Review Summary: There is a wound that's always bleeding, there is a road I'm always walking...
Out of all of Opeth's albums, Damnation feels the most personal to me. The album art portrays the feeling perfectly. It's just... hazy, and grey. Far away, yet almost uncomfortably close. It's hard to describe, as the music itself occupies a sort of odd juxtapositional area. It's the only kind of sadness that comes with complete detachment.
That's not to say Opeth feels removed from their music. The album features Mikael Åkerfeldt's strongest vocal performance to date, even without the demonic howls. The instrumentation is hook-laden and intricate, and also deeply moving. It's simply that the mood of the album is so bleak, the instrumentation is so delicate that a blank face and complete silence comes to mind, as opposed to outright emotional displays. It suits the band fantastically. The band took the biggest risk of their career thus far and completely removed all extreme elements, and it paid off in ways I don't think anyone could've expected. But it makes sense.
I would liken every song to an extended instrumental interlude on previous albums with fantastic lyricism on top of all that. It sounds like the slower, softer parts of earlier songs were fleshed out, and expanded upon. They are turned into full songs, almost ballad-esque in their structure and performance. Windowpane, In My Time of Need, and To Rid the Disease exemplify this perfectly, all of which are fan favorites for that reason. My personal favorite is Hope Leaves, primarily because it reminds me of a piece from Akira Yamaoka's Silent Hill 2 soundtrack, which is my favorite game, and likely my favorite score for anything. The lyrics are also absolutely haunting, which honestly feels like the cherry on top of the hot fudge sundae. Not to minimize them at all, but this album would be almost as good as it is if it was entirely instrumental.
Damnation's runtime is far shorter than any Opeth album beforehand, and justifiably so. I think a lot of the effect of these songs would have been lost if they passed the 7 minute mark. This is a trap the band could've easily fallen into, and they didn't, taking even further risks that serve to benefit them. And ultimately, as I've said before, that's why this band is legendary at this point. They refused to do anything anyone else's way, changing the game when and how they wanted to. In my opinion, Damnation is the best example of that. This is a perfect and absolutely exemplary album. It flows perfectly, and does not overstay its welcome in any way. It is exactly what it needed to be, and what the band had to have after the somewhat lukewarm reception of Deliverance. It revitalized them, and is up at the top of the best albums in their catalogue. I like it more every single time I listen to it.
Personal Track Ranking: Hope Leaves, Windowpane, In My Time of Need, Death Whispered a Lullaby, Weakness, To Rid the Disease, Closure, Ending Credits
Least Favorite Tracks: n/a
