Damnation
Opeth
(Koch)

Opeth's transition from death metal to full-on Floyd-like prog is complete with this release. Already showing signs of this on the awesome Blackwater park, the band decided to release two albums at about the same time. One with a more traditional sound, and this, their stunning prog album. This is 11 tracks of darkish prog bliss, not a duff track amongst the lot of them. Like 'Dark Side of the Moon', it needs to be listened to straight through as the tracks blend into one another in a moody mixture of aural delight. This has got to be one of the best hard-rock/pomp/metal releases of the new millenium. It is hard to describe in mere words how good this thing is in the end. It should be huge and every metal and prog fan needs to own it. Opeth have set themselves a damn hard task, how the hell do they top this? And will the band stick with this course or revert back to a more metal sound? Time will tell and Opeth fans will no suffer either way. Like Anathema, these guys have proved that death metal bands can evolve. And that is what it really is, not change but an evolution. Absolutely freaking essential.

Rating: 5/5