Exactly. Completely pointless.Growling like a dog doesn't help people to understand what could be fantastic lyrics. I tried Opeth with this one song. I guess I'll never know. Sigh........... Love SW, but even he couldn't help them to get the message across to me. I guess it just is what it is.
@@RandyOLeary It's a little unclear what it is you're trying to say here. The growl vocals in Opeth are generally very sparse and in their later albums none existent. Even so there is plenty of clean vocals in this song also. I'm not really much of a fan of Opeth but for sure it isn't a band you can listen to 30 seconds and decide it isn't for you.
@@RandyOLeary It's not hard to get a hold of the lyrics. People should be more concerned with what musicians are doing musically, rather than what they are singing about.
@@RandyOLearyget the message across? What message? It’s not that deep my dude. The lyrics are there to complement the music,which is death metal hence the vocals.
One of my all time favorite outros ever. The push and pull of the syncopation, the hypnotic repetition as the song beats that rhythm into your mind, the way the guitar fades out leaving only the rhythm section still playing before that too suddenly stops... While I agree that this song is not as sonically diverse as many other Opeth songs, and doesn't take you on the same sort of journey that many of their songs do, it still holds a special place in my heart because of that outro. I think the way it repeats for so long, it actually gives you long enough with the rhythm to really get accustomed to the syncopation, allowing you to really feel the groove, rather than feel like they're interrupting you every so often. And I think it's for this exact reason that i love that outro. Often syncopation like that is intended to disorient the listener, and serve as almost a secret handshake for those who've listened enough to learn it by heart. But Opeth is instead inviting everyone to follow along, and revel in the the groove together.
The album was produced by Opeth themselves and Steven Wilson who also helped in the sound engineering. He's really good at what he does considering he self-taught all that stuff.
Cool fact you might enjoy: they've been using this song a lot as a set closer for their concerts! That ending fits extremely well in that context. I saw them live a few months ago and it's such a fun thing to experience live!
The ending doesn't really seem like anything crazy, but really, when you hear the song live it hits differently. They always play this song last in their live performances and the experience in the outro is amazing. Imagine 3000 people shouting and raising their hands in rhythm. Truly an experience
Man this track is one of the greats. Not only of Opeth's catalogue but metal in general. So many incredible transitions, its balanced so well between heavy and light sections, and the band passes around moments of virtuosity so smoothly, sharing the limelight and being greater than the sum of its parts. The way they dive into that section at 9:33 is so....damn....soundgasmic. I also kinda hate/love how the ending section sort of overstays its welcome by a few bars....almost like I need some deliverance from the ending.
Awesome song and a great reaction and analysis! Glad you were so engaged with it. The album Deliverance was their heaviest so far and was made in pair with Damnation, the most mellow album they've ever done (with all cleans, as an exception back then. But that was to become their exclusive vocal style some albums later) There are quite some heavy playing with clean vocals here. Earlier on, they used harshes sometimes with mellower music, but after some time the harshes were commonly paired with heavy/brutal playing while cleans were used with all styles (though more often with mellow parts of course). I think the outro riff is just the coolest - especially with that groovy interlude - but as often with them, they do overuse it. One of my favorite bands, but they would have been EVEN better had they trimmed down the amount of repetitions. Now, I'm heading over to the second highlight of today: my Special Selection: Von Hertzen Brothers' The Willing Victim 😊 (They actually did support for Opeth some ten years ago)
I've read that they repeated the outro so many times because they weren't sure where they were going to cut it, so they wanted to leave plenty of room. Then they decided to just leave it all in :) I love the fact that there are minor variations in the high guitar and the drums that map out the progress through the section.
I know I'm gonna sound old school snob here, but they really lost something when Lopez left, I had not been listening to this track for a while, but I just revisited watching the reaction and his playing is just so tasteful
Have you listened to the drums on Heritage? Doesn't get more tasteful than that. Axenrot is incredible. Lopez is also great, but I don't think him leaving had anything to do with their sound changing.
Yes I have listened to Axenrot on Heritage and Watershed, and the live album at the RAH, and yes I think he's really good, but man I prefer the sound and groove that Lopez put in his drum parts. After those albums I have to be fair I lost all interest in the band. But if they're back with Lopez and Lindgren back ohhhh my. By the way every time you change drummers you're changing an integral part of the band.@@MageGills
@@MageGills No one said he is not "incredible". Lopez was a different drummer though. He was unique, and he worked well within Opeth in a way that no other drummer ever will. It was a great lineup. I would love to see a poll on this between older and younger fans of Opeth though.
I think the reason is because they only did one album that was still heavy (watershed) after he left. I think from that point on Mikael decided a new direction, and as an artist I respect that. Some don’t like their new direction and that’s cool too I understand, but it’s special in it own way IMO, especially Pale communion.
The ending just is incredibly emotive / gives room to imagination, at least to me, and creates a kind of picture in my mind of running terrified in some dark woods from this deranged cult like murderer, it's as if I'm scrambling to get away but not really making progress. And as a drummer it is just such a cool groove.🤘🏼
Deliverance is death. The ending part that threw you for a loop. I think that’s because we all don’t know how it ends for each of us. That sums that ending part for me. It was unexpected, badass and and a wild ride. That how I want to go. Good analysis of this Opeth classic.
Defo 4/4 at @9:35 section. What an incredible band!! Such a journey. You were so grooving at the mental rhythm at the end... Watch yourself and you are loving it!!!
Great reaction, it's amazing how you are able to listen every sound that comes. Oh dear, this was my first Opeth song, it holds a special place in my heart. Thank you for delivering this song.
My reaction to the outro rhythm kind of mirrored yours. It brought a stupid grin to my face. It still does, and I love it. It's been almost 20 years and I still have the same response.
The thing about faustian bargains is that you never get what you want, though. So if you surrender to the devil, you may never get the peace you were craving for. It makes perfect sense thematically, then, and it's even reinforced in the last two lines of the poem: "Deliverance, thrown back at me, laughing at me". This is the sort of rest where you may very well be exhausted, and falling into bed and going to sleep immediately, but your sleep patterns are resltess and halted and you snap in and out of it constantly. You seem to be zeroing in on the idea of getting deliverance and not on the fact that that deliverance is denied, and that idea is very much portrayed in both lyrics and music. The riff is hypnotic up to the point where it becomes tense and back again in a perpetual cycle. This can also be seen in the largest context of the album, which has a companion piece, Damnation, that was entirely devoid of metal elements. So, you had Opeth's most aggressive album in years named after a mellow concept (damnation) and their quasi acoustic soft rock album named after violence. They're very much aware of the apparent incongruence and letting it be a theme on both the albums.
You're right in your guess that this era of Opeth is rhythmically driven. The Deliverance album is the one where they basically pulled out the stops and went balls to the wall on metal. As for the ending, it doesn't seem ridiculous to me. When I first heard it I thought it was tensely building to a payoff that never arrived. Now it makes me think of a machine pushed to its limits and fighting against itself as it breaks down. Like a car engine with cylinders failing and someone is still stomping on the gas. It fits with the theme of the song in that the murderer's madness has pushed to the point of breaking, and that dissociation from their deeds that is hinted at in the softer parts has left as they succumb entirely to their insanity. That causes them to directly face the cognitive dissonance of their actions and they can't square that circle.
You are right . This album was recorded at the same time with the album Damnation which is a prog rock album. The front man of the band wanted to do two albums that time, one would be calm and one would be evil and heavy so he recorded these two albums and tried to expose the both sides of their sound. That's why it sounds a bit different .
If the outro makes you smile and laugh, I think that's a good thing :D It might not make sense in the story and building of the song, but to me it just sounds so GOOD! Love to see it live. It's a banger imo.
I was obsessed with this song in the 00's. I have vivid memories of walking in my home town and listening to this CD on my walkman (Because iPods were way too expensive). I still love it, and although I don't listen to it very often any more, when I do, I still appreciate every bit of it. And I still have the final rhythm memorized. And djent didn't exist yet and I kind of dislike that label lol
@@johnseward2934 I'd say they were definitely doing djent before that even. Contradictions Collapse was released in '91. It might be that it's more thrashy, but there's still a lot of the "djent sound" as well.
For me, the outro works with the final lyric being "Laughing at me." It suggests to me the horror of comedy, of being mocked as if by existence itself. To live seriously, to bring yourself to commit heinous acts in the name of your serious beliefs all in hopes of being vindicated by God, only to get the divine revelation and find out you're the butt of the joke. Complete destruction of your life, and your own melodrama undercut, your own interpretation of yourself robbed of you by laughter and silliness and goofiness. To allude to something else entirely, Pagliaccio knows he is the joke while he cries, yet he must put on the costume and perform the clown. With that in mind, I can just.. groove to that last rhythm, and even find it tremendously emotional. I always thought the lead guitar part sounded like laughter too.
I do love the outro, but not sure I could say why. It's just different. This was the first song by Opeth I ever heard, made a good impression on me back then
It’s a play between serenity and psychotic aggression and chaos , the flip of madness in the middle of a psychotic episode. If you read the lyrics it’s about a psych patient that kidnapped a bunch of people. I think it was based on a personal story that one of Mikaels friends experienced. And yes I love the outro but just like Reverie/Harlequin forest it could be cut down by about 30 secs. That being said I’m a huge Opeth fan and have all their albums and a live album.
@@orangetiny I don't know if I like one more than the other, for me it seems to depend on my mood, some days I may want to jam to the deliverance album, other days I may wanna groove out to the pale communion album .
I always picture the outro as his soul arriving at hell after making a deal with the devil, only to see that all his dedication to the devil was futile and he's now being tortured and torn apart. The song's time structure is ripped apart at this moment as well
Great reaction! Although it's not one of my favorite Opeth songs, I do like it, including the ending, but to be honest I didn't give the ending a lot of thought, I just enjoyed listening to it. But your point of view about it makes total sense to me and it's really interesting that you see it that way. I'd guess it meant something very specific to the band when they composed it and they just went with it. As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the music you react to!
good use of syncopation is one of my favorite things in prog metal, is one of the only ways to make the listeners laugh with the music itself The Ocean - Ectasian have one passage that I love that uses syncopation
Bryan: I feel like I’m going on about this outro for too long. I need to move on. Me: Opeth spent at least 36 minutes playing that riff. You’re entitled to vamp for a few. The more metric focus is provided a byproduct of the album it’s on. This was a double album of a sort paired with Damnation (they dropped around the same time intended to be two sides of a coin). Not sure if you’ve done any of the tracks from that one, but all of the atmosphere and emotion you were missing wound up on that album. Don’t get me wrong, I love this album, but I’d have a hard time saying how much of that was down to this album being excellent vs it being my introduction to Opeth. I never cared for the opening track, and Deliverance is my least favorite of the tracks I like on it. It’s sort of a weird sequencing decision, as this torturously drawn out outro might not sound out of place as the album closer, but it’s a lot for track 2.
I think the outro is great because it's fun and heavy. As you said, it doesn't really fit the story of the song but it's just a banger of a way to end a song. They also usually close their live shows with it.
I know he did the production and I keep hearing they they enjoy cameo-ing on each other's works so it wouldn't surprise me if this turns out to be true.
I was like yeah, I feel it just like that, too - there's something really therapeutic in that growling... ❤ ...Mm, wait a sec, you ment Therapy, the band?
This song take the metal out of the metal and reduces it to drum and bass (and that china cymbal) real groves and entrained music are displayed within.
I have academic training in classical and jazz trumpet and am self-taught on drums, keyboard, and bass guitar. Though none of that really applies to my listening. It's a process called active listening (sometimes called orchestral listening) and is primarily about focusing in on specific instruments, sounds, emotions, etc. Once you can do that then you just gotta start asking what they're doing, how that relates to what everything is else is doing, and what all of that means. With practice you can do it quickly.
@@CriticalReactions Thank you and you do that insanely well tbh like I think you are the best one I have watched who reacts to these songs cause you do not go into just the technical aspect of it, you try to identify the whole thing. I used to play keyboards for over 15 years, could do covers for DT and Opeth and sometimes I never needed the notes it was just by ears, lost interest but I always would notice very weird things while listening that other friends of mine would tell "this is weird how did you notice that or think of that" but honestly you are so much more talented than anyone I have seen, kept watching a lot of your content and I was like damn this is insanely satisfying to watch, fun and super accurate, when you laughed so hard at the final section of deliverance it was so funny :D
29:47 nope, that's actually something Opeth does a lot. Or did a lot on their older havier albums. They like to play like that, like they don't take themselves too serious and it comes like a goofy or even nerdy joke to the listener. That's how I feel about it
This song is definitely one of their finest tunes. The mellow sections are sublime. This is the penultimate Opeth song, it has everything I love about this band…perfect atmosphere.
@@AtticsTV it means it was the best and last in the series of their death metal phase. I love their more prog oriented material but it’s not in the same class as this…
@@biorythmicshifter I also agree with the sentiment but thats not what Penultimate means. Penultimate means second to last in a series. So ultimate would technically be what you were going for.
@@AtticsTV thanks for the lesson grammar Nazis…lol “Penultimate came into English in the 17th century from the Latin word paenultimus, a combination of paene, meaning “almost,” and ultimus, meaning “last.” So if something's penultimate, it's “almost last”…fits my use. This song is from one of the last true death metal albums they put out.
Their first two albums sound really different from anything you've heard from Opeth. I think you might enjoy something like The Night And The Silent Water the best, but Black Rose Immortal would be a really really interesting reaction.
I never found it funny :) I don't find it absurd either, I think at the time it was pretty brave and suprising. It kind of makes sense in the context of the album's tracklist (the song before and the one after). Also, this song became a regular concert ender and it fits to be honest.
Wouldn't say underrated. The world just isn't good enough for more people to like them. It takes some musical devotion and most people ain't got it....
I don’t really find the ending comical, but I do think they go for it way too long. It’s a really nice riff and rhythm, but I don’t think that the extended time is warranted. Maybe it works in a live setting as I’ve read in some other comment, but I never recommend this song because of the outro.
Opeth are a top 10 band for me, and even though this album is probably the weakest of their mature period (from My Arms Your Hearse to Watershed) this track has always been considered one of their masterpieces. It's hard to deny the power of those riffs. Personally, it's never been a favorite as I tend to prefer their tracks either with more intricate riffing or those that mixed their classic rock/prog influences into things more. This track is really Opeth doing their version of simple and direct, which you can especially hear in several of the riffs that just hammer on a single chord, and the catchier vocals. For that style I'd even take their The Grand Conjuration. As to the ending, I've always felt it goes on too long, though I do appreciate the audacity to just ride one great riff into the increasing oblivion of the soundscape. It does tend to hit better live with the added energy of the crowd and the atmosphere of the lighting and such. Your story about your mom laughing at Hellraiser reminds me of the story Bill Burr tells about laughing at the movie Precious and The Biggest Loser: czcams.com/video/w6XdCKjRMFw/video.html&start=428
@@Heavy_Metal.Nerd-2005 Yup, polyrhythms. I *can* hear a 4/4 but it isn't what feels natural for me to key into. You can watch my head movement to get the 5 pulse that I feel. I think what's interesting is that there really isn't an instrument that exclusively works within one of the meters. Like, there isn't a snare hit on 2 and 4 (or something like that). Every instrument is jumping back and forth between accents in the 4 and accents in the 5. So it's tough to say which one is the intended meter for the section. Thanks for bringing that up though. Re-listening to that section greatly increased my appreciation for the writing there.
@@Heavy_Metal.Nerd-2005 OK, so this is where things can get confusing. If I were to transcribe that section to notation I would absolutely write it as a 5/4 time signature since I'm feeling 5 pulses more strongly than 4 pulses in the same time span. I brought up polyrhythms because only now after you mentioned hearing it in 4/4 did I notice the 4 pulse. Both rhythmic interpretations are valid which is what makes it polyrhythmic -- there is more than one rhythm present. The only way to know the "definitive" (if there is such a thing) time signature of that section is to find out from Opeth directly what they wrote it as.
The eccentricities give the song more character, but maybe it is just absurdist humor at best. I would still take that as a compliment if it was my song. You have to be open to criticism to put yourself out there as an artist. Maybe your interpretation was his intention or mindset going in that it would be played out to some comedic effect, and that's just a compromise you have to be willing to make in that position if you realize your music is having that effect. I would have to guess he also realizes the absurdity of it, and that's why it was played out so long at the end.
Deliverance isn't a journey, it's a destination.
Exactly. Completely pointless.Growling like a dog doesn't help people to understand what could be fantastic lyrics. I tried Opeth with this one song. I guess I'll never know. Sigh........... Love SW, but even he couldn't help them to get the message across to me. I guess it just is what it is.
@@RandyOLeary It's a little unclear what it is you're trying to say here. The growl vocals in Opeth are generally very sparse and in their later albums none existent.
Even so there is plenty of clean vocals in this song also. I'm not really much of a fan of Opeth but for sure it isn't a band you can listen to 30 seconds and decide it isn't for you.
@@RandyOLeary It's not hard to get a hold of the lyrics. People should be more concerned with what musicians are doing musically, rather than what they are singing about.
@@RandyOLearyget the message across? What message? It’s not that deep my dude. The lyrics are there to complement the music,which is death metal hence the vocals.
The outro isn't long enough
No old opeth song is ever long enough. No such thing
😂🤟
Based
Martin Lopez is a key part that keeps the flow/fluidity and direction of the band in those prime Opeth years. Incredible drummer
Agreed, and very under rated lineup in general. Don't care what anyone says, those were the best years.
Most people think this lineup was the best. @@patrickbertlein4626
One of my all time favorite outros ever. The push and pull of the syncopation, the hypnotic repetition as the song beats that rhythm into your mind, the way the guitar fades out leaving only the rhythm section still playing before that too suddenly stops...
While I agree that this song is not as sonically diverse as many other Opeth songs, and doesn't take you on the same sort of journey that many of their songs do, it still holds a special place in my heart because of that outro.
I think the way it repeats for so long, it actually gives you long enough with the rhythm to really get accustomed to the syncopation, allowing you to really feel the groove, rather than feel like they're interrupting you every so often. And I think it's for this exact reason that i love that outro. Often syncopation like that is intended to disorient the listener, and serve as almost a secret handshake for those who've listened enough to learn it by heart. But Opeth is instead inviting everyone to follow along, and revel in the the groove together.
The album was produced by Opeth themselves and Steven Wilson who also helped in the sound engineering. He's really good at what he does considering he self-taught all that stuff.
Steven also does a lot of the harmonies in the vocals on this album and Damnation
The best thing about this is that it isnt even in the top 3 of the best produced opeth albums
I thought they had Andy Sneap produce this one?
@@skylancer-zer0205Andy Sneap mixed Deliverance
And Blackwater Park! :)@@Insanalyst
Opeth is the best. I still remember putting Blackwater Park on in my car when I was ~16 and having my entire musical tastes change instantly.
Love this song. The heaviness of it is surprisingly cathartic.
Amen!
Cool fact you might enjoy: they've been using this song a lot as a set closer for their concerts! That ending fits extremely well in that context. I saw them live a few months ago and it's such a fun thing to experience live!
The ending doesn't really seem like anything crazy, but really, when you hear the song live it hits differently. They always play this song last in their live performances and the experience in the outro is amazing. Imagine 3000 people shouting and raising their hands in rhythm. Truly an experience
"That is a ridiculously rhythm"-Loved that reaction, man! 😄🤘11:10
My favorite song. The entire vision is like a build up to an apocalyptic battle.
Man this track is one of the greats. Not only of Opeth's catalogue but metal in general. So many incredible transitions, its balanced so well between heavy and light sections, and the band passes around moments of virtuosity so smoothly, sharing the limelight and being greater than the sum of its parts. The way they dive into that section at 9:33 is so....damn....soundgasmic. I also kinda hate/love how the ending section sort of overstays its welcome by a few bars....almost like I need some deliverance from the ending.
Awesome song and a great reaction and analysis! Glad you were so engaged with it. The album Deliverance was their heaviest so far and was made in pair with Damnation, the most mellow album they've ever done (with all cleans, as an exception back then. But that was to become their exclusive vocal style some albums later)
There are quite some heavy playing with clean vocals here. Earlier on, they used harshes sometimes with mellower music, but after some time the harshes were commonly paired with heavy/brutal playing while cleans were used with all styles (though more often with mellow parts of course).
I think the outro riff is just the coolest - especially with that groovy interlude - but as often with them, they do overuse it. One of my favorite bands, but they would have been EVEN better had they trimmed down the amount of repetitions.
Now, I'm heading over to the second highlight of today: my Special Selection: Von Hertzen Brothers' The Willing Victim 😊 (They actually did support for Opeth some ten years ago)
I've read that they repeated the outro so many times because they weren't sure where they were going to cut it, so they wanted to leave plenty of room. Then they decided to just leave it all in :) I love the fact that there are minor variations in the high guitar and the drums that map out the progress through the section.
👋🏼 😉
I know I'm gonna sound old school snob here, but they really lost something when Lopez left, I had not been listening to this track for a while, but I just revisited watching the reaction and his playing is just so tasteful
Have you listened to the drums on Heritage? Doesn't get more tasteful than that. Axenrot is incredible. Lopez is also great, but I don't think him leaving had anything to do with their sound changing.
Yes I have listened to Axenrot on Heritage and Watershed, and the live album at the RAH, and yes I think he's really good, but man I prefer the sound and groove that Lopez put in his drum parts. After those albums I have to be fair I lost all interest in the band. But if they're back with Lopez and Lindgren back ohhhh my. By the way every time you change drummers you're
changing an integral part of the band.@@MageGills
@@MageGills No one said he is not "incredible". Lopez was a different drummer though. He was unique, and he worked well within Opeth in a way that no other drummer ever will. It was a great lineup. I would love to see a poll on this between older and younger fans of Opeth though.
I think the reason is because they only did one album that was still heavy (watershed) after he left. I think from that point on Mikael decided a new direction, and as an artist I respect that. Some don’t like their new direction and that’s cool too I understand, but it’s special in it own way IMO, especially Pale communion.
i love the new prog albums, but i think they'd be even better if Lopez drummed on them instead@@soakedbearrd
The ending just is incredibly emotive / gives room to imagination, at least to me, and creates a kind of picture in my mind of running terrified in some dark woods from this deranged cult like murderer, it's as if I'm scrambling to get away but not really making progress. And as a drummer it is just such a cool groove.🤘🏼
Dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun dudun, dudun dudun dun dudun duh duhnduhdun dun dun dun dun dun dundun dun dun duh dun duh dun.
I fucking love this song
Deliverance is death. The ending part that threw you for a loop. I think that’s because we all don’t know how it ends for each of us. That sums that ending part for me. It was unexpected, badass and and a wild ride. That how I want to go. Good analysis of this Opeth classic.
Defo 4/4 at @9:35 section. What an incredible band!! Such a journey. You were so grooving at the mental rhythm at the end... Watch yourself and you are loving it!!!
Great reaction, it's amazing how you are able to listen every sound that comes. Oh dear, this was my first Opeth song, it holds a special place in my heart. Thank you for delivering this song.
Mine as well 😄🤘🏻
I begin my journey amongst Opeth work; and I'm so glad that it leads here again, listening to your fine and smart analysis
My reaction to the outro rhythm kind of mirrored yours. It brought a stupid grin to my face. It still does, and I love it. It's been almost 20 years and I still have the same response.
The thing about faustian bargains is that you never get what you want, though. So if you surrender to the devil, you may never get the peace you were craving for. It makes perfect sense thematically, then, and it's even reinforced in the last two lines of the poem: "Deliverance, thrown back at me, laughing at me". This is the sort of rest where you may very well be exhausted, and falling into bed and going to sleep immediately, but your sleep patterns are resltess and halted and you snap in and out of it constantly. You seem to be zeroing in on the idea of getting deliverance and not on the fact that that deliverance is denied, and that idea is very much portrayed in both lyrics and music. The riff is hypnotic up to the point where it becomes tense and back again in a perpetual cycle.
This can also be seen in the largest context of the album, which has a companion piece, Damnation, that was entirely devoid of metal elements. So, you had Opeth's most aggressive album in years named after a mellow concept (damnation) and their quasi acoustic soft rock album named after violence. They're very much aware of the apparent incongruence and letting it be a theme on both the albums.
You're right in your guess that this era of Opeth is rhythmically driven. The Deliverance album is the one where they basically pulled out the stops and went balls to the wall on metal.
As for the ending, it doesn't seem ridiculous to me. When I first heard it I thought it was tensely building to a payoff that never arrived. Now it makes me think of a machine pushed to its limits and fighting against itself as it breaks down. Like a car engine with cylinders failing and someone is still stomping on the gas. It fits with the theme of the song in that the murderer's madness has pushed to the point of breaking, and that dissociation from their deeds that is hinted at in the softer parts has left as they succumb entirely to their insanity. That causes them to directly face the cognitive dissonance of their actions and they can't square that circle.
You are right .
This album was recorded at the same time with the album Damnation which is a prog rock album.
The front man of the band wanted to do two albums that time, one would be calm and one would be evil and heavy so he recorded these two albums and tried to expose the both sides of their sound.
That's why it sounds a bit different .
Haven't listened to Opeth in a looong time. I need to go revisit those old albums again. They peaked with this album IMO...
If the outro makes you smile and laugh, I think that's a good thing :D
It might not make sense in the story and building of the song, but to me it just sounds so GOOD! Love to see it live. It's a banger imo.
Yes! Finally Opeth's Deliverance. The greatest outro of all the time.
I love the ending.
I think what I love is how on a decent sound system it feels PHYSICALLY.
The same with the ending of "in mist she was standing".
Please do Edge of Sanity - Crimson. Just split it up in a few episodes or something, as the song is kind of long. But so worth it.
He just watched the entire thing in one go lol.
I don't find the ending comical, but it certainly has a sense of joy. And the heavier parts have an ambiance too, it's just that of panic and doom.
I agree the outro overstays its welcome. It’s just kind of an Opeth thing (same with long intros).
I was obsessed with this song in the 00's. I have vivid memories of walking in my home town and listening to this CD on my walkman (Because iPods were way too expensive). I still love it, and although I don't listen to it very often any more, when I do, I still appreciate every bit of it. And I still have the final rhythm memorized.
And djent didn't exist yet and I kind of dislike that label lol
fyi, Meshuggah pioneered what we now know of as djent in 1995 with Destroy Erase Improve.
@@johnseward2934 no one used that term til the 2010's and it's arguable that their sound was even that similar at that time. FYI
@@johnseward2934 I'd say they were definitely doing djent before that even. Contradictions Collapse was released in '91. It might be that it's more thrashy, but there's still a lot of the "djent sound" as well.
I believe they actually refer to that internally as "the meshuggah riff"
That would make a LOT of sense :)
I always imagine a killer drowning his victim and the outro represents the dying heartbeat.
Nice!
For me, the outro works with the final lyric being "Laughing at me." It suggests to me the horror of comedy, of being mocked as if by existence itself. To live seriously, to bring yourself to commit heinous acts in the name of your serious beliefs all in hopes of being vindicated by God, only to get the divine revelation and find out you're the butt of the joke. Complete destruction of your life, and your own melodrama undercut, your own interpretation of yourself robbed of you by laughter and silliness and goofiness. To allude to something else entirely, Pagliaccio knows he is the joke while he cries, yet he must put on the costume and perform the clown.
With that in mind, I can just.. groove to that last rhythm, and even find it tremendously emotional. I always thought the lead guitar part sounded like laughter too.
Best music reactor in CZcams by far imo. Thanks for the video dude.
Live at Shepherd's Bush is prolly their best version...hell the whole dvd is awesome.
i've been lurking this chanel for a while and this hitting you the same way it hit me is nice to see...best regards from Chile, love ya
I do love the outro, but not sure I could say why. It's just different. This was the first song by Opeth I ever heard, made a good impression on me back then
The intro is also hypnotising.
It’s a play between serenity and psychotic aggression and chaos , the flip of madness in the middle of a psychotic episode. If you read the lyrics it’s about a psych patient that kidnapped a bunch of people. I think it was based on a personal story that one of Mikaels friends experienced. And yes I love the outro but just like Reverie/Harlequin forest it could be cut down by about 30 secs. That being said I’m a huge Opeth fan and have all their albums and a live album.
I love the ending! The concept of tension and release also applies to rhythm and it's a really satisfying push/pull syncopation to my ears.
'Your salvation is found in a sinners deed' -that line just hits differently.
I was sure this was gonna be another "Not what I was expecting" video 🤣
Dude, this is like one of my favorite songs. Thanks so much for reading my mind!!
Martin Lopez. Best opeth drummer they ever had. Such a shame he had to take a hiatus.
He's with Soen now, right?
@@sVieira151 Yeah
the ending is hypnotic , i think the only other song like it is harlequin forest
I think harlequin forest is a better song and ending ... controversial opinion maybe but we all hear things differently...
@@orangetiny I don't know if I like one more than the other, for me it seems to depend on my mood, some days I may want to jam to the deliverance album, other days I may wanna groove out to the pale communion album .
@@deminybstotally agree...a band for all seasons 👍
Best Opeth outros: April Ethereal, When, Demon of the Fall, Karma, A Fair Judgement, Heir Apparent
When you mentioned five four I am thinking that is incorrect 🤷♀️
With bands that play around with syncopation like Opeth does it's always possible that I'm feeling a different main pulse than they intended.
The transgressive ending is the actual deliverance - epic track
If Mozart was alive today, he would be in Opeth. That's simply all I can say.
The 8:40-9:40 section of the song is definitely in 4/4.
I keep revisiting this masterpiece.
I always picture the outro as his soul arriving at hell after making a deal with the devil, only to see that all his dedication to the devil was futile and he's now being tortured and torn apart. The song's time structure is ripped apart at this moment as well
Oooo I love that interpretation
this is just prog and i will not crease my brain to explain that its epic. theyre the only band to deserve me getting a tshirt of
You are the first person I've encountered that doesn't dig the outro. I think it's twisted and heavy in a captivating manner.
Oh boy let me get some food
ebb, sorrow and flow. the holy trinity of opeth
one of my favorite all time drum rhythms/patterns. martin lopez is the goat
That outro had you blushing and losing some of the professional composure there, buddy 😄
Great reaction! Although it's not one of my favorite Opeth songs, I do like it, including the ending, but to be honest I didn't give the ending a lot of thought, I just enjoyed listening to it. But your point of view about it makes total sense to me and it's really interesting that you see it that way. I'd guess it meant something very specific to the band when they composed it and they just went with it. As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the music you react to!
good use of syncopation is one of my favorite things in prog metal, is one of the only ways to make the listeners laugh with the music itself
The Ocean - Ectasian have one passage that I love that uses syncopation
Epic
Bryan: I feel like I’m going on about this outro for too long. I need to move on.
Me: Opeth spent at least 36 minutes playing that riff. You’re entitled to vamp for a few.
The more metric focus is provided a byproduct of the album it’s on. This was a double album of a sort paired with Damnation (they dropped around the same time intended to be two sides of a coin). Not sure if you’ve done any of the tracks from that one, but all of the atmosphere and emotion you were missing wound up on that album. Don’t get me wrong, I love this album, but I’d have a hard time saying how much of that was down to this album being excellent vs it being my introduction to Opeth. I never cared for the opening track, and Deliverance is my least favorite of the tracks I like on it. It’s sort of a weird sequencing decision, as this torturously drawn out outro might not sound out of place as the album closer, but it’s a lot for track 2.
This is my favorite opeth song by far
I think the outro is great because it's fun and heavy. As you said, it doesn't really fit the story of the song but it's just a banger of a way to end a song. They also usually close their live shows with it.
to quote geraldine mccaughrean: "what people don't understand, they laugh at."
But of course not everything that is laughed at is due to a lack of understanding.
I'm not 100% certain but I think the clean vocals that you said sounded 90s/early 2000s were done by Steven Wilson from Porcupine Tree.
I know he did the production and I keep hearing they they enjoy cameo-ing on each other's works so it wouldn't surprise me if this turns out to be true.
@@CriticalReactionsThe main vocals are Akerfeldt, Steven Wilson only does backing vocals and the piano on a fair judgement
🔥🔥❤Opeth❤🔥🔥
I have no opinions to share other than I love the song, and appreciated your analysis.
👋😁
@@progperljungman8218 🤘🙃
I was like yeah, I feel it just like that, too - there's something really therapeutic in that growling... ❤ ...Mm, wait a sec, you ment Therapy, the band?
My favourite track of theirs. The outro is sick
This song take the metal out of the metal and reduces it to drum and bass (and that china cymbal) real groves and entrained music are displayed within.
their best abum IMO
Nice reaction. You rock!
What did you learn in order to be able to analyze like this? What instruments you play?
I have academic training in classical and jazz trumpet and am self-taught on drums, keyboard, and bass guitar. Though none of that really applies to my listening. It's a process called active listening (sometimes called orchestral listening) and is primarily about focusing in on specific instruments, sounds, emotions, etc. Once you can do that then you just gotta start asking what they're doing, how that relates to what everything is else is doing, and what all of that means. With practice you can do it quickly.
@@CriticalReactions Thank you and you do that insanely well tbh like I think you are the best one I have watched who reacts to these songs cause you do not go into just the technical aspect of it, you try to identify the whole thing. I used to play keyboards for over 15 years, could do covers for DT and Opeth and sometimes I never needed the notes it was just by ears, lost interest but I always would notice very weird things while listening that other friends of mine would tell "this is weird how did you notice that or think of that" but honestly you are so much more talented than anyone I have seen, kept watching a lot of your content and I was like damn this is insanely satisfying to watch, fun and super accurate, when you laughed so hard at the final section of deliverance it was so funny :D
Fitting outro for the end of the universe I reckon.
"Your salvations found in a sinners deed...". Best song EVER.... about a murder. From the murderers perspective......
Ah, one of my favorites by Opeth. :) I think this is one I've suggested before.
Great, thanka
Virgin Steele - "Emalaith" please!
Incredible album.
Can't logically explain the outro, my dude. I just feel it. It rocks me.
Sometimes the best art is the stuff we can't explain :)
29:47 nope, that's actually something Opeth does a lot. Or did a lot on their older havier albums. They like to play like that, like they don't take themselves too serious and it comes like a goofy or even nerdy joke to the listener. That's how I feel about it
Yeah that outro made you coom your prog breeches. That's what happened to all of us the first time.
This song is definitely one of their finest tunes. The mellow sections are sublime. This is the penultimate Opeth song, it has everything I love about this band…perfect atmosphere.
Dunno if penultimate means what you think it means haha. But I agree, this song is fantastic and hits everything that makes the band good.
@@AtticsTV it means it was the best and last in the series of their death metal phase. I love their more prog oriented material but it’s not in the same class as this…
@@biorythmicshifter I also agree with the sentiment but thats not what Penultimate means. Penultimate means second to last in a series. So ultimate would technically be what you were going for.
@@AtticsTVyeah, I had to double-take there too lol. I think OP was going for… just ultimate.
@@AtticsTV thanks for the lesson grammar Nazis…lol
“Penultimate came into English in the 17th century from the Latin word paenultimus, a combination of paene, meaning “almost,” and ultimus, meaning “last.” So if something's penultimate, it's “almost last”…fits my use. This song is from one of the last true death metal albums they put out.
Their first two albums sound really different from anything you've heard from Opeth.
I think you might enjoy something like The Night And The Silent Water the best, but Black Rose Immortal would be a really really interesting reaction.
I never found it funny :)
I don't find it absurd either, I think at the time it was pretty brave and suprising. It kind of makes sense in the context of the album's tracklist (the song before and the one after). Also, this song became a regular concert ender and it fits to be honest.
Steven Wilson.
My favourite opeth song. I would definitly trim it down because its too long
Ahh, this is of their best! It starts out so frantic and does this great time change. Excellent musicianship all the thru- they are underrated.
Wouldn't say underrated. The world just isn't good enough for more people to like them. It takes some musical devotion and most people ain't got it....
I don’t really find the ending comical, but I do think they go for it way too long. It’s a really nice riff and rhythm, but I don’t think that the extended time is warranted. Maybe it works in a live setting as I’ve read in some other comment, but I never recommend this song because of the outro.
This really sounds like be'lakor
Yeah I’m sure they took a lot of inspiration from Opeth since this song predates the band.
Opeth are a top 10 band for me, and even though this album is probably the weakest of their mature period (from My Arms Your Hearse to Watershed) this track has always been considered one of their masterpieces. It's hard to deny the power of those riffs. Personally, it's never been a favorite as I tend to prefer their tracks either with more intricate riffing or those that mixed their classic rock/prog influences into things more. This track is really Opeth doing their version of simple and direct, which you can especially hear in several of the riffs that just hammer on a single chord, and the catchier vocals. For that style I'd even take their The Grand Conjuration. As to the ending, I've always felt it goes on too long, though I do appreciate the audacity to just ride one great riff into the increasing oblivion of the soundscape. It does tend to hit better live with the added energy of the crowd and the atmosphere of the lighting and such.
Your story about your mom laughing at Hellraiser reminds me of the story Bill Burr tells about laughing at the movie Precious and The Biggest Loser: czcams.com/video/w6XdCKjRMFw/video.html&start=428
That whole bit you linked had me rolling. Thanks for that 🤣
Yeah it’s definitely their weakest but still has its moments. Wreath is underrated imo (even thought I disliked it at first).
This was a cool track. Personally, I thought the outro was pretty nice.
When you said one of 'em sections is in 5/4 I have to contradict you 'cause it ain't 5/4, it's 4/4.
Do you have a time stamp for that? It's possible that I was hearing a polyrhythm and would love to double check it.
10:02
@@Heavy_Metal.Nerd-2005 Yup, polyrhythms. I *can* hear a 4/4 but it isn't what feels natural for me to key into. You can watch my head movement to get the 5 pulse that I feel.
I think what's interesting is that there really isn't an instrument that exclusively works within one of the meters. Like, there isn't a snare hit on 2 and 4 (or something like that). Every instrument is jumping back and forth between accents in the 4 and accents in the 5. So it's tough to say which one is the intended meter for the section.
Thanks for bringing that up though. Re-listening to that section greatly increased my appreciation for the writing there.
I didn't know that you ment the polyrhythms. I thought you meant that section is in the time signature of 5/4.
@@Heavy_Metal.Nerd-2005 OK, so this is where things can get confusing. If I were to transcribe that section to notation I would absolutely write it as a 5/4 time signature since I'm feeling 5 pulses more strongly than 4 pulses in the same time span.
I brought up polyrhythms because only now after you mentioned hearing it in 4/4 did I notice the 4 pulse. Both rhythmic interpretations are valid which is what makes it polyrhythmic -- there is more than one rhythm present.
The only way to know the "definitive" (if there is such a thing) time signature of that section is to find out from Opeth directly what they wrote it as.
👌🤘
I will be honest, not my favorite Opeth's album, but Opeth is Opeth, you can't really go wrong here.
The eccentricities give the song more character, but maybe it is just absurdist humor at best. I would still take that as a compliment if it was my song. You have to be open to criticism to put yourself out there as an artist. Maybe your interpretation was his intention or mindset going in that it would be played out to some comedic effect, and that's just a compromise you have to be willing to make in that position if you realize your music is having that effect. I would have to guess he also realizes the absurdity of it, and that's why it was played out so long at the end.
Syncopation isn't polyrhythm 😂
This was a cool track. Personally, I thought the outro was pretty nice.
This was a cool track. Personally, I thought the outro was pretty nice.