Music For nations will be taking Swedish progressive metal band Opeth‘s 2002 and 2003 releases Damnation and Deliverance, which were released five months apart even though they were recorded at the same time, and will release them as a single double album on October 30th.
The vinyl edition features stereo mixes of Damnation by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) while Deliverance was handled by Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief) while the CD version will have both stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes, also by Wilson and Soord. Both editions will have redesigned artwork by original artist Travis Smith.
Main songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt states:
Myself and Martin Mendez are very excited to see the re-release(s) of ”Deliverance” and ”Damnation” coming out. The 5.1 surround mix for ”Damnation” was done a while ago by my buddy and co-producer for both albums, Steven Wilson, and I’ve been itching to have it released as it’s simply stunning! My new-ish friend, Bruce Soord, has done a fantastic remix for ”Deliverance”, literally giving new life to the record and making me start loving it. Finally! It was with pure excitement I went through the tracks, discovering them again. I’m especially impressed with the sound of Martin Lopez drums but also baffled by how wicked and strange this album is. I’m scratching my head wondering how the hell we came up with these songs. On top of everything, our old-time head of ART, Travis Smith, has touched up on the artwork having it looking great (bleak) too! Enjoy!
Both the 3LP vinyl and the 4 disc book set can be pre-ordered via Omerch.