Opeth – Damnation

Damnation is one of my favorite albums from Opeth. This is their first album with clean vocals and I am very grateful because we would all lose a lot if the Opeth gentlemen did not record it. Songs like Windowpane and In My Time Of Need are masterpieces. The whole album is carried in a melancholy atmosphere and I often play it when I just want to think about life ... It's a beautiful and very pleasant album.

When I first heard rumours that Opeth were to release an album with all clean vocals I was thrilled. I have always loved that aspect of their songwriting, how they are able to switch between the two styles seamlessly. When the opening track leaked, I didn’t listen to anything else for a while, and this was around when I decided to ink their logo. There’s something about being so versatile and dearing that I have always loved. It doesn’t matter to me that a lot of their fans deserted them because of this release, because it is very good. Consequently, this was the first album that got me into prog, although I didn’t knew it at the time. I checked out Steven Wilson and Porcupine Tree, and journeyed on from there.

My knowledge of Prog Rock doesn't go very far but I can say that I have thoroughly enjoyed this album. It's a lot less metal sounding than their other albums and has a very intimate acoustic feel throughout, along with sweeping orchestral builds and emotional lyricism.