Artist: Opeth
Label: Koch Records
Release Date: 4/22/03
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Title: Damnation Artist: Opeth Label: Koch Records Release Date: 4/22/03 |
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Abyss's Review:
So I guess anyone who complains that this album isn't heavy enough is pretty much an idiot, huh? Opeth finally deliver the conclusion to their two-part experiment in dichotomy. Opeth remain gods to some and whipping boys to others, and this album isn't likely to alter anyone's opinions in those regards. Fact is, this album is exactly what I was expecting ever since I first heard of their intention. In retrospect, it's almost as if I never had to listen to the album at all.
"This album is exactly what I was expecting ever since I first heard of their intention. In retrospect, it's almost as if I never had to listen to the album at all." I guess my biggest problem with this whole situation is how predictable it was. While at first the thought of two separate albums with contrasting styles seemed ambitious and visionary, neither album contained anything we haven't heard time after time from this band. That makes this whole project come across as more of a gimmick than anything else.
Of course, that's not to say that this album (or Deliverance for that matter) is anything short of a great record. While heavy parts are nowhere to be found on this record, what remains is this band's greatest asset: their craftsmanship with regard to songwriting and composition. This is the main reason that any true Opeth fan will embrace this record with open arms (or open hearse), but, in all honesty, put the two albums together and you basically get Blackwater Park. And there's nothing wrong with that, I loved that album, but for me, Opeth's sound was made so compelling by the dynamics that they employed, and that has been lacking on these two releases. Like I said of Deliverance, this strikes me as half an album.
"Listening to the entire album on end finds me a little bored. You can't really blame me, I am a metalhead." Taken a song at a time, this still remains a very strong work. Listening to the entire album on end, however, finds me a little bored. You can't really blame me, I am a metalhead. Take away the metal and it's logical my attention may wander. But songs like "In My Time of Need" and "Death Whispered a Lullaby" undoubtedly deliver the goods. There isn't a bad song on the record, but at the same time I consider the recent efforts by Nightingale and Katatonia to be more successful examples of this theme.
Am I disappointed? No, not really, but I guess deep down I was hoping for something a little more visionary. There are no surprises on this record, and it would be nice if that weren't the case. However, my love for Opeth remains intact because they are still one of the brightest stars in the musical universe. One word review: Great.
Death's Review:
Part two of Opeth's latest multi-volume opus is now upon us. As many of you surely know, Damnation is the "mellow record." Verdict? Hmmm. As is true with all Opeth material, this is on many levels absolutely brilliant. Wonderfully executed, beautifully melodramatic musical visages abound. But I want some metal in the mix damnit! Heck, while this album calls to mind Porcupine Tree's In Absentia or perhaps the latest Katatonia or Anathema outings - all of those records were heavier than Damnation! Porcupine Tree's "Strip the Soul," for example, has serious metallic elements that are nowhere to be found on Damnation. In the end, this is disappointing. First of all, Deliverance, while my clear choice for album of the year for 2002, wasn't all that heavy. So I was hoping that Damnation wouldn't be that mellow. It is. Second, the dynamics - the interplay between dark and light, so to speak - are my favorite aspect of Opeth. Why separate them out from one another? I simply don't understand.
"Deliverance wasn't all that heavy. So I was hoping that Damnation wouldn't be that mellow. It is."
Of course Damnation is great. It is an Opeth record. "Death Whispered a Lullaby" is a fantastic piece, and "Closure" should immediately claim its rightful place among the pantheon of Opeth classics. But "Closure" is also a perfect example of what is missing from the album: even it sounds like it should get really heavy, eventually. All buildup and no payoff! Perhaps the musicians themselves would scoff at such sentiment. Is it immature to always want the heavy part to kick in at some point? Perhaps. But fuck it, I'm a metalhead for life, which makes me an eternal teenager by some standards. I want distortion and double bass! Anyway, Damnation just isn't that album. And we mustn't punish Opeth for that fact - (a) they told us this one would be mellow; and (b) they just put out a killer new album with their trademarked heaviness in the last year. This is a bonus. And viewed from that perspective, Damnation is, of course, brilliant. Opeth fans will all want to own this. Newcomers should check out Blackwater Park and Deliverance first.
"Is it immature to always want the heavy part to kick in at some point? Perhaps. But fuck it, I'm a metalhead for life, which makes me an eternal teenager by some standards."
Hel's Review:
Have you been living under a rock? Then you may not know that Damnation was originally intended to be released in combination with Deliverance as double cd set, with the overall concept that one would be really heavy, and the other really not. This is the one that is not. While I actually have absolutely no evidence to prove my belief, nonetheless, I think the set was broken up so that the record company could make more cash. Whatever the reason, the reality is that Damnation is not as complete as the other albums in Opeth's catalog, including its former mate, Deliverance. The latter had enough heft to hold its own, even though it was conceptually incomplete without its partner disc.
"Deliverance had enough heft to hold its own, even though it was conceptually incomplete without its partner disc... the same cannot be said for Damnation." The same cannot be said for Damnation. My familiarity with Deliverance causes my attention to be drawn to holes in Damnation, as if there are phrases that were begun on one album and finished on the other. The root of this issue lies in the band's songwriting style, which utilizes dynamics between heavy sections and mellow, to create an overall epic song which draws the listener between these states throughout the course of it. I imagine what the band was going for with this set was the same idea but spread on a much larger scale. Without the paired heavy parts included, the album cannot help but sound incomplete.
"The musicianship is still amazing and the songs are well-crafted. But without the contrasting heavy parts, they are less potent." That is not to say that the songwriting on Damnation is not good. This is Opeth we're talking about! The musicianship is still amazing and the songs are well-crafted. But without the contrasting heavy parts, they are less potent. There is no bad; there is no heavy. Since Opeth is a fundamentally heavy band, this album being released without the heavy side (Deliverance) included, is like a baseball pitcher going out to the mound with his throwing arm tied behind his back - it just doesn't make any sense, and renders the subject essentially useless.
A final point to ponder: if the heavy record is Deliverance, and the mellow one is Damnation, it follows that the band might be inferring that heavy music will deliver us, and mellow will damn us. This makes a lot of sense from my perspective. Now, if this had actually been released as a set as intended, it wouldn't have taken us two reviews to get to this point, would it?
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