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57 of 60 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Your salvation., November 19, 2002
Another Opeth album, and again the pillars of progressive metal must inevitably quake in terrified awe. Luckily, most will remain safe since Opeth basically remains a niche within a niche. For the esurient progressive music fan not queasy with a hellish vocal, however, it is obvious that they are one of progressive metal's leading bands.Opeth's latest album continues to their brutal heavy passages with gorgeous acoustic interludes and a protean expanse of other flavors ranging from Scandinavian folk to jazz to 70s prog. Even though this is their sixth album, Mikael Åkerfeldt's bohemian preoccupation with creating progressive music remains as poignant as ever. While _Deliverance_ does call upon familiar elements from past albums, it likewise adds new assets to the Opethian palette -- especially the final song, "By the Pain I See in Others". After all, Opeth is nothing if not surprising. Right now, I'm not sure how I would rate this relative to other Opeth works. Certain things are clear, however. For one thing, it the most complex musically. This makes it difficult to take in quickly, but Opeth was never musical fast-food anyway. With only six songs, all ten minutes or longer (not including a short instrumental), it is quite overwhelming to take in at first. The astonishing drumming, heaviness, and seemingly impenetrable song structures necessitate a lot of listening. Lyrically, Åkerfeldt has mined a very personal side which makes this the most emotional of Opeth's albums. The lyrics are gorgeous, haunting, darkly evocative. Ex. "Pacing further down | Familiar children's laughter | Dissonant and out of time | And their eyes are dead | Watching myself in a pool of water | Wearing the mask of a ghost | Smeared all across my skin | Rotten earth and insects." Creepy! "Wreath" opens with a tempestuous fury unlike any previous Opeth song. An inferno of guitars pours on the attack, a gale of drums besieges the mix, and Åkerfeldt's chthonic growl waste no time getting into things. The towering sonic architecture of Opeth's compositions stands out for all 11 minutes of this fierce track, a menagerie of dark, crushing rhythms. As this song demonstrates, the band is so surreally powerful due to the sheer density of their heavy assault, especially here, because this is their heaviest album by a fair margin. This disc is a big onslaught of sound. Opeth's thick wall-of-sound arrangements are not just distorted blobs of noise, however -- the instrumental interplay is elaborately constructed, rife with nuance and intricacy. Guitars are often used in a keyboard like way, creating waves of ambience over top a scorched-earth battlefield of guitars and drums and the hellfire vocals of Åkerfeldt. "By the Pain I See in Others" is one of the most experimental Opeth song to date. Early on, the gelid growls washing over the acoustic guitar is an absolutely spellbinding and somewhat unnerving effect. Later, an eerie section evoking carnival music forms a haunting atmosphere. Awesome riffs are everywhere. And when it goes quiet at the end, keep listening...one of the most mysteriously beautiful Opeth moments brings the album to its end. And in between, you have four other amazing songs: "Deliverance" is sure to be an Opethian classic, with awesome riffs from the outset, stirring ambiance, and beautiful soft sections; "A Fair Judgment", a pseudo-ballad with soaring guitars lines, melting pianos, ghostly bursts of atmosphere, gorgeous vocal harmonies (you can hear Steven Wilson's vocal influence big time); "For Absent Friends", a brief halcyon instrumental with a touch of jazz; and "Master's Apprentices", opening with an evil groove and proceeding through a terrain of rhythmic power and gorgeous soft passages typical of Opeth. _Deliverance_ demonstrates clearly that Åkerfeldt is turning into a fine singer. While he summons forth his demonic growl from some nether realm, his singing voice must be called from the heavens. He is also a classic aesthete, with an ear for arrangement and chord selections that would humble the best. _Deliverance_ showcases a band that continues to astonish and grow. _Deliverance_ makes previous albums -- while beautiful and amazing -- seem underdeveloped, in a way. In March 2003, Opeth will release the _Deliverance_'s "mellow" follow-up called _Damnation_. Until then, we can revel in what we have here -- yet another astonishing release from one of the most powerful forces in progressive metal. Opeth is a truly mythic experience, and _Deliverance_ is your salvation from traditional prog metal. Enjoy.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So good it should have a warning label, November 22, 2002
Opeth have become sort of an underground metal legend in the past few years, and deservedly so. Although their sound clearly has roots in death metal, at the same time they're willing to go outside the genre and do something completely different. "Deliverance," like every Opeth album, has the guttural vocals and heavy guitars that are the hallmark of death metal, but there's a lot more going on here. Opeth use acoustic guitars and clean vocals extensively, and it works wonders. I can't think of any band I've heard that creates such emotionally and musically diverse albums, and Opeth have done it six times now. I'm not one of those fans that have gone ga-ga over everything Opeth has done, but any way you slice it this album is amazing. Although Opeth are obviously highly skilled musicians, this isn't the most complex or technical metal I've heard. I think Opeth's real appeal lies in their music's evocative power and in the element of melody that they bring to their sound. Opeth have a way of playing that manages to convey a lot of emotion, whether you can make out the lyrics or not. Sometimes the band rages, at other times they sound mournful and contemplative, but it's always obvious that they put a lot of feeling into what they do. And since Opeth are Swedish, they have tons of those catchy, melodic guitars that give that country's metal its distinctive flavor. The eleven-minute opener "Wreath" is a fine example of just what makes Opeth such a great and unique band. Mikael Akerfeldt delivers his vocals in a rumbling, menacing death growl almost reminiscent of Cannibal Corpse's Chris Barnes, but with far more of a melodic sensibility. And like most of Opeth's songs, it has an epic feel that few extreme metal bands can conjure up. "Wreath" is followed by the even longer (thirteen and a half minutes) title track. "Deliverance" is definitely my favorite song on the disc, as well as the one that I feel best exemplifies what Opeth are all about. It starts out, much as "Wreath" does, with Akerfeldt's menacing death vocals, but then quickly switches to acoustic guitars and clean vocals. The song ends up being an emotional roller coaster, with myriad shifts in vocal and musical style (the song also has an extremely cool outro). That's what I like most about Opeth: they seem comitted to exploring a broad range of moods, both with their lyrics (which I'll admit I need to brush up on a bit) and their music. Anyway, the next track, "A Fair Judgement," is another gem. I didn't really like it at first, but like many great songs, it needs a little time. The vocals are all sung, but that's not a problem at all. Akerfeldt's singing voice is extremely powerful and emotional, and the song expertly mixes acoustic and electric guitars, so it never gets boring. I'm not a huge fan of soft or slow music, but "A Fair Judgement" is just plain mesmerizing. "A Fair Judgement" is followed by the brief acoustic interlude "For Absent Friends," but the album then makes a quick return to heaviness with "Master's Apprentices." This song is loaded with violent guitar work and some of Akerfeldt's scariest and most tortured-sounding vocals, but there's also a mellow acoustic section and a couple of terrific guitar leads. Needless to say, it rules. The album concludes with "By the Pain I See in Others." This song is in pretty much the same vein as the others, except it briefly includes some weird vocal effects that I don't recall ever having heard in an Opeth song before. Other than that, though, it's typical Opeth all the way. Okay, it's come to my attention that this review may have run a tad bit long, but I think it's a testament to Opeth's abilities that they've made my keyboard run over this much. They're one of the few bands that I think have been able to develop a style that truly can't be imitated. And this album may be the best example yet of just how good they are. Keep 'em coming, guys.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Opeth "Deliver"...again!, September 21, 2005
"Deliverance" is yet another example of Opeth's brilliance. This album came out in 2002, only a year after the release of "Blackwater Park" (because they had good success with that album), and it might be this Swedish band's heaviest album. All of their albums are heavy, so calling this one their heaviest is really saying something. These songs are fairly consistently heavy and show quite a bit of death metal influence.
Part of why "Deliverance," Opeth's sixth full length, is so smart is they figured out a way to make it clock in at 62 minutes flat. But this album's songwriting is also great. The key to their success is recognizing the value of contrast (balancing and blending things which are very different). "Deliverance" is just so many things all at once. It is pretty and ugly, progressive and heavy, fast and slow, bold and subtle, punishing and satisfying. Some other metal bands (not mentioning any names, here) are afraid of adding melody, because they think it risks being called a sell-out, while others add melody just to break up their C.D.'s monotony. Opeth, however, do it just because they're so darn good at it! In addition to this album being full of soft breakdowns, singer Mikael Akerfeldt displays a very impressive vocal range by seamlessly switching from bellowing (like Deicide's Glenn Benton and Immortal's Olve Eikemo) to imitating a voice (which could be Justin Timberlake). The end result is an album full of great friction (between the beauty and brutality).
"Wreath" begins with a fast drum intro before rocketing into a guitar assault, with some death metal roars. The drumming (by Martin Lopez) is very fast and talented throughout this song, and some melody is included, but it's thrown in late in the song (when the soft hand percussion makes an appearance).
The title track is also driven by fast, thumping drumming, but there's an acoustic breakdown around one minute and twenty seconds in, where the drums slow way down and Mikael sings properly. The lurching, crunchy riffs and blinding double bass drums re-enter and take over the track again, but, even when the music is heavy, Mikael sings melodically about half the time.
"A Fair Judgement" is a very atmospheric and depressing track. It begins with a piano (and some feedback from the piano keys), then the drums tap lightly, and the song stays soft until the electric guitars kick in (and even then, the beat isn't super heavy).
"For Absent Friends" is a beautiful acoustic instrumental which is slow and melancholy.
"Master's Apprentices" returns to form, with booming riffs, amazingly fast drumming (which sort of sounds like a drum machine) and more death metal barks.
"By the Pain I See in Others" has more surging, sometimes machine gun riffs and a sprinting drum beat. To end the song (and the album), however, there's about a minute of silence, then Mikael comes on and sings a capella, with a dreary voice.
In addition to being their heaviest, this album could be Opeth's best. It matches past greats like "Blackwater Park" and my personal favorite, "My Arms, Your Hearse." So, if you own those albums, definitely get this one, too. And if you're new to this band, and you're wondering if this album is any good, my answer would be: of course it's good, it's Opeth!
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