Opeth - Deliverance
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Free Music Notes for Deliverance
Free Music Review: Beauty is found in the strangest places.
Hit: 5 Stars
As the teenaged boy in American Beauty told us, we can find beauty in the stragest places, whether it is a paper bag caught in a swirl of wind, blood dripping down the head of a dead man or in this case, An incredibally aggressive Death Metal Album.Opeths juxtaposition of grinding growly Death Metal and floaty prog-ish accoustic rock has been spoken of in glowing terms by metal fans all over the world. After Opeth becoming my freind's favorite band after only a few listens, this is one band I had to check out, despite any reservations I previously had about growling Death Metal.
As some of you may not know, Opeth originally planned this volume to be a 2 disc set, something they had never done before. The two discs, Deliverance and Damnation were to juxtapose as one heavy album (Deliverance) and one mellow (Damnation). Even the titles show Opeth's fervent love for the literary device known as oxymoron.
As we know the albums have been split in two, and Damnation is coming next month or so. After hearing this disc I can honestly say I cannot wait. Opeth is something you might not like the very first time you hear it. But the incredibally odd assortment of notes that somehow makes sense seeps into your brain and even the most die-hard advocate of clean vocals will find themselves growling along with the vocals in no time.
The album opens with a rush of drums and guitar, a quick growl by Akerfeldt just to let us know this is going to be one heavy Disc. the song doesn't let up at all, and is only sung cleanly for a few scant lines near the end. Incredibally melodic and layered, "Wreath" the first song clocks in at just over 11 minutes perfectly seguing into the next song.
The title track begins with a driving repititious riff that rears it's head several times during the songs 14 minute legnth. This song is masterpiece, the perfect blending of trippy accoustics and blindingly loud thunderous guitars, plus Akerfeldts at times frightening, at times soulful singing make this one simply breathtaking.
The next song "A Fair Judgement" shows that they aren't going to completely abandon their more mellow side on this album, as they brood and sulk, depressing anyone who cares to let this song seep in. How very heart felt and beautiful this album is already!
Before the last two songs you will get an interlude called "For Absent Freinds" that is soothing and clear, a beautifully played instrumental.
With these last two selections, Opeth has delievered the calm before the storm, as they quickly launch into "Master's Apprentices" a nearly 11 minute serving of Death Metal as it should be. Driving, powerful, unyelding but with enough progressive influence and incredibally smart playing and dynamics to make it easily the best song on the album.
The final song on this wonderful album is "By The Pain I See in Others" A song that actually showcases Akerfeldt growling in a unusually ghostly manner over a soft accoustic set. The song rises in a great Death Metal Crescendo and ending with a 4 minute plus Decresendo, a song that seems to just waver in and out of existance as the album finally puts itself to sleep
I simply cannot wait for the next one.
Free Music Review: Heavy, Original, Brilliant.
Hit: 5 Stars
Opeth are one of the finer progressive metal bands I've heard, I think. You've heard it 1000 times before: Opeth takes incredibly heavy riffs and death metal growling and mixes them with regular vocals, melodic guitar riffs, and often acoustic guitars. This does not get old; Opeth keeps every album fresh and original. On "Deliverance", the heaviness is kicked up a notch, and the melody and clean vocals take a bit of a back step. Now, don't get me wrong. There are some great acoustic guitar parts, but overall this is Opeth's heaviest album. Just because it's heavier doesn't mean the songs are shorter. The songs are still in the 10-13 minute range, except for the brief instrumental "For Absent Friends". Opeth are very talented musicians, and they have a unique songwriting style. Peter Lindgren adds his melodic solos to many parts, and they are often paralyzingly beautiful ("A Fair Judgment" and "For Absent Friends" especially, but all his solos are good). Martin Lopez tears it up on this album, with pounding dopulbe bass and super fast fills, but he also knows how to lay back and play for the song, which he does most of the time.
Opening up the album is a lightning quick drum fill and a super-heavy guitar riff. Mikael's vocals come in reminding me of Cannibal Corpse. He's really developed a deeper voice since the days of "Morningrise". I like it better. The song slows down after a few minutes to a more melodic part in 6/8, that's stunningly beautiful, although still pretty heavy. The title track is familiar Opeth, but much more heavy and intense. The end vamps on an amazing timed guitar riff. You'll know the one when it comes. It's sick as hell. "Master's Apprentice" almost reminds me of Black-album Metallica, until the vocals come in. It has that crunchy "Sad But True" feel though. The song gets more interesting though, with some nice melodic bits in the middle. "By The Pain I See in Others" features some death metal vocals over a clean guitar bit. It sounded weird as hell to me at first, but now I think it sounds right, in a demented way. Great song.
In addition to the heavier parts, this album features perhaps the most beautiful Opeth song to date (not including anything off "Damnation", which I will review next). "A Fair Judgement" is one of my favorite Opeth songs. It's beautifully melodic and mellow at the beginning. It keeps building up, while staying melodic, and then coming back down to more mellow parts. The guitar leads are incredibly beautiful thoughout the whole song. Truly, this song is gorgeous like few others. Probably my favorite on the album. "For Absent Friends" is a nice, short piece. It's basically just an acoustic guitar with an electric lead over it, but it gives you that chillingly beautiful feeling all Opeth acoustic songs do.
This album is disgustingly good, but I wouldn't recommend it as your first Opeth album, as it's heaviness may be over powering. Get "Blackwater Park" first, and if you like that, immediately buy "Deliverance" and their newest "Damnation" (which is incredibly good also.)
Free Music Review: Opeth Really Delivers Here
Hit: 5 Stars
Opeth 6th album released in 2002. This is by far THE Opeth album. I know I said My Arms Your Hearse is my favorite but now this has topped it in my book, easliy.
Most fans may say that Blackwater Park, Still Life or MAYH are Opeth's finest, don't get me wrong they all are masterpieces and they had great songwriting, this is IMO an improvement (although not by far), this is the band's heaviest and most melodic work to date, although it has some slower moments with clean vocals & acoustic guitars, like the ballad-like 'A Fair Judgement', which is easily one of their best acoustic songs. I think that Mikael, Peter (Guitars) and Martin Lopez (Drums) have improved their work from their earlier efforts, especially Lopez who's one of the best metal drummers ever. Not to mention, EXCELLENT PRODUCTION, this is one of the best metal albums ever produced. And for the very matter, this album has my all-time favorite Opeth song, the title track (Deliverance), which clocks about 13:30 mins, and no single moment of it is boring, the opening riff is amazing, the solos are great also, the closing note is probably my favorite part of the song. 'Wreath', which is the opening track is probably the heaviest song on the album, It's 11 mins of a heavy assault with excellent drum beats, no acoustic passages (except the outro), no clean vocals, just raw, fast and heavy. 'A Fair Judgement' one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Althought it's kinda depressing Mikael's clean vocals (there are no growls in this song) are in top notch, and it has some really haunting riff in toward the end. The album closes wit 'By the Pain I see in Others', which is the longest and another one of the best songs on the album. All the songs are amazing, there is absolutely no filler here or a song I wanna skip. Don't let the fact that there are only 6 songs here fool you, there's one short instrumental which clocks about 2 mins (For Absent Friends) and all the other tracks are at least 10 mins. Opeth put quality before quantity, and this is why this blows out of water any nu-metal/metalcore album from bands like Slopknot, Mudlame, Limp Bizcrap, Killsuck Engage etc. which has about 5898589567 (whatever) tracks and they all suck so it doesn't matter.
As I said, this album from the whole Opeth library is easily my favorite. If you like any kind of metal (Death or Progressive), start here if you are new to the band. If you don't like death metal or just can't stand the growls, I'll suggest to start with this album's followup record, 'Damnation' which has no guitar-crushing or growls, or their most recent 'Ghost Reveries' which combines both ideas and in my view their 2nd best album, so you an get into the band's basics. Opeth is one hell of a band and this album is one of the very best albums ever. I know I sound like I'm overprasing this album, but honestly I can't say enough good things about it. This is already one of my top 5 favorite albums. No metal collection is complete without this gem.
Opeth rules!!!
Free Music Review: They have it all...
Hit: 5 Stars
Deliverance is the album that introduced Opeth to me. It occured then to me that I've lost many precious years and I wanted to make up for it by listening as much as I can..
While I like the older material of Opeth as in My Arms or the Morningrise, the albums like Still Life and particularly Blackwater Park, Damnation and Deliverance really make a difference. I spent a lot of time thinking whether I liked Blackwater or Deliverance more, and it is really hard to make a choice. I have pre-ordered Ghost Reveries and still waiting, so I do not know what shall happen next in my Opeth favorites list.
Notwithstanding my indecisiveness for the best Opeth album, I believe Deliverance is the most progressive, developed and most accomplished album of Opeth in terms of song structure, production and sound. Especially the drums are much more creative and independent in this album when compared to Blackwater or any other Opeth album.
I think this album includes the best of Lopez, not only performance wise, but also sound wise. In Blackwater Park, he was more like flowing with the band, not much of an extra contribution, except for occasional crazy double bass patterns, keeping the fills at a minimum and leaving almost everything creative to guitars and vocals. But in Deliverance, he leads the band and gets a huge part in the being creative department. The drums in Deliverance have really a story to tell. In the final part of the song "Deliverance", we witness an incredible rhythmic progression by Lopez. The added splashes and chinas onto the already repeated rhythm, added a lot of spice for those who can appreciate. Lopez is definitely one of the best drummers around. Add a bit of more power to his playing and a couple of signature fills and rhythms and he would be a trademark. His contribution is immense.
As for the songs, Wreath is like a big fist in your face and keeps hammering you for the remaining 10+ minutes even tough it also contains some really beautiful mellow parts, one of the best Opeth songs ever. However the second song, Deliverance is, in my point of view, the best Opeth song ever. You should listen to it so that I do not have to struggle to define it. Especially the final part of the song...I call it a masterpiece...A Fair Judgment is also one of my favorites. Great vocals and great vocal melodies...Master's Apprentice starts with a cool riff and builds its way from there-definitely one of the favorites of the album. By the Pain I See in Others is the one song that I couldn't get very much into...
I don't see a lot of bands around today, which possess all the key ingredients to make a perfect rock band; a loyal fan base, high instrument skills, original, creative and honest song writing, and a non-compromising philosophy. I think Opeth has them all...And I'd recommend them to everyone looking for a good rock band to listen to...
Free Music Review: A damn good attempt at topping Blackwater Park
Hit: 5 Stars
As one who prefers the heavier side of progressive metal, I thouroughly enjoyed this opeth album. It may not be there best work, but it certainly tops any other album by any other band. Strong songs include: Wreath & A Fair Judgement
Weaker songs: None
Wreath is a great way to jump right into the album with deep growls that blend well with the tone of the music. The guitar as usual is phenominal. This song does an excellent job of making the vocals loud enough to enjoy over the instruments, but not to loud that you can't catch the drum beats in the background and the guitar. I particularly like the phase around 1:47 from heavy guitar and growling to a slightly lighter tone that ends with a drum beat and an incredibly smooth transition that has no time lost.
The transition to Deliverance is so clean that I never picked it up the first few times listening to this album. I like the change up within the first quarter of this song from heavy to light. The end of the song does a great job of co-ordinating the drums and guitars on a beat. That's talent.
A Fair Judgement, one of the lighter, but not Benighted or Harvest tone does a good job of showing off Akerfeldt's lighter vocals with no growling at all. This song is loved by many of my friends who would not normally listen to Opeth because of the savage deep growls. This song has some amazing acoustic vocal and guitar combinations.
The calmest song on the album, For Absent Friends, is a bit repetitive if heard on it's own, but it does a great job of breaking up the album's heaviness. It is short, but holds some great acoustic guitar portions.
Master's Apprentice is great work. The begining lyrics, although don't have much meaning are great for the heavy attitude of the song. The only complaint about this song is that it gets repetitive enough that I always space out somewhere between the 6-8th minute and i'm not sure what the latter middle half of the song contains.
The begining of By the Pain I see in Others is so great. I like the fade from drowned out guitar to full fledged guitar, drums, and base is well timed and pumps the song up for the finale. I like the attempt at a completely original ending with erie vocals at the end of the song, but I still don't get the ending.
This album is a must have for an Opeth lover's collection. It definitely is a heavier album, and I've been told that it corresponds with Damnation which I unfortunaltely have not bought yet (stuid me). The collaboration of the instruments is in perfect harmony and this really elaborates on the bands incredible musical talent. I like the erie water noises throughout the album.