Track Listing

1. Wreath
2. Deliverance
3. A Fair Judgement
4. For Absent Friends
5. Master's Apprentices
6. By The Pain I See In Others

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13946 in Music
• Released on: 2002-11-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Customer Reviews

Once you get past the cheese-ball "Cookie Monster" vocals...
This is a wicked "progressive metal" album...I'm relatively new to Opeth, having dismissed them early on, and only recently being wowed by "Damnation". That album convinced me to start working backwards through their catalogue.
On this album, "Deliverance", the melodies and harmonies this band throws together cannot be denied. Most of the compositions are fairly long, and well thought out, with chugging, brutal passages blending in with softer, more melodic interludes that really create and relieve tensions. In this regard Opeth almost reminds me of a classic blues band, using slight variations of the same formula over and over again to "deliver" these musical tensions to the listener. But don't be fooled, just like a good blues artist, this formula doesn't get tired, boring, and repetitive, because it used EFFECTIVELY!!!
Don't underestimate Opeth. Long ago I became sick of the cheese-ball death-metal vocals that sound like the Cookie Monster on a bad day, just for the sake of being cool, tough, and "hardcore".
Well the Cookie Monster is Opeth's lead singer throughout much of this album, but despite this massive flaw, this album is a real, legitimate 5 STARS!!! IT'S THAT GOOD!!!

What's scary is I'm told the album before this was even better. If it's even close, that means Opeth has 3 incredible albums under their belt. This isn't Cradle of Filth, or your typical pubescent-teenager's Swedish "hardcore deathmetal" suck band...this a true heavy metal, with vision and talent that approaches Dream Theater's mastery, combined with Pantera's power and rage...CHECK IT OUT!!!

A damn good attempt at topping Blackwater Park
As one who prefers the heavier side of progressive metal, I thouroughly enjoyed this opeth album. It may not be there best work, but it certainly tops any other album by any other band.

Strong songs include: Wreath & A Fair Judgement
Weaker songs: None

Wreath is a great way to jump right into the album with deep growls that blend well with the tone of the music. The guitar as usual is phenominal. This song does an excellent job of making the vocals loud enough to enjoy over the instruments, but not to loud that you can't catch the drum beats in the background and the guitar. I particularly like the phase around 1:47 from heavy guitar and growling to a slightly lighter tone that ends with a drum beat and an incredibly smooth transition that has no time lost.

The transition to Deliverance is so clean that I never picked it up the first few times listening to this album. I like the change up within the first quarter of this song from heavy to light. The end of the song does a great job of co-ordinating the drums and guitars on a beat. That's talent.

A Fair Judgement, one of the lighter, but not Benighted or Harvest tone does a good job of showing off Akerfeldt's lighter vocals with no growling at all. This song is loved by many of my friends who would not normally listen to Opeth because of the savage deep growls. This song has some amazing acoustic vocal and guitar combinations.

The calmest song on the album, For Absent Friends, is a bit repetitive if heard on it's own, but it does a great job of breaking up the album's heaviness. It is short, but holds some great acoustic guitar portions.

Master's Apprentice is great work. The begining lyrics, although don't have much meaning are great for the heavy attitude of the song. The only complaint about this song is that it gets repetitive enough that I always space out somewhere between the 6-8th minute and i'm not sure what the latter middle half of the song contains.

The begining of By the Pain I see in Others is so great. I like the fade from drowned out guitar to full fledged guitar, drums, and base is well timed and pumps the song up for the finale. I like the attempt at a completely original ending with erie vocals at the end of the song, but I still don't get the ending.

This album is a must have for an Opeth lover's collection. It definitely is a heavier album, and I've been told that it corresponds with Damnation which I unfortunaltely have not bought yet (stuid me). The collaboration of the instruments is in perfect harmony and this really elaborates on the bands incredible musical talent. I like the erie water noises throughout the album.

a fine melodic black metal cd but nothing special...
I bought this cd cause I wanted to see what all the underground hype was about. I've heard this stuff before. Melodic Swedish Black Metal...been around since about 1994 and its been done much better. Its a fine cd for what it is. But its nothing unique or original. And thats why I give it 2 stars. I have about 15 bands just like this one that date back years ago. Why should I care about these guys. Find any band thats Swedish and melodic black/death metal and they all sound the same. Decent music, but not groundbreaking at all. **