote them properly. This is a very interesting compilation because it included the two albums at a very cheap price, what would be a very worth purchase. "Deliverance" and "Damnation" are two excellent albums of Opeth. The two albums contrast starkly with one another, purposely dividing the band's two most prevalent styles, as "Deliverance" is considered to be one of the band's heaviest albums, whereas "Damnation" experiments with a much mellower progressive rock influenced sound. Both albums are like two sides of the same coin.

As I've already reviewed these two albums previously on Progarchives, in a more extensive way, I'm not going to do it again. So, if you are interested to know, in more detail, what I wrote about them before, I invite you to read those my both reviews. However, in here I'm going to write something about them in a more short way. So, of course, I'm not going to analyze them track by track, as I made before, but I'm only going to make a global appreciation of both albums.

"Deliverance": "Deliverance" is, in my humble opinion and I'm not a specialist into this kind of music, a great heavy metal album. It's also one of the best progressive metal, atmospheric metal and art rock albums ever. Unfortunately, Opeth's "Deliverance" is an often maligned album in their musical discography for many reasons. But, it's still certainly a very strong musical work in its own right, with some incredible songs that have their very own place in the Opeth's musical catalogue. This is an album with many enjoyable riffs and guitar solos. As usual and always, Akerfeldt's clean vocals are a real joy to listen to over the chaotic guitar riffs. Lopez's drumming, that at some moments reminds me the great John Bonham, is absolutely amazing, constantly innovating and contributing to an already excellent final work. This album's production is also excellent. It's very polished, and has a crystal clear sound. I'd say that the production is actually one of the things I enjoyed most about this album. Death metal fans will surely enjoy this album a lot, really.

"Damnation": "Damnation" is a very special Opeth's album and represented, at the time, an exception into their musical career. It's one of the most beautiful albums made by the group. This is really a very good and enjoyable album. If you don't know Opeth yet, and like me, you dislike death metal growls, you must listen and buy "Damnation". In the first place, it's a very beautiful album and the most accessible of the group. In the second place, may be you start to be attracted by the band and you start to love the group, like me. So, "Damnation" may be your starting point with Opeth, and the beginning of a great love between you and them. Opeth has been able to so effectively and beautifully combine their love of 70's prog rock with their love of metal, that there really is no accurate genre label to dump them in. It's simply Opeth and "Damnation", it's simply a marvel. Opeth is undoubtedly one of the best prog groups in our days.

Here in this lovely box set, both albums are included in remastered form. It included also two DVDs, one of each album with spectacular 5.1 surround and stereo mixes, so you can play them through your home theater system and really take advantage of hearing both the way they were meant to sound. The creepy black and white artwork that will show up on your TV screen while you play these in your Blu-ray or DVD player just adds to the haunting, chilling nature of the whole experience. Throw in a 32 page booklet with complete liner notes, lyrics, new photos, and redesigned artwork from Travis Smith, and you have a wonderful package to rediscover these two classic prog rock albums all over again.

Conclusion: "Deliverance & Damnation" is nothing more than a compilation of both Opeth albums "Deliverance" and "Damnation", joined on a double CD. It's very interesting to have "Deliverance" and "Damnation" as a double studio album combining perfectly well the two musical sides of Opeth. Originally released in 2002 and 2003 respectively, "Deliverance" and "Damnation" were once considered to be released as a double CD album, but Mikael Akerfeldt eventually decided to send them out on their own separately, as both are so completely different from each other that it just made better sense that way. From there, we all know the history. "Deliverance" is one of the heaviest albums in the Opeth canon, as their brand of progressive death metal goes into levels of brutality, beauty, and complexity that saw no stopping the band, while "Damnation" scales things back considerably in the form of gorgeous, melodic progressive rock with a healthy dose of folk leanings. Two polar opposite albums, but one that clearly sparked a shift in the band to more classic prog waters that would fully come to fruition a decade later. Buying it is an interesting experience, really.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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