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Review: 'Opeth'
'Deliverance & Damnation'   

-  Album: 'Deliverance & Damnation' -  Label: 'Music for Nations'
-  Genre: 'Rock' -  Release Date: '30th October 2015'

Our Rating:
Originally released separately in 2002 and 2003, the tracks were written and recorded together. It’s only now that they’re released as a single piece of work – a 4-disc bookset and hefty triple LP package – that it’s truly possible to fully appreciate the sheer scale of the project.

The initial concept was for a double album, showcasing the two sides of the band, with ‘Deliverance’ representing their heavier aspect, and ‘Deliverance’ exploring their softer, more experimental / progressive tendencies.

The first album brings forth some epic riffs, but also moments of sweeping grace, even beauty. The thirteen and a half minute ‘Deliverance’ encapsulates everything that’s great about both the album, and the project as a whole. The layers of sound, the detail and the depth, the weight… without sounding remotely contrived, it expands in all directions, simultaneously bludgeoning and soaring. It’s not often you’ll hear metal that’s atmospheric, or certainly not this atmospheric. If some of the extended solos threaten to grow a bit pompous, it’s forgivable in context, and it’s impossible to deny the quality of the musicianship. Besides, when they really go all out on the heavy, as on sections of ‘By the Pain I See in Others’, it’s direct, driving ant utterly punishing.

The rich strings and meandering breaks that dominate ‘Damnation’ tracks like ‘Windowpane’ make for a rich and absorbing experience. That the album frequently finds Opeth wandering amidst the popular sonic tropes of prog rock, both contemporary and vintage only serves to remind us that it was they who spearheaded the prog-rock revival and breathed new life into the genre. And to be clear: lack of volume or crushing riffs doesn’t equate to a lack of intensity, with ‘Death Whispered a Lullaby’ brooding deep and dark.

One could argue that mixing up the tracks would make for a more ‘balanced’ work overall, but this would justifiably countered that retaining the original sequencing is truer to the original concept. Meanwhile, the remixes, courtesy of Steven Wilson and Martin Sood, certainly benefit the overall sound.

In all, MFN have done sterling work with this reissue, affording the perfect opportunity to revisit and reappraise the accomplishment that is Opeth’s opus.

Opeth Online

  author: Christopher Nosnibor

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Opeth - Deliverance & Damnation