Ghost Reveries

Product Information

I am sure that I wasn't the only one who was afraid when Opeth signed with Road Runner. So after hearing this, yes I am relieved, but even more amazed that they can pull it off once again. It is amazing how a band can release 8 albums and still be making great music. Lets face it, even some of the so called 'Great metal bands' of our time haven't been as consistent as this.

As mentioned above, this album has elements of all the previous Opeth albums. You will notice the BWP and Deliverance elements (Ghost Of Perdition and The Grand Conjuration). You will notice the Still Life and Damnation elements (Atonement, Hours of Wealth, Isolation Years). You will notice the My Arms, Your Hearse elements (The Baying Of The Hounds) and you will notice the Orchid and Morningrise elements (the amount of variations in some songs and Reverie/Harlequin Forest). Isolation Years. Opeth sure can make ballads, and IY can prove that rough music, growls, and double-base can’t be the only thing a (metal) band’s capable of. Very good lyrics. Nowadays, Opeth is one of the most criticized band within the metal circles. Mikael Akerfeldt probably is one of the best metal composers at the moment (perhaps I'm a fanboy, but oh well) and he is constantly criticized and accused of selling out - first because of the Damnation album and then because of the signing with Roadrunner; he is criticized because all Opeth songs are too complex and disjointed; he is criticized because Opeth is now loved by the same boys and girls that scream “Metal!” when listening to Avenged Sevenfold. This is, as I've already said, the first calm song of the record. The other ones are the excellent Hours of Wealth and the closer Isolation Years, the latter being the only tune that doesn't speak about the concept of the album (which consists of a strange occult-themed story, that talks about a guy that is possessed by a malefic entity, if I'm not wrong). The Baying of the Hounds" is partially inspired by lyrics from the song "Diana" from Comus's album First Utterance.Heh, The Grand Conjuration. This is the song that came out and everyone was like "OMG Opefth iz teh d00med!". There's about six minutes of good material here, dragged into ten. There's good drum work and keyboard work at 1:20. Then there's heavy, then light, then heavy, then light. It's a VERY typical Opeth song, sounds right off Still Life. It's got some killer heavy parts and good light parts, but it's about 2-4 minutes too long. To begin with sound structure, Ghost Reveries is quite similar to previous Opeth works, with the same diversity between heavier, softer, and thoroughly mixed structures. Guitar work is definitely one of the better aspects of the performance, with some heavy riffs and surprisingly energetic solos (which are unusual in for Opeth’s work). Drumming is pretty good as well, and is what you would normally expect from the band. Unfortunately bass guitar is well-hidden and usually indiscernible in most of the songs. While this isn’t uncommon for metal nowadays, I would like to have heard it more. The one aspect of the music that is not to my satisfaction is the use of keyboards, but I will return to that in a moment.

Opeth – Ghost Reveries". Billboard. Vol.117, no.34. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 20 August 2005. p.51. As for the production, I’ve heard better ones. It’s beautiful if the music creates a bit of “gap” between you and the music. But Ghost Reveries sounds so close and direct, it’s like they’re pushing you against the wall. Also, everything sounds so sorted out and under controle. Computer-generated silence, lead and rhythm guitar at exactly the same volume, the growls even seem to sound softer than the clean vocals. It would be more beautiful, and less boring, if it were a bit rough. This album just seems too decent, especially for an EXTREME prog band! The album only partly portrays a concept, not fully arranged in the poetic manner as previous releases such as "Still Life" and "My Arms, Your Hearse". "The Baying of the Hounds" is partially inspired by lyrics from the song "Diana" from Comus's album "First Utterance". Opeth – production, engineering, mixing, mastering, art direction, recording ("Soldier of Fortune")

Tracklist

More importantly, the instrumentation is fantastic, Akerfeldt’s vocals a classic mix between clean singing and growls; neither of them have downhill after fifteen years. Martin Lopez’s versatile drumming never ceases to amaze as he works in excellent fills, rapid double bass, and engaging, original beats. The inclusion of ethnic drums in the album’s middle songs signifies just another influence in this incredibly diverse album. Ghost Reveries is teeming with great riffs, from the slow, soothing bass groove of Atonement, to the vicious, heavy assaults found during brief straight-up death metal portions of the longer songs, and The Grand Conjuration’s plain evil main riff. The keyboards add a new dimension to Opeth’s sound and provide more options for the band, notably that weird but catchy, enjoyable riff at the beginning of Beneath the Mire. The guitar solos are well-performed, technical, and impressive, though they tend to slide under the radar, not being the focal points of the songs. The Grand Conjuration' Video Posted Online". Blabbermouth.net. 2 September 2005 . Retrieved 2 June 2014.

Katatonia had done a record with him,” Mikael explains. “Jonas [Renkse, Katatonia frontman] said that Jens was a good guy to record with and very into the details, which felt perfect for me. We needed someone like that because of the state of the band.” Ghost of Perdition: This song is a great starter for the album. It begins with a cleanly strummed guitar part and then roars into a very groovy, heavy and mean riff that is nicely complimented by Mikaels unearthly growl. As usual the riffing throughout the song is very intricate and precise, so that was no suprise. One thing that really caught me off my guard was Mikael introduces a new style of singing into the mix. Almost a talk or MAYBE you can call it a rap ( :nono: ) but whatever you'd call it, it sounds great. The mellow part of the song fits and is one of the more beautiful points in the entire album. Mikael sings some very high notes at this part and is very impressive. The song continues on as a fairly high energy piece right through to the end and is finished with Michael doing his vocal melody from the mellow part over some heavy riffage. Great tune. 9/10 Ghost Reveries is an album that satisfies the listener. Be it the one looking for heavy, in your face sections, or the one seeking well composed mellow sections. It is where aggression and darkness become beautiful and where beauty shows its brutal face. Remarkable.Ghost Reveries Special Edition". Archived from the original on 17 July 2010 . Retrieved 7 August 2010. Atonement: This is the first all mellow song on the album and also the most experimental. It sounds like it is straight out of Egypt with the use of mellotron, djembe's, and a very egyptian sounding riff. Michael sings clean throughout the song and uses that "telephone talk" voice throughout the verses.The chorus is simply Mikael hitting a beautiful, high sustained note and Per complimenting him on the mellotron. Lopez's drum work on this is very nice and well thought out with the use of foreign drums. Very nice, chilled out song and is a much needed rest after the last three onslaughts. 8/10 The Grand Conjuration is an example of how the drumming is so good, I mean, Lopez doesn't try anything ultra-technical there, but the drum work sounds so EVIL, if you know what I mean. Mikael remains respectfully reticent on the subject, but it’s clear Martin wasn’t in the best physical or mental state when Ghost Reveries was being assembled. Final song is Isolation Years. This sounds STRAIGHT off Damnation, almost exactly. Is that bad? No, not really, but it's not good because it's very normal. Nothing stands out about this song. It's just kinda pretty.

As (nearly, there's Damnation after all) always in case of Opeth, the music is a combination of straightforward death metal with a progressive edge, more melodic and melancholic sections, and the calmest, mostly acoustic parts. On Ghost Reveries, all three are executed and combined with perfection and finesse, as the music can pass from crushing riffs and deep growling to acoustic guitars and clean vocals within 30 seconds, and it feels entirely natural. However, this time the focus is definitely on darker parts, even though there are four songs feeling – more or less – lighter than the others. The longest one of them, and actually also the longest composition of the album, called Reverie/Harlequin Forest, is an impressive work with a more melodic approach, some beautiful guitar leads and solos, and also an amazing combination of clean vocals and heavier riffs in the first part. It's still not void of heavier parts with growls, which are very nicely combined with the rest, but this time it's not the main part. This song also perfectly displays another strength of the album – the incredible use of keyboards and mellotrons. This is the first Opeth album recorded with Per Wiberg, and also the first “normal” album using the keyboards so extensively - they're present pretty much from start to finish of Ghost Reveries, they hardly ever take the lead, and greatly add to the whole sound. They're used to great effect in the heavier sections, just as the first half of The Baying of The Hounds and intro/outro of The Grand Conjuration, but obviously, it's the lighter parts in which they have more space and importance. Then comes "Beneath The Mire", starting with quite possibly the funkiest segment Opeth could ever produce - it sounds more like Farmakon, to be honest, who are usually like a jazzier, if less melodious clone of Opeth anyway. Mellotrons and funk drums flow behind Peter's on-off guitar riffage for about two minutes, and we then get Mikael's best heavy vocal melody of the album. A recurring blast beat from Lopez gives the edge Mikael needs here, before going into the proggy guitar and emotive, clean vocals for a while - "you'd cling to your pleasant hope, in it's twisted fascination." After this, comes Per on piano while Mikael has a short, sweet solo reminiscent of the one he gives in Porcupine Tree's "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here". Mikael switches to acoustic for a moment before leading us into the maelstrom once more - a great death scream and some inventive drumming bring us to another catchy, melodious section with heavy guitars and clean vocals. Finally, the guitars rise and fall like a tide, leading into an ending rich with off-kilter time-signatures and Pink Floyd style guitar experimentation. Another excellent song that shows the band's mature exploration of progressive themes. There are surely few bands that can rival Opeth, in terms of dissent amongst fans. Heritage is something of a battle line, over which self-appointed ‘true fans’ lob ire at their favorite band’s softer, ‘sell-out’ phase, while some (myself included) are fond of just about everything the band made after Steven Wilson got involved. There are, however, a few seemingly universal points of agreement. Ghost Reveries is just such a point, a near-universally (and rightly) lauded work that is, in my mind, the quintessential Opeth album.

Some parts are very good. The whole acoustical part of Ghost of Perdition sounds very beautiful, but the second acoustical part of Baying of the Hounds wasn’t really smart to add, as it completely stands outside the song. Most riffs on the album are beautiful. The part of Reverie/Harlequin Forest, (right after the amazing acoustical part) is a big set-off because we know that Opeth has had better intervals. The outro though, sounds much better. This, my friends, is probably the biggest injustice ever committed within the metal circles, as unjust as all the critics Metallica got after releasing the (great) Load album. Opeth's lyrics always deserve some attention, and in Ghost Reveries, this remains true. Mikael Åkerfeldt writes elegantly about the themes mentioned above and does not fall much in the trap of the silliness found in most satanic lyrics. The Baying of the Hounds is an example of well written Devil worship, with Satan seducing the main character ("Everything you believe is just lies/Everyone that you love is a dead burden"). The Grand Conjuration also has some well-thought verses ("Tell me why/Love subsides/In the light/Of your wish"). Harlequin Forest has some strong imagery to convey the feeling of being trapped off the main character. Not all is dark (or malignant dark), though, and Isolation Years brings out that sad, poetic side of Åkerfeldt that would be so prominent in Watershed. Reverie" appears after 5:23 in "Atonement" and is 1:05 in length. On the CD version, it appears in the pregap between "Atonement" and "Harlequin Forest". On the digital version, the pregap has just been added to the end of "Atonement", but the song titles remain the same, causing some confusion. The vocals on this album are by no means the flaw. Mikael Akerfeldt’s growls are brutal and aggressive as always, and his clean vocals are suberb and have definitely progressed since even the last album (which was sung completely with clean vocals). Akerfeldt has also proved his ability as a lyricist yet again.