Damnation a Masterpiece???
- Thread starter Shell Shock
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Some reviewer equated Damnation to Camel B-sides, and at that time I was furious at him(without having heard much camel) despite not liking Damnation too much.
But now that I have most of Camel's discography, I entirely agree with him. Damnation is easily the weakest Opeth album followed by Deliverance. It just sounds too much like something even a lesser band could make. One of the arguments about it is that they had to evolve musically , but the counterpoint is that they could as well have gone an made a rap-rock album. In fact, you can easily pinpoint the influences that that itself makes it a weak album.
If you want to listen to new 70's flavoured prog. then Landberk would be a much better choice.
But now that I have most of Camel's discography, I entirely agree with him. Damnation is easily the weakest Opeth album followed by Deliverance. It just sounds too much like something even a lesser band could make. One of the arguments about it is that they had to evolve musically , but the counterpoint is that they could as well have gone an made a rap-rock album. In fact, you can easily pinpoint the influences that that itself makes it a weak album.
If you want to listen to new 70's flavoured prog. then Landberk would be a much better choice.
Demilich
Remember
I don't think you can say Damnation has too little material to be considered a masterpiece... what about Edge of Sanity's "Crimson"? Tis only 40:00 long after all!
DeepInMisery
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Its not the best album of 2003, (I'd give that to Robert Randolph, Katatonia, or Radiohead), but it is a great disc that grows on you, particularly after you hear it live. And what record has sounded like it in 25 years? Pretty special, especially considering a death metal squad delivered it.
I actually strongly agree with this post. It seem's as though Opeth are the cannabis of bands. Though I'm torn to whether Damnation is acutally a masterpiece, as sometimes I believe it's amazing and at other's possibly a bit monotonous. There's no denying that it is a good album. Masterpiece? Who know's we can't say anything until like 20/30 years time, and see if there will still be people listening to it, like there are with pink floyd and zeppelin. Mikael has always said he wants to make timeless music. I do think that Damnation is timeless, you couldn't pinpoint it to a particular year/era. And who knows what death metals going to sound like in 20 years. Probably like Opeth do now, either that or Avril Lavigne will be teaching death metal academy or something.segaszivos said:
I think the thing about Damnation, you definately need to be in the mood for it. But once you are, then it certainly delivers. It give's you exactly what you want.
Another thing about Damnation...it's album you really need to listen to a few times, it grows on you everytime. Eventually the once monotonous parts, drift by. I used to dislike weakness, now I love it. Roll a fatty, put on some headphones and listen to weakness, It's bliss.
I think the amazing thing about Damnation is the fact that it's was one of the best non metal releases of the year, and it was all done by a Death metal outfit. Pretty amazing. I'd like to see Prog rock bands do Death metal as well as Opeth do Prog rock.
I'll admit, at first i didn't like Damnation very much but as time passed on the album began to grow on me & now i really appreciate it for what it is, a masterpeice. Windowpane could very well be one of my favourite Opeth songs.
But i'll also admit that by looking at this album i thought that Opeth were going to notice that dreaded walk way down to the world of the mainstream but then i remember what Peter said ''We will always do the completely opposite of what people expect us to do'' & that's exactly what they have done their whole career (besides bring out absoloutely brilliant Death Metal music) & that comforts me.
But i'll also admit that by looking at this album i thought that Opeth were going to notice that dreaded walk way down to the world of the mainstream but then i remember what Peter said ''We will always do the completely opposite of what people expect us to do'' & that's exactly what they have done their whole career (besides bring out absoloutely brilliant Death Metal music) & that comforts me.
Miller High Death
Forest Metal
I really like the Damnation album, but of course there were a few dissapointments.
1. I wanted it to be more folk, with more finger picking parts with acoustic guitars. That is a personal taste so maybe not all of you would want that.
2. Album length is way too short, 40 min?
3. The last track is a waste of time (filler song in my book) and that makes it even shorter.
To be honest I would be perfectly happy if they experimented with a mellow album after each metal album. Maybe they would get even better at it after each one.
For those not sure if they should get Damnation, I would recomend getting the Lamentations DVD because every Damnation song is on there live, including 2 more mellow songs and then 4 or so heavy songs. Plus the documentary is pretty interesting. Better bang for your buck!
1. I wanted it to be more folk, with more finger picking parts with acoustic guitars. That is a personal taste so maybe not all of you would want that.
2. Album length is way too short, 40 min?
3. The last track is a waste of time (filler song in my book) and that makes it even shorter.
To be honest I would be perfectly happy if they experimented with a mellow album after each metal album. Maybe they would get even better at it after each one.
For those not sure if they should get Damnation, I would recomend getting the Lamentations DVD because every Damnation song is on there live, including 2 more mellow songs and then 4 or so heavy songs. Plus the documentary is pretty interesting. Better bang for your buck!
ok. I LOVE damnation, but I don't think that it is a masterpiece. It is an album that I can listen to all the way through and appreciate everything I hear (Sometimes I'll skip Master's Apprentices). Lyrically, I don't think the album is as bad as what some of you people are making it out to be. For what the scheme of the music is, the lyrics are very fitting. No one will surpass Roger Waters in lyrical ability when it comes to prog music. Waters tied meaning and abstractness into his lyrics unlike any other. (Maybe tool, but theyre in a weird cateogory and maynard is a nut) I'm pretty sure Mikael just wanted to make an album that could show his prog and classic rock roots, but by actually sounding like them as opposed to just having hints of them in the music. Damnation is a fantastic album, but a masterpiece in my mind is Dark Side of the Moon. Everything on that album, yes even the "filler" jams, had a meaning and purpose, and they really did things that no one was really doing. It had a concept flowing through it and lyrically and musically is unparalleled in the way everything fit together. Genius. I like Opeth more than I like Pink Floyd, but Floyd created a masterpiece, Opeth created a fantastic album. I think the closest Opeth has come to a masterpiece is My Arms Your hearse... Still life is my favorite album by them because of the songs, but MAYH is just incredible in how well it flows and the writing is amazing (when, april ethereal). Mikael is an incredible songwriter, and i think Opeth definitely have it in them to break ground somewhere down the lines and create a true masterpiece.. but they are getting closer and closer (sans deliverence, which is their weakest album in my opinion, although it is a good album).
EDIT: i know masters is on deliverence, i got caught up in what i was doing besides typing.. i meant that all their albums are very good, and that i can listen to all of them all the way through, except i sometimes skip masters
EDIT: i know masters is on deliverence, i got caught up in what i was doing besides typing.. i meant that all their albums are very good, and that i can listen to all of them all the way through, except i sometimes skip masters
FinGuitar3
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Master's Apprentices = Deliverence, and I think its greatBurningSky said:
I think Damnation is one of Opeth's best albums. I just dont think most of you understand things like this. A lot of people on this forum are like every other faggot, in that they will only support old material and say that Opeth will never be like that again. I like to go ahead and say... good.... I love the old stuff.. but as mikael said in the documentary... you cant really do the same album again, i wana hear something new. And damnation was new. Damnation is very deep, and the music is amazing. Better than any other album that i have heard in a while.
And this whole Pink Floyd thing... I really think they are overrated... dont get me wrong.. I like most of their stuff... but to me that music is boring, i dont want to sit down and listen to clocks ticking for 2 minutes... i get a fuckin headache. Sometimes it works, and Gilmore is an extremely great guitar player, but I am honestly not a huge fan. Most of the kids who like them, only do so because they are stoners and they think that Floyd is stoner music...
listen to what you fucking like! not what you think you should like to fit your 'image'. (not saying you guys do this, just most people in the U.S.)
ill even go as far as to say that their are some catchy tunes on MTV sometimes.. even though the TRL show is run by toolbags and their commercials make no sense, and their shows have no point, and they only hire kids that are 17 and have fucked up names like Gidean Yago, and Suchin Pac.... but some things are catchy, but the bands all sound the same to me, and their fuckin singing is annoying..
well anyway, i have gone way off topic and ill stop now :Smug:
Damnation = Masterpiece in my mind
look PAT, i know when you started listening to opeth, and i know that it was after i showed it to your brother. This isn't going to be about opeth though, this is going to be about pink floyd... David Gilmour is 10x better than Mikael, and mikael is incredible. Pink Floyd paved the way for music you dont even truly appreciate, and Yes, Damnation is very good, but masterpiece can't just be thrown around all the time with a new album each year... it is more than that. Hence, dark side of the moon.
Keep trying kiddo
Keep trying kiddo
I think that it is just something that they had to get out of their system.
The guys in Opeth are artists. They simply create the music that they want to hear, which is the most admirable thing for a band to do in my humble opinion. I dont even think that Damnation can be compared to Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and so on because it is a completely different entity on its own. You have to take it for what it is, which is a soft, mellow album from Opeth.
I personally think that it is a great album, but if it were to come down to choosing this over Opeths heavy albums, then I would have to choose their traditional albums over Damnation. That doesnt necessarily mean that Damnation is the weakest link, it is just different.
The guys in Opeth are artists. They simply create the music that they want to hear, which is the most admirable thing for a band to do in my humble opinion. I dont even think that Damnation can be compared to Pink Floyd, King Crimson, and so on because it is a completely different entity on its own. You have to take it for what it is, which is a soft, mellow album from Opeth.
I personally think that it is a great album, but if it were to come down to choosing this over Opeths heavy albums, then I would have to choose their traditional albums over Damnation. That doesnt necessarily mean that Damnation is the weakest link, it is just different.
Demilich
Remember
Ok, here goes.
Damnation is obviously supposed to be a 70s prog-rock album, but I think on top of all these influences, it still oozes that distinct Opeth sound. It isn't just Mike's voice, Lopez's drumming or their unmistakable guitar style: it's the combination of all the elements of the band that make the whole so much more than the sum of it's parts. Fuck the people who say this album was mostly written by Steve Wilson, and fuck the people who say it sounds like Porcupine Tree-worship. This album is Opeth, it's Mike's way of getting in touch with his 60s and 70s influences... and Steven Wilson produced, played and wrote on it, so you can expect that his "sound" would rub off on it a bit. His mellotrons and other keys on the album are a perfect fit for the album, he seems to have tapped into the Opeth style pretty well. You can see Mike's approval on the DVD documentary.
Well, as to whether Damnation is a masterpiece, my story goes somewhat the opposite of many of the board members. My first experience of Damnation was in early March 2003 when the album leaked and I burned it to CDR. I loved it at first, but my interest slowly waned and waned until I could barely stand to listen to it, and got bored before long whenever I tried listening to this CD. I still bought it the day it came out, and I remember enjoying it again for a bit, then losing interest again. A while after this, my interest in Opeth dissipated to almost nothing as I got into Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Katatonia, and a bunch of other bands. Now I've started listening to Opeth again, and I appreciate Damnation for what it is, listen to it very rarely, and enjoy the hell out of it when I do. There's something unique and SO emotional about these songs, and I find the lyrics pretty good, maybe not great. Masterpiece? Maybe... I can't decide. Probably not, otherwise I wouldn't even have to consider it. Great album? Yea... it's Opeth after all.
Damnation is obviously supposed to be a 70s prog-rock album, but I think on top of all these influences, it still oozes that distinct Opeth sound. It isn't just Mike's voice, Lopez's drumming or their unmistakable guitar style: it's the combination of all the elements of the band that make the whole so much more than the sum of it's parts. Fuck the people who say this album was mostly written by Steve Wilson, and fuck the people who say it sounds like Porcupine Tree-worship. This album is Opeth, it's Mike's way of getting in touch with his 60s and 70s influences... and Steven Wilson produced, played and wrote on it, so you can expect that his "sound" would rub off on it a bit. His mellotrons and other keys on the album are a perfect fit for the album, he seems to have tapped into the Opeth style pretty well. You can see Mike's approval on the DVD documentary.
Well, as to whether Damnation is a masterpiece, my story goes somewhat the opposite of many of the board members. My first experience of Damnation was in early March 2003 when the album leaked and I burned it to CDR. I loved it at first, but my interest slowly waned and waned until I could barely stand to listen to it, and got bored before long whenever I tried listening to this CD. I still bought it the day it came out, and I remember enjoying it again for a bit, then losing interest again. A while after this, my interest in Opeth dissipated to almost nothing as I got into Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, Katatonia, and a bunch of other bands. Now I've started listening to Opeth again, and I appreciate Damnation for what it is, listen to it very rarely, and enjoy the hell out of it when I do. There's something unique and SO emotional about these songs, and I find the lyrics pretty good, maybe not great. Masterpiece? Maybe... I can't decide. Probably not, otherwise I wouldn't even have to consider it. Great album? Yea... it's Opeth after all.
Haven't you guys heard the track 'Mordet i Grottan' by the Sorskogen project? That is one of the reasons I say that Damnation is not upto the mark.
Oh, and the 'tr00' opeth fans won't like damnation is as lame and overused as the tool sucks coz its fans are boors.
Oh, and the 'tr00' opeth fans won't like damnation is as lame and overused as the tool sucks coz its fans are boors.
Nico
Onward!
Miller High Death makes a good point. The finger picking folkish stuff was much missed in Damnation.
Personaly I think that's what makes the early albums so brilliant... christ listen to Black Rose Immortal and The Apostle in Triumph... give it so much atmosphere.
Thats where I see the band as having lost their great amount of originality, when the folk influences faded out, and the prog rock influences came in. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy prog rock, but quite frankly the play between folk and death metal just had so much more power.
Damnation is a prog rock album. It's no masterpiece.
Personaly I think that's what makes the early albums so brilliant... christ listen to Black Rose Immortal and The Apostle in Triumph... give it so much atmosphere.
Thats where I see the band as having lost their great amount of originality, when the folk influences faded out, and the prog rock influences came in. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy prog rock, but quite frankly the play between folk and death metal just had so much more power.
Damnation is a prog rock album. It's no masterpiece.
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