November 12, 2002 - Deliverance

A week after my last release and a year and a half since "Blackwater Park" Opeth released their sixth album "Deliverance" on November 12, 2002. These sessions were long and produced enough music that Opeth thought of making a double album, but instead the material from these sessions was split into two different albums. They are intentionally divided into a heavier and a lighter album and this one is arguably Opeth's heaviest album yet! I like the sound of that, let's check out the latest from Opeth!

The album opens with the eleven-plus minute "Wreath" and they waste no time getting into things as Martin Lopez fires right into a pretty sweet and super fast drum beat and the rest of the band quickly joins in to form a very heavy, very Opeth main riff. Mikael Akerfeldt provides his usual death growls and he still sounds as phenomenal as ever. He and Peter Lindgren continue to work off each other wonderfully with one of them playing a heavier riff and the other one adding an epic, slightly lighter riff that meshes really nicely. It's very typical Opeth, and I don't mean that in a bad way at all, these guys continue to be pretty freaking awesome! Akerfeldt's growls just sound unbelievably great and the music shifts very seamlessly and progressively from one cool section to the next. One guitarist even delivers a solo about midway through this long song, and it's a pretty epic and amazing solo, and the backdrop ain't too shabby either! A couple of wicked minutes later the other guitarist gets his chance to solo and it's in a slightly different vein, but still an excellently epic guitar solo! Akeefeldt adds a bit of singing towards the end of the song, but it's mostly growling and all of it sounds fantastic! What a superb way to kick things off! Up next is the thirteen and a half minute title track "Deliverance" and they dive right into this one as well with one guitarist and Martin Mendez playing a nice heavy rhythm section, Lopez playing some nice speedy drums, and the other guitarist playing some pretty sweet lead guitar overtop. Akerfeldt does some great growling as well as some wicked high screams in this wonderful opening part, then things drop off for a quiet, melodic part for a couple minutes. The guitars are still solid and Akerfeldt sings a nice soft verse to match the mood, then after a couple rounds they nicely slam back into the heavy earlier riff. Their progressiveness is at it's best on this long song as they segue very smoothly into another new part that is pretty cool with all the typical Opeth elements that make things sound so great. There's another solid quieter part, a pretty epic guitar solo overtop that sounds sweet, then some more cool acoustic guitar by Akerfeldt that nicely sets the stage for this long song's final section. Lindgren enters with a really cool offbeat guitar riff that is in a weird time signature and together things sound very epic and awesome indeed as this goes on for several minutes and takes us to the end of the song. Track 3 is "A Fair Judgement" and it opens with a light but solid piano riff played by the producer, who is once again the great Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree! After almost a minute and a half of just piano Opeth finally joins Wilson as Lopez plays a catchy drum beat and Akerfeldt sings a soft verse to match the mood. Things shift smoothly into a louder riff that isn't very heavy by Opeth standards, but it's still plenty epic and cool and it helps to nicely break up the softer verses. One guitarist shines alone in a super soft acoustic part, then the other guitarist nicely joins in for a melodic new riff with Akerfeldt still singing nicely overtop. This sets the stage for solo time and both Akerfeldt and Lindgren get a chance to solo, and both of them plays some pretty sweet stuff! Akerfeldt sings a soft and epic final verse, then they close out the song with a loooong breakdown that beautifully cycled back into itself! It's super slow and heavy and it's just so smooth how it keeps repeating to take us over the finish line. I wouldn't have thought a song with no growling would be so awesome! Very nicely done! The next track is named "For Absent Friends" and even though it's not a direct cover, the name is a tribute to the interlude of the same name by Genesis on their album "Nursery Cryme"! This is by far the shortest song (just over two minutes) as well as the lightest song on this album as Akerfeldt leads the way with some pretty cool acoustic guitar and Lindgren backs him with a slow but epic rhythm guitar riff. Akerfeldt leads nicely for most of the song, but Lindgren does spice it up a couple times and this is a pretty cool little interlude between the 10-plus minute songs. Speaking of which, track 5 is "Master's Apprentices" and Lopez plays some pretty sweet fast drums, some super heavy guitars nicely lead the way and Akerfeldt growls wonderfully overtop in his usual fantastic voice. Words don't do proper justice to all the sweet heavy stuff they play in the first four minutes or so, then the mood shifts as they segue nicely to a softer, acoustic-led riff. Akerfeldt sings nicely to match the mood, but he also mixed in some singing in the heavy part and that sounded good too, he's just such an amazing vocalist! After another four minutes or so they ramp nicely back to the heavy stuff and set the stage beautifully for a melodic and pretty epic guitar solo! Lopez's drums are awesome throughout all the heavier parts and this takes us to the finish line, just another pretty awesome tune! The album closes up with the near fourteen minute finale "By The Pain I See In Others" and it starts off with a typical(ly sweet) Opeth riff: solid and heavy rhythm section, one guitarist playing a heavy rhythm riff while the other plays some epic lead stuff, and of course some top-notch growling by Akerfeldt. After a couple minutes Akerfeldt takes over with a light but speedy acoustic guitar riff and then he does this sort of growling-while-whispering and it sounds really creepy and cool! The progressiveness is in full swing on this long as there are more little sections than I could possibly write about! The theme of some pretty awesome guitar pervades throughout though, including a couple short but epic solos. It's a fittingly cool way to finish off this album and the song appears to end a little after the ten minute mark, but after a bit of silence some trippy, super echo-y light guitar enters followed by some similarly space-y and echo-y singing. It's a bit of a weird little bonus song.

That is the end of "Deliverance" and I thought it was another pretty awesome album from Opeth! Mikael Akerfeldt continues to write some of the heaviest music you'll hear and he and Peter Lindgren play off each other so well. I think it's on another level that is easily better than their first three albums, but their last two albums are also on this amazing level. I don't think it surpasses "Still Life" though, but even though 3rd place will have to do, the fact that it's in the conversation with "Still Life" and "Blackwater Park" is very telling. What will the lighter half of these sessions sound like?