April 22, 2003 - Damnation

It's a double release day! On the same day as my last release and a mere five months since "Deliverance", Opeth released their seventh album "Damnation" on April 22, 2003. Opeth recorded these two albums at the same time and while "Deliverance" was very heavy, this one is the opposite: it's by far their lightest album to date. It's the first Opeth album to have no screaming vocals at all as well as no heavy guitars and producer Steven Wilson helping out with a good amount of Mellotron as well. I don't like the sound of no screaming when Mikael Akerfeldt is so good at it, but let's listen before we judge too much!

The album begins with "Windowpane" and it's got a pretty smooth and solid main riff with a light lead guitar riff by Akerfeldt and a great light rhythm section with some nice light guitar by Peter Lindgren, some solid bass by Martin Mendez and a cool drum beat by Martin Lopez as well. Akerfeldt sings a fittingly light verse that matches the mood perfectly and after the first verse he spices things up with a pretty cool guitar solo that also nails this lighter mood really nicely. After another smooth verse with Wilson adding some nice backing keyboards as well they move into a new instrumental part with Akerfeldt and Lindgren playing off each other very nicely with two very different guitar riffs that combine very nicely. This part goes on for several minutes and everything sounds pretty good. It's obviously not a headbanger, but it's not supposed to be and they are doing a great job at this lighter style even if it's not my preference for Opeth. They wrap it up with a final chorus and that was a pretty good intro into what this album is about. Up next is "In My Time Of Need" and Akerfeldt plays a slow guitar riff with the last note holding for a few seconds each time and this provides the backbone for this song as Lopez follows with a nice fitting drum beat and Mikael sings an interesting stop-and-start verse that whispers softly overtop. Mendez plays some cool bass in the background and Wilson is here adding more epic Mellotron to the mix as well. The chorus is acoustic aside from some loud Mellotron and Akerfeldt sings a beautiful chorus that fits the mood oh so perfectly. I like when the drums speed up briefly to inject some energy, then they slow it right down for an almost psychedelic solo with both guitarists playing some trippy and cool stuff. Wilson is ever-present in the background on this one and once again they absolutely nail whatever vibe they were going for, everything is so silky smooth! Track 3 is "Death Whispered A Lullaby" and it's driven by a fast but light guitar riff that sounds pretty cool and Akerfeldt sings a nice high verse and holds some great long notes; he really does have a beautiful singing voice! Lindgren enters with some cool rhythm guitar, then the whole rhythm section kicks in for the chorus as Akerfeldt sings a catchy chorus while playing a pretty sweet guitar riff as well that somehow rolls perfectly back into the next verse: everything is so ridiculously smooth! These guys are just such good musicians! Then the electric guitar solo hits overtop of everything else and it sounds absolutely phenomenal! So epic and amazing! After another round it's solo time again right until the end of the song with some more really sweet stuff! This is definitely my favourite song on the album, it's still light, but it still has that Opeth energy mixed in with some really well done light prog rock. The next track is "Closure" and Akerfeldt leads the way with a nice acoustic guitar riff and a soft, high verse that hovers nicely overtop. Lindgren mixes in some cool rhythm guitar, then things suddenly get Louder as they shift to a new riff with a fast and pretty cool guitar riff leading the way and Lopez playing some cool drums in the background. Mendez's bass adds a heavy backdrop that I think is quite heavy for this album, then they change things up again with yet another new riff! This one has a slow repetitive riff driving it, but it's got almost an Egyptian feel to it and the rhythm section echoes that cube nicely, especially some solid percussion by Lopez. There's no singing in the latter half of this song, but it wasn't needed, things sounded pretty cool! Track 5 is "Hope Leaves" and Akerfeldt plays a nice light guitar riff that carries things and sings a soft, stop-and-start verse overtop as Opeth continue to nail the light but epic vibes. The whole first round is just Akerfeldt before the rest of the band joins in for the second round with some epic electric guitar by Lindgren and a solid rhythm section by Mendez and Lopez. Things are once again very smooth and although they don't stray far from the main drag, things never seem to drag, they just eventually float off into the sunset. Up next is "To Rid The Disease" and Akerfeldt leads the way with another pretty cool guitar riff (it's just not a heavy one) and of course complements it with a very well-sung verse. Lopez plays a pretty basic light drum beat but Mendez plays some cool slow bass and Wilson is very prominent with some very fittingly cool piano in this very slow, very chill song. Eventually we reach solo time and after a short but pretty sweet little solo Wilson's piano sets the stage for a nice slow headbanger of a new riff that is pretty catchy! They end things on a nice note and this was a well executed and very smooth six-plus minute song. Track 7 is the instrumental song "Ending Credits" and they fade in to a riff already in progress with Lopez playing a loud drum beat, Mendez playing some pretty nice bass and of course some pretty cool acoustic guitar leading the way as well that is pretty fast! Lindgren then enters with a beautifully epic electric guitar riff overtop of everything else and this sums up this song pretty nicely after that. His "lead" guitar sounds epic and great, Akerfeldt's fast acoustic guitar sounds even better and it's amyet another very smooth song, but despite the name it is not the last song! The real last song on the album is "Weakness" and Wilson is driving things with a creepy Mellotron riff that sounds pretty cool. Akerfeldt sings a soft verse that fits the mood nicely and then adds some slow, epic guitar to the mix as well. With no drums or bass things hang in this creepy aura for the whole song and while this is another far cry from your typical Opeth song, they are absolutely nailing it once again as every note sounds so epic! It's a pretty cool way to wrap things up I'd say!

That is the end of "Damnation" and I thought it was yet another really well done album by Opeth. Even though there's no screaming or growling (which believe me, I missed terribly) they are so ridiculously smooth on this album and they do a wonderful job on every song. I don't think it's better than my previous bottom rung, their second album "Morningrise", but the fact that this their worst album so far is really a testament to how good even those early albums are. This album was still really cool and a really well done mirror to last year's "Deliverance". Where will Opeth go from here?