Opeth - Deliverance (2002)

Otra vez los suecos de Opeth, ahora con un disco muy denso. Empezamos con "Deliverance" del 2002 y luego seguiremos con el "Damnation" de 2003, que fueron pensados originalmente como un disco doble. También producido por el líder de Porcupine Tree: Steven Wilson. Desde mi punto de vista el trabajo menos agraciado de toda esta etapa, pero con algunas gemas que no podemos dejar pasar.

Artista: Opeth

Álbum: Deliverance
Año: 2002
Género: Metal extremo progresivo
Duración: 61:50
Nacionalidad: Suecia

Lista de Temas:
1. Wreath
2. Deliverance
3. A Fair Judgement
4. For Absent Friends (instrumental)
5. Master's Apprentices
6. By The Pain I See In Others

Alineación:
- Mikael Åkerfeldt / electric & acoustic (6- & 12-strings) guitars, vocals, co-producer
- Peter Lindgren / guitars
- Martin Mendez / basses (fretted & fretless)
- Martin Lopez / drums, percussion (?)
With:
Steven Wilson / lead guitar (5), piano (4), Mellotron (?), backing vocals (3), co-producer

Tras el profundo "Blackwater Park", Mikael Akerfeldt, en un serpentín creativo, se vio de pronto lleno de material musical compuesto, tanto extremadamente pesado, como suave y progresivo. La idea de hacer un disco doble fue desechada por el sello, optándose por lanzar el death "Deliverance" ese mismo año, y guardar el cristalino "Damnation" para su lanzamiento en 2003, con el fin de promocionar adecuadamente cada uno de ellos.

Deliverance es el sexto álbum del grupo sueco Opeth. El álbum fue grabado en los estudios nacksving y fue producido por Steven Wilson. Deliverance contiene cinco canciones de más de diez minutos de duración (el primer álbum de este estilo desde Morningrise), y una pista instrumental de cerca de dos minutos.
Deliverance es uno de los trabajos más pesados de Opeth (todo lo contrario a su próximo álbum, Damnation), conteniendo algunas canciones con introducciones que se asemejan al estilo de Morbid Angel. Opeth continuó experimentando con cambios en los tiempos con sincopas, hecho que queda notablemente plasmado en la introducción y final de "Deliverance" (la introducción es tocada en tiempos de 7/8 y en el final el tiempo es en síncopas), y además en la última pista del álbum "By the Pain I See in Others".

Wikipedia

Los seis temas seleccionados en su sexto disco, transitan, en 61 minutos, en un camino preferentemente monstruoso y oscuro, siendo el disco considerado el más heavy de Opeth. Es más, el comienzo de "Wreath" presenta la brutalidad de manera casi instantánea, ahorrando pormenores suavizantes, que permitan al oyente entrar en la negrura lentamente. Sólo al final del tema, Mikael osa pronunciar fantasmalmente algunas palabras con sus cuerdas vocales distendidas, las que enlazan la rápida parte terminal instrumental, que, casi, sin aire, hace un link con la fuerte "Deliverance", que ya incorpora una proporción más razonable de música "limpia", como es lo habitual en los suecos. "A fair judgment" es la única sin growls, la que luego de más de diez minutos de variaciones de ritmos y melodías, nos lleva a la instrumental de dos minutos inspirada en el eterno "Nursery Crime", "For absent friends". En definitiva, un disco que nos hunde en la oscuridad mientras miramos y entendemos el terrible e irreal rostro en el espejo que busca su polvorienta muñeca hundida en un viejo almohadón...
En conclusión: estamos ante un sólido álbum de Opeth cuya parte más jugosa (muy muy jugosa) se encuentra en el medio, en detrimento de las pistas primera y última que hacen que el conjunto pierda cierta consistencia. Irremisiblemente obligado a ubicarse por debajo del sensacional "Blackwater Park" (no digamos ya de piezas maestras como "Ghost Reveries" o "Damnation") este cd se instala, como un todo, en las posiciones medias dentro del repertorio de la banda sueca, pero no hay que perder de vista, de ningún modo, las grandes joyas que se encuentran en él.
Tengo poco tiempo y este disco tiene demasiados comentarios en la red como para escribir mucho, les dejo algunos comentarios que encontré, pero hay más si quieren buscar màs.

Después de cinco discos sobresalientes a Opeth no les quedaba más que seguir buscando su camino ajenos a cualquier comentario, positivo o negativo, con la mente puesta en seguir avanzando en post de esa excelencia que era su timón. Repetían alineación, para mí la mejor de su carrera: Mikael Åkerfeldt (voz, guitarra), Peter Lindgren (guitarra), Martin Mendez (bajo) y Martin Lopez (batería y percusión). Y el denominado quinto miembro de Opeth, Steven Wilson, volvía a estar con ellos como en Blackwater Park, produciendo con la banda Deliverance, y tocando guitarras, haciendo coros e incorporando mellotrones a una música de la que no tenemos duda que estaba dentro del metal extremo.
Deliverance: Opeth seguían creciendo y asombrándonos
Pero Opeth ya habían sobrepasado hacía tiempo la etiqueta de death metal con adjetivos incorporados. Porque no solo grabaron en estas sesiones este álbum sino que en un ejercicio de atrevimiento hicieron también Damnation, otra obra maestra que publicarían a finales de abril de 2003, cinco meses después de haber puesto en la calle Deliverance vía Music For Nations.
Mikael Åkerfeldt hablaba en una entrevista publicada en el número de junio de 2003 de la revista Hell Awaits sobre cómo fueron esas sesiones de grabación entre finales de julio y principios de septiembre de 2002:
Todo fue mal. No teníamos a nadie más para ayudarnos aparte de ese tío que era el propietario del estudio; y era alcohólico, tenía problemas personales, no sabía cómo funcionaba el equipo y cuando se estropeaba algo no sabía cómo arreglarlo. Había cosas que desaparecían, problemas técnicos, la grabadora se rompió, todo lo peor pasaba. Y por eso nos peleábamos entre nosotros o nos peleábamos con el tío. Todo era una gran desorden.
Aquel que haya escuchado los dos discos pensará que Damnation se hizo haciendo más largas las partes acústicas de sus discos y creando temas a base de retazos. Pero no es así, Mikael Åkerfeldt lo justificaba afirmando que son canciones totalmente diferentes. Incluso queda claro que hay partes acústicas en Deliverance que podrían haber estado en Damnation y viceversa. En lo que sí cambiaron Opeth fue en la manera de componer.
En Deliverance los temas no tienen la estructura más básica de verso, estribillo…, y las dinámicas son radicalmente opuestas. Incluso las líneas vocales de este álbum desmerecerían en el otro, pues allí están mucho más repensadas y elaboradas.
Originalmente Åkerfeldt había pensado en una misma portada, con un tono de color más claro para la de Damnation, pero Travis Smith les hizo dos artes gráficos distintos aunque complementarias. Y claro, no pudieron decirle no.
Un álbum tan poderoso, o más, que Blackwater Park
El caso es que Deliverance es un álbum tan poderoso, o más, que Blackwater Park, aunque hay que colocarlo en un nivel inferior a éste simplemente porque allí la sorpresa fue mayúscula. Fue el momento de la verdad de ser una banda más con aspiraciones a estrella a serlo realmente.
Despiezando estas seis canciones, una de ellas una intro que divide en dos la rodaja, la apertura con ‘Wreath’. Un corte muy rocoso, con unos guturales magníficos, riffs asesinos y una estructura death-prog marca de la casa, aunque también hay una incursión que podríamos asimilar al doom.
Y claro, ese mellotrón que aporta Steven Wilson, y ese inciso en el minuto 7:36 en el que escuchamos una percusión cuasi tribal de ese hacha que es Martin Mendez. En su versatilidad, técnica y cambios de ritmo reside que nos creamos esta película de Opeth.
‘Deliverance’, el grial de Opeth al descubierto
‘Deliverance’, tema que da título al álbum, es distinto. En él nos damos de bruces con los Opeth más prog metal para comenzar el tema durante poco más de un minuto arrollador. Pero de repente cambian de tercio y escuchamos la voz limpia, emotiva, de Mikael Åkerfeldt que tantas alegrías nos había dado en el pasado. Esa combinación de poderío metálico con pasajes melódicos todo ello sanozado con prog son el grial de Opeth y ellos eran conscientes. Son 13:36 minutos para disfrutar y volver a darle al play para volver a escucharlo.
‘A Fair Judgement’ nos sitúa en otros terrenos con un piano que aparece como si se tratase de Satie. Pura emoción en esas notas, unos Opeth no desconocidos pero sí desconcertantes en esa intro a la que sigue uno de los mejores temas grabados por los suecos en su carrera. Esa voz evanescente y las guitarras épicas logran que nos emocionemos durante los casi diez minutos y medio que dura el tema. Sí, son Opeth, y eso no es malo.
Para descansar cuerpo y mente nos regalan For Absent Friends, un corte tranquilito con guitarras acústicas y eléctricas que fue compuesto en una improvisación en el estudio.
Y enseguida llega ‘Master’s Apprentice’ una joyita de 10:32 minutos. Opeth son una maquinaria de death lista para destrozar cráneos. Este tema es el ‘The Lepper Affinity’ de esta entrega; en él los suecos nos están diciendo que no hay quien les tosa en esos terrenos de oscuridad muy propios de una horror movie tipo Hellbound. Pero también nos dejan entre esta oscuridad un pasaje combinado de voces limpias enseguida ocultado por el vozarrón de Åkerfeldt.
Pero Opeth son también prog y en el minuto 5:28 aparece esa guitarra cimbreante, acaso pasada por un ebow, para dejar las cosas claras. Los últimos tres minutos y medio son una montaña rusa instrumental y gutural. No hay más que descubrirse ante otro tema genial.
‘By The Pain I See in Others’ cierra Deliverance con la misma intensidad con la que comenzó. Pero en este caso, encontramos a los Opeth más prog en su parte inicial luego acallada con la voz gutural del cantante. Cambios de ritmo, de dinámicas, un bajo que combinado con esa batería y esa guitarra en segundo término nos atrae hacia el abismo más insondable. Bienvenidos al infierno, Mikael Åkerfeldt es el predicador de Satán y nos deja con un cierto misterio en la parte final. De todos modos, la técnica de los cuatro instrumentistas es envidiable.
Ya no había límites para Opeth. Los suecos, con Mikael Åkerfeldt a la cabeza, dieron en la diana en sus cinco primeros discos y con Deliverance ya navegaban con un rumbo definido, nuevamente con la ayuda de Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree). Death metal, prog, música extrema pero también una gran técnica instrumental en estos seis temas que fueron grabados de una vez, a la manera clásica, tocando todos juntos colocando los micrófonos delante de los amplificadores. 9,50

Víctor R. Villar

"Deliverance" es el lanzamiento que terminó de situar a Opeth en la cumbre del Metal extremo, al menos en ese momento. Tras el éxito cosechado con "Blackwater Park", el listón estaba muy alto, y había una gran expectación por parte de los medios y de los fans, esperando la edición del nuevo disco. Así pues, la banda estaba sometida a una gran presión durante la composición de este "Deliverance".
Dentro de su estilo, Opeth había seguido una línea de evolución bastante buena, pero tras la popularidad alcanzada, una parte de los medios auguraba un giro comercial por parte de la banda. Así, "Deliverance" es un disco de únicamente seis canciones, aunque en la línea habitual de Opeth, los temas son muy largos, con cinco de ellos por encima de los 10 minutos, y el total del álbum alcanza la hora de duración. La producción es impecable, y de nuevo corre a cargo de los propios Opeth junto a Steven Wilson, líder de Porcupine Tree.
El disco comienza con "Wreath", uno de los temas más duros compuesto por Opeth a lo largo de su carrera, y en el que no hay apenas ninguna parte acústica, ni voces limpias. Toda una declaración de intenciones para acallar las voces que pronosticaban su viaje hacia al "mainstream". La ejecución a lo largo del álbum es impecable, tanto por parte de ambas guitarras, el bajo, y el fantástico Martín López a la batería.
Prosigue el álbum con una de las mejores canciones de su historia, que además sirve para dar nombre al disco. "Deliverance" es un tema apoteósico con una gran progresión armónica, y que finaliza en una parte muy atmosférica que posee un ritmo brutal, hipnótico, de esos que podrías escuchar un millón de veces, con un gran trabajo de las baterías. Un tema que además es ideal para los directos, y rápidamente se convirtió en un clásico de la banda.
"A Fair Judgement", es una canción prácticamente acústica, muy bonita, y con unas partes vocales muy trabajadas, sobre todo en la parte central del tema. De alguna manera nos recuerda un poco al "Harvest" de su anterior álbum.
"For Absent Friends" es un pequeño corte instrumental en limpio de poco más de dos minutos, y que sirve como introducción a la segunda parte del disco. "Master's Apprentice" es una canción muy oscura, con unos efectos en las voces muy agresivos. Los graves de Michael Åkerfeldt alcanzan cotas inhumanas en este tema. Tras "Deliverance", se convierte en la segunda mejor del disco.
Para finalizar nos encontramos con "By The Pain I See In Others", una canción en una onda más experimental, con muchos cambios de ritmo y en el que el grupo incluye sonidos nuevos, voces agresivas sobre partes acústicas, y algunas melodías que contrastan mucho con la canción.
La grabación de "Deliverance" se realizó a la vez que la de "Damnation", aunque este último salió al mercado unos meses más tarde por temas meramente comerciales. Este álbum sirvió para que Opeth siguiese marcando con paso firme una carrera en alza, aunque en los últimos años se haya ido torciendo poco a poco. Seguro que hablaré de ello en futuras entradas.
Nota Final: 8,5/10

Shankao

Mucho está dando que hablar últimamente esta banda sueca, y no es para menos, dado que es uno de los grupos de mayor calidad que he oído en bastante tiempo. Y no sólo destaco la técnica que los cuatro miembros atesoran, sino que también incluyo la calidad de las composiciones y las atmósferas que son capaces de crear sin ningún tipo de efectos programados. Pero es además un grupo que sabe cuidar las apariencias, y las portadas de los CDs reflejan a la perfección los sentimientos por los que su música te va a llevar.
Este “Deliverance” es el sexto trabajo en estudio de los suecos, y supone la perfecta continuación de su obra “Blackwater Park”, aclamada por muchos como su mejor trabajo hasta la fecha. Lo extraordinario de este disco es que es la primera parte de un doble trabajo en el que el segundo CD, “Damnation”, ha salido meses más tarde.
En “Deliverance” vas a encontrar un trabajo típico de Opeth con temas largos (casi 62 minutos divididos en 6 canciones), muchos cambios de ritmo, melodías que son capaces de crear melancolía, terror, aprensión, claustrofobia… en los oyentes, alternancia de voces melódicas con voces guturales y calidad instrumental y compositiva por doquier.
El disco arranca con “Wreath”, un tema bastante heavy, con riffs machacones, cambios de ritmo, solos de guitarra limpios y voz gutural que te transporta a las memorias de una casa y a las pesadillas de un interlocutor imaginario.
Inmediatamente nos metemos en las sensaciones y pensamientos de alguien que, por venganza, está ahogando a otra persona: “Deliverance”. Este tema esta segmentado en pasajes mas metálicos acompañados por la voz gutural de Mikael Arkfeldt y fragmentos más melódicos y acústicos, y que te van sumergiendo en la venganza que se está perpetrando en ese mismo momento. Es de destacar los minutos finales del tema que te introducen en la mente la sensación de aceleración del momento final de la venganza.
“A Fair Judgement” nos enseña la parte más melódica del grupo, esa de guitarras más limpias, melodías que se quedan dentro, voz limpia en todo el tema, y sonidos acústicos, salvo en reducidas partes. Y este tema se mete dentro con la sensación de paz y tranquilidad de quién espera un juicio justo por algún hecho cometido en el pasado que se recuerda de manera sombría. Tiene esos toques que tanto delatan las influencias progresivas del grupo.
“For Absent Friends” es un tema instrumental que dura unos escasos dos minutos y que sirve de apertura para “Master’s Apprentices”. Ésta se abre con un ritmo machacón y que te hace imaginar una tropa de fantasmas y recuerdos siniestros marchando. No en vano se trata de la búsqueda del descanso eterno que anhela alguien o algo. La letra, complementada con la música, hace que escalofríos recorran el cuerpo de quién lo escucha. La voz gutural es predominante pero se intercambia con la melódica, y la música cambia de ritmo de manera magistral.
El tema que cierra el CD, “By The Pain I See In Others”, es quizás el que presente más variedad de todos los que contiene el disco, y la voz gutural, con mayor variedad de registros que en los otros temas, de verdad te pone los pelos de punta. En definitiva, “Deliverance” es un disco que vuelve a ser una delicia musical.

Ramiro Morales

Y ahora, les dejo algunos comentarios en inglés, por si a alguien le interesa. Obviamente, y ahora más que nunca, las opiniones están bien divididas:

Every song on this album really has a sense of identity. This is Opeth's most experimental album thus far. "Wreath" is the album's most relentlessly heavy song. It has a really dark guitar effect in the middle of the song that sounds like winnowing winds or a bell tower ringing. "Deliverance" is also a very heavy track and a bit repetitive in the last 4 minutes, hence that, the song is magnificent and has great changes and the best transitition I've ever heard in a song from a solo to another part of the song. "A Fair Judgement" is a great piano driven song, that expresses some of Mikael's classical influences about midway through the song with a classical guitar instrumental piece, incredible. The song is the only entirely clean vocal song on the album. "For Absent Friends" is a very somber and relaxing instrumental. Perhaps my favorite Opeth instrumental behind that of "Requiem," from "Orchid." "Master's Apprentices" is one of my favorite Opeth songs, showcasing their dynamic abilities throughout. Great vocal melodies in this song and powerful guitar sections. This song has one the most serene and beautiful moments abruptly interrupted by Mikael's most sinister growls, which then the song proceeds to its peak. "By the Pain I See in Others" fluctuates quite a bit and at first listen seems to be a bit weak, but really has a lasting strenght after several listens. Great dynamics, changes, and solo's. This album definately possesses the best solo's they've ever recorded. I'm very excited to see where they'll go next after Damnation. Opeth are consitently mesmerizing and progress with each album, the future is very promising for them.

Kurt Zander

Of the OPETH albums I've heard thus far, Deliverance has been the weakest. That is not to say that it does not have its stunning moments, like any OPETH album does. The trouble is, I think there's something a bit too dry and uninspiring in the mixing that sometimes hampers this album and keeps it from being what it could perhaps be. It's a shame to dock them for these technical difficulties (which are explained in detail on the Lamentations DVD), but it does hurt the final outcome. There's that, and also the fact that it has what I consider to be a weak track: "Wreath". No other OPETH album contains a track I find so difficult excepting "The Apostle in Triumph" on their very first album. While the slower parts of "Wreath" aren't bad at all (in fact, drummer Martín López does some very interesting Asian-style drums in one of these sections) As to what it is about this track that messes it up, though, I think it's the fact that it opens with that growl rather than waiting for later...I can't say why, but that kind of cheapens it. While it's grown on me a bit more, I still don't think it's quite up to their usual standard. And finally, "To Absent Friends" could've had a little bit more to it.
The three highlights are "Deliverance" itself, "A Fair Judgment", and "By the Pain I See in Others". Although the entire song is quite strong, I think, I believe the strongest point of "Deliverance" is its fantastic outro; that strange pattern could drive you out of your mind. I'm not exactly sure what's going on with the time signature there, but there is something very unusual about it, that's for sure. López's transition into this section is very interesting, but the best part is that warped synth effect as the outro gathers strength. I know that a lot of people are bothered by the repetition in that particular part, but I really do enjoy it. "A Fair Judgment" is perhaps best for being a combination of the styles heard on both Deliverance and Damnation. As for "By the Pain I See in Others", there's something about it that is very similar to "Demon of the Fall" in its explosions of a fierce, capricious, and destructive rage--yet it still feels original. This one is also, in my opinion, the lyrical strong point of Deliverance.
There was also another song that I think had a truly excellent part to it: "Master's Apprentices". This song was a bit of a mix, though...I felt that the dryness of the vocal mix (as with "Wreath") hurt it in the beginning, but the guitar layering was extremely interesting, and the odd timing used. The outro harmony, however, was absolutely the most beautiful part of it. Overall, this album does, as a friend of mine said, "blow away most modern metal", and there are some excellent parts indeed, but I think this was a bit of an exercise in missed potential. Perhaps trying to split the concept into a lighter and softer side hurt the metal section a bit, by taking away some of the balance...and then there were the issues with the mixing. After listening to their other particularly heavy album, My Arms, Your Hearse, I realized that this is probably one of the weakest of their efforts that I currently own. But, don't let that put you off TOO much--it's still well worth having if you're into intelligent metal at all.

FloydWright

Opeth just keep getting better! This album continues to grow on me with each listen, similarly with their "Still Life" album. It serves as a very powerful prelude to 2003's "Damnation", which can be seen as a sister to this album. "Deliverance" is also a great sequel to their masterpiece, "Blackwater Park". The only thing missing from this album is that it doesn't quite use their winning formula of balance that was present on "Still Life", and then perfected on "Blackwater Park". This album is quite similar to "My Arms, Your Hearse", and is definetly the heaviest thing since that album. This one has less acoustic breaks inbetweem the thundering heavy riffs, but fear not as there are some amazing mellow moments on this album.
These mellow moments lie in the tracks "A Fair Judgement" and "For Absent Friends". These are two of my favourite Opeth tracks, and standout tracks on this album, along with "Masters Apprentices" and the title track. This album is probably best seen as the heavy side of "Damnation", as this is almost like disc 1 of a double album, with "Damnation" being disc 2.
While most of the other Opeth albums like to draw you in with an impressive build up, (i think the best one was the creeping intro to "The Moor" that kicked off 1999's "Still Life" album) this album goes for a kick you in the teeth opening, as it gets going straight away. "Wreath" starts off with a drum fill intro and then explodes into some heavy riffage. Kudos to the drummer as his double bass peddling fury works wonders here. This is undeniably some of their heaviest work. This track is long but is kept appealing with some great vocals, both growling and singing, as well some impressive soloing.
The title track on here is one of my favourite Opeth songs, and a real wonder on this album. one flaw is the climax of this song definetly feels like a bit of filler, it drags on a little long but i never have the urge to skip or anything as it is a continuous blast of heavy riffage. There is an impressive change between mellow and angry vocals in this piece and it has some really bonecrunching and catchy riffs.
Once that continuous riffage is over at the end, the album is lead into track 3, probably the best track on this album, "A Fair Judgement" starts off with a quiet piano intro that leads into some powerful and emotional guitar work as well as Mikaels trademark mellow vocals. This track travels through heavier and softer guitar work and steadily climaxes with a thunderous fading riff that works its way into the superb "For Absent Friends". This is an interlude to this monsterous album and works similarly to "Patterns in the Ivy", "Madrigal" and "Requiem" off previous albums. This one is extra special as not only is it a blatent nod towards Genesis, but its soft acoustic and lead guitar work give the album such a warm atmosphere. This is a work of intense beauty.
Predictably, this track works its way into an intesnely heavy piece of work. "Masters Apprentices" is one of the best tracks on the album as it has amazing guitar riffs in it as well as strong drum, bass and vocal work. Truely the presence of evil, but the riffs really are impressive as well as energetic.This beast actually has an amazing soft singing part just passed the 6 minute mark.
The final track, "By the Pain I See in Others" is actually one of Opeths most experimental moments. Excellently produced, (by Steve Wilson, i believe) This track has a lot of contrast between extremely heavy moments and some softer moments. The very first riff finds its way into a dark acoustic backing with growling vocals above that, which is quite unexpected! This is a long piece with plenty of time signature changes. There is a really weird ending to this as it goes quiet for a little bit and ends with some weird vocal work. An odd ending to a great album, but what the hell, maybe it is not a definite end since there is "Damnation" to lead on from this.
Deliverance is one of the heaviest albums, probably second to "My Arms, Your Hearse". These is a great sense of production, experimenting, ferocious riffs and excellent softer work throughout to keep this album interesting. I wouldn't call this a step back from "Blackwater Park" but a begining to a new path, i am glad they didn't try to repeat BWP, but it would have been nice to see a bit more balance using the writing structures of that album. This is brilliant and goes really well with Damnation.

Christopher French

After the massively successful Blackwater Park, Opeth went into the studio to record two albums for the cost of one. The resulting albums were Deliverance and Damnation. Deliverance is easily the heaviest album Opeth have attempted since My Arms, Your Hearse. The only problem with this album is that Opeth seemed to have pulled a Train Of Thought, meaning long instrumental sections that at times can get on the boring side. The musicianship is among the best they've done on the metal side of things. Intricate riffs and death metal grunts are among the highlights off the album, as well as thoughtful and deep lyrics from Akerfeldt. Martin Lopez and Mendez provide a cohesive and tight rhythm unit while Peter Lindgren and Mikael Akerfeldt provide the metal onslaught. Lindgren gives many stand out performances on this album, his bluesy Gilmour-esque guitar solos create an emotional atmosphere to the thunderous guitar riffs.
From the opening drum fill of Wreath to the silent outro to By the Pain I See in Others, there is something all metal fans can like here. Even the somber and quiet For Absent Friends offers many different atmospheres to the album. Steven Wilson creates many atmospheres with his mellotron and does a great job from the production standpoint. My favorite tracks on the album are Deliverance, A Fair Judgment, and For Absent Friends. The first beginning with a powerful guitar riff and some stand out drumming from Lopez. It soon changes riff structure very quickly and becomes one of their most complicated riffs. A Fair Judgment and For Absent Friends are the most mellow tracks on the album. The first provides some of Akerfeldt's best lyrics, and some of his best acoustic work. As the piece progresses, the riffs get heavier and heavier, but Akerfeldt's vocal only very subtly goes from his clean voice to his growl. And the final being a short instrumental break, with some standout work from Lindgren and Wilson.
Overall, this is a very metal album, but the acoustic sections (the few) are stellar additions to a great mixture. I wouldn't recommend this to someone who wants to get into Opeth, but it is a great effort and should not be overlooked by fans. 4/5.

Robert Peña

What to say about my favourite Opeth release?
I don't know why, but this is what I think every time I hear this album... It was the first Opeth's disc I bought, and after hearing it, I didn't like it very much... Maybe it was too hard for me, too much growls and chaos. But short after hearing it, I wished to give it another opportunity... And another, and another, and another... Til I was really addicted to this album, and its dark, brutal and complex magic!
Six years after this day, I'm still surprised every time I hear this 6 incredible tracks... The amount of power Opeth gave this songs is incredible. Is their hardest album so far, and their most progressive one. I know that "Watershed" has more instrumental richness, and it touches differentes styles... But "Deliverance" is complex in essence, in the structure of every song... You only have to hear the tittle song to notice! Its incredible final part is one of the highlights of the Opeth's career, and the best López drumming!
Another thing I like from this album is the sound... I'm sorry for "Ghost Reveries" and "Watershed", but Opeth didn't get the incredible sound of "Deliverance" and "Damantion" again. Steve Wilson is a great producer, and Deliverance is his peak with Opeth... The small detalils it has, and perfect guitar sound, the powerful drums... The best sounding Opeth's album so far! It even surpases Blackwater Park in terms of production.
Best Songs: all of them... I don't count the small For Absent Friends, it's too short. The rest are just incredible progressive death metal bullets! A Fair Judgement is still my favourite Opeth's song.
Conclusion: in my humble opinion, this is the best Opeth album... Complex, dark and really hard, but with the usual amount of feeling that Akerfeldt give to his songs. If you are new to Opeth, maybe this is not the best approaching to the band, because it's one of their less accesible works. But I think this album is an obligated listening to every music lover due its quality... So if you don't dislike death metal, and you're not afraid of complex, challenging but sentimental music, I strongly recommend you this masterpiece! 5/5

José Antonio García-Ramos

Opeth's Deliverence album is one of their few underrated releases. Deliverence was the album that followed Blackwater Park, which was somewhat of a breakthrough for the band. Deliverence is an album that is quite different from Blackwater Park.
Deliverence once again shows us why Opeth are the masters of combining heavy death metal parts with light progressive passages. The playing on this album is some of the most controlled from any band. Opeth writes some moderately complex music that sounds quite simple. The variation on this album is excellent, for the death heads there is the opening track "Wreath". For fans of the more progressive side of Opeth there is the third track "A Fair Judgement" which has some of the greatest guitar harmonies by this band. For all of you hippie fans of Opeth the closer "By the Pain I See In Others" will allow you to reminisce while producer Steven Wilson graces the wonderful hammond organ. The atmosphere on this album is cold, colder than the most prestigous scandanavian winters. When a listener is looking for a dark, variant, and melodic atmospheric album, Deliverence is the one.
The production on this album is fantasic. Give the credit to Steven Wilson. The drums have excellent prescence in both hard and soft parts. The guitars make very smooth transitions from electric distortion sounds to clean acoustics and vice versa. The bass is smooth throughout all of the album. The vocals are the best part of this production. The harmonies are rich, but difficult to pick appart. The growls are deep and quite clear for growls. Excellent job of production on all aspects of this album.

Vincent

Deliverance is yet another standard Opeth album, full of despair, death, bleakness and solitude. The band mixes aggressive passages with acoustic ones, moving from brutal to melodic to soft atmospheric moments in just about every song. For the most part, the album contains better clean vocals and better harsh growls as well, with the lows even lower than on previous offerings.
Akerfeldt's vocals have improved over the years, understandably so. As a fan of Blackwater Park and Still Life, I guess you can say I wasn't expecting such an aggressive offering at all. Some of the most obvious new developments on Deliverance was the presence of more guitar solos than usual and to a certain extent there's more varied and technical drum-work throughout the album.
Although there are only 6 songs on Deliverance, everything I love about the band is here; aggressiveness, slow calming moments, atmospheric passages and a very good mix of vocals overall. The album beams with confidence, style and intensity. Just what the doctor ordered...Melodic Progressive Death Metal for the soul. (haha) Despite the fact that the songs are lengthy, they never drag on aimlessly nor become ever redundant.
Deliverance opens with "Wreath," one of Opeth's most candid songs up until this album. The band uses a repetitive riff that creates a somnolent march-like sequence. Many spins later and the magic between the lines is exposed. The lyrics, composition, song structure and execution...all done with precision and expertise!
The title track is a 13 minute massive undertaking with some of the very fine composition handiwork that we've come to expect from the band. The song includes a 3 minute instrumental-feast, highlighting the band at it's absolute progressive best.
"A fair judgement" slips effortlessly from one brilliant moment to the next and "For absent friends" is for all intents and purposes, a 2 minute acoustic instrumental break. Enjoy it 'cause what comes next is "Masters apprentices," which begins a deadly stride with its' inherent Death Metal attitude only to move into what I would call a cool spring morning mid-way through the song.
And finally the album closes with "By the pain I see in others." This song instills a sense of true discomfort as Akerfeldt gives one of his most chilling vocal performance.
Hidden behind "By the pain I see in others" is a haunting passage, just one chilling voice with a message, an appropriate surprise ending to a great album. I often wondered how Opeth manages time and time again to put down 60 plus minutes of music and make them feel like 30?
For those who are not easily impressed, Deliverance is not immediate music, you don't always get it on the first spin, though it does pack a punch and has a long affecting impact on you, the music is for extreme progressive metal enthusiasts only.

Vanwarp

This album is difficult for me to rate, becuase while better than many other releases by other bands, it was more or less a letdown for me, it was sub-Opeth, if that makes sense. It has many good and great sections, but many sections are boring and pointless, or even horrible.
For example, A Fair Judgement has quite possibly the worst outro ever. However, the end of Deliverance(the track) is excellent, with excellent syncopation and use of a simple chord like E5 to create a brilliant riff. This is obviously much heavier than its counterpoint, Damnation, however the heaviness is not near as awesome or moving as on albums like MAYH and Still Life. BTPISIO is one of the more interesting tracks Opeth has created, and is a real break for most Opeth fans as it doesn't have that distinct "Opeth sound" even though it implements unique breaks and death vocals.
I wouldn't blame the band entirely for this one though, as I think its unfortunate becuase of the situation they were put in during the making and recording of this album. The band was more or less rushed into doing this and as we know, creative juices can't be forced. A good album, and an excellent album to own, but not good for Opeth standards.

OpethGuitarist

This was the first of a two-part release recorded at the same time. "Deliverance" and "Damnation" were meant to go hand-in-hand, "Deliverance" being the heavy cd and "Damnation" being the mellow cd. They switched the titles around because they felt it would have been too predictable to have the names make sense. (I'm not making that up).
Although this only has six songs, it runs a little over an hour long. It was partially produced by Steve Wilson, who has a noticeable effect on the band’s sound. Everything sounds a bit washed out and dry, and parts of it sound very similar to Porcupine Tree’s “In Absentia”. The band seems to really work together well here, and the songs take a step backwards from their convoluted song structures of past. Opeth has adopted a much more straightforward style which makes getting the riffs a lot easier. The vocals are often layered with four or five tracks, another really great effect. All of the songs still have the same “Opeth-y” feel to them, Mikael Akerfeldt has a real way with creating memorable and exciting riffs. The drummer Martin Lopez is also very talented, often blasting away for minutes on end, but I feel his best drumming is the slowed down approach found on “Damnation” and the quiet bits in this album.
This is Opeth's heaviest album to date. That's right, folks. This will pound your face in. Ok, it's not THAT heavy, but it an artsy, prog way it is. Six songs of conceptual genius. Wreath begins the storm with pounding drum work, crushing guitars, and wicked vocals. This album is probably the second longest album after Morningrise and you can tell by looking at the song lengths. "Wreath" is 10-11 minutes long, but it never gets boring, instead sweeping you into the eye of a death metal hurricane. Oh, by the way, all you people who claim that Opeth aren't death metal can shove it. There's a thing called SUBGENRES. The title track is next, and it is also bludgeoning. It's not quite as annihiliating as Wreath, but it's quite syncopated and the extended outro is mystifying. Following the title track is "A Fair Judgement", which is one of Opeth's best songs ever. It begins with an extended gloomy, barely audible piano solo which shifts to Akerfeldt's murky, mellow singing and a very simple guitar line in the chorus. Midway through the song is a very quirky guitar interlude that sounds like it was stolen from The Romantic Age. This song also has an extended outro which adds awesome drama to the song. Following this epic masterpiece is the short instrumental "For Absent Friends". It's the first one I've heard from the band and I must say I'm impressed. This ISN'T a Dream Theater-styled solo, folks. It's just a simple guitar line repeated over and over again with slight variations now and then. The tone of the guitar on this song is very reminiscent of Eric Johnson and I'm sure Johnson fans will notice this as well. "Masters Apprentices" is next and it is quite turbulent, being so shifty in rhythm as to be reminiscent of Meshuggah. There is no extended intro or outro here, but epics tend to get boring after all. Chronologically, though, every song on this album save for For Absent Friends is epic. MA seethes with malice and wickedness. "By the Pain I See in Others" is the haunting final track. It's about as groovy and straightforward as MA, but much more profound as there is an extended silence near the end of the album reprised by reverberating warbles courtesy of Akerfeldt and chilly whispers. Haha, maybe Opeth was inspired by Korn on this song, seeing as the technique of using an extended silence was pioneered by Korn on their Follow the Leader. Trust me, though, Opeth utilizes this concept much better than Korn does. Plus, Korn is lame anyway.
People who like extensive songs and Progressive rock/metal fans who can appreciate Death metal, especially the vocals that death metal bands bring will like this album. If you like original Opeth you will still like it because it holds many of the characteristics of the bands original releases. Anyway, this album is a haunting, epic, aggressive progressive death metal tour de force and it should not be ignored. Pick up if you have rest-money, which wants to be invested in some excellent extreme progressive metal. It's not as memorable as Still Life or Blackwater Park, but it will still satisfy.
album rating: 8.5/10 points = 87 % on MPV scale = 4/5 stars

Marc Baum

Quizás este se el disco más flojito de esta etapa de Opeth pero ya que estamos publicando sus trabajos no puede faltar, espero que lo disfruten.