OPETH — Deliverance (review)

OPETH — Deliverance album cover Album · 2002 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Phonebook Eater
One of Opeth’s most loved and at the same time hated albums, I thought I was going to hate it, and already with my first listen I wasn’t satisfied. But “Deliverance”, after it grows on you, is a great album, which was totally unexpected by this reviewer.

The music here is probably the heaviest Opeth has ever done, even though there are many soft moments. The production in this album is really good, with excellent mixing concerning all the instruments. The guitars have never sounded this clean and precise, not even the big classic albums have such an amazing quality. The musicianship is as well excellent; Mikael Akerfeldt’s singing is at it’s peak, Martin Lopez’s drumming is very virtuous and unique as well as the impressive bass playing by Martin Mandez. Basically, the musicianship here is really good.

Fans shouldn’t have worried about Opeth changing their sound, because it didn’t at all, unlike “Watershed”, six years later. We still got the Akerfeldt death growls that accompany the strong, dark, vigorous guitar riffs, which are then developed by constant time changes so that at the end of the song we have this beautiful and perfect collage of pieces and ideas, very effectively put together into one composition. This explains the fact that they are six tracks here, almost all of them ten minutes or so. The softer parts are very much present, and can dominate a good half of a song, even though “Deliverance” is arguably the band’s heaviest and most metal influenced record. What makes it original in my opinion is the surprisingly frequent technical moments, something that also never occurs in an Opeth album; the rhythms in particular can be very complex and somewhat spectacular in many parts.

Many songs are worth mentioning, like the long title track, almost thirteen of heavy riffs mixed with some more rockish influences here and there. “A Fair Judgement” is a beautiful, slower song, with a haunting melody an element that Opeth is so good at doing. “Masters Apprentice” is a perfect example of the band’s elevation in heaviness. “By The Pain I See In Others” is probably the most complex song of the album, the song with most time changes; sometimes it’s not as gripping as you would wish it would be. But I love the obvious increase of experimentation here, thanks to the wider use of keys.

Overall a great album, every metal head in my opinion should take this under consideration. I loved it.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed