Opeth

You gotta hand it to a death-metal band with restraint. But death-prog outfit Opeth takes it to a new level by making its audience sit through no fewer than nine acoustic selections before launching into heavier stuff. Granted, the move isn't that radical -- Damnation (which the Swedish-Latin American outfit plays in its entirety, along with three songs from Deliverance and Blackwater Park) is an all-acoustic album. But Opeth still knows how to get quiet like no other group in its subterranean genre. And Opeth doesn't just tack on mellow sections, either. Rather, the band lingers in moods for long stretches. Some of the quick editing in the visuals here betrays that mood, but not enough to kill it. But Lamentations' real treasure is a documentary that fleshes out the personalities of the band without seeming pretentious, no small feat for a prog-metal band. Engaging yet low-key, the studio footage perfectly complements a solid concert.