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Damnation

Opeth - Damnation Audio CD

A fair review of the Opeth "Damnation" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Opeth reviews here, or go back to the Opeth tabs.

Band: Opeth
Title: Damnation
Rating:

Release Date: 2003-04-22
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Windowpane 2: In My Time of Need 3: Death Whispered a Lullaby 4: Closure 5: Hope Leaves 6: To Rid the Disease 7: Ending Credits 8: Weakness

Who Would Have Guessed?
So Opeth was never my thing. I was never a death or extreme metal fan. But when I started hearing tracks from this surprisingly atmospheric release on Pandora, it captured me lock, stock and barrel. There is little to nothing on this album which could be classified as heavy metal, but what it does have is a reflective, moody and sometimes idyllic motif that completely immerses the listener in a beautifully mournful sound scape. Despite this, the songs also carry a strain of hope and survival in the face of loss. Musically, it will recall progressive and atmospheric metal groups like Riverside and Porcupine Tree, though with more acoustic rhythm guitar. This has the effect of making the soaring, emotionally satisfying electric leads stand out even more than if they were part of a high-tech wall of sound.
Another highlight of this recording that many prog rock fans will celebrate is Stephen Wilson's (of Porcupine Tree) production. Even without seeing the credits, his presence is strongly felt and will be noticed by fans of his work. His guidance brings Opeth's considerable talents to even greater heights, bringing the wistful and mysterious side of their nature to an unforgettable fore. Indeed, Damnation casts a contemplative spell on it's audience that will linger on long after the chosen media player stops. Powerful stuff, indeed, and a welcome moment of solace in a usually graceless and unimaginative era of modern rock. Without a single weak moment on it, this album is worth buying and listening to in it's entirety and the sequence it was intended. Downloading an individual track or two is a waste of time, money and consideration. .

Unique but not totally required
Not being a huge fan of death metal in general, this tends to get the most play out of Opeth's above-standard releases in the house, but what was initial enthusiasm in the approach has diminished to more standardized appreciation with eight powerful, if fleeting melodic memories. 3 1/2

It was nice to hear a darker metal group taking that tone into acoustic realms. .

I don't know where to begin.......
An INCREDIBLE piece of music. What an AMAZING band. With Opeth, you HAVE to appreciate there musicianship. Akerfeldt is a musical genius. It's as if we are wandering in his head bouncing from the left side of his brain to the other side. Lopez, well, what can be said about him. Folks think that just because you can pound and hammer out music on the drumkit with ferosity as he does, that this guy is limited in his playing. Since he left Opeth, I hope he's still practicing and playing and will have some new music out soon! Peter, I'm sure will get work. His guitaring is masterful at worst and really complimented the band and vice versa. Mendez' fingers barely touched the strings of his bass and when it did, such gentleness and you can actually hear him playng different chords! Per (on keys) haunt the cd so lovely. I think this is his first with the band. I could be wrong (please be kind if I am) but you can tell that he has been classically trianed. Akerfeldt. Well, this guy is genius and you can tell that his sense of music does't travel down that narrow tunnel that soooooo many bands (particularly death metal) are trapped under. This band travels the whole spectrum of good music. Great CD.

CHUCKDEEZUL O U T
Brooklyn S T A N D U P!
Cooper Park
50 Debevoise Ave .

Beautiful album from heavy band
Part of it, like all Opeth releases, is that it takes a bit of time for the album to sink in and thanks to the ever-shifting changes in tempo, dynamics and song lengths, sometimes it takes awhile before you really "get" an Opeth release. Strangely, this is the first review I've done of an Opeth record even though I own 5. Released after their 6th release, "Deliverance" which was one of their heaviest records, in comes "Damnation" which is one of their more softer, introspective and dare I say it, gorgeous releases. While some songs are just simply good, others are their best of their whole career.

Windowpane: With its eerie guitar chord intro, the album opens and leads into a gorgeous track complete with 2 great guitar solos and an effective bridge at 2:24 with guitars playing the same riff but out-of-sync. Longest track and a great opener. 9. 5/10

In My Time of Need: Very chime-y guitar arpeggios start off though strangely I'm not a fan of the halted verse melody though of course that changes with the pre-chorus which leads into the chorus that really shows off Mikael Akerfeldt's vocals. Outro goes on a bit too long but oh well. 9/10

Death Whispered a Lullaby: Upbeat title no? Anyway, the opening acoustic riff is catchy and the chorus is another Akerfeldt standout but the song as a whole I never could get into all that much. I like the Pink Floyd-esque guitar solo though. 7. 5/10

Closure: Emotive vocals and 12-string acoustics start us off before we get a repeating riff and few instances of distortion, and ending with a riff sounding like from the Middle East and more ethnic drumming until it unexpectedly cuts off. It's decent and I like parts of it, just not the whole. 6/10

Hope Leaves: A quite gorgeous song with everything from the chime-y arpeggios like track 2, Akerfeldt's vocals (I love the pre chorus), backing vocals from male to an ethereal female, this is easily one of the best songs on the album. 9. 5/10

To Rid the Disease: A beautiful-yet-eerie guitar riff starts off the track and the chorus is pretty enough though it's not really stunning either. But adding the piano to mimic the guitar riff is a nice touch and the piano riff after the solo is absolutely gorgeous and very simple. It's one of those I like the song but love its parts. Weird, I know. 8/10

Ending Credits: Strangely, the title doesn't mean it's the last track of the album. It's an instrumental with an acoustic guitar providing simple chord progressions before the 2nd guitar basically solo's riffs throughout the whole thing. It's a fun song to play and it's peaceful though not really a put-on-repeat one. 8/10

Weakness: Strange organ sounds sounding sci-fi-esque and very minimal guitar playing makes this a very lowkey album closer though for a record like this, it seems oddly appropriate. Nice bit of winding down and nice to listen to though it probably won't go on your iPod. . . unless you got chill-out music on there. 8/10

It would be easy to recommend buying Damnation if you're not an Opeth fan already since it's so different than the others; on the other hand, it's for that reason why it's maybe not the best "starter" release since the others will surprise you. But still, it would be a shame if you didn't check out this release anyway.

Another quality release from Opeth
These guys consistently release quality material and Damnation is no different. I like Opeth. My only beef with this album are the first three songs. The vocals are too, well, girly. They just dont do it for me. The remaining songs are wonderful and morosely beautiful. With a release like this I wonder why there are not more singles playing on like Mtv (my-bad they dont play music anymore) or adult contempo radio stations. Opeth does not suck and over 95% what is played on Adult contempo radio do suck. Still a large portion of American listeners are just too juvenile to like or understand quality music. (If you like bands like Opeth your not included).
If It would of gottne four stars if it werent for the first few songs.

You can see a complete list of all Opeth discography, or go back to the Opeth tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.