Band:	Opeth
Album:	Lamentations
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	November 24, 2003
Guest review by:	pranjal

01. Windowpane
02. In My Time Of Need
03. Death Whispered A Lullaby
04. Closure
05. Hope Leaves
06. To Rid The Disease
07. Ending Credits
08. Harvest
09. Weakness
10. Master's Apprentices
11. The Drapery Falls
12. Deliverance
13. The Leper Affinity
14. A Fair Judgement
+ Making Of 'Deliverance' And 'Damnation'

Opeth are one of those bands, who evoke intense sense of aesthetic beauty and splendor inside my mind. From their bizarre album arts to their fantastic musical and lyrical portrayal of the human consciousness, everything about Opeth for me is mysterious, dark and beautiful all at the same time. A blend of incredible moments of tender beauty and overwhelming moments of ferocious brutality, taste of their unique brand of extreme metal is an awe-inspiring and psychedelic experience. The "Lamentations - live at Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003" DVD is just another testimony of Opeth being arguably the greatest metal act to come out from the Scandinavia.

Shot after the release of the Damnation and Deliverance albums, the DVD captures Opeth performing entire Damnation album along with few other songs from albums like deliverance and the Opeth magnum opus - Blackwater Park. As said before, this DVD consists of the entire Damnation album, and hence, it does not take much effort to presume that almost seventy percent of the disc is composed of more mellow progressive rock side of the band. However, extreme metal fans of Opeth need not be disappointed as they will also get to see the band perform some amazingly heavy classics like 'The Master's Apprentices', 'The Leper Affinity', and 'The Drapery Falls', among others. The disc is produced very professionally and there is no significant room whatsoever for complaints concerning the quality of the audio and the video.

The DVD also consists of a bonus documentary entitled 'The making of Deliverance & Damnation' and in my opinion, it is definitely the highlight of the whole disc. The documentary showcases the members of Opeth working together in a studio doing what they do best- creating great music. It also features interviews with the band members regarding the bands' history, their way of creating music, their opinion towards music and of course, the reason and concept behind 'Deliverance' and 'Damnation'. Mikael Akerfeldt totally shines throughout the disc with his amazing musical abilities yet humble and modest attitude. My favorite part of the documentary is the interview section where Akerfeldt reveals that his first song was entitled 'I Hate Hip-Hop'. I don't know why but I really found that quite amusing, maybe because I could relate his opinion towards hip-hop with the anti-hip hop sentiment that is so prevalent in the underground community of Kathmandu.

The latter half of the documentary also showcases Porcupine Tree vocalist/keyboardist Steven Wilson making an appearance. In the DVD, the fans will get to see Wilson working together with Opeth for the recording/production of 'Damnation' and 'Deliverance'. The documentary also shows Steven Wilson, who happens to be a great musician himself, lending his vocal and keyboard talents for few of the Opeth numbers, thereby spicing up the overall texture of the songs. It is always a pleasure to watch great musicians working together- creating great music and having a great time. The chemistry between Wilson and Opeth band members seems to be quite cohesive, as they all seem to be very comfortable with each other and they seem to comprehend each other's musical ideas completely. Steven Wilson himself admits that his way of making music and that of Opeth is quite similar, and that of course is a huge plus point when it comes to musical collaboration. I guess this fine chemistry between Akerfeldt and Wilson is the reason why both of them work together quite often for each other's projects.

On the whole, this live DVD is highly recommended to any Opeth admirers, or any progressive rock/metal fans for that matter. The production is fine and the music is great, what more could you ask for?