Rating: 
Summary: good stuff!!
Review: ...but too bad they didn't play 'face of melinda' like they did in the set at house of blues LA last year. otherwise it would be awesome!!
Rating:
Summary: WOW!
Review: AS A GUY WHO FLEW TO CALIFORNIA TO SEE THE US FEST METAL DAY,SAW RANDY RHOADS AT THE CAPE COD COLISEUM,METALLICA BACKING UP RAVEN ON THE KILL EM ALL/FOR ONE TOUR AS WELL AS QUEENSRYCHE BACKING UP TWISTED SISTER DOING THEIR EP I CAN SAY I AM DIE HARD METAL FAN.THUS SAID THIS DVD IS THE BALLS.OPETH IS SO UNIQUE YET SO GOOD.THIS DVD PLAYS 3 OF MY FAVORITE!! TRACKS FROM BLACKWATER PARK TO PERFECTION AS WELL AS MANY OTHER NEW TUNES.YES THERE ARE NO OLDER TRACKS WHICH IS A BUMMER(BELIEVE ME I LOVE THE OLD STUFF) , BUT THIS IS STELLAR STUFF! GREAT CAMERA WORK AND THE SOUND AND PERFORMANCES ARE PERFECT.FROM GROWL TO SWEET VOICE THIS DVD IS ONE OF THE FINEST IN MY COLLECTION1 BUY IT.
Rating: 
Summary: As A Metal Fan, It Left Me A Bit Flat
Review: I've always been a bit curious about Opeth, what with all the media hubub and critical ecstasies that seem to arise every time Mikael Akerfeldt lifts his little finger. After seeing their "Windowpane" video on TV (which is an excellent song and is performed live on "Lamentations"), I was curious enough to give this DVD a shot.Perhaps it would help if I were a bit more familiar with Opeth's material beforehand, but after viewing the DVD in its entirety I have to say that it leaves me a bit unimpressed. To be sure, the "musicianship" -- that is, the technical side of playing music, moving one's fingers quickly and whatnot -- is amazing here, and if that's what floats your boat then you'll feel plenty buoyant watching "Lamentations." The performance of the entire band is practically flawless -- unbelievably tight rhythms, spot-on guitar harmonies, soaring solos galore, and Akerfeldt's classy (and rather impressive) vocal range (from touching lilt to full-on death metal roar in less than 6.66 seconds guaranteed!) are all on display here. To that extent, if you're already a fan of Opeth -- and this goes double if you're into their more "mellow" side -- you'll probably enjoy this DVD as a clean, no-frills document of your favorite prog-death chameleons at the top of their game. However, I must protest that there is definitely something missing here. As is unfortunately the case with many "virtuoso-centric" groups (by that I mean bands who tend to focus more on music as music -- guitarists like Vai & Malmsteen, "prog" groups like Dream Theater, your average jam-band, etc.), the compositions tend to be exceptionally complex and drawn-out, but they lack that certain substantive (emotional) quality necessary to qualify as truly "epic." So the riffs are serpentine, the drums are acrobatic, and the vocals are perfect, but none of it is particularly memorable. Remember how 1980s Metallica or Iron Maiden could write an eight-minute song with 500 riffs and after hearing it a couple of times you would find yourself involuntarily humming every single part, Beavis-and-Butthead-style? That's the memorability aspect that I find lacking here. ("Windowpane" and "The Drapery Falls" being notable exceptions.) This ties in to my major criticism of this DVD and Opeth themselves, insofar as I have experienced them: this stuff is way too clean and nowhere nearly aggressive enough to satisfy my tastes. Even at their "heaviest" moments (and I use that term loosely here), Opeth just don't seem to generate the sort of energy and presence that the greater death/black/doom/thrash metal bands deal so excellently in. To put it succinctly: you can headbang (slowly) to Opeth, but you won't grind your teeth at the same time. To put it even more succinctly: NOT ENOUGH CHAOS! So I have found recent DVD releases such as Slayer's "War at the Warfield", Converge's "The Long Road Home," and (especially) Lightning Bolt's excellent "The Power of Salad" to be a great deal more entertaining, energetic, and enjoyable than "Lamentations," although none of the above bands come close to Opeth's level of professionalism... Which is probably the point. If professional, sensitive, and somewhat antiseptic musicianship-on-display is what you're looking for, then "Lamentations" might be for you. But if, like me, you want aneurysm-inducing screams, breakneck tempos, and pitched battles in the moshpits in your metal DVD experience, this is probably a pass. 5 stars for the musicianship and 1 star for the intensity gives me an overall rating of 3 stars. (But add one if you're already a big Opeth fan.)
Rating:
Summary: Summer is Miles and Miles Away...
Review: This is an excellent concert DVD from one of the greatest bands on earth. The first part of the show is a complete rendition of the Damnation album. From start to finish, in order. That was awesome. Then after that they played some songs off of Delieverance and Blackwater Park. The concert was a little over two hours and was freaking awesome! And if that's not enough fo you for some strange reason, there is an interesting documentary on the making of Deliverance and Damnation. If there was one dissapointing factor to this, it would be that there was nothing played before Blackwater Park. But it's no biggie, If I want to hear something from Still Life, let's say, I'll pop in that album. They can't play *everything* imagine how long that show would be! Anyways, any fan of Opeth should own this wonderful DVD concert. It's definitly worth it.
Rating: 
Summary: a fair judgement?
Review: i waited a few weeks before writing this review and im glad i did. at first i was dissapointed, about two stars so. this because i felt there were way too many good songs left off. then after i watched a couple of dozen times, and because i love everything they do, five stars. now that im over my infatuation i can write objectively, and four stars is my fair judgement. the pros; a truly great REAL METAL band issues a live dvd, all the songs are great, the sound is excellent, the filming is outstanding. the cons; a lot of great songs are not here and i will be honest i like their heavier stuff better than their mellow stuff and the mellow stuff is the majority of the material covered. the video editing is way lame. not mtv lame, but close. my man is doing a blistering guitar solo, and what better way to show this than a close up of a microphone or a crowd shot or from the back of the stage? lame. its as if the film editors had no knowledge of opeths music whatsoever and just thru together the scenes as if they were making sandwiches. so four stars it is. also, i have been priveledged enough to have seen opeth twice and i thought the shows i saw were better than the dvd show. i saw them two months ago (february) and in january of 03 at irving plaza in manhattan. of course the first time i saw them i was absolutely floored. the opening bands were horrible so i had to stand patiently for HOURS. then the lights grew dim, the place was just buzzing man, and they opened with the leper affinity. whoa, im telling you as a looooong time concert goer that this was one of the most awesome concert experiences i have ever had. pure metal bliss. i remember driving home that night after the show listening to the leper affinity in the car getting choked up like i was going to cry. powerful stuff man. so when i compare that experience with watching/listening to a dvd, you see its really kind of hard to judge fairly. a funny side note; when i first got the dvd the first thing i did was listen to the leper affinity, loud. i was thrilled and just had to share the moment so i dragged my wife into the room and excitedly proclaimed yo, i saw these guys do this live! (she wasnt at the shows) her response was "yeah, thats nice" and she just walked out of the room. wow. she does like the mellow stuff though. anyway, i highly recommend this dvd and everything else they do. opeth is gold.
Rating:
Summary: The best is yet to come
Review: I finally got my hands on this DVD, thus completing my Opeth collection so you would think I would be content. I was until during the interview portion of the disc when Michael hinted that their next album would be their most extreme release yet, bordering on black metal with a possible cult concept behind it!! Arrghhh! The anticipation is gonna kill me! Well the DVD will have to hold me over until then. Not going to repeat what has already been said by many others regarding 'Lamentations'. You see the overall rating. You know what caliber music Opeth is capable of. Just buy it..you will not be dissapointed!
Rating:
Summary: AMAZING, OPETH OWNS
Review: Opeth is my favorite band. Hands down. My Arms, Your Hearse is the best CD ever. This DVD does the band justice with AMAZING live performances and everything in between. Opeth fans, get ready for 3 hours, 8 minutes of Opeth (188 mins).
Rating:
Summary: ~Just incredible~
Review: Okay, real fast, Britney Spears fans, lovers of all things bluegrass avoid this review =] I inserted this DVD into my machine and three pictures fell off of my living room wall, it's THAT good. Now, being a raving Opeth fanboy, my reaction to this release may be more intense than the average Joe, but the crazy Swedes have done it again. Just to see Opeth live, which is something I will never have a chance to do in the flesh, was an amazing experience. Forget that the entire Damnation album is performed, forget that The Leper Affinity and Deliverance alone are so thrashingly powerful that you run the risk of losing part of your short term memory, just buy it. Technical merits abound, the DVD has 5.1 and DTS surround, all the more needed if you wish to actually hear Martin Lopez' kick bass rumbling while you are in the shower. Mikeal Akerfeldt and crew remain the reigning masters of death metal, and this release only reaffirms it. This is a must have for fans of amazing music. "Windowpane," "Hope Leaves," and "Deliverance" are worth the price alone. Then, after the rapturous musical set ends, you get the pleasure of watching an hour long documentary on the making of Deliverance/Damnation. This is a side of Opeth that most casual fans may never see, and it is well worth watching. Not to mention the fact that we also get to see the incomparable Steven Wilson [Porcupine Tree] as he works his mixing/producing magic.
Rating:
Summary: Angel and Devil
Review: If you know Opeth's music, then you must own this DVD. Period. That said, the film editing leaves something to be desired. With six cameramen you'd think that the film editor/director could have chosen the best possible angle and used that. But no. Often its merely a snippet of a blistering guitar solo as the point of view changes every three seconds. And while one can appreciate the attempt to capture the full sonic affect of an Opeth song by fast cutting to various band members, at times the affect is to wonder why you are hearing a guitar lead but not seeing it. So Opeth gets a 6 (out of 5) for music, the director gets a 4 (out of 6) for visuals. You can do the math. And despite my minor quibble, this is an incredible document of a staggering performance. Just buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Just like seeing them live
Review: I heard about Opeth's DVD along time ago, and ever since then I have been itching to get a copy. Well, I finnaly did and I love it! I saw these guys live a few weeks ago and I must say, the DVD really does capture the feeling of an Opeth concert. The actual concert has AMAZING clarity and sound quality, especially if you watch it on a widescreen TV like I did, the quality is unsurpassed by any concert DVD I have ever seen. The documentary is very indepth and interesting, showing a side of the band not many have seen. They talk about the hardships they went through, and about their musical roots. It is a very interesting and welcome addition to the DVD. Other than that, this is a SUPERB DVD that any Opeth fan MUST buy. Even if you are not a fan of Opeth I advise you to check this DVD out, it is great for someone just getting into the band.
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