Annoyed at Damnation

[poldarn]

First of all:
How can all these people have the Damnation cd, when it is not released yet? Probably you've downloaded it from somewhere...can anybody tell me where I can download it too?

I bet it's all over Direct Connect, IRC and Kazaa by now.

Second of all:
if Damnation sounds like the mellow parts of Still Life....damn, then I can't understand why everybody is so negative about it. But ok, I have to listen first..
But I can tell you....you make me very curious!

It doesn't sound anything like the mellow SL parts (which I guess is why people have a hard time swallowing it). It's good though, like I said before, it sounds like a 70's progressive band, in a haunting laidback experimental way, kind of Pink Floyd-ish but with a higher tempo and sprinkled with mellotron.

 

[shivering corpse]

but...opeth is not sorskogen

 

[Sengir*Buendia]

I'm so disappointed by these Opeth fans here!!!!
I was so enlightened by Damnation that I go completely MAD after reading such negative reviews!!!!!! The album is brilliant!!!! I can feel all of Mikael's grief and effort in creating the album, I can wholeheartedly feel his urge to make something NEW (come on, of course it's new!) and fresh for the band!!!! And those are such beautiful lyrics, can't u guys feel the sorrow in "In my time of need"? That's the most emotional song I've heard in a long time, his voice is so passionate there. Closure has a latin feel totally NEW to the band. Weakness left me completely astonished. As a whole it's a gorgeous piece of beautiful and passionate (and well played) music.

All in all, I'm having such a hard time in trying to swallow and UNDERSTAND these negative opinions (in which I'm failing), for I'm so enchanted by the album's power. Those who didn't listen to it: don't let these bad reviews f-u-c-k your Damnation experience, as if it didn't already. It's really a shame.
And yeah, I know it's just a matter of opinions and blah blah blah!

 

[squarenothing66]

I had high expectations for Damnation. I love Opeth's acoustic parts and songs on their earlier albums, so hearing of a full acoustic Opeth albums, well, I was excited. When I finally got to listening to the album, I was immediately drawn in. Everything I had hoped for was included, and then some. I don't know how some of you people cannot like it, but you're entitled to your opinion. I would just have to say, listen to it again, and again. If you don't like it after the third or fourth listen, you're crazy! Oh well, I just have to congradulate Opeth on a job well done.

 

[LambOfGod]

Damnation is excellent. If you don't like it, you shouldn't expect Mike to take that into account and try to make music for your taste.

 

[Geyzer60]

The band hasn't been defaced. Damnation is a one time only thing just to experiment. I think the cd is great and I am glad they created an album like this before they end the band.

 

[Dan]

Damnation sounds nothing like any previous acoustic/mellow parts they had. Those on the previous six had memorable songwriting, these just go in one ear and out the other for me.

Second year in a row inwhich Opeth has released an album and it won't be number 1.

 

[warsofwinter]

I feel I need to get a few things off my chest.

Damnation is not what I expected. It's not as good as I expected. I'm pissed off that Mike lied (he once said in an interview that he'd never do anything like this under Opeth's name - like it would be defacing the band). I feel somehow...betrayed. I'm fairly sure that I'll always be thinking of that interview in the back of my head everytime I listen to this album.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the new stuff but it pisses me off that it's staining Opeth's discography. I hope they don't end it on this note.

I hope my feelings change with repeated listens but I can't see that happening.

Oh, and btw, anybody else like Sorskogen better? I don't suppose anybody else feels the same as I do about Damnation?

When Mikael and peter started (peter after mikael) Opeth they had decided that Opeth would be the most evil band in the world .. I think thats it ... People's plans change .. people change ..people get older .. people's interest changed.... and because of that we have a birlliant metal band .. with amazing acoustic "sections" and very satisfying vocals ... awesome vocals ... all because mikael's plans changed. Now his plans have changed again .. Im thinking we are in for something amazing ... the guys from Opeth seem to enjoy Damnation more than deliverance ... so Im guessing it's better .. I trust mikael's word ...but I also know that when you write music plans alaways change ... especially if you try to make a buisness out of it .. which is not what Opeth is doin ..

meh . anyway .. made my point .. I'll shut the fuck up now

I haven't heard it yet .. Im gonna wait till it's released

 

[osse87]

w00t ?

Thank God that they did not become an evil band.

If now Opeth suddenly had turned "evil" I would have lost all the respect I have for them. One of the things i appreciate the most with Opeth is their non-satanic, non-bloody slaughterhouse music. I can't believe people want to listen to stuff like Dimmu Borgir (unless ther satanic themeselves). I mean, their lyrics are sickening.

 

[Yeah]

man Opeth really need to rip a solo at the end of Death Whispered a Lullaby.. that whole weird effects thing just doesn't cut it.

Uh...the title is "Death Whispered A Lullaby"...do you really think if death whispered a lullaby, it would be anything less than evil and chaotic? It works.

Any how, Damnation is a complete dissappointment.

First of all, there are (nearly) no dynamics whatsoever. Opeth's completely accoustic/clean guitar pieces worked in the context of their mostly death metal albums in the sense that they break the pace of the album, and diversify the overall package, but a whole album of these songs is almost a snoozefest. I think the fact that this albums lacks any of those incredibly dynamic epic songs, like The Moor, White Cluster, The Lepper Affinity, or Bleak, shows just how weak Opeth's songwriting becomes when they try to be too straight forward.

Had they kept distorted guitars (yet not used them for any sort of metal riffing whatsoever), it would have certainly added much a more interesting musical interaction than what's on this album. More solos wouldn't have hurt, either. In fact, the only attempt at adding anything new and dynamic was the fact that they used a mellotron, which doesn't coming off as anything near creative...in fact, it very well sounds like third rate Led Zeppelin.

That's not to say that I find the whole idea of a soft album disappointing before conception. These songs are nearly all too soft, and all too somber. There's nothing upbeat, like...say...Harvest. About the only mood change this album is capable of is going from sombre, to dark and sombre, which, given their previous work, I find completely unacceptable. I'm not expecting them to express all the emotions they were able to convey in previous albums in the same exact way either (which would be death growls and such), because there are infact plenty of ways they could express those emotions using some of the elements they limited themselves to using.

I was certainly hoping this album would rectify Deliverance, but all this has confirmed is a double disappointment.

 

[inflamer]

For the first listens i'm dissapointed ... i expected anything from Benighted to A Fair Judgement type of songs ... but the result is that those are mellow songs but none of them can even match benighted's calm complexity, choruses and beauty ... most of the songs boore me ... i expected more fingerpicking driven acoustic stuff but what i hear is just too simplistic and repetitive ... the prog traces are rare and i expected a lot more from mike's singing arrangements ...

 

[jester00]

lol you guys obivosly had a very wrong idea about what damnation was going to be.

most of you are complaining because its not what you expected.

 

[Protected Witness]

I think some of these folks are too "metal" for Damnation.

That's okay, though. We're all different...

I can totally appreciate an album like this. I find it particularly awesome that both Damnation and Deliverance were recorded as well as they are and fairly quickly, much faster than a major label band, and at the same time. The stark contrast is pretty awesome, to say the least.

My only expectation of Damnation was that it was going to be different. I got what I wanted though...I guess for me, I don't really have anything to compare Damnation to. I don't have very many cds quite like this, although Beck's Sea Change comes to mind, that's another great sad/mellow cd...I don't have any prog cds, and I only have one Porcupine Tree release (In Absentia), and I don't think Opeth sound like them at all (even with Steven Wilson doing all the stuff he's doing).

My only irk with this album is the Closure ending, because I love the last groove so much, I can't get it out of my head...it's definetly not a smooth ending, but I still really like it.

Damnation's just different. It's pretty safe to say that the fans might start being divided after this...

 

[inflamer]

lol you guys obivosly had a very wrong idea about what damnation was going to be.

most of you are complaining because its not what you expected.

The structure of the songs is what i expected ... i just expected a lot better material ... IMO even In Flames - Metaphor song (whitch has basicaly the same structure) is better arranged thant these songs (except for anders vocals of course)

 

[R.I.P.2]

I can't believe people want to listen to stuff like Dimmu Borgir (unless ther satanic themeselves). I mean, their lyrics are sickening.

Oh my...

 

[threak]

Well i have taken in to account all of what you guy's are saying.The fact that people are are disappointed with lack of solo's,not enough dynamics and a change of tempo or mood of the songs.And also stuff like very creative fingerpicking isn't there.I too would have liked to have heard more of this stuff.But i am totally comtemp with what has been delivered(no pun!),which is very incredible and totally subtle and simple songwriting.

The way i have been listening to it most,is with very little concentration and attention towards what is going on.And then when im sitting there,and i can silently hear the chorus of "In My Time Of Need" playing throughout my head like a hypotic trance,Im just like "fuck me",thats absoloutely incredible.The album has concentrated on the parts of Opeth that i appreciate most really,which is ultimate creativeness.

I love Damnation.

 

[threak]

Oh my...

i know,what an idiot.Its like i listen to Darkthrone,so i must be listening to them for the ideological views on the traditionalism of nordic culture.And therefore im going to start thinking this way myself.

God forbid we should be in to these bands because they actually show musical talent.what a dork.

 

[Darth Kur]

Posted by Sengir*Buendia - Today at 03:17 PMI'm so disappointed by these Opeth fans here!!!!
I was so enlightened by Damnation that I go completely MAD after reading such negative reviews!!!!!! The album is brilliant!!!! I can feel all of Mikael's grief and effort in creating the album, I can wholeheartedly feel his urge to make something NEW (come on, of course it's new!) and fresh for the band!!!!



I couldn't have said it better. I am really am shocked at the negative response people are giving...WTF?
I can just imagine how this makes the band feel..."The fucking album hasn't even came out and people already hate it!"
Why is it that when a band does something off of the beaten path they catch so much flack for it?
Damnation is a goddamn masterpiece! It's just seething with emotion and enlightened progressions. As for it not have that "70's" feel I think it shares a lot of qualities of The Moody Blues and Pink Floyd with an extra twist of melancholy and depression which is always a good thing.
So, to any of you that have not heard this disc yet do NOT let these baseless negative reviews dissuade you from picking this glorious musical achievement up.

 

[clinton984]

I really love Damnation. The songs are pure beautiful.

My only complaint is the shortness of the album. 43 minutes.

 

[Dan]

I don't like the album not because it's something different but, because the songs just aren't that good.