Opeth -
Lamentations
(Live At Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003)
Performance 
Production 
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Opeth -
Lamentations
Performance |
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I must admit that I had never heard of Opeth until earlier this year when I stumbled across them after reading several glowing reviews of their new Damnation album. Opeth hail from Sweden and their style of music can basically described as progressive, death-metal. I personally can't stand anything that closely resembles death-metal, but I was intrigued by the descriptions of Damnation as being a much lighter and more melodious departure for the band. I downloaded some of the Damnation songs to see what all the fuss was about, and was quite impressed with what I heard. When I saw the Lamentations DVD on sale for only $9.99 at Tower Records, I was left no choice but to snatch it up. Lamentations features a concert recorded at the Shepherds Bush Empire, in 2003, where Opeth performed the entire Damnation album during their first set. The second set consisted of their older, much heavier songs, from their previous albums. The songs from Damnation have a distinct Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin influence, and seeing that it was produced by Steve Wilson, it also sounds a lot like Porcupine Tree. Wilson obviously heavily influenced their drastically new sound on Damnation. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the songs from Damnation. The vocals were smooth and understated, and the acoustic flavored music was very melodious, but with a progressive edge. The musicianship was top-notch. The second set featured older songs mostly from their two previous albums Deliverance and Blackwater Park. It was staggering how different the music was between the first and second sets. When lead singer/guitarist Mikael kerfeldt launched into the "vocals" for "Masters Apprentice", the first song from the second set, I just about spit out my drink in astonishment. Remember, I had not heard any of their pre-Damnation material before, so when his guttural, Satanic, growling ripped through my speakers, I was dumbfounded. How could he go from singing such impressively smooth melodies to THAT! What amazes me the most, is how Opeth can have so many fans that like both versions of them. They really were two totally different bands that night. I've got a feeling that their older, hard-core fans were a little pissed off about the direction they took with Damnation. OK, so the vocals-from-hell during the second set were very off-putting for me, but the musicianship was still fantastic. These guys made Dream Theater sound like Poison at times. The drummer was particularly impressive with his ferocious double bass assault mixed with fast and intricate fills. The two guitarists worked together beautifully to create some extremely heavy, but complex arrangements. If you can get past the singing (I couldn't) the music is some of the most impressive speed-metal I have heard in a long time. They closed the show with a majestic performance of "A Fair Judgement" from their Deliverance album. kerfeldt sings this song using his Damnation vocal style and it was a refreshing breather after the sonic assault of the previous few death-metal songs. The production of this DVD was superb. Both the DTS and Dolby 5.1 mixes were clear and bold and made you feel as if you were there amongst the headbangers. The video was presented in anamorphic widescreen format and had a very high definition look. I had no complaints with the camera work. Great close-ups of the drumming and guitar solos, and plenty of full stage shots. The direction was outstanding. It will be interesting to see which direction Opeth takes with their next album. Will they look to appease the hordes of Satan-metal fans who continue to worship them, and who were probably disgusted by the more elegant tone of Damnation, or will they continue towards this new progressive, melodic genre that has won over legions of new fans like myself? They indicated, in the DVD's documentary feature, that there will be no Damnation II. kerfeldt adamantly states that the lighter tone of Damnation was only a one time thing, and that their next album will probably be their heaviest yet. I got the distinct feeling from their interviews that they would probably prefer to continue in the direction of Damnation, but are paranoid about alienating their hardcore fan base in the process. This is a shame, because I think Opeth could be one of the biggest progressive-rock bands in the world if they continued to explore the themes of the Damnation album. I anxiously await their decision. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - May 2004 |
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Running Time: 123 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - February 2004 |