November 2002 Archives

CD, Music for Nations 2002

Track list: Wreath - Deliverance - A Fair Judgement - For Absent Friends - Master's Apprentice - By the Pain I See in Others

Opeth's previous album Blackwater Park is one of my favourite metal albums ever. So, when I saw Deliverance in a record store, I couldn't resist the temptation. Well, I did listen to it there and I was pleased with what I heard. My only doubt was that I didn't hear any of the nice, clean vocals I enjoyed so much. However, my fear was in vain - there are very beautiful parts, with acoustic sounds and clean vocals in these songs. Excluding the 2-minute instrumental "For Absent Friends", each song is over 10 minutes long and full of detail. Wonderful! Deliverance isn't as experimental as the new Arcturus album, for example, but definitely on the more imaginative end of the spectrum. *****

CD, Ad Astra 2002

Track list: Kinetic - Nightmare Heaven - Ad Absurdum - Collapse Generation - Star-Crossed - Radical Cut - For to End Yet Again

Black metal isn't the best classification for this many-faced album. As in their previous work, Arcturus hasn't chosen the easiest way out. The Sham Mirrors proves that they are still in the very front of the progressive, out-reaching metal music. There are traces of their black metal past, but their influences are wider than that: electronics and trip-hop are two that spring to my mind first. It's difficult, perhaps even more so than their previous album La Masquerade Infernale, but nonetheless excellent. *****