Opeth - Deliverance (Anniversary)

Opeth's Deliverance returns in an anniversary edition, bringing back the moment the Swedish band pushed their death metal roots to their most crushing and labyrinthine extreme.

Recorded in 2002 in Gothenburg alongside its gentle twin, Damnation, Deliverance was always meant to be the heavy half of the pair. Mikael Åkerfeldt and Steven Wilson produced, with Andy Sneap handling the mix, and splitting the sessions into two contrasting albums sharpened everything Opeth do best: brutality and beauty pulled as far apart as they will go, then stitched back together in the same song.

Six tracks, more than an hour, nothing wasted. "Wreath" opens like a landslide, all churning riffs and guttural roars, while the title track builds toward its notorious stop-start finale, a lurching riff that locks into place and refuses to let go. "A Fair Judgement" breathes with melancholy clean vocals and moody guitar, and "By the Pain I See in Others" closes the record on a darker, more unsettling note, full of strange textures and sudden turns.

For progressive metal fans this is a cornerstone, as technical as it is emotional. It still sounds like a storm rolling in over a black lake, and it still demands to be played loud enough to rattle the shelves.