Opeth - Damnation
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Free Music Notes for Damnation
Free Music Review: A beautiful, melodic masterpiece
Hit: 5 Stars
I just entered the wonderful world of Opeth by purchasing their latest release Ghost Reveries. I realized right from the start that Opeth were exceptional-the quality of their music, their transitions from heavy to acoustic, their unique brand of progressive metal, and their overall sound. Obviously, I sought to obtain more of their albums. And so, I continued with this wonderful album, Damnation. Ghost Reveries is great, but Damnation is beyond even that.
The first thing that makes this album so good is the crystal-clear production. This album probably has the most precise and wonderfully textured production I have ever heard. The producer, Steve Wilson, is an absolute genius who might as well be the 5th member of this band. His vocal harmonies and keyboards are an extremely tasteful touch to the band's sound as well as his mastering of the CD. But he's not the only one who's extraordinary.
All of the band members are extremely talented, in particular the vocalist, who's the rhythm guitarist as well. His singing is very emotional, personal, and melodic. But he's not alone. The bass I can hear loud and well, it keeps the rhythm section extremely solid along with the very technically-skilled drummer. And the lead guitarist provides very emotional and tasteful soloing throughout, as well as adding the necessary electric guitar parts.
The whole album is great, not a single weak track. If I had to choose my favorites, they'd have to be To Rid the Disease, Windowpane, In My Time of Need, Death Whispered A Lullaby, and Closure. But even this may be pushing it because it's that hard to place one song over another. Each song, with its acoustic touches, transitions so smoothly to the next track that this CD really requires it to be listened to from beginning to end. However, this CD is a bit different from Opeth's other albums. If you enjoy this kind of sound combined with a very heavy blend of metal, then I'd continue exploring the rest of their catalogue. But don't let this detract you though, their melodic elements remain in tact throughout and they are far beyond any other modern metal band today, with maybe the exception of Dream Theater (who I also recommend). With that note, buy this album!
Free Music Review: Definition of Beauty.
Hit: 5 Stars
Opeth's latest album is sheer brilliance. Even though it is has all clean vocals and is predominantly mellow , it is still one of the best if not, the best album Opeth has ever released.
The songs as I stated above are all soft/mellow songs which is not typical of Opeth. Mikael Akerfeldt never releases a single death metal growl on this album, but rather utilizes his extremely good clean vocal singing voice, which in my opnion is second to none. Overall the musicianship is outstanding (which is expected...after all, it is Opeth), and the lyrics are some of the most poetic, beautiful lyrics Opeth have ever unleashed upon us. There is also quite a bit of keyboard usage (provided by Steven Wilson) which I forgot to mention earlier, which blends in perfectly with the album (especially on songs like "In My Time of Need," and "To Rid the Disease.")
1) "Windowpane"- The longest song on the album. Great guitar solos, great song. 10/10
2) "In My Time of Need"- Another great song..beautiful mesh of guitars, and keyboards. 10/10
3) "Death Whispered a Lullaby"- Steven Wilson (from Porcupine Tree) wrote the lyrics to this song..so you know they are going to be great. Pay attention to the lyrics though...when you figure out what the song is about, it is bone chilling (in a good way)- 10/10
4) "Closure"- Mikael Akerfeldt's voice shines brightly on this particular song. It is predominantly an acoustic song and is majestically executed.- 10/10
5) "Hope Leaves"- Probably the most emotional song on the record. Good overall. - 9/10
6) "To Rid the Disease"- I would be hard pressed to choose a favorite song on this record (since they are all brilliant), but if I had to pick, it would this one. Gorgeous song overall with elegant keyboards. - 10/10
7) "Ending Credits"- An instrumental done well. - 9/10
8) "Weakness"- Haunting song overall. Unlike any song Opeth has ever done to date. 9/10
Definitely try to check this album out...it will no doubt be one of the best purchases you have ever made..that certainly was the case for me.
Free Music Review: Excellent Change of Pace For Opeth.
Hit: 5 Stars
*#3 on My Top Albums of 2003*This may have been a shock for Opeth fans everywhere. However, it was a pleasant suprise for me as this was the first album I got from a band that I was curious about. I didn't want to spend money on their other albums and not like the death metal vox. If you want to check the bands sound out, this is a definate FIRST buy. I later got used to their death metal stuff and Opeth are among my favourite bands!
As for the album, you could compare it with 70s prog, and atmospheric rock like Pink Floyd, but the closest band to this album would be Porcupine Tree. And their frontman Steve Wilson came in and did a great job producing: adding back up vocals, doing the keyboard/piano stuff, and writing lyrics to one song.
The album really focuses on sadness,depression, and loss, and the artwork (rather Gothic) perfectly reflects the mood of the music!
This album is really focused on drumming. Martin Lopez was a jazz drummer before this and his style fits perfectly on this album. Beats are fantastic, and many times he just jumps in and leads the whole band with some very creative fills. He's not overbearing on the drums, and because this is a very light album he uses the intricacy and subtlety of jazz drumming to his utmost advantage! This is probably my favourite drumming performance of the year.
Another highlight was the guitars. An abundance of beautiful acoustics, mournful melody, and piercing (yet peaceful) solos. Michael Akerfeldt's voice is also the most clear and beautiful-sounding one he has ever recorded. His tone seems touched with remorse, and it fits the album perfectly.
Overall, this album shows off Opeth at their most creative, subtle, with their amazing ear for dynamics especially being used in 'Damnation'. My favourite time to listen to this would be at night or on a rainy Sunday afternoon, maybe not for a party or an exciting occaison.
But this is definately a redefining album from a death metal band, truely showing how diverse they can be! Can't wait for their DVD 'Lamentations' out in Europe in November, and in North America/Internationally on February 24th, 2004!
Free Music Review: Opeth's Damnation & Anathema' Alternative 4
Hit: 5 Stars
I agree to one reviewer about the growling Opeth. I mean if there are so many growling bands around, why not stick to the sweet melodic sound that you've got and mark your music with an edge that stands out amongst all?
Every time opeth growls, it pisses me off, not because the music is bad - no way - but it really sucks to listen to michael just corrupting his great great voice for nothing. Anyways, im no longer a growl fan ( i was when in teens ) but now what strikes me about this band is its immaculate poetry and the music style. I havent seen many bands, except Anathema, that reach this level of writing in their songs. Opeth, while keeping the music melancholic, manifest a great variety within every single track in terms of flow. Opeth is simply fantastic and thats true for all their albums (doesnt really matter if they're growling), thier lyrics are absolutely beautiful.
Damnation is an outstanding album demonstrating how great a band this is with some of the rarest and finest pieces of writings. My Arms Your Hearse is the best example of how good they can write and produce. If Opeth experiments another album like Damnation, skips the growling part and leave it to other heavy bands and focuses more on good writing and matching music delivering, theres no telling how good it can get.
Even if they keep on the way they are, theres always a number in their album where michael sings with his true voice and no growls.
The change and maturity in their albums can really be thought of as the case of Anamthema. Alternative 4 was a great change in their music. Damnation is a wonderful change for Opeth. While I still dont mind the post-damnation Opeth, I really would love Opeth to take their music somewhere from Damnation.
By and far, Opeth is truly a 5 star band no matter what the sort of album they release. If the musc is not so good, its overcome by the lyrics, if the lyrics are a bit weak, the melancholic rock is always awesome.
Free Music Review: Turns the tables, exhibits Opeth's evolving brilliance
Hit: 5 Stars
Just when fans thought Opeth had surprised them enough with the raw power of 2002's Deliverance, Mikael Åkerfeldt and company release their seventh studio album, the all-acoustic, all-clean Damnation. The shift was astounding - few bands had ever attempted such a radical shift in sound (Ulver, Amorphis and - dare I say it - Metallica come to mind). Despite this polar change, fans embraced the album's sound because it worked. Opeth's previous albums had been known to have all-acoustic instrumental passages in between restless death-metal beasts. Damnation was like all of those songs with lyrics put into one album. With Åkerfeldt's soft, clean voice, the songs became instant masterpieces.
"Windowpane" is the best song on the album, with dark, emotional melodies accompanying clean vocals and jazzy solos. "In My Time of Need" is equally morose, with disturbing guitars. Even seemingly uplifting songs like "Hope Leaves" are saddening, desperate and emotionally crippling. Now that we can finally understand what Åkerfeldt has been saying this whole time, the words come alive beautifully. Even though the distortion and screaming are both gone, the album's clean guitars bring out a darker landscape, and in turn, a more intense and profound album is created, darker than anything the band has attempted before. The subtlety of the album is tremendous - everything from the raised pitch in "Closure"'s guitar solo, to the organs in the instrumental "Ending Credits" has a harrowing intensity that is never reached in the band's trademark 10-minute epics. Nor is the album out of character; the music blends perfectly with Opeth's heavier material (especially live). Without a single awkward moment on the album, Opeth have delivered a true doom-laden masterpiece. Where the band goes from here, one can never tell.
See also: Opeth - Blackwater Park, Pain of Salvation - 12:5