Mikael Åkerfeldt dedicated both Damnation and Deliverance to his grandmother, who died in a car accident during the time the albums were being recorded.

[3] The album was a radical departure from Opeth's typical death metal sound, and the first Opeth album to use all clean vocals, clean guitars, and prominent Mellotron, as well as being inspired by 1970s progressive rock, particularly the work of the British band Camel,[4] which typically features no heavy riffs or extended fast tempos.

Despite the change in style from Opeth's previous albums, Damnation was critically acclaimed and boosted their popularity, leading to the release of Lamentations on DVD in late 2003.

For those parts, Åkerfeldt flew down to Wilson's studio No Man's Land in the UK, just a day after his grandmother's funeral.

[11] In 2014, TeamRock put Damnation at number 91 on their "Top 100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time" list commenting: "the first Opeth album to abandon metal entirely, Damnation trumped its heavier sibling Deliverance by bringing Mikael Åkerfeldt’s masterful songwriting to the fore".