Deliverance (Opeth album)

Deliverance is the sixth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 12 November 2002. It was recorded between 22 July and 4 September 2002 (see 2002 in music), at the same time as Damnation, which was released the following year. The two albums contrast starkly with one another, purposely dividing the band's two most prevalent styles, as Deliverance is considered to be one of the band's heaviest albums, whereas Damnation experiments with a much mellower progressive rock-influenced sound.[6]

For other uses, see Deliverance (disambiguation).
Deliverance
Studio album by
Opeth
Released12 November 2002 (2002-11-12)
Recorded22 July – 4 September 2002
Studio
GenreProgressive death metal, progressive rock
Length61:45
LabelKoch, Music for Nations
ProducerMikael Åkerfeldt and Steven Wilson
Opeth chronology
Blackwater Park
(2001)		 Deliverance
(2002)		 Damnation
(2003)
Singles from Deliverance
  1. "Deliverance"
    Released: 2002
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Rolling Stonefavorable[3]
Pitchfork Media8.7/10[4]
Sputnikmusic2.5/5[5]

Background

The band originally intended for Deliverance and Damnation to be released as a double album, but the record company eventually decided against this and released them separately, approximately five months apart from one another in order to promote them properly. The name Deliverance was taken from the 1972 film of the same name, which caused great controversy amongst Western society due to the visceral depiction of the deflowering of Ned Beatty's character Bobby Trippe, who is held at gunpoint by two mountain men while being to strip naked, the overweight man then being chased, humiliated, spanked and forced to squeal like a pig before being violently sodomized. The pain of Beatty's character during that scene is said to have filled the band with great inspiration, and as such, Opeth wished to dedicate this album to the pain, suffering and humiliation of Ned Beatty.[7]

The recording sessions also became a writing session of two albums worth of material, causing the recordings to be long as there were no songs written prior to that point. Åkerfeldt wrote the songs in the night and recorded them with the band during the days.[8]

The track "Master's Apprentices" was named after the Australian hard/progressive rock group The Masters Apprentices.[7] "For Absent Friends" was named after a song on the album Nursery Cryme by progressive rock group Genesis.[9]

At the end of "By the Pain I See in Others", the final note fades slowly and ends at 10:40. Silence follows until 12:00, followed by two backmasked verses from "Master's Apprentices" at 12:20 and 13:15. These two backmasking verses are a ghost track.

Production

The recording for Deliverance and Damnation was fraught with troubles. The band had originally started recording the album in Nacksving Studio, but the recording process was plagued, not just by a variety of technical issues ranging from equipment breaking down to drum mics changing positions or disappearing, but also internal band issues. Eventually, the band would return to Studio Fredman (upon which they would be joined by producer Steven Wilson) to finish off the record.[10][11]

During the recording process, Mikael Åkerfeldt's grandmother was killed in a car accident.[10] He would later dedicate both Deliverance and Damnation to her.[12]

Reception

Deliverance peaked on Top Heatseekers at No. 16 and the Top Independent Albums chart at No. 19, making it the first Opeth release ever to chart.[2] Opeth also won a Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock Performance after releasing the album.[13]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mikael Åkerfeldt[14].

No.TitleLength
1."Wreath"11:11
2."Deliverance"13:36
3."A Fair Judgement"10:21
4."For Absent Friends" (instrumental)2:17
5."Master's Apprentices"10:30
6."By the Pain I See in Others"13:50

Personnel

Opeth

Additional personnel

Chart positions

Monthly
Chart (2003) Peak
position
Poland (ZPAV Top 100) 60[15]
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gollark: µhahahaha.

References
  1. "DELIVERANCE - 2002". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  2. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r614742
  3. Archived November 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Raggett, Ned (20 April 2012). "Opeth Blackwater Park [Legacy Edition]".
  5. "Opeth - Deliverance (album review 6)". Sputnikmusic. 18 October 2007. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  6. Lamentations DVD: "The Making of Deliverance and Damnation" documentary
  7. Collin (October 2003). "Opeth Interview". MetalStorm. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKm2eQ7XftM
  9. http://www.metalstorm.net/bands/trivia.php?band_id=13&bandname=Opeth
  10. Åkerfeldt, Mikael. "Deliverance - Diary". Opeth. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. "Mikael Akerfeldt of Swedish Metal Band Opeth Recounts Recording Their Classic 'Deliverance' & 'Damnation' Albums". Billboard. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  12. http://www.metalstorm.net/bands/trivia.php?band_id=13&bandname=Opeth
  13. "GRAMMIS-VINNARE GENOM ÅREN – 1969-2010" [Grammy-Winner Through Years - 1969-2010] (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI-se. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
  14. "Opeth official website discography". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
  15. https://web.archive.org/web/20030614090754/http://www.zpav.pl/bestsellery/best.html
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