Back in 2002 and 2003 Swedish death
metal reached a peak in creativity and progression when Opeth released two of
the most important albums in the genre. And considering that “Damnation” hardly
can be categorized as a death metal album, that is quite an achievement. Opeth showed that death metal could transform
into something much bigger.
I was, and still am, obsessed with
these two masterpieces. “Deliverance” starts off mostly like a traditional death
thing when “Wreath” thrashes everything with growls and hammering guitars, and
one is deceived into thinking that nothing has changed since Morbid Angels
released “Altars Of Madness”. The title track keeps that illusion for a couple
of minutes when it suddenly stops and turns into something far greater. One minute
and sixteen seconds into the song the aggression halts and a new universe
cracks wide open with beautiful clean singing by Mikael Åkerfeldt and a soft
guitar that sweeps you away. And despite the fact that the song turns back to
more aggressiveness later on this beauty never leaves from this point. Opeth would
never be the same after this and has since then completely transformed itself
into a progressive rock act rather than death metal on the album that followed
after this.
“Damnation” that came after
“Deliverance” is a completely different animal all together as it is a low key
acoustic adventure that has nothing to do with metal to be honest. Here you can
hear Åkerfeldts full potential as songwriter and visionary musician. That
vision is even more obvious now when Music For Nation has released both albums
as one (as it was meant to be from the beginning) with an updated mix and new
artwork. The vinyl edition is pure porn for any record collector and if you
like Opeth this is nirvana.
It’s not often that you encounter
albums that create a rift in the known musical universe. “Deliverance &
Damnation” not only makes that rift. It rips the sky wide open to a totally new
universe that has its own rules and possibilities. It depends on no one and
sets its own rules and standards that only apply to itself. It is truly
wonderful when that happens in music. After these two releases Opeth had no
competitors in my opinion. Every album that they have released depends on no
one but Opeth. That is the definition of genius I think.
Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals, electric
and acoustic guitars
Peter Lindgren – electric guitars
Martin Mendez – bass guitar
Martin Lopez – drums, percussion
- The Void
Opeth
- Deliverance - Live at Wacken Open Air 2015
Opeth – Windowpane live 20013
Deliverance & Damnation on
Spotify
Official website
http://www.opeth.com/
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