rediscovering Deliverance

MasterOLightning said:
GoD, your avatar is weak, and far inferior to the previous two. Granted, I don't even have an avatar, but still...

Anyone who really dislikes Wreath needs to give it a few more listens. It's not great, but not bad either. Deliverance is a masterpiece. Never boring for a second. VERY good lyrics. AFJ has never been a favorite song of mine. I lose interest during the piano intro. And the heavy finish isn't that good. FAF is a nice instrumental, but not as good as Patterns I. Sculpted Cold was so right about MA. At first the open seemed a little dull, but you can feel that tightness to it. BTPISIO still hasn't won me over. I think the intro is really nice, but the song seems to have no direction. Towards the end, it feels like it's just trying to end, but it doesn't. I really dig the whole creepiness factor of the entire album. I think D1 is grossly underrated, and unfairly ripped on by a majority of people here.
 
I think that the harmonies and melodies of morningrise feel pretty exotic to any american, while the choise of tones on deliverence feels like a step back into the regular deathmetal scale.
Yes! Anyone who really listens to alot of Scandinavian metal will realize that that type of sound is used an awful lot...Although i still love that sound, it gets old just like the American thrash sound can get old...
 
Yea I rediscovered Deliverance but it was weird. I think it was from seeing the song "Deliverance" played live. I never really thought much of that song, but I now realize it is a complete masterpiece. The first time around, I didn't like Master's Apprentice. But since the album finally "hit me", Deliverance and Master's Apprentice are the stand outs from this album. I always thought Wreath and A Fair Judgement were good songs, mediocre. By the Pain I See in Others is weird, I like listening to it, but I don't really know if I enjoy the song. Sound confusing???
 
Deliverance, Opeth's experiment in altered guitar tones and harmonies.
Brilliant.
Certainly their most progressive album by a mile.
Voivod and Coroner influences and the supposed Morbid Angel influence are fine with me.
Its just more in your face then the at times drawn out exercises of previous releases.

Its compact and tighter then anything they have done. Many say simpler but don't appreciate the subtle arrangements.
I mean do we need another Black Rose Immortal.
 
I think Still Life and Deliverance are my favorite Opeth albums, I don't know why Deliverance isn't liked as much as the other albums here, I think it's a masterpiece!
 
I think, like Narciso was saying, that this album is much more subtle than the other albums. Morningrise for examples has melodies flying directly into your face whereas Deliverance has more chuggy riffs mixed in with some interesting but less 'standout' leads. I think it takes more work to appreciate, and once you can, while it is probably not on the same level as an album like Morningrise it is DEFINATELY not a mediocre album. There is nothing mediocre about it, AT ALL, it's just not a masterpiece...and thats cool with me.
 
Also, I've recently realized how FUCKING COOL the solos on Deliverance are...best...Opeth...solos...and sometimes I feel like they make up for the lack of standout guitar harmonies.
 
DoReMi said:
Listening to Wreath a couple of minutes ago really showed to me how little this album remained fresh and interesting.

Wreath is definately the most formulaic Opeth song on the album. It's being there establishes the sound opeth are working from, and then the subtlety of the songwriting builds from there. Compare Wreath to Pain.... They are easily the two most drastically different songs on the album. It's definately a progressive album in most every sense.
 
Most wannabe Opeth fans don't like Deliverance that much. This is because it has the least amount of clean singing and acoustic parts, something those same wannabe Opeth fans need in their songs to appreciate them.
 
Jerkface said:
Most wannabe Opeth fans don't like Deliverance that much. This is because it has the least amount of clean singing and acoustic parts, something those same wannabe Opeth fans need in their songs to appreciate them.

But I never really got submersed in it. I probably just haven't given it enough of a chance. I didn't like morningrise at all the first time I heard it. It sounded way too much like lunar strain from In Flames. After several listens though, that album really grew on me. I can say that I like the guitar work on deliverence better then a lot of past albums, but I don't think it's opeth's best work at all. That title has to go to still life IMO. That record wows me everytime I hear it. It's just awesome how the sonic textures give you a feel for what's going on while the story is being told. Even if you're not listening to the lyrics you can tell whats going on. Better then a movie.
 
Great post SculptedCold! Except for Still Life (which was the one that got me hooked) this has been the case with every Opeth record for me. I have found them all alright or good at first, but then after a long while they suddenly become great, and touches me. Blackwater park took more than a year before I really appreciated, but when it hit home, I knew it was worth the wait. Deliverance is getting there, I am confident. So I await the right time and the right mood. This is also why Opeth could never bore me; I feel they demand something of me.

It's awesome to re-discover (or rather discover) a record like this. Enjoy the ride, I do it every time.
 
Jerkface said:
Most wannabe Opeth fans don't like Deliverance that much. This is because it has the least amount of clean singing and acoustic parts, something those same wannabe Opeth fans need in their songs to appreciate them.

I don't think that's very fair at all. I like and enjoy the album, but it doesn't have that same expansive and emotionally deep atmosphere that all the other albums have, and I wouldn't put it down to the simple absence of clean vocals. I don't think it is as musically challenging (sure, nothing comes close to Morningrise and Orchid, but still) or adventurous, and as such the album gets stale after repeated listens, unlike previous releases. Damnation, imo, retains interest because it is so short, but Deliverance has 10 minute songs with many repeated structures that become more apparent a lot more quickly than in anything else Opeth have ever written. My two cents.
 
In response to the above, I think Deliverance is their most challenging, or the 2nd most behind MAYH. Unless you didn't mean musically challenging in that way. My point remains, though. The songs on O&M are mostly just a bunch of catchy (but not cheaply catchy) riffs strung together with wonderful acoustic parts thrown among them. With some weirder stuff, too, of course. But what I'm saying is that I liked both pretty much right away. The same goes for the rest. I mentioned MAYH above just because it's so dense and complex, it takes a while to pick apart the songs and "know" them. I still liked it right away. Anyway, when I got Deliverance, I did LIKE it, but there was a big "What the hell is this?" feeling lingering. It just felt weak somehow, and like it was missing something. But, after listening, I discovered that it's more or less all there, with something new filling in the space. That's kind of abstract, I guess. But still, I think it requires you to expand your musical boundaries a tiny bit to really appreciate it.

I still think it's their weakest album. However, when you pair D1 and D2 as two halves of one thing, the result is very strong. I just think each album suffered a little from the other's creation. But I think it was worth it.