Review by Adam M on May 10, 2026.

This was a great album that showed the band embracing a more refined heavy sound that contrasts nicely with Damnation. This is a heavy and dynamic album that is very interesting in its approach. It is a very compelling album that has great highlight like the title track and otherwise. There is an interesting contrast with their Damnation album and this makes this a very versatile work overall.

The musicianship on the album is solid with great guitar playing and solid vocals that hold their part of the bargain. There isn’t really anything outstanding about the performances like there perhaps was on Morningrise. The whole affair is rather heavy and has a great deal of focus on tracks like the title one which make a huge impact. Add in some great production and drumming and you have a complete album.

The problem with the album lies in the fact that it is not as good as their Still Life album in particular and seems to be a small step down from that album. This is still a very thoughtful and compelling piece of work that is one of the better albums from the band. It is very dynamic and punishing at the same time.

Overall, I had a fun time with this album. It is very commanding and offers a nice diversion from their excellent Damnation work. This is a highly impactful work and offers a nice viewpoint into what they are capable of. Progressive death metal of the highest order is to be found here.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10

Review by Allan on November 13, 2002.

When I first heard about Opeth releasing a double album, I was excited for what might come. It wasn’t because I’d have twice the amount of material to listen to (hey, I’m not complaining), but more because I’m hoping that after Åkerfeldt and Co. are done with the second half of this project, “Damnation”, they might be able to come out ahead farther than before. I’m hoping that “Damnation” gives them a new sense of song writing and musicianship, because honestly, watching Opeth’s progression from album to album is a little tedious. I’m certainly not denying that Opeth don’t improve, or at least change a little bit with each album they put out, but so much of it has stayed the same that the new album “Deliverance” barely even surprised me.

What makes “Deliverance” stand slightly apart from all the past efforts of Opeth is the heaviness. “Deliverance” is the heaviest of all the albums that Opeth has ever released, largely due to the fact that the lighter sections are less abundant. However, the fact that “Deliverance” has a much stronger rhythm section also increases the heaviness, as well as some of the riffs themselves.

There is more to “Deliverance” than it being the heaviest of all the Opeth albums. On “Deliverance” Åkerfeldt takes both his guitar and vocal ability up. As for the guitar, Åkerfeldt has thrown many more solos into the songs and they’re duration has increased. Unfortunately, Åkerfeldt also opted for a less acoustic approach on “Deliverance”, maybe because he felt it would hinder the albums ability to be heavy, or maybe because he wanted them to be exclusive to “Damnation”. Either way, it’s disappointing. Vocally, Åkerfeldt has improved in both of his styles – clean and death. While the clean vocals aren’t around as much before, when they do arise they generally tend to blow me away with the emotion that Åkerfeldt puts into them. And as always, Åkerfeldt’s death metal vocals are far beyond what others offer. Sinister and as powerful as ever, Åkerfeldt offers the class and polished sound that nobody else can offer.

Not everything about “Deliverance” is as good as one would hope. One of my biggest problems with “Deliverance” is the theme of the album, or lack thereof. Between the first two songs (‘Wreath’ and ‘Deliverance’) and the last two (‘Master’s Apprentices’ and ‘By The Pain I see In Others’) are two songs. The first, ‘A Fair Judgement’, is one of the best songs on all of “Deliverance”. The problem is that the song doesn’t completely fit in with the other songs, and along with it the somewhat lackluster instrumental ‘For Absent Friends’. Neither of the songs are all and all out of place, but both of them seem like the black sheep of the family.

“Deliverance” truly lacks the cohesion that Opeth reached with “Blackwater Park”, not only with the feel of song by song, but also by the turmoil created within each song itself. Usually the songs and transitions move along excellently, but when you get to a song like ‘By The Pain I See In Others’ where by the end of the song you’re switching gears every other second, you begin to get the feeling that Åkerfeldt just had to many riffs to work with. With that becoming a problem in many parts in each of the various songs, the songs begin to unravel and lose the emotion and feeling they started with. Even then that is another problem that clouds “Deliverance”. Overall I feel that “Deliverance” lacks a lot of the emotion that Opeth has been able to create in the past, maybe due to the atmosphere of the album not being as strong as it should be, or just the way the album was written.

Bottom Line: “Deliverance” is a really good album, however it’s exactly what you would expect from Opeth, and that’s where it hurts them. I was looking for more in “Deliverance” and when I didn’t find anything I didn’t expect, I was disappointed. I guess for now Opeth will remain a band that just stick to what they’re good at, and that is still respectable.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 7
Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.6 out of 10

Review by Adam M on August 17, 2025.

This is an excellent album that further pushed what was established on Morningrise in further interesting directions.  It is perhaps heavier than said album which is a progression and features a number of memorable songs like “April Ethereal” and “Demon of the Fall”.  It is an atmospheric treasure that is very dynamic, yet still very listenable.

The musicianship on the album is stellar with great guitars and very heavy drumming to make for a powerful experience.  There is a well-rounded experience to be found here with a nice usage of atmosphere to make things more poignant.  This results in a listenable album that is very effective and powerful.  The singing by Akerfeldt is as good as ever and he puts on a remarkably strong performance here.

The flaw to the album is that it sort of transitions between Morningrise and Still Life and doesn’t contain the raw energy of the former or the streamlined feel of the latter.  This means it is forgotten often, but should not be because it is an outstanding and marvelous album.  Fans of those two albums in particular will find a lot to like here.

All in all, this was a strong album that has the right amount of variety to make it interesting and has strong staying power.  Fans of Opeth will feel right at home here as the work delivers power and beauty in equal measures.  It is a strong album and one that will be remembered for ages

Rating: 8.3/10

Review by Death8699 on February 16, 2019.

What diversity in metal, these guys used to play some great progressive music in this genre. A shame that they are no longer considered to be within the "metal" community, they've retired from it. Only 3 musicians on this one with a guest organist. Dark, decayed aura, but such beautiful reverence in the metal world. Songs on here just are so magnificently played without any noticeable flaws and such diversity in the musical and creative aspects. Maybe just 3 members here, but they sure do deliver great epic tracks. 

The riffs are all over the place as are the tempos. Thick, heavy, brutal guitar then you get a break and there's an acoustic piece that delivers, lightening up the song overtures. Wow, I still am amazed on how well metal can be played with such melody. Guitars that are plain destructive in tone followed by throat that's low and bellowed. Then again, after this, there are clean vocals. The majority of the time Mikael sings in a death metal tonality, but he still can sing in a clean tone as well. Magnificent overtures and memorable songs that are quite innovative plus they're quite unique.

Acoustic guitars fluctuate on and off and some of the tracks have an overflow of this kind of guitar work, but most of the time it's distorted guitar work. The music contains melodies that stick in your mind gathering such an immense orchestra of metal. If you're a melodic death freak like I am, you'll love this one. Such great compositions that are totally original and can never be overplayed. Tempos are slow for the most part, especially during songs that are filled with acoustic guitars. They mix the tempos quite rapidly. Extreme progressive metal fits the genre quite beautifully. The topics that the band sings about include love, loss, sorrow, nature, death and occultism. As you can see, the diversity is not only with the music, but the lyrics as well. It's hard to decipher what Mikael is saying on each song. However, that doesn't mean that his efforts aren't without esteem. Songs are so much magnificently orchestrated. You won't find a better extreme progressive metal album like My Arms, Your Hearse.

The production sound for this time when technology wasn't making instruments and voice sound too "perfect". These guys actually have talent and the music is what fuels the soul of this album. All instruments are all in the proper mixing with nothing left out, not even the bass guitar. The metal just flowed on this release and it remains to be my favorite out of their entire discography. It's too bad that they are now no longer a metal band, they're progressive rock. There's 2 bonus tracks on here one cover song and an additional track entitled "Remember Tomorrow."

There is no other album like this in Opeth's discography. That is my opinion though, others can argue it and I come to the same conclusion: their best metal effort ever. No boredom, no lack of innovation, no melodic guitar that is unimpressive. This album is just something that you can easily get into if you like this genre of music. Don't expect anything but pure melodies some heavy some acoustic like I've described. A monumental masterpiece, My Arms, Your Hearse is just too perfect and never played out. If you don't own this one, pick it up and form your own opinion of it. If you're expecting utter brutality, there's shades of it, but not entirely.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by Adam on March 19, 2001.

I am! and with Opeth you can never seem to go wrong. This time the band offers us a concept album where the lyrics take the form of a ghost story and the music was made around those lyrics. The lyrics are brilliant and the music is brilliant. How could you expect anything less from this band?

Again Mikael and his expert panel of musicians both soothe you and brutalize you all in the same record and most of the time in the same song! They have the uncanny ability to write long and epic songs and keep them interesting the whole way through. This album is a little more death oriented than Morningrise, but there are no complaints here. Mikael's clean vocals are still intact whereas his screams become a little bit more sinister in their devilery. The album was produced at the now infamous Fredman Studios by now infamous producer Fredrick Nordstrom, and remains a classic that every metal fan should have in their collection.

Bottom Line: If you don't like this then you don't like metal!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Review by Arek on December 21, 2015.

Manipulation - after three years of waiting the time has come to delight ourselves in the new release from this death metal quintet from Poland. I admit that their second release – Passion - awakened my animal expectation (blood, blood, more blood LOL). The third full length was released by the Russian Satanath Records; it was recorded in the Monroe Sound Studio (Vesania, Masachist) so no need to worry about sound recording and quality and Karol "Godzir" Malicki took up graphic design duties.

Ecstasy regales us with 10 hearty pieces of modern technical death metal with thrash-groove and death-core leanings that remind me of older Machine Head. Manipulation’s new album clearly differentiates itself from the wave of old-school-death metal happening nowadays. Not that I stand against it -quite on the contrary- I count myself as old-school guy and as a matter of fact I personally think that good music will always defend itself and it doesn’t matter how listener/reviewer pigeonholes it. Returning to the Ecstasy, album starts with a song “Insomnia”, after few second long intro goes medium tempo, kinda feeling out the grounds. “Sic Itur Ad Astra” in accordance with title should lead us to the stars, but for me personally, it seems that it is only the vestibule leading to the titled "stars". You must, however, admit that screamed out by Bruzyc (voc) sentence at the end of the piece makes an impression. “Lifetime” is one of the fastest pieces on the album. Do not expect, however, any type of grind-core thumping. There are, of course fast rides here but there are also plenty of breakdowns. Next – “Bad Boy” (oh-so-eloquent title, haha) Manipulation slows the gears down giving the audience a breather and serves something in thrash-core convention. However, nothing on this album is too obvious, and therefore this - what seems like - slower song is not slow in its entirety. “The Paradigm Of Unrestraint” is a renewed exemption of constant changes between harsher cuts and it’s such a delicious treat. Thus, half of the album is in the past, and the second part begins with a song promoting the album titled “Sunset Over Vatican”. That one should be mentioned together with the faster pieces on here and its program was enhanced with a guitar solo by Jacek Grecki of Lost Soul which I must admit makes quite a difference; without taking anything from the whole song of course which certainly stands out on its own. ‘Archetypes’ screamed out multiple times pierces your brain like a nail piercing Christ’s hand. The beginning of “Temples Of Vanity” reminded me of Gothenburg styled melodic death metal (In Flames in particular) but it got way more brutal at the end. Some trick those guys pulled here LOL. Here comes another nail - "pleasure”. Both of those "nails” and "Sic Itur Ad Astra" remain in your head long after turning your player off. “Burn Motherfuckers”- the title says it all, and musically it's a cross-section of the new release from Manipulation. Some parts are slower, some are faster, there’s some guitar twisters and let’s not forget about some interesting ear candy well placed in this song. Przedostatni Dzwiek Upadku is a song that could as well be on Poland’s Frontside earlier play list. With lyrics written in Polish this song is like a longing for the legacy of aforementioned. Title track “Ecstacy” finishes the album. The slowest and most chart-topping song, and for me it’s like a cigarette after good sex – it’s all over and yet….

I like to encourage fans of death, thrash and core to delve into Ecstasy by Manipulation. There is so much happening on this album that one listen would certainly not be enough, and everyone can find something to enjoy on it. Although I personally have a greater fondness for Passion, I also know that, despite the repeated listening sessions of Ecstasy, I'll come back to this album many times, just like I did with Passion.

Rating: 9 out of 10