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Opeth Album: “Lamentations: Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire”
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Lamentations: Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire |
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Release Date:2007-08-06
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Type:Unknown
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Genre:Metal
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Label:Massacre
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Explicit Lyrics:Yes
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UPC:5907785029132
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Review - :
{$Opeth} will most likely be remembered for adding class and elegance to the typically foreboding and nasty {\death metal} realm. The Swedish group also surprised many by crossing over from black T-shirt-clad punters to musicianly {\prog} rockers thanks to simultaneously recorded sister albums {^Deliverance} (2002) and {^Damnation} (2003), the latter setting aside their trademark forward-thinking, highly dynamic Scandinavian {\death metal} for graceful, melodic, and contemplative excursions. With {^Damnation} deemed a one-time experiment for {$Opeth}, it seems appropriate that {^Lamentations: Live at Shepherd's Bush Empire} documents a unique period in the band's evolution via a two-hour live show recorded in London, as well as an insightful 65-minute documentary, "The Making of 'Deliverance' and 'Damnation'." The live gig finds the band Jekyll-and-Hyde-ing through a two-hour set, split into mellow and beastly halves. The first is comprised almost completely of {^Damnation}'s relatively delicate {$Porcupine Tree}-inspired mood pieces, best illustrated by the dynamic crescendos of {&"Closure"} and {&"Death Whispered a Lullaby,"} the {$Led Zeppelin}/{&"No Quarter"} Mellotron atmospherics of fragile number {&"Weakness,"} and instrumental {&"Ending Credits"} (which vocalist/guitarist {$Mikael Akerfeldt} describes to the crowd as a blatant {$Camel} rip-off -- a reference perhaps lost on the theater-full of {\metal} worshippers). While the quieter songs lack the hair-whipping immediacy of {$Opeth}'s more aggressive material, {$Akerfeldt}, whose melodic vocal abilities shine on such material, appropriately explains the band's M.O. while introducing {&"To Rid the Disease"}: "Just because it's slightly mellow doesn't mean it's less evil." Viewing the two-hour show as a whole, however, one realizes {$Opeth} is simply building tension (or impatience?) for the crowd-pleasing, jagged Swedish ice shards to come: Five expansive and stunningly masterful extreme-{\metal} epics, including the inventive, wallop-packing riffery of {&"The Drapery Falls"} and {&"Deliverance"}; {$Akerfeldt} telling the crowd that such songs are "what we really sound like" -- although the group disappointingly delves no deeper into its catalog than 2001's {^Blackwater Park}. While the group isn't exactly the most visually engaging live band, their lack of gimmickry and intense focus on the music are refreshing, and the live show's overall production keeps {^Lamentations} from being a needlessly arid, two-hour sit-a-thon -- mostly thanks to the anamorphic widescreen presentation, extraordinary 5.1 Dolby digital surround mix, and intimate camera angles (although the {$Akerfeldt} "orifice cam" gives a few too many close-ups of the vocalists oral and nasal cavities). The documentary, as the title implies, chronicles {$Opeth}'s 2002 recording sessions; disappointingly, the film only brushes the surface of the group's stress-filled studio time -- they faced massive technical difficulties and ended up switching studios mid-way through -- but offers plenty of in-depth, equal-time interviews with all the bandmembers and producer {$Steven Wilson}, touching on writing, recording, and influences. Certainly, only the most diehard {$Opeth}-ateers will appreciate the documentary footage, but as an overall capturing-the-moment-type document, {^Lamentations} as a whole serves only to increase one's appreciation for the band's diverse and unparalleled combination of {\death metal}, unwieldy, ambitious {\prog}, and earthy {\folk} -- and exemplifying exactly why {$Opeth} stands head and shoulders above most of its Scandinavian peers when it comes to creativity, musicianship, and intelligence. ~ John Serba, All Music Guide
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