Aural Fixations

OPETH
Damnation
(Music For Nations/KOCH)
If naked aggression, glass-gargling screams and a defiantly nihilistic attitude are the status quo for extreme metal, what would be considered radical? Why, turning the volume down and the sensitivity up, of course. Dozens of black, death and Gothic metal bands have experimented with sounds that are, if not exactly softer, at least less hellacious than the norm for their genre. Acoustic guitars, keyboards and cleanly sung vocals make regular guest appearances on extreme metal releases, sometimes even becoming the focus of an artist's sound beyond a bridge or a single tune. (See: Tiamat, Katatonia, Agalloch, Anathema and others.) Many extreme metalheads don't cotton to these shifts in sonic purpose, and like all devotees of a marginalized style don't hesitate to express their displeasure. But, like the true artists many of them are, these musicians follow their own needs and instincts, trusting in the bulk of their audiences to follow them, even if it means down a path of crooning, keyboards and 12-string strumming.

Few bands have explored the potential of blending discreet gentility with teeth-grinding savagery as much as Opeth. From the very beginning, the Swedish quartet experimented with mixing softer acoustic passages in with its crushing death metal. The band made it clear from its first album that these quieter parts were not an occasional deviation from its usual, more aggressive fare, but an integral part of the music. Combined with the band's unusual list of influences—Nick Drake, Porcupine Tree and obscure 70s progressive rock acts were as important in warping the members' minds as Slayer and Celtic Frost—these mellow meanderings set Opeth apart from the start, garnering it an audience outside of the usual extreme metal circles. Indeed, its fifth album, the stunning Blackwater Park, put all of its component parts into the smoothest, most dynamic and most undeniably exciting recording of its career. The only question was: where could the band possibly go from here?

The answer was to do the one thing it had steadfastly refused to do in the past: separate the musical sides of its personality. Using once again the services of producer Steven Wilson (the leader of Porcupine Tree), Opeth decided to record two separate albums (in the same length of time and on the same budget that it usually uses for only one!), one focusing on the brutal side of its personality, the other on its mellow side. The heavy record, Deliverance, included plenty of the band's acoustic fare, as well as having an even stronger prog influence than usual, but it did indeed include some of Opeth's most skullcrushing songs. (See review.) Now, a scant few months later, comes the other side of the coin, the soft, contemplative Damnation.

As promised, Damnation is a departure from the standard Opeth opus. First of all, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt sets aside his formidable (but shockingly articulate) death metal roar for the duration of the record; while he usually switches deftly back and forth between ferocious growl and sweet croon, here he sticks completely to the latter. Secondly, there's almost no distortion anywhere. A couple of guitar solos have the kind of muscle that comes from a pedal with "fuzz" or "muff" in its name, but even then it's more to make the leads stand out from the swirl than to give them an edge. Åkerfeldt and his co-guitarist Peter Lindgren construct sparse, almost delicate webs of six-string atmosphere, gently wafting the riffs through the air instead of ramming them down your throat. Wilson's lush keyboard work—with plenty of Mellotron, thanks— contributes to the dusky aura. Thirdly, the song lengths mostly stay within the 4-5 minute range. This is unusual for a band perfectly comfortable with 10 minutes being the average time limit. Fourth, and most surprisingly, the tempos stay the same. Opeth has always invested even its ugliest metal creations with surprisingly graceful time and tempo changes, and that trend continues here. While the abrupt shifts that usually define an Opeth epic are muted, there's not a consistent use of 4/4, either. Drummer Martin Lopez and bassist Martin Mendez create a subtle rhythm dance that never lets the tunes fall into sogginess. (more)

Album reviews of new music by:

Budapest

The band's debut is filled with morose, widescreen ballads and frontman John Garrison's keening tenor. (more)

Vic Chesnutt

This record is the kind of project artists dream of making: the perfect marriage of sympathetic musicians to an exceptionally strong set of songs. (more)

The Derailers

Producer Kyle Lehning seems to be doing his best to bury the Derailers' naturally rootsy personality in a ton of studio gloss. (more)

Forest Stream

On Tears of Mortal Solitude, guitarist Wizard Omin, bassist Silent Anth and drummer/keyboardist/singer Somn the Darkest play majestic, sorrow-soaked metal that emphasizes the melodies as much as the misery. (more)

Mountain Mirrors

On the Voices EP, Mountain Mirrors specializes in what principal Jeff Sanders calls "Zen guitar rock," mantra-minded psychedelia centered on worldbeat rhythms and six-string sonics. (more)

The Supersuckers

It's still guaranteed to box your ears, burst your aorta and wreck your vertebrae like a good rock & roll record should. (more)

Chris Whitley

It's an acoustic record, with Whitley totally forgoing electric guitar and backed by a subdued rhythm section. (more)

And enjoy the refreshed sounds of Uncle Tupelo and the Jayhawks.