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Rating: Take a white room, a brush, a palette of colors, and paint that room however you want.
This, symbolically, is the meaning of "Damnation", the 7th album and sequel to "Deliverance", the evil twin, by the Swedish band Opeth.
A complex construction forged on simplicity and freedom of expression, without indulging in the luxury of growl or unleashing the grit of raw electric guitars.
An instrumental album, unprecedented for Opeth, which tries in vain to lift the listener's spirit from the worries that plague them. It does not succeed in doing so, instead transporting them into their worst nightmares, leaving them stunned, inside that room where white is no longer a sign of lightness and simplicity but of decay and turpitude.
It's true, an album delicate in sounds and appearance, this evident contrast can be seen from the cover, but it prophesies pain and suffering.
A lullaby strangled at birth, like a dawn that doesn't want to rise or a butterfly that gives up flying knowing that sooner or later its end will come and it will have just been one of many in a world of few.
It is a double-edged sword then, it will persuade you but after listening, it will leave you unsatisfied, you will indeed think: "Yes, yes, it's all beautiful, but when do we mosh??".
I'm sorry guys, but in this CD Opeth did things in true Opeth style, that is, like thirty-five-year-olds and no longer kids, they took the sound by the strings and painted it onto the disc.
I strongly (and even fatally) recommend listening because it is an emotion to experience; it won't change your life, but in this world, what is really there that can change our life?
To interpret "Damnation" it's not enough to listen, one must reflect and comprehend the absurd meaning behind it and that is the basis of the "Opethian" thought, genius, and recklessness.
Well, what to say, the best songs??
An album like this is not judged by individual songs, but to facilitate your listening, I point out "Windowpane", "Hope Leaves", and "Rid The Disease", all absolutely breathtaking and leaving behind an unsolved enigma that you won't be able to solve without trying another listen.
Bon voyage!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Windowpane (07:43)
Blank face in the windowpane
Made clear in seconds of light
Disappears and returns again
Counting hours, Searching the night
Might be waiting for someone
Might be there for us to see
Might be in need of talking
Might be staring directly at me
Inside plays a lullaby
Slurred voice over children cries
On the inside
Haunting loneliness in the eye
Skin covering a secret scar
His hand is waving a goodbye
There's no response or action returned
There is deep prejudice in me
Outshines all reason inside
Given dreams all ridden with pain
And projected unto the last
02 In My Time of Need (05:49)
I can't see the meaning of this life I'm leading
I try to forget you as you forgot me
This time there is nothing left for you to take,
This is goodbye
Summer is miles and miles away
And no one would ask me to stay
And I should contemplate this change
To ease the pain
And I should step out of the rain
Turn away
Close to ending it all, I am drifting through the stages
Of the rapture born within this loss
Thoughts of death inside, Tear me apart from the core of my soul
Summer is miles and miles away
And no one would ask me to stay
And I should contemplate this change
To ease the pain
And I should step out of the rain
Turn away
At times the
Dark's fading slowly
But it never sustains
Would someone watch over me
In my time of need
Summer is miles and miles away
And no one would ask me to stay
And I should contemplate this change
To ease the pain
And I should step out of the rain
Turn away
03 Death Whispered a Lullaby (05:49)
Out on the road there are fireflies circling
Deep in the woods, where the lost souls hide
Over the hill there are men returning
Trying to find some peace of mind
Sleep my child, sleep my child
Sleep my child, sleep my child
Under the fog, there are shadows moving
Don't be afraid, hold my hand
Into the dark, there are eyelids closing
Buried alive in the shifting sands
Sleep my child, sleep my child
Sleep my child, sleep my child
Speak to me now and the world will crumble
Open a door and the moon will fall
All of your life, all your memories
Go to your dreams, forget it all
Sleep my child, sleep my child
Sleep my child, sleep my child
04 Closure (05:15)
Heal myself - A feather on my heart
Look inside - There never was a start
Peel myself - Dispose of severed skin
All subsides - Around me and within
There's nothing painful in this
There's no upheaval
Redemption for my pathos
All sins undone
Awaiting word on what's to come
In helpless prayers a hope lives on
As I've come clean I've forgotten what I promised
In the rays of the sun I am longing for the darkness
05 Hope Leaves (04:29)
In the corner beside my window
There hangs a lonely photograph
There is no reason
I'd never notice
A memory that could hold me back
There is a wound that's always bleeding
There is a road I'm always walking
And I know you'll never return to this place
Gone through days without talking
There is a comfort in silence
So used to losing all ambition
Struggling to maintain what's left
There is a wound that's always bleeding
There is a road I'm always walking
And I know you'll never return to this place
Once undone, there is only smoke
Burning in my eyes to blind
To cover up what really happened
Force the darkness unto me
There is a wound that's always bleeding
There is a road I'm always walking
And I know you'll never return to this place
06 To Rid the Disease (06:20)
There's nobody here, there's nobody near
I try not to care, dead eyes always stare
Let these matters be, don't trust what you see
Take hold of your time, step into the line
There's innocence torn from its maker
And stillborn, the trust in you
This failure has made the creator
So would you tell him what to do
Leave your mark upon the head of someone
Who'll cry for his state, we know it's too late
I turn round to see what was meant to be
Faint movement release to rid the disease
There's innocence torn from its maker
And stillborn, the trust in you
(I have lost all trust I had in you)
This failure has made the creator
So would you tell him what to do
(I have lost all trust I had in you)
08 Weakness (04:07)
Found you there in the blink of an eye
(I) miss you
Turned away into a thousand dreams
Found out what they mean
Lost you there in a moment of truth
(I) trust you
Gave away the one and only heart
(A) gift to tear apart
Stain me, Save me
Take me to my home
Hold me, Show me
Take me to my home
Weaker now, Drawing fluid from me
(You) kill me
I'm not afraid of what you have just done
(But of) what you've just become
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Other reviews
By 3poundsoflove
The peak, the song that stands out from all the others and will eventually prove to be among the best in the entire Opeth production, is undoubtedly Hope Leaves.
It’s a dark, sad album, to be listened to in complete solitude, and preferably with dim lights to be fully absorbed.
By Lethe
"Damnation is not a mere album, it is an experience you absolutely must have!"
"Starting from this piece... fatigue of living moves away definitively, a sensation that will persist uninterruptedly for the entire duration of the album."
