Opeth "Deliverance" and "Damnation" Remixed

[rtbluray]

Everything sounds great on this set. The stereo remixes, the surround mixes...
The Bruce Soord Deliverance 5.1 is excellent, and I might actually prefer it to Steven Wilson's Damnation 5.1 mix (admittedly from 2009).

The set gets a from me!

Glad this set gets your endorsement, and I'm glad I'll probably have it in about a week's time!

 

[perzon57]

Everything sounds great on this set. The stereo remixes, the surround mixes...
The Bruce Soord Deliverance 5.1 is excellent, and I might actually prefer it to Steven Wilson's Damnation 5.1 mix (admittedly from 2009).

The set gets a from me!

+ I love this set!

 

[Simon_LDT]

Been cranking Deliverance (stereo) on headphones the past couple of days and it has really made the album come alive for me. The original is no stinker by any means but it's quite sterile and the drums a bit too 'sampled' sounding.

The drums in particular are a huge improvement here, you can hear all the snare work in it's glory. The bass drum now actually sounds like one and has more low-end rather than being 'clicky'. The vocals come alive too and are much clearer. The guitars are less in your face but still nice and chunky (Andy Sneap's mixes do tend to be very guitar/drum heavy). The bass has been brought out too.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Everything sounds great on this set. The stereo remixes, the surround mixes...
The Bruce Soord Deliverance 5.1 is excellent, and I might actually prefer it to Steven Wilson's Damnation 5.1 mix (admittedly from 2009).

I'm really pleased to see you post such a comment, because that's exactly how I feel about Bruce's mix. It would have been inappropriate for me to be the first to make such a claim, because I've been too close to the project, but now you've said it I'm more than happy to agree!

 

[RuudMans]

Concerning the rather odd booklet, which appears to be partially upside down:
Me thinks it was a deliberate design choice, like Neil said, to accentuate the contrast between the two albums. Like a 180 degree turn in music, including the booklet

I quite like it, but maybe I am reading into it too much and it really is a misprint, but I am pretty sure it isn't.

 

[keenly]

I have to say that I like the Damnation mix a lot more.
I'm not a big fan how Bruce seperated the drums.
As a drummer and mixing guy I need the drums as a set.
So why are toms in the rears when all other elements of the set is in the fronts!?
Makes no sense for me.

Also the punch is a little bit lost.

But I was also never a fan how SW mixed the snare on Damnation.
I know that he wanted the snare to be natural, but it is too thin for me.
A little more thickness would have been cool.

But nevertheless...I'm really happy that we got both in 5.1.

Everything has arrived...I'm in heaven at the door and will go through when Tusk is coming to me.

A nice weekend to you all!

Love this place!

I feel totally opposite and I am a huge fan of drumming, more so than guitar playing.

 

[keenly]

I need a few more listens to make a real judgement. First impressions are that I prefer Deliverance, Bruce did a fine job. Certain sections have boomy bass and a couple of guitars are rather thin. but some of the stuff he did with the drums is brilliant. I am used to Jens mixes of the heavy stuff, so I was waiting for the last word of vocal lines(growled) to go into back speakers, from center. Jens did this magnificently on BWP, SL and Watershed. That being said the vocals sound huge and clear. Starting the album with drum rolls in the rears then going to the fronts is a great touch. I would have done it the other way around, but Bruce's method is much better! Mr Soord clearly has some talent for surround mixing. It is plain to see now that TESSERACT POLARIS is not what it should have been due to what happened BEFORE he was presented the files.

If you took what Jens Bogren did well on previous mixes and added it what Bruce did well, the Deliverance disc would have been a 10. I really feel engineers should listen to others for inspiration, take what they excel at and add it to your repertoire.

Now if only Bruce could mix Morningrise, Orchid and My arms your hearse.............Please.

 

[MarkN]

I still haven't received this from Burning Shed (shipped on 10/27). Is anyone else in the US who pre-ordered this from them still waiting for the order? Still waiting on Yes-Fragile from Burning Shed also.

 

[pulse]

I still haven't received this from Burning Shed (shipped on 10/27). Is anyone else in the US who pre-ordered this from them still waiting for the order? Still waiting on Yes-Fragile from Burning Shed also.

Sometimes stuff gets held up in customs and they're just slow. I've received items from BS in as little as five days. Other times it's taken as long as two full weeks. The USPS has its moments as well.

Sent from my LG G4.

 

[rtbluray]

I still haven't received this from Burning Shed (shipped on 10/27). Is anyone else in the US who pre-ordered this from them still waiting for the order? Still waiting on Yes-Fragile from Burning Shed also.

I just ordered my copy from them over the weekend, and they shipped it this morning. I'll post back here when I receive it, and if you haven't received yours by then, I would definitely contact them.

 

[rtbluray]

My copy of "Deliverance & Damnation" just arrived today, and I'm playing the 5.1 mix of "Damnation" right now. I Love It! (But then again I knew I would. It's always been my favorite Opeth album, and this 5.1 mix has done nothing to change that.)
"Deliverance" is going to be harder for me to listen to all the way through simply because I have never been that impressed by the material, the exception being "A Fair Judgment". However, after a listen through of that song, I'll admit that it's never sounded better, so it looks like I will probably not have any issues with Bruce Soord's mixes.

Like the Steve Hackett set, I'm disappointed that this set is also just DVD-V, but at least this time the discs have the proper logo on them, so you won't hear more about this from me as far as this set goes!
And finally, the discs on the front & back sides of the book are incredibly hard to remove, so I switched the "Damnation" DVD's place with the CD's place to avoid potentially more scratching when removing it from the set from this point onward.

 

[GOS]

You know, every time this thread catches my eye...I can't help but think of this...

 

[rtbluray]

You know, every time this thread catches my eye...I can't help but think of this...

View attachment 23122

Oh good God I can't stand that film. Saw it once, and I can't possibly stomach it again. (Backwoods Male Rape… *shudders*)

This OPETH set on the other hand should get a good amount of plays from me, especially the "Damnation" DVD.

 

[rtbluray]

I just finished my first full listen-through to "Deliverance" in surround, and were there a poll to vote on it, I would give it a '6' and breakdown my vote as such:

Content: 1/3 ("A Fair Judgment" being the only really good standout track on this album)
Surround Mix: 2/3 (The best Opeth metal surround mix for sure but plagued by a small annoyance, which I will expand on below)
Fidelity: 3/3 (This mix definitely doesn't sound crushed to death compared to the Jens Borgen mixes)
High-Res Disc: 0/1 (Speaks for itself)

I give Bruce Soord a lot of credit for making this album sound the best it has ever sounded, but that still can't make up for the overdriven and lackluster metal tracks that permeate a lot of this album. I did want to give the surround mix aspect of this disc a 3/3, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it given the unusual mixing of the toms. It's just too strange to have some resonate in the front while others resonate in the surrounds, giving it a very disjointed and uneven sound.

I have also listened to all of "Damnation" in surround, and I would give that disc a vote of '9', breaking down my vote this way:

Content: 3/3 (Some really beautiful and fantastic songs on this album)
Surround Mix: 3/3 (A nice discrete mix that fits the album very well)
Fidelity: 3/3 (Gone are the distortions present in the original stereo master and instead we are presented with a clean and dynamic sound. Love it!)
High-Res disc: 0/1 ('Nuff said)

It's too bad that both albums are sold together as I would recommend picking up "Damnation" in a heartbeat were it available on its own in surround.
However, if you really want that disc bad enough (and can even stomach your way through a little bit of metal too) pick up this set.

 

[Plan9]

Wow, I really like Deliverance musically. I think it builds up very well and the songs are strong.

 

[Lute]

You know, every time this thread catches my eye...I can't help but think of this...

View attachment 23122

Dark story, but great movie with a superb cast and of course the dueling banjos. They've been playing it a lot on my movie channel recently. It's funny, though...I didn't make the connection between it and Opeth. LOL! Actually, I was looking for this one at the music shop yesterday, but no dice. I guess I'll have to check at the Heavy Metal shop. That's where I picked up Pale Communion.

 

[timbre4]

According to bullmoose.com email today, The Opeth release has been pushed back to 01-01/2016 (which doesn't sound precise).

 

[rtbluray]

According to bullmoose.com email today, The Opeth release has been pushed back to 01-01/2016 (which doesn't sound precise).

amazon are still showing a release date of December 18 for the North American release of this set, but 01/01/2016 is not far off base either as it's a Friday for this coming year, the new day of the week for music releases.

 

[keenly]

I need a few more listens to make a real judgement. First impressions are that I prefer Deliverance, Bruce did a fine job. Certain sections have boomy bass and a couple of guitars are rather thin. but some of the stuff he did with the drums is brilliant. I am used to Jens mixes of the heavy stuff, so I was waiting for the last word of vocal lines(growled) to go into back speakers, from center. Jens did this magnificently on BWP, SL and Watershed. That being said the vocals sound huge and clear. Starting the album with drum rolls in the rears then going to the fronts is a great touch. I would have done it the other way around, but Bruce's method is much better! Mr Soord clearly has some talent for surround mixing. It is plain to see now that TESSERACT POLARIS is not what it should have been due to what happened BEFORE he was presented the files.

If you took what Jens Bogren did well on previous mixes and added it what Bruce did well, the Deliverance disc would have been a 10. I really feel engineers should listen to others for inspiration, take what they excel at and add it to your repertoire.

Now if only Bruce could mix Morningrise, Orchid and My arms your hearse.............Please.

On further evaluation, this is actually brick walled. Most of the tracks have hard limiting and digital clipping. I have been comparing with Jens mixes, Bruce applied far more compression. SW Heritage is considerably more dynamic, as is Watershed and Black Water Park.

I was far too nice on this to begin with. SW would have done a much better job. I am not happy completely happy with any Bruce mix thus far.

 

[keenly]

Wow, I really like Deliverance musically. I think it builds up very well and the songs are strong.

I agree about the music, as for the sound; The vinyl is so much clearer. The guitars on the Bruce mix sound weak and lack clarity. It is a muddy mess. I am comparing vinyl to DVD right now.