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Rating: One of the best albums released in this long 2003 comes from the cold of Scandinavia, where, alongside the now trusty Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, Opeth, the most successful progressive metal band (along with Meshuggah) of recent years, has gathered once more, this time to offer its audience the long-awaited acoustic album that was repeatedly announced.
In reality, it's not a true surprise, since the sound of Damnation is now typical of the acoustic goth interludes and tracks reminiscent of Death In June found in the previous albums of the Swedish band. Mikael and Peter, the two leaders of the group, have done nothing but transpose these dark atmospheres with striking Pink Floyd-esque reminiscences into a single CD, creating an album of the highest quality, well performed and interpreted with splendid participation by the other members of the group.
For those unfamiliar with Opeth and have never listened to various tracks like Harvest, Benighted, or the underappreciated Still Day Beneath The Sun, this is truly an astonishing record, and moreover, completely far from the standards of unplugged albums of rock bands in recent years. It's a dark, sad album, to be listened to in complete solitude, and preferably with dim lights to be fully absorbed.
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, a divine interpretation of loneliness and despair, gathered around a guitar arpeggio that is anything but trivial, and a vocal performance not far from the golden era of Gilmour. If this was the center of the entire album, then Windowpane proves to be a perfect introduction to the atmospheres ruling within this album, and the dark piano chords of To Rid The Disease are able to make you stop and reflect on your condition like little else, leaving a thin yet consistent veil of fear worthy of the most convincing mysteries of this crazy world.
Don't miss this album if you love unplugged arrangements, because there are truly few of this level to be heard. Try it to believe it. To tell the whole story, this album might be more appreciated by new listeners coming from rock experiences than by the old fans who have been following them for several years, and who perhaps appreciate much more the growling and the impurely defined progressive music of the early Opeth. For those who have already listened to this album, a DVD is also for sale with 18 tracks including all of Damnation and some of the recent successes of the Scandinavian group.
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 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."
By KingJudas
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.
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.
