DAMNATION

Ok, the following review could stand in two words: genial masterpiece. I was waiting for eight years that Opeth would deliver an album without extreme metal parts, and this is it. The songs are, of course, much shorter than the usual epic tracks the band usually deliver, but 43 minutes of awesome music is surely better than 70 minutes with weak parts. I'm sure three categories of people will hate this album:

1) The extreme metal diehard fans who will find it too mellow - it's ok, there is the twin album Deliverance for you

2) The prog metal purists - indeed Damnation has very few prog elements, it's more atmospheric metal (and maybe not even metal at all) 3) People with no musical taste - sorry, I cannot do much for you

There is nothing much to say about the songs themselves - you need to listen to them. "Windowpane" and "Closure" are close to what Anathema does on their last albums - the guitar work is outstanding here and the mellotron really adds a lot to the music. "In My Time Of Need" and "Hope Leaves" are two real ballads, the second one being the most emotional song ever written by the band. "Death Whispered A Lullaby" is a nice acoustic track. "To Rid The Disease" has a great melody and great lyrics. "Ending Credits" is a joyous instrumental, and I cannot help myself singing "Coeur de loup" from P. Lafontaine on the top of it, because the melody is almost identical. And what a way to end this album! "Weakness" has barely any instrument, with only Mikael's frail voice...

Rating: 100/100 (only 3 out of 600+ albums in my CD collection get the big 100 - so this album is more than highly recommended!)