DELIVERANCE

This is an album that takes time to grow on you. Their unorthodox usage of minor- rooted scales and chords, it's a difficult album to digest, but that is the genius of this album. It leaves this dissonate feeling in your stomach; a feeling of incompleteness with the absence of major chords, but it is evident that this is the intended effect. The feeling it leaves is a haunting one, and not the beautiful kind, the BRUTAFUL kind! The theme is a disturbing one, and unlike every other release, where it touched on subjects like the the dark beauty of the forest and emotional stories of love, this one is just sick, and is a new and necessary direction for the band, for the sake of not being repetitive. For instance, the song Deliverance begins with the idea of someone drowning someone, presumably a woman or love, and the insanity that is to come of it. Great stuff!

The album begins with the track "Wreath" and if you were expecting a dramatic and slow build-up like every other Opeth album, and turn the speakers high to hear the beginning and place your ear close to it, DON'T DO IT!!! This one starts off withl a lightning quick fill and some abrupt, heavy riffage. Several minutes into the song, it goes into this creepy, haunting riff and from there keeps progressing into many different things, like classic thrash-metal shredding, Peter's classy apreggio, unorthodox soloing and some creppy sounds like winds, demeted sounding clean electric guitar and middle eastern percussion, and yet goes into a short-lived mellow bridge with suspended or second notes, giving it this ethereal beauty then into the end with some death vocals plus haunting vocal reverb effect. A very nice song.

Deliverance is the next song, kicking it off with diminished power chords and brutallity. after the simple, and extermely heavy beginning, it continues into very technical, classic, and completely original riffage, which I find to be highly under-ratred. It continues into a mellow waltz of serene and simplisctic beauty, then swings right back into some ass-kicking metal, and transitional solo's that are so amazing it leaves me utterly speachless. I can't begin to describe the sheer genius behind these strategically written solos. It fits so perfectly with the song, you tend to miss it, but sub-conciously sticks to your brain, and you tend to know the solo's without even knowing they were there sometimes... it's genius! Now the end of the song seems to get alot of questions about time signature and and complexity. Yes, this is most definitly one of the most impressive off-beat riffs I've ever heard played, and takes some sort of genius to come up with. It's in 4/4 time, but the rhythm is played on very off-beats on the 4/4 time signature.

A Fair Judgement is definitly a showcase of their more mellower side, and how capable they are with classical guitar and guitar-soloing virtuosity. It concludes with a very doomy, uncomfortable guitar riff. A nice way to conclude the song and sustain the eerie mood of the album.

For Absent Friends is a great instrumental track, giving the album a well-deserved break and a moment to reminenesce and relax. It's a soothing classical/jazz acoustic and nice bluesy leads.

Just when you are about to fall asleep you are rudely awakened with a classic metal riff in the Harmonic Minor scale (what western civilization would classify as middle-eastern sounding), and the sheer simplicity of it is just fun to roch out to. It goes into very interesting break downs, and after the second riff proceeding that classic metal riff, some very heavy, doomish riffs and classic palm mute and twin guitar riff harmonies, all still in the Harmonic Minor scale. Then, a great transition with the use of myriads of chords, into what it an incredibly brutafull melody. The guitar is hitting some very beautiful notes in a heavy fashion with some nice heavy and complex drumming mixed with one of the most beautifully, haunting vocals I've ever heard (And the spacy effect he uses is very suiting). When it transists into the growls again, I get chills every time. The second time, it yet again goes into this and then from there, it goes into the BEST transition ever when it goes into acoustic guitars. It still has this soothing, middle eastern feel and lush melody through out. The chords used here are very unusual and Opeth themselves admitted they don't know what some of the chords they use are, but they tend to use 'em alot! Then out of nowhere, it's like someone throws a brick at your head while you are admiring the peace, and from there goes into a myriad of triplets and a high-note rhythm melody that is beautiful. Right after the solo, it perfectly goes into yet another beautiful riff. It fades out, ending one of the most perfectly flowing Opeth songs ever!

This Last song is one that is incredibly brutal! Even though the beginning uses recycled riffage with some personality and complexity added to it, it's arrangement is incredibly unique some parts and concepts are completely out of the ordinary, such as growling over demented acoustic passages, and wild and brutal transitions. The beginning uses alot of double kick and the guitar rhythm fits like a glove! This is no doubt the heaviest Opeth song! then towards the middle, it goes into this very errie chromatic rhythm guitars and a very beautiful, simple solo that also gives me chills. It then goes into a demented carnival waltz with a very creepy vocal line. It then goes through many transitions toward the end... then silence, for about 2 minutes. Many people are infatuated with the end, but all's it is is the acoustic chorus in Master's Apprentices played backwards. But what a way to conclude such a spooky album!

This album's complexity and bulk of melody is found in the heavy riffs, solo's, and transitions, not much at all in the acoustical department like every other Opeth album, with the exception of the end of deliverance right before the outro and the acoustic melody in the middle of A Fair Judgement right after the clean, classical electrical guitar part. Not recommended as a starter album, I'd say either Blackwater Park or Still Life would be best. It takes time to soak in such genius!