Deliverance

For their sixth release, Opeth has decided to come up with a couple of new albums, although the second one will not be released until March 2003. This first one is called Deliverance and is considered by the band as the heavy album, and Damnation, which will be released in 2003, is considered as the mellow album. I think it’s better that way since six months isn’t a long time to digest a new Opeth album. Although I own their three latest releases 1998's My Arms Your Hearse, 1999's Still Life and 2001's Blackwater Park, I admit I don’t (can’t) listen to them as much as they deserve and I would like to now, especially since I have been part of the Metal Reviews team for more than six months. I mean, this band stands above all other death metal acts whatsoever for the talent of its gifted musicians, and their music is rich and full of emotional texture. But that’s probably and unfortunately the weakness in Opeth's music. The conception of their music is somewhat difficult to apprehend and several repeated listens are needed in order to fully understand their crafted music. Moreover, it would be impossible to sum up the complexity of the music of Opeth in a single review. The length of their songs is quite amazing, an average Opeth song clocks at about 10 minutes. Their albums don’t exceed 6 or 7 songs for a running time of more than 60 minutes. This new album is no exception, since it clocks in at just over 60 minutes for only six songs, although one of them is only a 2 minute instrumental track. I don’t find this album particularly heavy compared to their previous albums. This one isn’t really heavier or intense, but don’t worry, the music does retain it's sheer brilliance. A song like Master's Apprentices is so diverse in its entirety that I would struggle to come up with a decent review for the whole album. Indeed in only one song the band blends several genres of metal such as doom, death, black, gothic, acoustic, folk and progressive. In fact, it would be impossible to categorize the music of the band within a defined genre since the music is so multifaceted, creating so many diverse melancholic landscapes of atmosphere. The transition within a song from metal to acoustic or the contrary doesn’t weaken the music at all or even destabilize the listener. It’s very natural in fact, it just happens like this, it’s part of the music, it causes an ambient feel to the music. Sometimes there’s an Anathema resemblance, particularly on the song A Fair Judgment which is very moody and mellow at times. The Untitled song makes you feel at times (after six minutes) as though you’re in a merry-go-round in a fun fair, just close your eyes..... That’s very funny and quite weird at the same time. Just like in every previous Opeth album, be prepared for a journey of a lifetime again. When I listen to such grandeur, I really feel like I should take the time to listen to them more often, but unfortunately a day is only 24 hours. And by the way, we all know that I don’t have to tell you to check this thing out!!