Ghost Reveries

Two things will be judged on an album like this, that is a prog record loaded with a plethora of parts in every song: the first thing is how good the individual parts are - the second thing is how well they fit together to build actual songs and not just arbitrary collections of sections. So, 'Ghost Reveries' excels at these. In short this right here is just superior song-writing over a full hour of continuous excellence. It's Opeth at the peak of their craft. Fairly often in a discography, the band's prime occurs over a trifecta of albums. In this case, arguably the crux of the accomplished Opeth sound is the trio of releases that starts with the deeply melancholic and dark 'Blackwater Park', followed by the tighter 'Deliverance', and ends on the ultimate chapter of the fully matured Opeth endeavor: this album. The band would go on to release many more, of course, but everything past 2005 was arguably beyond the point of what the band had been aiming to become up til then. It's like what came after was a new beginning towards different aspirations.

There's a special excellence in the complex network of riffs and sections that constitute each song, and virtually not a single part, over the full hour of playtime, sounds like generic muck. The album never falls into conquered territory. There's no standard rehashing. Every part was made to sound, to feel exclusive to 'Ghost Reveries'. And the band had brilliant control over the diversity of various sections to include each time. The acoustic interludes will fit right into, say, an ensuing big lively alternative rock part or a heavy atmospheric open-string picking. The screams will come on but at no point does it sound like Akerfedlt's been doing them for too long. It's all maturely reflected, balanced and carefully considered. The polished finish matches the quality of the raw material.

Some parts are just one time stand-alones while others come on once and then return again later, giving the songs good cohesiveness; as on the fantastic opener 'Ghost of Perdition' with its soulful wordless chant over acoustic guitar section early that returns in full climax to conclude the track. Distinctly memorable. The textures vary between a myriad of warm, organic instruments, including strings, a piano or organ, and a mellotron even - each judiciously slotted in. The album doesn't overflow with solos jumping in from everywhere: this is song-writing first and foremost, fat-trimmed and focused on the indispensable, with no gimmick or particular redundant infatuation.

A good example of the sort of caliber we're dealing with here would be the verse on 'Atonement'; Akerfeldt (with that "underwater filter") sings one of the most unique lines one could ever find, as it blends in multiple scales and keys, and yet creates an intelligible singular melody in the end. The ensuing immaculate clean voice over percussion is as surprising as it is beautiful. The end of the song has an excellently written and peculiar hidden mini track: it's a mixture of clean guitar strums with unique chords and a lead guitar tail used like a violin. 'Harlequin Forest' would be a strong contender for a token of what the album is about. It makes for a smooth listen from minute 1 to 11, and not once does it stall or repeat. And that hypnotic breakdown at the end is pure entertainment to listen to: oddly playful and satiating.

The production is pristine and natural, as is well heard on the calming 'Hours of Wealth' with its bare instrumentation, or the beautifully haunting 'Isolation Years'. These two are the sort of stuff Opeth should've been writing for the lackluster 'Damnation'. 'The Grand Conjuration' is the only song built entirely on one central overarching theme, and it's probably the closest thing to an Opeth jam session on this, but it still retains the focus from the rest of the album. Hard to find anything that is seriously wrong with the album, besides length and the required time to grow into it.

Ghost Reveries, smack dab in the middle of Opeth’s discography, is the most Opeth-y Opeth release. Having just explored each end of the Opeth spectrum with the Deliverance/Damnation duo, this followup is arguably the last time the band had decidedly extreme metal leanings - even by Watershed Mikael was kinda scared of doing death growls. At the same time, though, the edges are rounded off to the point where the 70s prog influences seep through every pore, leaving riffs that mostly float like a butterfly but don’t sting like a bee. Combine that with a crisp, Roadrunner-funded guitar tone and some sorta-weird time signatures every now and then and it’s got a little bit of everything that makes Opeth so loved and loathed. Too soft to be death metal, too hard to be prog rock, but just about right for the type of dude who already has Tool’s new album pre-ordered.

At their best, Opeth has made some genuinely great albums, but at worst, they bore the shit out of me, and it’s not uncommon for them to jump back and forth between the two multiple times over the course of a release. Unique they are, but consistent they are not. The distinctive property of Ghost Reveries, ironically enough, is that it is the most consistent Opeth album. Not good nor bad, mind you - consistent. Despite theoretically having one of the most diverse palettes of influences to draw from of any Opeth album, the songs on this album all blend together and move along a similar, wandering path. Whether it’s the oh-so-perfectly-tamed melancholy of "Atonement" or the somewhat jarring (yet not TOO abrasive) opening of "The Grand Conjuration", every moment on this album exists in this nebulous middle ground that is neither high nor low. The paradox of this album - and Opeth in general, really, if you want to be harsh - is that they can make a bunch of very different riffs and themes all feel the same.

It’s a really confusing position to be in as a reviewer, because as a result of somehow running any possible musical idea through an Opethian filter, everything about Ghost Reveries contradicts everything else. This album feels as though atmosphere should be dripping from its edges, yet every time I search for something raw or unusual I come up empty. Martin Lopez is undoubtedly an amazingly talented musician, and sure enough, all of his beats are tight, efficient and perfectly placed. Yet, somehow, they never seem to stand out or commit a riff to my memory. Every time I feel on the cusp of something a little bit more resonant and soulful (like the beginning of “Hours of Wealth”), the motif changes before it has a chance to really solidify itself. Songs stay on the same plateau from beginning to end, yet the changes in the riffs still feel sudden. Rarely does it ever feel like individual sections build into one another. Each riff is a full musical sentence on its own, which is normally an amazing quality for music to have, but due to the lack of progression between them, the riffs somehow have the potential to simultaneously leave you wanting more and overstay their welcome. This is impressive almost solely because this occupies a space in the musical hemisphere I didn’t even think it was possible to exist in. Even that’s a contradiction because at the end of the day I find the resulting music to be nice-sounding but kinda boring!

Sometimes, I like this, and sometimes I turn it off for something else after less than a minute. I can’t recommend this, though, because my rating on this album will change literally every time I listen to it. Sometimes it works well when I just need some nice sounding metalloid stuff to throw on in the background, sometimes it just sounds absolutely terrible, but one thing that is absolutely certain is I don’t have to spend nearly this much time questioning whether or not Blackwater Park is good, so I usually just listen to that instead.

The best concept to define Opeth, at least up until the release of Ghost Reveries (or even Watershed, though that could be stretching a bit), is bipolar music. There's no difficulty in seeing why. Anything that contains death metal will, of course, be brutal, but Opeth goes beyond this and gives beauty to their songs. Aggression and beauty here walk in parallel ways, occasionally crossing paths, joining their apparent contradictory faces in a new one.

Bipolar does not only define Opeth's characteristic sound. It is also applicable to the quality of their works. Reflection of that, Ghost Reveries is not a perfect release, and there are several problems with it, but the good songs have the capacity of compensating that.

Ghost Reveries is almost a conceptual album. The conceptual part involves a guy who kills his mother, and the Devil has some part in it. So it deals, obviously, with dark stuff like demonic possession, satanic rituals, regret, remorse, suicidal thoughts.

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.

As it should happen, all of these themes are well translated into creepy, brutal, melancholic melodies. The first notes in the album, from Ghost of Perdition, already tell you all that should be said about this work. They speak of no hope, of that eerie calmness after destruction, and when the first riff explodes, along with Mikael's growl, comes the brutality that you expect from such an album. The traditional acoustic parts serve several purposes, and yet they are mostly sad or downright creepy, and this is a pattern followed by the whole album. The acoustic and heavy parts are randomly played, but the progression is never forced.

The guitar work is really excellent, especially the riffs, though there is some good soloing too (The Baying of the Hounds, The Grand Conjuration). Ghost of Perdition and The Baying of the hounds have both more than one memorable riff, but nothing here can surpass the main riff of The Grand Conjuration. Beneath the Mire has an odd intro, one that isn't always likable, but it is nevertheless undeniably interesting. Keyboards are mostly well used, in quantity and timing. There is, perhaps, a bit too much use of mellotron, but it is not that problematic. The drumming is very varied, and this is what stands out the most. There are some really good groove bass lines, like the ones in Ghost of Perdition and The Grand Conjuration.

Perhaps the single musical aspect that most obviously shows the bipolarity of this band are the vocals. Åkerfeldt's death growls are deep, beast-like. And his clean voice is simply beautiful and friendly, most of the time. In both styles, he uses his voice to create different atmospheres. And to speak more about that, among other things, The Grand Conjuration deserves some special attention.

The already mentioned main riff of The Grand Conjuration is spectacular. It is a simple riff, but genius work. It is, simply put, evil. And during this song, there is no mellow part to relieve you from the oppressive mood. When the music is not exploding death metal in your face, it is making you beyond tense with sounds of a ritual going on, a creepy guitar, and Åkerfeldt singing in an eerie calm tone. The drums are superb, and much in the same line of the guitars. The intro and outro contain some really, really good bass. When the music is exploding, Mikael growls like the Devil himself. What makes this a great song is the fact that despite it being reasonably simple and even repetitive, everything works to immerse you in the conjuration. This is an example of a song that delivers what it promises. Grand Conjuration, indeed.

The major flaws of this album are the mellow songs, and more specifically Hours of Wealth and Atonement. It is not that they are outright bad, but totally unremarkable. Isolation Years is the one song that does not deal with the Occultism concept and is also mellow, and while it should perhaps not be in this album, it is a good song. The other problem is Reverie: Harlequin Forest, a song that starts great but doesn't keep the same quality over the minutes and is too repetitive. Not a bad song either, but would be immensely better if trimmed some.

One last thing is that they really should have ended this album with The Grand Conjuration and kept it conceptual. Isolation Years could have been a bonus track.

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.

Highlights: Ghost of Perdition, The Baying of the Hounds, The Grand Conjuration, Isolation Years.

The opening of this album doesn't beat around the bush, so nor shall I when starting my review. There are some truly outstanding songs on this record, which are balanced by some rather dull moments. Opeth come strongly out of the gates with 'Ghost of Perdition' and 'The Baying of the Hounds', the latter of which is particularly well-crafted and inspiring, the first three minutes standing tall among all of the band's recorded output. Other songs deliver gobsmacking moments too, with 'The Grand Conjuration' and the short 'Isolation Years' seeming most unified in their direction and progression. One gets the feeling listening to the songs on 'Ghost Reveries' that much of the brittle stress that played a part in forming the claustrophobic sound of 'Deliverance' had ebbed away, so that even the extreme parts feel more accessible and welcoming. A shift in production values also resulted in a softer and more pliant set of instrumental sounds, the guitars giving away a bit of weight and distortion to past endeavours, while the clean-sung hooks stand out more and seem to have increased in prevalence.

What falls away slightly in this regard is the atmosphere that harried listeners of 'Still Life' and 'Deliverance', whereby the sense of discomfort, longing, danger, and regret evaporated and a wistful tone takes its place, which is less gripping and less suitable as a complement for the heavy passages. At times, the change is a success, such as the soaring opening of 'Harlequin Forest', which produces two majestic verses and refrains before gradually melting into dull acoustic wanderings, a rather uninspired doomy section and a final moody polyrhythmic outro riff. It all smells of lost focus, which might be a deliberate product of a song about a weird forest, but the drift of consciousness should still hold my attention and it doesn't do that, losing me (I almost wrote betraying me) more than once after the great start. This is symptomatic of the album as a whole, where the intial ideas aren't followed up in a suitable manner, or the quality starts to dip as the song progresses. From Opeth's point of view, this kind of inconsistency must be infuriating, since they clearly did have some golden ideas, just not someone with an objective vision to decide what was suitable. The signs were all there for the band's transition to a different sound, since the following album 'Watershed' proved to be even more fractured, while 'Heritage' dropped all of the extreme metal influence and went for broke with the progressive side of the band.

That progressive side gets a lot of time here, rearing its head in the softer songs 'Atonement' and 'Hours of Wealth', both of which contain a lot of "timeless" soloing. By "timeless" I don't mean that it will be remembered and equally valued forever, but rather that it seems Mikael Akerfeldt and Peter Lindgren forgot about time and just noodled on until the drummer changed his beat. The interludes in the longer songs received more development than anything from 'Orchid' or 'Morningrise', where those sections tended to be simple acoustic ideas bridging heavy sections, yet they aren't the reason why I listen to Opeth, since their brand of skewed melodic death metal is the main enticement. Thus, the whole mid-section of the album is somewhat disappointing, since in the 25 minutes that runs from the end of 'Beneath the Mire' to the end of 'Hours of Wealth' only about 6 minutes of 'Harlequin Forest' is played in that style. The album drifts and, quite simply, wastes my time. Another example of the band's ambition hindering their music is with some of the rhythms, and again I return to 'Harlequin Forest' to pick fault. I have no problem with the time changes that lurch drunkenly out of the riffwork, like at the 9 minute mark of 'Ghost of Perdition', but the deliberately jazzy style on the fifth track undoes some of the fluent magic of the verses and seems to be an instance of musical masturbation - nor the only one.

Before you decide that I hate 'Ghost Reveries', let me reassure you that there are many parts of the first two songs, the last two songs, and a few points in between that are captivating and deserve repeated listens. When Opeth hit it off and move through musical ideas with passion and accuracy, they are rarely bested, which is exemplified by some ridiculous feats of musicianship from all the band members (barring the keyboardist, who does little except shading the songs) during the standout 'The Baying of the Hounds'. Akerfeldt's death roar is a deep and bloody gurgle that only makes the dazzling traditional solo at 6:50 stand out all the more, while the two Martins blitz through the Gene Hoglan and Steve DiGiorgio rulebook, rewriting a couple of pages as they go, which is necessary to turn the deviously fluid riffs to good use. There are at least 2 or 3 riffs in 'The Baying of the Hounds' alone that stand out among Opeth's catalogue and make me deliberate long and hard over whether the rest of the album is poor, or if I'm just disappointed in comparison.

I really didn't expect to find myself this annoyed with 'Ghost Reveries' when I started to write this review, but I guess that's because it is generally a much more chilled out album than any of their previous work ('Blackwater Park' included) and doesn't have as much vital energy as I want from them. For those more taken with their late prog rock direction, there may be greater acceptance for the meandering strains of 'Hours of Wealth' and the like, though I prefer this album to be playing as I do something else, not as my sole companion.

Ghost Reveries turns ten this week, and it holds up as a unique experience and a masterpiece of progressive metal. An expansion upon the trademark sound presented in Blackwater Park, Opeth bring in new influences, hire a keyboardist, and step up their songwriting game. The result is a rather eclectic, atmospherically dark, and intense album – intense in composition without sounding cluttered, in technicality, in experimentation, in energy, and above all, it is ambitious.

Initially intended to be another concept album, Ghost Reveries has something to do with a man who kills his mother, and Satan is involved because gotta love those metal stereotypes. The idea wasn’t fully carried through with, resulting in the “concept” being no more than the repetition of a few words and phrases scattered throughout the songs (e.g. “the hounds” and “the mire” are repeated often during GR). Either way, the common words and lyrical themes create a unifying effect, helping to hold together an album that is already quite cohesive.

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 main appeal of Ghost Reveries is of course the songwriting. The five long/heavy songs rely not only the previously established interplay between death metal and acoustic passages, but span the gap between the two, while including other influences as well. The soft parts don’t always revert to acoustic guitars as done on previous albums; often they simply drop to quieter volumes, with some even containing hints of jazz. Songs such as the first two tracks are wildly unpredictable as Opeth fit more changes and variety into songs of ten minutes, already a standard length for them. Baying of the Hounds starts heavy, goes down, comes back up, enters an acoustic break, and then ends heavy, and I won’t even try to describe the structure of Ghost of Perdition. The transitions are seamless and come so often that the songs never get boring. Though a few of these songs seem anticlimactic (specifically Beneath the Mire and Harlequin Forest), it truly is in the journey, not the destination, and the dramatic, heavy Grand Conjuration provides enough of a peak to close the album (with Isolation Years akin to a short coda).

The soft songs on this album may not be as well-loved as others the band has written, though they fit on the album better. Atonement is a good track, providing a much-needed break for calmness following the heavy first three songs. The haunting chorus riff and beautiful piano solo simply make the song. Isolation Years is a mournful, ballad, and even the album’s weakest offering, Hours of Wealth, has a gorgeous beginning and is very much emotionally charged.

Opeth’s songwriting and instrumentation peaked here. Ghost Reveries is flawless.

Let me start by stating the obvious: Opeth isn't exactly the most accessible metal band around. Too boring for those who only need METAL!!!1 and too extreme for the fans of lighter genres, it takes either a fair amount of patience, or an unusual enough taste to appreciate. Ghost Reveries doesn't change this at all, with five large, complex compositions and three shorter, calmer songs working, as great as they are, as interludes more than anything else. Still, there's plenty of those, including the one writing this, who really enjoy thorough digging into the creations of Mr Akerfeldt and co., and the reason is simple enough – it's extremely rewarding in every way. The journey we're taking on Ghost Reveries isn't exactly an optimistic nor a simple one – we're dealing with ghosts (in the more spiritual meaning rather than the fantasy one), solitude, guilt, and even occultism at more than one point. It takes time and patience to fully get into the world presented here, but the way it is presented makes it worth the effort entirely.

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.

The three shorter songs, called Atonement, Hours of Wealth and Isolation Years, are particularly dominated by the use of keyboards. Atonement has a slightly jazzy feeling to it, but it's the vocals that shine the most – it's one of the most emotional moments of the entire album, with a beautiful, slightly processed voice that really remains in your mind... Hours of Wealth may be the weakest track of Ghost Reveries, but it still works as a very good acoustic interlude. However, the closing track – Isolation Years – is a different thing entirely. The most melancholic and the shortest track on the album, but full of emotion and feeling, it's extremely memorable since the first listen, and the perfect ending of the album, it's also probably the most impressive clean vocal performance of Mikael Akerfeldt on Ghost Reveries. The most impressive growling performance, on the other hand, would be the first half of The Baying of The Hounds. Actually I'll go as far as saying this is one of the best growling performances I've ever heard, with a really deep, dark, powerful voice, that really will make you feel the lyrics (and we're talking about lyrics such as “the cities lay dead and beyond despair”). The truth is that vocals on the whole album are absolutely top notch, emotional, powerful and simply excellent in every way, and these examples are just the ones that stand out the most, but there are many, many more (such as the beautiful “Drown in the deep mire...” part – The Baying of The Hounds, again). I admit I had considered Mikael Akerfeldt a good, but not great vocalist – I was proved entirely wrong by this album, which is vocal-wise one of the best things I've ever heard. The metal side of the album is nearly perfect as well, and the aforementioned The Baying of the Hounds is one of the heaviest tracks, dominated by excellent death metal riffs, with a particularly great, heavy, chugging one around the 7th minute. Another one is the opener, Ghost of Perdition (which seems to have gained a nearly untouchable spot in the band's live setlist), also alternating a bit between heavier and softer moments, both being equally brilliant. Beneath The Mire is the most unusual and probably also the most prog-metal oriented track on the album, with a slightly more technical approach and some unconventional experiments (such as the opening riff), and also an amazing outro. And then, there's the song which has really possessed me. But hell, I'm happy with that.

It's called The Grand Conjuration, and it's hands down the heaviest and darkest piece on Ghost Reveries. It's the most focused on the theme of occultism and ritual, which is rather obvious, looking at the title, and the atmosphere is so dark and dense that it's capable of giving chills during most of its duration. On one hand, there's the particularly grim growling style, sounding like you really don't want to mess with him, and on the other – there are the quiet moments, with a repeating low guitar sound, and a clean, silent, nearly whispered vocal style... but the way it sounds is so incredibly discomforting (especially with the “ritual” whispers in the background here and there) that it manages to sound even darker than the heavy parts, which, by the way, are just filled with amazing riffs, from start to finish. And the outro... I've mentioned it when talking about keyboards, I'm mentioning it again, and it's still not enough. I'm listening to this song for around the twentieth time and it feels just as incredible, monumental and powerful as for the first time. I'm not the “if it's the heaviest, it's my favourite” type, especially on albums like this, but this is an exception... One more thing that shines on the album, in fact on The Grand Conjuration the most, is the drumming. This is the last Opeth album with Martin Lopez, and his performance here is excellent, with lots of finesse and feeling, but also a lot of punch in the heavier parts.

This was one of those rare albums which I had decided to try not really knowing what to expect, and ended up forgetting about the rest of the world for two weeks. If someone can't stand long songs and the “boring” acoustic sections, I don't think Ghost Reveries can change his/her opinion. Otherwise – this is an album with amazing songwriting (and with this song length and the diversity of musical styles involved, this means a lot), absolutely stunning and incredible vocals, excellent riffs and drumming, beautiful softer parts, and everything combined together by a unique, dark atmosphere. Impossible to do all at once? Maybe. But this is Opeth.

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.
“It's boring” says the common metalhead, when someone says that Opeth is great.

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.
First of all, Opeth isn't a commercial band. I feel like my stomach is burning when someone says that. The music Opeth produces is unique. It can be pretty aggressive, very mellow or a mix of both. After all, all this mix of styles is a true trademark of progressive music.. why people call the band sell-outs when they compose gorgeous breakdowns inside the songs is beyond me.

Yes, this is the problem: the breakdowns. If Opeth songs didn't have breakdowns, they would now be a pretty common Swedish death metal band, probably still an underground act, lost between all the other ones, in Sweden.
In the beginning, Opeth was a death metal band, that incorporated some mellow elements. Now, the band is a progressive metal band with death metal elements, since there are LOTS of clean parts and calm songs on this album, much more than on, for example My Arms, Your Hearse. This transformation began with Blackwater Park, when Akerfeldt really learnt how to use his clean voice (mainly thanks to the vocal lessons given by his friend, Steven Wilson), but it's on Damnation that the frontman really acknowledges that the band CAN compose some very touching and beautiful stuff. So, Ghost Reveries contains lots of clean parts and its successor, Watershed, even contains more, but that's another story.

The inclusion of Per Wiberg in the band was extremely important to this record, too. Damnation had some nice keyboard lines that brought something new to the band's sound. Akerfeldt certainly noticed this, since the next step he made was to hire a keyboardist and, oh my God, that was the best thing he has done in a long, long time. I mean, after seven albums full of long (yes, very LONG) songs, it's hard to find fresh and new ideas. So, I applaud the addition of Per and this album definitely shows that the keyboard is an instrument that perfectly fits the band's sound and style. Atonement is the perfect example of that, being the fourth track and the first totally calm one. The melancholic vocal performance of an emotional Akerfeldt is perfectly complemented by the soft and uplifting playing of Wiberg - the melodies blend in together perfectly. The keyboard solo in the end of the song is also remarkable. In fact, this track carries an arabian or oriental atmosphere, since all the melodies are very reminiscent of the national music of those places.

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).
Those two songs also feature some of the best Mikael's vocal performances ever. He has improved a lot, from the almost monotonous (but still beautiful) performance on Morningrise to the terrific (in a good way, obviously) one on Damnation. On Ghost Reveries he reaches his peak, clean voice-wise. His growls sound a bit more forced here than on, say, My Arms, Your Hearse (after all he is older now) but this album is, vocally, EXCELLENT, in every sense of the word.

The first track, Ghost of Perdition is a perfect way to begin the record. Some soft notes are played firstly and then the tune turns into a crushing example of how Mikael's growls are powerful. This song possibly has some of the best transitions ever by any band - I mean, the calm sections don't sound out of place between the aggressive ones, everything is flowing with harmony and beauty. The drum work is absolutely astounding, lots of double-bass, ghost notes and such. Martin Lopez was SICK during the recording of the album, he had some kind of blood disorder; still, he probably delivers the best performance of his career - original, creative, complex yet perfectly fitting the music, every beat and pattern is a priceless example of the talent of this fantastic musician.
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.

That track (which was also the single of the record) features some guitar solos too, which isn't a common thing on Opeth songs. Mikael and Peter, however, filled many of Deliverance's songs with solos and they do the same here; they are not brilliant (since when the guitar solos are the best points of Opeth's music?), but they are still enjoyable and add some “metal feeling” to the songs (metal wouldn't be metal without solos, right?). The guitar riffs remain very similar to the ones featured on the other albums of the band; The Baying of the Hounds probably is the best song of the bunch riff-wise, mainly thanks to the explosive beginning. It also has a fantastic middle section (that “beneath the... deep mire” part is astounding).
After The Baying of the Hounds, there is Beneath the Mire, the third track of the record and the only low point of it too, since it is arguably the worst tune of the bunch. I hate the beginning, with that strange keyboard riff and the rest of the song doesn't help either: in fact, I can't remember anything about the song (and I heard it a couple of times!) other than the horrid beginning. But, hey, who's complaining, every album has its flaws!

Harlequin Forest is the fifth track and the longest one. It has a small intro, called Reverie, consisting on the repetition of some guitar lines. I hate repetition, but Reverie sounds great anyways, it kind of builds the atmosphere to Harlequin Forest, which begins with a drum fill and Mikael singing “Into the trees...”. This beginning sounds great, it's like we really are beginning a journey into a mysterious forest, it's really epic, a thing that isn't common on other Opeth songs, since the band composes many long songs but few of them can really be considered “epic”. The song then progresses to a relatively heavy part, dominated by the unconventional drum beats of Martin Lopez; this section ends with an absolutely gorgeous breakdown, very jazzy and relaxing (Opeth would later, with Watershed, build more jazzy breakdowns, like the one on Lotus Eater and Hessian Peel).
After that, we are led to the only big flaw of the tune: the outro, which is excessively repetitive, being almost two minutes long. I mean, there are good outros, like the one on Deliverance's title track, but this one is kind of... weak. Nevertheless, I really like this song.

Another key factor that makes Ghost Reveries what it is, is the top notch production, one of the best I've ever heard. All the instruments are audible (the bass is a bit low, however) and the album has a powerful sound, with the guitars assuming, obviously, the biggest role. The keyboards aren't too loud, but they are still there, very audible, also assuming an important role on the record, giving, as I've already said, a fresher and warmer atmosphere to the album. The drums sound great too, we finally hear clearly Martin's bass drums, yay!

Concluding, this album is a MASTERPIECE. Sure there are some low points, but the record sounds great individually and as a whole (and bear in mind that it's hard to make albums, clocking in at around 70 minutes, that sound very well as a whole). This record deserves to be placed among all the other metal classics, Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood, Powerslave, ...And Justice For All, Images and Words, Awaken the Guardian, Slowly We Rot - yes, Ghost Reveries deserves to be placed between them. I hope that, in the future, people will begin to stop with the stupid criticism and take the time to listen to this album and understand why it is so beautiful, solid and brilliant at the same time. From the gorgeous Hours of Wealth to the aggression of The Baying of the Hounds, to the complexity of the middle section of Harlequin Forest to the evil atmosphere of The Grand Conjuration, almost every moment of this piece is amazing in it's own way. This is possibly the best and the most consistent album Opeth ever made.

One last note to the special edition of the record: I would strongly recommend to get that version instead of the normal version, since it comes with an interesting DVD, featuring the making-of of the album and the (crappy) music video of The Grand Conjuration. It also contains an extended booklet, with some nice pictures and drawings and liner notes, written by Mikael Akerfeldt. There is also a bonus track, a Deep Purple cover, called Soldier of Fortune. While I haven't heard the original, I think this song completely fits the record, being stunningly beautiful, thanks to Akerfeldt's vocal approach. An interesting fact about the song, is that Lopez already left the band when it was recorded, so the drums are played by Martin Axenrot, his replacement (and what a replacement, indeed!).

Best Moments of the CD (chosen ALMOST randomly):
-the “aaaaaaaah” part on Ghost of Perdition.
-the beginning and keyboard solo of Atonement.
-the creepy guitar lines of Reverie.
-the whole jazzy middle section of Harlequin Forest.
-the beginning and outro of The Grand Conjuration.

95 points – I just don't give away 95 points frequently, so this piece is a MUST-HAVE. This will possibly remain as my second favourite metal album ever, behind the unbeatable Powerslave. Highly recommended, but if you don't like progressive music, don't torture yourself with this “piece of pompous crap”. Anyways, fantastic record.

Opeth is quite well known for their experimentation and adherence to progressive rock stylings. However, with Ghost Reveries, they have gone too far for this metalhead’s tastes. While many of the songs on this album possess the elements that make Opeth unique and interesting, they do not come together as well as previous Opeth releases. They also possess some new influences that are distracting and counter-intuitive to the atmosphere of the album as a whole.

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.

Basically, this album follows the typical Opeth tradition of opening up with all the good songs first, and then losing steam by the end of the album. Ghost of Perdition and The Baying of the Hounds hit things off quite heavily, with some good death grunting and lead-guitar work. Beneath the Mire is an interesting song as well, I especially like the contrasting vocal work of Akerfeldt in this one. However, Atonement is a pretty boring soft-song, and sounds like it belongs more on a Led Zeppelin album that is designed to put you to sleep. While I recognize that Opeth likes to experiment with 70’s style rock, this one falls flat. A good soft song on this album is Hours of Wealth, which has excellent atmosphere and actually makes you feel some emotion. Similarly, Isolation Years is sad, but in my opinion, not as well-developed as Hours of Wealth. Reverie/Harlequin Forest is a song that is very similar to a combination of the first three songs of this album, so you’ve basically heard it before. But it does have a few good moments, and is worth listening.

This album really disappointed me with The Grand Conjuration. The reason is the heavy use of keyboards. This could have been a very evil, atmospheric and heavy song if it wasn’t for the influence of that blasted instrument. Instead, it oozes cheesiness and sounds like warped church-music. Compare it to their earlier songs such as Advent and Demon of the Fall, where they take you for the ride of your life, and develop an excellent atmosphere using only traditional heavy metal instruments. The Grand Conjuration only conjures up regret that they don’t display their prior use of composition on this album. In my opinion, keyboarding really weakens the songs during many points. Although it does juice up the atmosphere of the soft songs such as Hours of Wealth, it should have been left out of the heavy songs.

Ghost Reveries is not a bad album though, despite its weaknesses. It is still worth a listen and a purchase, although I wouldn’t get the expensive digipak for this one. I would go with the cheaper jewel case if you want to buy it. Who cares about bonus cover songs anyways, honestly? So check out Ghost Reveries, but don’t expect another My Arms, Your Hearse or Still Life.

After 2003’s progressive rock Damnation, it was unclear what the future held in store for Opeth. Even though Damnation was mostly accepted by fans, no one knew the direction future albums would go. Well in 2005 Opeth unleashed Ghost Reveries, which in my opinion, shattered all expectations…in the best way possible.

Music-wise, pretty musch all the songs could have appeared one 1998’s My Arms, Your Hearse (arguably the highlight of their career). This is something that is getting extremely rare in long standing modern metal bands. Usually by the fifth or sixth album bands begin to shit out albums every two years straight on to the shelves of mainstream, corporate CD stores. I’m not saying Opeth are underground, because they’re not at all. Nor am I saying you will be unable to find Opeth in a major CD store, because you can. I’m saying that Opeth have never really been underground and that they have been staying true to their sound since day one and still make their music for their fan base. Ghost Reveries still has lengthy songs that are both beautifully melodic, and crushingly heavy in the same package. These are things that have become expected when you pick up an Opeth album (save Damnation).

Ghost Reveries displays some of the best song writing the band has put out to date, which is saying a lot. Opener, Ghost of Perdition, is a fine example of a song with almost permanent replay value, which in the end is what matters most. If you can still listen to an album months and years after buying it, the band has done something right. The Baying of the Hounds is another lengthy good listen but the album begins to slow down after that. Atonement is just sort of boring, not bad but doesn’t seem to fit properly with what’s around it and doesn’t offer any new aspects to the music. Hours of Wealth on the other hand is an acoustic song that does work really well. It sounds sort of like a Damnation highlight. Just as you thought it was safe to doze off and have a nap, your ass gets a hard beating by The Grand Conjuration. It’s the heaviest song on the album and offers up that death growl from Mikael Åkerfeldt that fans know and love. After this we get Isolation Years which is another all acoustic piece and a great conclusion to Ghost Reveries.

I don’t remember much from 2005 but I think it’s safe to say that Ghost Reveries was one of the best if not THE best album of the year. It really is a perfect addition to the band’s other work and if you are unfamiliar with Opeth, also a good starting point. Åkerfeldt says that Opeth’s ninth album is also one of their darkest and is due to come out in May. If it’s anything like Ghost Reveries we can expect a great year for Opeth in 2008.

Opeth is a band I could write entire essays on, but since I prefer to keep my reviews short and to the point, I’ll just briefly sum up my feelings about Ghost Reveries (and as it turns out, pretty much all their other albums). A case in point with this review is to GET TO THE FUCKING POINT; I wish a particular band had the same decency.

Basically, it all boils down to one thing: their music is boring. Opeth are masters of crafting seemingly endless, plodding songs that are completely and utterly boring.
Their songs are a mixture of ideas that don’t belong in metal. The band doesn’t rock; sometimes they don’t even play metal (see Damnation). In addition, it seems the band is incapable of writing short and concise songs.

That pretty much sums it up.

Songs are standard Opeth fare, namely, they tend to blend heavy with soft, fast with slow, acoustic with distorted and so on. For example, ‘Ghost of Perdition’ starts in a pretty brutal manner but quickly descends into boredom with a meaningless passage featuring some ridiculous clean guitar/vocals. Just when you think (hope) the song is going to end, Opeth defies all reason by dragging it out for almost eleven minutes – a common behaviour for this band that I don’t approve of at all. ‘Baying of the Hounds’ is similar – there are bits and pieces that are interesting, but there are too many pointless parts in between. These two songs are over ten minutes (!) long which is hardly surprising as I believe the band has only made a handful of songs shorter than 4 minutes.

Then there’s Opeth’s damned habit of including a lot of soft songs. Ghost Reveries doesn’t “disappoint”, as there are three songs (‘Atonement’, ‘Hours of Wealth’, and ‘Isolation Years’) on here with no hint of a distorted guitar whatsoever, which brings back memories of their horrid Damnation. Exactly what audience is Opeth trying to please with this structure? Certainly not the kind that likes distorted guitar with their metal.

I was hoping for a step closer to (and beyond) Deliverance as that was easily their most metallic offering. True, Ghost Reveries has its moments where it can be said to be more metallic than most of their other albums, but there’s just too much Damnation in here for my taste, and way too much filler. I’m still looking for some Opeth-music I can bang my head to. This just didn’t do it for me, sorry.

I’m probably overly-harsh in my review as the album does have some good riffing and some ideas that actually work, but ultimately, Opeth fails in providing an interesting and memorable experience for the whole length of the album - as usual.

"Ghost Reveries" is the eighth studio album by Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth, and the first with keyboardist Per Wiberg. This album also seems a return to occult lyrical themes that Mikael Åkerfeldt had not written in for some fifteen years. This release, like it's predecessor "Damnation", has parted many fans of the band and evoked varied and wide opinions, from high amounts of praise to high amounts of criticism. Having signed to Roadrunner Records prior to the release of this album, many fans believed that the band had 'sold out' and that the new record would contain a much more less 'extreme' and 'radio-friendly' sound. A fact that not many people seem to know is that this album was recorded before the band signed the contract with Roadrunner, so that there would be no interference from anyone else other than the band. This fact is pointed out by guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt in the booklet of the special edition of the album, also adding that the representative from Roadrunner 'loved' the album from the moment that the opening track "Ghost of Perdition" kicked in. However, that seems to be enough detail surrounding the album, so let's move on to the actual music.

This was the first album that I heard by Opeth, just under two years ago slightly after it's initial release. This was one of the first 'death metal' albums that I had ever listened to, as at that time I was listening to much more mainstream metal music (I am now into mostly extreme metal now). I use the term 'death metal' with inverted commas as this is no ordinary death metal band, but that is where the band's roots are firmly placed and clearly audible in the music. On first listen to the 67 minute journey, I didn't really know what to think. It didn't really strike me as anything special, but nor was it dreadful, it just all washed over my head. This is a feeling I get listening to a lot of music the first time however, as I sometimes don't pay enough attention to it. I decided therefore to give it another try, and it started to grow on me. I then played it time after time, loving it and then seeking to get hold of their previous albums. Listening to some of the previous material, you would not think that "Orchid" and "Ghost Reveries" were produced by the same band. A lot of the melodic feel and dark atmosphere seems to have been lost, especially from the first four albums. The production is also far more cleaner, and a lot of almost 'jazzy' riffs are present on the latest release. Of course, I am not able to describe my exact feelings on listening to "Ghost Reveries" for the first time nearly two years in too much detail, but at this present time, with a better musical knowledge and background of the album I can describe what a fantastic album it is.

Eight chords ring out, and then with a ferocious blast you are pulled straight into the journey via "Ghost of Perdition". The band's use of an alternate tuning on this album rather than standard is noticeable in this track, with much heavier sounding distorted chords and riffs. Not that Opeth have ever limited themselves to simplistic chords in the past. Per's keyboards fit the music well, although you know they are there, they are not focused on too much, and add a 'symphonic' feel to the album. Mikael's vocals are fantastic, the harsh vocals extremely deep and yet still carrying enough clarity to interpret the lyrics, whilst the clean vocals are very polished and fit in well, especially in the beautifully ethereal acoustic passage about two and a half minutes into the opening track. Further into the song we get a taste of Martin Lopez's amazing double bass speed, with the guitars, bass and drums perfectly synced with Åkerfeldt growling "Ghost of Perdition, a saint's premonition..." over the top. Absolutely astounding. Aggressive, but yet still beautiful. I also think that this shows how good the mixing and mastering of the album was, as each instrument is clearly audible in the balance, whereas on "Blackwater Park" I felt that the drums were not loud enough at times, especially the bass drums, even though Steven Wilson did an excellent job on that release.

"Ghost of Perdition", "The Baying of the Hounds", "Reverie/Harlequin Forest" (although "Reverie" is really a seperate track in the pregap) and "The Grand Conjuration" are the main four heavy numbers. The latter three continue in the vain of the opener as described in the previous paragraph. "The Baying of the Hounds" contains an odd dissonantly harmonised guitar/bass/keyboard riff a few minutes in, which somehow seems to fit the chaos of the song, and then settles down again into another trademark Opeth breakdown. The acoustic passage about 7 minutes into this song is one the best I have ever heard. The song then erupts again, finally ending on the powerfully growled "The Baying of the Hounds, calling me back to my home", which Mikael holds for a few seconds, and it sounds superb. I was never too keen on "Harlequin Forest", but recently I have come to appreciate and like it a lot more. What lets this track down slightly is that it tends to drag on a bit in the middle, similarly to "The Grand Conjuration", and the final riff is repeated far too many times. The unusual intro riff is unlike Opeth, but this with the clean vocals over the top as well as the middle acoustic passage are the highlights of the song. "The Grand Conjuration" is by far the heaviest track on the album, where there is no acoustic to be heard at all, and the only really 'soft' parts of the song are the three-note verses with Mikael virtually whispering over the top. As previously mentioned, this song does tend to drag on fair bit though, but this is redeemed by the blistering solo a few minutes in, one of the finest and aggressive that Mikael has wrote. A video was made for this song, however, I don't care too much for it as the song is shortened by half it's length. The third track "Beneath the Mire" is also one of the album's heavier tracks. The intro to this song is...strange, with the guitars playing stop-start chords over the top of Per Wiberg's almost neoclassical keyboards. About two minutes in the song gets going properly, and then another trademark breakdown occurs, but not before a beautifully played guitar/keyboard harmonised solo that Åkerfeldt and Wiberg have got spot on. That's enough of the heavyness for now, I feel like relaxing a bit.

Relaxation is what you certainly can attain from "Atonement", "Hours of Wealth" and "Isolation Years" (also "Soldier of Fortune" if you have the special edition). "Atonement" is the first lighter track of "Ghost Reveries", nearly half an hour into the album. This song is a sort of 'hitting a brick wall' moment for me, as the past three songs flowed perfectly, and "Atonement" just doesn't seem to fit. It's not that I dislike Opeth's lighter side as I love all their material, I have just never really been that much for this song. I am not saying that it is a bad song, I just can't seem to associate or 'get into' it. The pregap to track five "Reverie" follows this track, with fairly high octave chords playing over a strange but fitting keyboard composition. It serves as a nice little prelude to "Harlequin Forest". Track six, "Hours of Wealth", could easily have been written in the 70's. Although I don't listen or like that much of the progressive rock from that era, Mikael's influence from that is clearly evident here, and this is a beautiful song. The keyboards are perfect, providing a symphonic and melancholic atmosphere to the overall song. The stand out part of this track though is the beautiful guitar solo at the end, where every note is perfect, even if it sounds very similar to the solo that Åkerfeldt played on the track "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" by Porcupine Tree. Then we come to "Isolation Years". This track was a last edition to the album and what stopped it from being a full concept album, but thankfully they included it. This song is three minutes and fifty-one seconds of musical genius. From the main guitar passage that runs throughout, to the opening guitar solo, the perfect bass and drums and the beautiful ethereal keyboards. Certainly the most melancholic and sorrowful song on the album, but don't let that put you off. This song is beautiful. "Soldier of Fortune" is the bonus track on the special edtion and a cover of Deep Purple. It is a solid track, that I neither find amazing or dislike, but it is a nice edition. Having never heard the original song, I can't comment on how good a job they have done in covering it, but my dad has told me and others I have heard claim that they did a great job with it.

So there we have it, we have reached the end of our plight. Certainly not a flawless album, but a new direction that Opeth have taken, and not a bad direction at all. This album is definitely not 'boring' as I have seen many people label it, and many have claimed that it is not 'Opeth' at all. Yet it is, and just simply how Opeth have progressed. I would prefer them to progress in this manner than produce more and more clones of previous albums (although no doubt they would be fantastic too probably). I recommend this album to anyone who likes symphonic metal (even if the keyboards aren't that dominant), or to people who are trying to get used to harsh vocals, as they are not raw on this album like previous albums of the band and the vocals of other bands. Overall, an extremely solid album that deserves much more credit and less criticism than it has already received.

9.3/10.

It seems that with most bands, a move to a more popular label means a change in sound. Whether because a band simply wants to change their sound, or to finally gain some exposure, changing labels, oftentimes and unfortunately, means “sellout”. In Opeth’s case, their move from the now defunct Music For Nations to the popular Roadrunner Records did not mark their commencement as a pop band or the new Michael Bolton. Rather, it just made their music much less complex, less alluring, and more radio-friendly.

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.

However, the once poetic, often-harmonizing duel guitars are nowhere found in Ghost Reveries. Even so, the electric guitar riffs are not very powerful, the acoustic/clean guitar passages really are not hypnotic as on albums past, the solos, although good, are nowhere near as epic as they once were, and the overall musical structure led by the guitars is not very coherent.

The rhythm section, led by Martin Lopez on drums and Martin Mendez on bass, isn’t very exciting either. It seems that Lopez has become substantially more robotic in his drumming techniques, and the bass is often not clearly audible.

Keyboards by Per Wiberg, the latest addition to the band, add the much needed depth to Ghost Reveries, where he does not get overly involved, yet maintains a great balance.

Musically, “Ghost of Perdition” and “Isolation Years” are the keepers here, creating a sense of awe that bring to Opeth the respect they deserve.

Still, some songs don’t even get anywhere. “Reverie/Harlequin Forest” begins with a haunting, atmospheric siege of Opeth originality. However, almost in the blink of an eye, the song changes to a monotonous, palm-muted, pseudo technical riff near the end and fades out that way. “The Grand Conjuration”, proclaimed by many to be their biggest hit off the album, is a complete waste of genius.

Overall, Ghost Reveries lacks depth and direction. The album is not terrible, but just not something to compare to their previous achievements. Ghost Reveries, although a bit boring and monotonous, will probably appeal mostly to newer audiences (which was probably Opeth’s intention), but it certainly will not add emphasis to their already existing fanbase.

Opeth just keep getting better. It’s hard to think of another band that has shown as much consistent growth through its career, with each successive album developing and expanding on its predecessor’s ideas, sounds and modes of expression. “Ghost Reveries”, Opeth’s eighth release, brings together the poetic and pastoral elements of “Still Life” and “Damnation” and fuses them with the pneumatic power of “Deliverance” and “Blackwater Park” to produce music that is dramatic and brutally powerful yet also graceful and at times spine-tingling.

For “Ghost Reveries” Opeth parted company with Steven Wilson, producer of the preceding three albums, and the result has been a subtle step forward in tone and phrasing. The double kick-drum assault and aggressive riffing remain but there’s a new focus on longer, more liquid phrasing and a stronger, symphonic sense of story in the lengthier songs. Rather than being simply a scrapbook of ideas, which has been a criticism leveled at some of the band’s earlier work, there’s more of a developmental flow through the movements in the epic tracks on “Ghost Reveries”. The powerful opener “Ghost of Perdition” begins with a typical Opeth salvo of guitars and drums before introducing a theme which morphs and snakes its way through the various movements to the powerful, sudden death ending. The motif is still recognizable, if only subliminally, bringing a satisfying wholeness to the track. It’s an example of “theme and variations” in the classical sense.

True to past form, though, whilst moving on creatively the disc maintains stylistic links with the earlier series of albums. “Atonement” re-explores an Arabic theme with drummer Martin Lopez returning to the darabukkah featured on “Deliverance” as the keys and guitars combine to weave a sinuous melody that is almost Zep-ish. The Leslie effect on the vocals is another subtle homage to Wilson. “Reverie / Harlequin Forest”, the symphonic standout of the album, features several distinctive movements with dramatic changes of mood and pace. A prominent feature of the track is a long outro reminiscent of the landmark “Deliverance” coda, rephrasing the earlier track’s staccato signature while inserting a serpentine lick that maintains the Arabic feel.

The climax comes with “The Grand Conjuration”, the power metal overload that every Opeth fan craves, and it doesn’t disappoint. The band would have been justified in closing the album with this monster outing but chose instead to leave with the almost tearful “Isolation Years”, affirming the band’s commitment to contrast in colour and theme.

Akerfeldt’s and Lindgren’s guitar work excels throughout, the interplay now uncannily instinctive, a phenomenon borne out in live performance. Now a permanent member, Per Wiberg sees his keys, especially the deftly deployed Mellotron, placed on almost equal footing with the guitars in shaping the tone colour of the band. Drummer Lopez has now left Opeth and his work on this album, characterized by his flawless timing and dynamics, will most likely be his most enduring testament. Bass players rarely get a mention in metal unless they sing but Martin Mendez’ playing sits up in the mix with satisfying fatness and clarity. His fluid licks in the climax to “Baying of the Hounds” are a highlight in what must be regarded as a classic Opeth track.

Is this Opeth’s best album? That’s a discussion that could occupy Opeth fans endlessly. Nonetheless, I’ve listened to “Ghost Reveries” at least twenty times. It never becomes stale, I’m never tempted to skip a track, nor do I ever feel inclined to shuffle the tracks, the order and flow being as important as the songs themselves to creating the album’s personality. While “Ghost Reveries” was the first Opeth album I ever heard, I now own all eight plus the “Lamentations” DVD, and I have to say that “GR” remains the favourite.

I couldn’t award it anything less than 100 percent.

Opeth are one of the few bands who have not yet put a foot wrong in their muscial career, not so much as a little toe wrong in fact. Over seven albums of incredibly high quality metal, they've truly forged their own path, and seem to have become seriously popular almost in spite of themselves. Of course, the result of such consistent output means that expectations for 2005's Ghost Reveries were almost unreasonably high, and coupled with a high-profile move to Roadrunner, it might not have been surprising if Opeth finally fucked up.

First impressions were promising though. The artwork is as gorgeous as ever, and I think it's important never to underestimate the importance of artwork and image - I wouldn't judge a band on it, but to me, a band that puts care and effort into creating a consistency of approach across everything that bears their name creates a world of their own that the listener can lose themselves in, and in this way the band transcends the music industry and becomes something far greater, something to believe in. I'm thinking here of bands like Maiden, Emperor, and Mastodon, and the extra something that they bring to their bands is what turns me from fan into obsessive.

From the first track, Ghost of Perdition, any fears that the relationship with Roadrunner would result in a compromised watered down Opeth (as if!) are immediately allayed. Over 10 minutes long, the song immediately recalls The Leper Affinity, the opening track from Blackwater Park, but with far more prominent keyboards, a feature of this album. The melodies are instantly memorable, the riffing is ferocious, and if anything, this is a more progressive and complex Opeth than ever before.

The Baying of the Hounds, another 10 minute track (Not that you'd know it. Opeth have a natural tendency towards the epic, but never, thankfully, towards the repititive and boring.) is so organ-heavy it's almost reminiscent of the Spiritual Beggars, had they ever enjoyed fruitful sex with the entire Swedish Death Metal scene. A noticeable trend on this album is that Akerfeldt increasingly employs his rich clean vocals over heavy guitar passages, where on previous records the vocals had been segregated much more into clean vox over clean guitars, and growling over distorted guitars. In fact, there's not much growling on the album at all. Perhaps in time this element will be lost from their music altogether, but I'm not sure it matters too much.

Ghost Reveries as a whole is the record (discounting Damnation, which was an experiment in folky prog) where Opeth's often professed prog rock influences really come to the fore, and pervade every aspect of the music. Long discordant guitar runs recall King Crimson's classic 70s concept albums, and some of the melodic keyboard work is not dissimilar to Rush at their finest. The proggy sound definitely suits Opeth, bringing a more opulent and expansive feel to their music. In keeping with this, Arabic-sounding scales are to be found all over the record, on Beneath the Mire and Atonement in particular. It's a wonderful thing when a band breaks out of a trademark sound, however great a sound that might have been, and Opeth manage to do it on Ghost Reveries, without losing too much of the aspects that made them so brilliant in the first place.

The album progresses through various moods (Christ that looks wanky when it's written down) until it reaches the grandest statement of all in The Grand Conjuration, possibly the best thing Opeth have ever done. A gradual build-up and release of tension, this song features some staggering guitar work, brutal staccato riffing, and - classic Opeth - a mournful guitar semi-solo towards the end. If this is psychedelic high of the record, then the late-night comedown is Isolation Years, the final track on the album, and a fitting ending. A beautifully sad song, sung and played entirely clean, it's the aural equivalent of the storm whipped up by the preceding tracks clearing, but laying a trail of destruction in its wake.

Ghost Reveries has much to recommend it. It's not their best album, Blackwater Park still hangs together as a coherent piece of work rather better. At times, the sheer sense of adventure lends a somewhat scattershot air to proceedings, but even so, there's something to admire in almost every song. Not an album that reveal it's charms all at once, like a cheap hooker, instead it's a classier beast altogether, and one you'll fall in love with over many listens.

One day, Opeth might release a shit album, but this isn't it. It's Opeth growing older and maturing, but magnificently so.

The music on “Ghost Reveries” couldn’t be described as totally original: some songs on the album actually seem to steal parts of the music from each other, especially the mellow, jazzy parts. The album doesn’t really blow your brains out. It hasn’t got much in the music that really is a good choice. There are a few bits that returns the Opeth spirit, and some bits that just haunts the spirit away.

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.

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!

One good point for the album, but it’s a thing Opeth always does: They are always on the count. The chorus of The Grand Conjuration, and Beneath the Mire prove that.
But, on the otherside, the album doesn’t sound emotional. The Metal parts and the mellow parts are at exactly the same volume. Dynamics don’t occur on the album; they just ignore the fact how effective music can be if it’s not constantly played at the same volume. They definitely could’ve done this much better.

But there still are some songs/parts who stand out:
- The acoustical part of Ghost of Perdition, so beautiful and well played.
- The second Solo of the guitar and keyboard in the Baying of the Hounds, very good timing and a very good solo either!
- The first part and the acoustical part of Reverie/Harlequin Forest.
- Hours of Wealth, the entire song. Especially the intro rocks, but the verse isn’t that bad either. I have my doubts about the solo though.
- The Grand Conjuration, entire song, because it’s the only song on Ghost Reveries that comes close to the original Opeth songs.
- 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.

If you want to check out Opeth, don’t start with this album! Also, if you like Opeth, don’t buy, or listen to it either! The music has changed so much; it better could be considered Jazz metal instead of extreme prog metal.
It’s best to download Hours of Wealth, The Grand Conjuration, Isolation Years, and Ghost of Perdition, burn them on a blank CD and call it: “The Revised Edition of Ghost Reveries”. It’s a bummer though, this could’ve been a very good album, If Opeth just gave it some more attention on certain points.

Opeth has always had the right edge for creating some fairly talented songs. However, this album had me falling asleep after the first two songs. I feel myself drifting off to sleep everytime I listen to this piece of shit. In their last albums, they at least had the common decency to make their songs shorter and more interesting.

The guitars are the usual Opeth style that you hear. They act as more of a counter-melody and try to fill in the gaps of the rest of the song. Yet, they are only appreciated with the few good parts they play. Often times, the guitars are held back by some cheap acoustic, half-time feel, or the rediculous vocals. If the guitars didn't have to keep switching between styles, then they may be more appreciated.

The music switches styles periodically within many of the songs. For one minute, you'll hear a doomish metal sound, then it'll switch to an acoustic creepy part, and then to an extremely random blues style. The styles soften up too quickly and too much. Most of the album is a blues, jazz, metal mix. I'm thinking to myself the entire time, what happened to them?

Songs are way too long to be able to maintain the interest of the listeners. Unless you're one of those people who can listen to an entire Abruptum or Mortiis album without getting bored, then you can withstand this. However, not everyone has the attention-span of others. With the periodically changing styles, it makes it hard to concentrate on the actual music. You will feel yourself drifting to dreamland by the end of the second song.

Vocals are entirely pointless. They might as well be an instrumental band, because these vocals serve no purpose for anyone. The so-called harsh vocals are completely annoying. It's one of those moments where a decent song is ruined out of someone's need to be involved. The clean vocals are somewhat needed, however overused. The cleaner vocals only fit in well in certain areas. Opeth manages to miss almost every single area, and they fill that area in with bluesey guitar riffs.

This album is a complete snooze-fest. Only get this album if you're a huge fan of Opeth, or one of those people with a high attention-span. Almost everything about this album is completely pointless or overused. If Opeth had someone to just tell them that they need to consider maintaining people's attention, then maybe they'll go somewhere.

This is the new studio album from the Swedish Prog/Death Metal band Opeth and quite possibly the best yet. Now this is surprising because most bands tend to become worse with later albums but with Opeth they only seem to get better and better. They may one day be recognized as underground metal legends.

Anyways from a production standpoint this album is among the best I have heard... ever (from any genre). You really hear and predicted the emense amount of care, time and dedication it took to create this album. The one thing that really caught my ear was that the guitar sound is huge. Also this is the first album with their new keyboardist Per Wilberg and his additions to the band are spectacular. Now for the songs:

1. 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

2. The Baying of the Hounds: Now here's a mean one. This song starts off with one HUGE powerchord which is then rung out and leads into some really awesome death metal. The use of an E-bow along with Per's keyboard really sets an evil atmosphere in this song. Eventually it kicks into a very staccato, awkwardly timed, riff (many of these style riffs are found throughout this album more often then other Opeth albums) After this bit Mikael begins to sing clean over the heavy riffage. Now, on this album Mikael seems to sing clean much more often and over the heavy parts quite a bit which I think is great. His voice suits the heavy bits so well, its disturbing. The mellow parts in this song are more based around Per's keyboard playing along with Mikael's vocals and really set a dark mood. There is also a sick guitar solo at the end of this one. All in all.. this song is heavy. Period. 10/10

3. Beneath the Mire: This song begins with Per playing a wierd middle-eastern style mellowtron line while Peter and Mikael staccato strum a cool guitar bit over it. The thing that really drives this part though is Mendez's bass line. Fucking class stuff. After the intro the song breaks into slightly slower paced death metal. Really evil (vile?) sounding. Haunting in a way. Reminds me of Hypocrisy. Again it breaks into some more heavy staccato riffage with Mikael using his clean vox once again. Then into a beautiful mellow piece with Per driving it on the grand piano. Some nice clean vox harmonies follow and then into what sounds like either Per soloing on his keyboard OR Mikael with a harmonizer pedal. Of course it breaks right back into some very heavy riffage and guess what... more clean vox :) . This part of the song is very epic. Very intense. A SICK guitar solo follows. The greatest thing about Opeth is they never shred. Instead they just whip out beautifully crafted (prog'ish) solo's that rule. This song then ends with Lopez's weirdly timed, floor tom driven beat. 9/10

4. 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

5. Reverie/Harlequin Forest: Now this song is the main "epic" tune of the album. It kicks into action with atmospheric metal riffage and a very moving/melancholic vocal melody. Something that stands out right off the start is that Lopez is great at creating "wierd" and very creative drum beats. No standard rock/metal beats here. Anyways, the tune continues on in this pattern and then eventually starts with some death growls and the riffage changes to a more groove based bit. After this it kicks into a nice acoustic passage with some very nice bass work from Mendez. It breaks down into a guitar only part with Mikael singing a very sad sounding melody and then continues on with some more acoustic guitar. The mellow bit continues with Lopez and Mendez crashing in and then with Per adding some atmosphere later. This is one of the nicest and well thought out mellow parts on the album. It also has a dazzling guitar harmony. In fact this mellow part could be a song in itself. Actually I guess it is in a way. It's the Harlequin Forest "movement" of the song and the better half. It eventually breaks into some more heavy metal riffage with a sustained high scream from Mikael. It continues on as a straight up death metal tune. It ends with some more oddly timed, staccato riffage and the use of sustain E-bow notes. Really adds to the creepy, dark feel. Amazing "Epic" :) 10/10

6. Hours of Wealth: This is a beautiful song. Purely Beautiful. Very guitar driven with the addition of Per playing a mellotron over it. Eventually the song is complemented by Mendez's bass work which is very simple yet beautifully executed. Less is more at times. Per really takes off on this one when the grand piano enters after around 2 minutes. At the 2:30 mark all stops except for a few chords on the piano and Mikael delivering what sounds to be one of his most heartfelt vocals yet. This song is then ended with Mikael delivering a very smooth and beautifully crafted "blues" guitar solo and a long one at that. It is one of my favorite songs on the album. 10/10 (sometimes less really is more)

7. The Grand Conjuration: Hours of Wealth really did the job to mellow you out before this onslaught. This is the single heaviest song on the album and has a horrifyingly awesome main riff. This is also one of the few times Opeth has kept one riff as the main theme for a song. This displays some of Mendez's best bass work. He sounds damn good when paired up with a bass distortion pedal. It is overall a very bass driven track. The verses show Mikael once again introducing a never before seen style of singing. Very eerie. This song also has the habit of just exploding into pure death metal out of seemingly nowhere. At about the 3 minute mark Mikael tears up a mean solo, which then leads into one of the more atmospheric riff's on the album. It then breaks into the most root-wise "death metal" part of the entire album. Reminds me of Mikael's old Bloodbath project with Dan Swano. Per does a nice, little mellotron bit and then it kicks right into Mikaels most violent scream yet. The riffage in this tune is generally faster than most Opeth songs with the exception of some things off Deliverance. The E-bow is once again used in this tune to give it a really frightening feel. It eventually kicks back into the main riff and verse. Lopez actually found a way to work foreign drums in on this one again. How he did it? I have no clue but my god does it really give this song a creepy shaman dance vibe. It ends with the main riff. Basically this song scared the shit out of me.. and I loved it. 9/10

8. Isolation Years: Now this is a real gem. One of the most stunningly beautiful songs to come out of the metal genre in many years. It begins with a slightly but not overly dissonant sounding guitar part that is nicely complemented by another bluesy guitar solo. The verse that it continues into reminds me of something along the lines of "Credence" off "My Arms, Your Hearse," but the chorus is just fucking brilliant. Mikaels vocals at this point gave me chills. So damn beautiful. This is also one of if not the only Opeth tune to stick to Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Outro and is done very well. No commercially charged band can pull this off like Opeth. It is also around 3 minutes long. It is basically a closing tune for the album and almost pushed me to tears during the first listen. 10/10

Band Member Performance:

Peter: Sadly, I couldn't really tell how much Peter added since both him and Mikael play guitar on the albums BUT the guitar sound on this album, the riffage and the general atmosphere sent by this album is beyond comparison. Because of this... Peter.. we salut you :thumbsup:

Mendez: The bass on this album is brilliant. Very full sounding. Now what really shown through is that Mendez, though a very technically able player, knows when to just hit "the note" He uses a lot of simplicity on this album and it really shines. I was really moved by a lot of his playing and thats a lot for me. Plus his bass playing on "The Grand Conjuring" won him a few points in my book.

Lopez: He really mixed things up on this one. He made consistant use of many different styles of drums, beats and techniques and really helped create something unique. His drumming single handedly made this album a much stonger personal experience for me. He practically sets the grooves and does a damn good job at it.

Per: This was Opeths first album with a full time pianist and it sounded very good. Very full. I'm also very happy to see they didn't shove him in the background of things and really let him shine through. Especially on tracks like "Hours of Wealth," and "The Baying of the Hounds." Opeth have much to gain by keeping this guy. Great stuff.

Mikael: .... Im speechless. His performance on this album is beautiful. Firstly, his voice is fantastic on this album. The best yet. It's sick how nice he sounds. And it's not just an alarm clock metal voice. You could put this guy beside the likes of Jeff Buckley or Thom Yorke. His songwriting speaks for itself. Basically everything I've said in this review. His soloing is top notch. The thing that gets me is that he poured so much heart, soul and above all honesty into this record that he truely reminded me why Opeth is my favorite band and why we play music.

Overall: This is music at it's best. If you are a metal, prog, rock, blues, jazz, classical, or world music fan then you should own this. Fucking brilliant.

The previous two albums, Deliverance and Damnation were supposed to be linked as one album, showing the brutal side of Opeth (Deliverance) and the soft side (Damnation). Deliverance was only just a little heavier and slightly worse than the rest of the Opeth catalogue, however Damnation was completely new. Featuring new death vocals or even any crashing guitars or drums of any sort, this showed the quiet side of Opeth and showcased Mikael's clean vocals, which were, as usual, fantastic. However, the album as a whole really didn't tickle my fancy...it had some good moments and the usual Opeth excellent musicianship and technicality, but it obviously lacked what Opeth was all about: light to dark music, creative touches thrown in their music to give it some flair, like Middle Eastern influences and whatnot, and long, moving songs. It was a change, but not exactly what I was hoping for.

Ghost Reveries was an album promised to go back to the days of Still Life and Blackwater Park, and indeed it has done just that, if not even even better. The change this time comes in the amount of clean vocals mixed with heavy guitars. Usually Opeth albums go from solid black (crahsing guitars and death vocals) to solid white (acoustic and clean vocals). The only exception I can think of is Bleak off Blackwater Park at this moment, but even then the tone of the music changed significantly when the clean vocals came. In this album, I'd say about 65% of the vocals are sung. That's right, easily over half the time. In fact, three songs are completely quiet and beautiful focusing on subtle guitar and mellotron work and Mikael's fantastic voice.

Speaking of mellotron, it is here in abundance. Beneath The Mire, Hours of Wealth...nah forget it, all the songs have mellotron floating all over the place, and it's used quite well. That brings up another point: Opeth is really in touch with their prog side here. Mellotron everywhere, keyboards as well, lots of variety in the songs, creativity in heaps and mounds, great harmonies and technically difficult music, everything a 70s classic like Selling England By The Pound or Red has this album has just as much of. I'd even go so far as to say it's more creative than some of Genesis's efforts, and definitely ELPs. King Crimson and Yes still beat it out though, which is why I love them too.

As for the songs, like I said earlier, they are all varied and original. Ghosts of Perdition opens with crashing guitars and vocals, and you think, alright, more typical Opeth. However, this thought only lasts momentary, as prog influences and some interesting passages come out of nowhere. The bottom of the heaviness completely falls out around 2:35, where Mikael's clean vocals come out beautifully with the words "Higher...higher". 4:20 shwos the first example of heaviness coupled with clean vocals on the album, rather reminscent of Katatonia's work. 6:30 is really heavy and really badass. Around 7:30 there's some good mellotron coupled with a flute, and then jumps back into heavy mode with a different tone. It ends with Mikael's voice singing "Higher...higher...higher" again...goes heavy for a second, and then ends, kinda lamely, but hey. 10/10

The next saying, "Baying of the Hounds" starts brutal, and is also kinda typical, but not as much as The Grand Conjuration. 2:00 to around 3:30 is singing with guitars, and works marvelously in this section, with layed vocals and harmonies everywhere, and a nice mellotron in the background. I absolutely adore the section from 3:30 to 5:30, reminds me of the interlude in Bleak. As for the heavy sections, there's not much to say about them except they rock! They're basically the same as other heavy Opeth sections. I do notice a little more heaviness and typical heavy metal though, in them. These are the parts that Opeth said would be more death metal-y. They're actually very melodeath-y, but you get the point.

Next is Beneath The Mire, which is a fantastic song. It's got some fabulous heavy sections that mix acoustic with heavy guitars seamlessly at the same time. Then there's sections where the mellotron creates an almost Egyptian feel to it all while the guitars and drums make for an interesting background. The heavy parts in this song really are killer. 3:30 we go into another subtle guitar time, yet it remains interesting the whole way. 5:30 is really the first point on the album where my beef with the album becomes prominent. The clean vocals really just don't fit here. Either make it no vocals or death vocals, not clean, because it doesn't fit at all here. It's like taking the title track of Blackwater Park and putting clean vocals to it all. Doesn't happen. The song trails of with somethign quite interesting, kinda a crazy little section that sounds ripped right off Relayer, with instruments creating a great atmosphere with sorta a pounding heart feeling. Great stuff.

Next is Atonement, a purely soft song. However, it takes the Egyptian/Middle Eastern vibes of the last one and amplifies it greatly. The result is a great song with a good groove and awesome piano and guitar and bomgos, I think. Problem is, it's two minutes too long. It'd be great if it stopped at around 4:30 by quietly floating out, or even at around 5:20 with the soft noises fading out, but it keeps going. It's not that bad, but it could be shorter. Otherwise, freakin' awesome song.

Reverie/Harlequin Forest is next. This song contains my main problem with the album again: clean vocals where death vocals are needed. Right away it starts clean, and it's not bad, but I think it'd be much better if they toughened the music a little and put death metal vocals in. The first four minutes are basically hit or miss, mostly miss unfortunately. After four minutes it gets quiet for a bit, but even this is kinda lackluster htis time around, not because it's getting old, but because it's kinda badly executed. The tempo slows a bit. At 7:19 there's a crashing riff, greeted by...more clean vocals? It doesn't work this time, even worse than the first four minutes. It's kinda annoying. It eneds with some start and stop instrumentals which is kinda weird but works. Not my favorite song on the album.

Hours of Wealth. This song should be 3 and a half minutes, not 5 and a half. It starts slow, as this song is all soft too. The beginning isn't bad, but the song doesn't pick up until one minute in. It's good until about 4:20 where it's just som guitar work floating around, which is nice, but it goes on way too long. Not bad, though, I do really like this song.

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.

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.

Overall, this album has a load of awesome sections, a couple great sections, and a very few only mediocre sections. Mostly the problems are stretching songs out too much and clean vocals where deathy ones woulda worked better.

Metal sections: 9/10
Light sections: 9.5/10
Creativity: 10/10
Performance/Skill: 10/10
Variety: 9/10
Lasting Appeal: 10/10 (Hell, if anything it grew on me and I liked it from day one)
Ghosts of Perdition: 10/10
Baying of the Hounds: 10/10
Beneath The Mire: 10/10
Atonement: 9.5/10
Reverie/Harlequin Forest: 8/10
Hours of Wealth: 9/10
The Grand Conjuration: 7/10
Isolation Years: 8.5/10

9 + 9.5 + 10 + 10 + 9 +10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 9.5 + 8 + 9 + 7 + 8.5 = 129.5
129.5/14 = 9.25 = 92.5 = 93.

Final Score: 93. Amazing album, Opeth.

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.

So now for the album...

At first I will admit, Ghost Reveries didn't strike me straight away. I don't think disappointment is the right word to use, but I will use it anyway. It then came to me that I am like this with every Opeth album on first listen. They always have to grow on me, and once they grow on me, I realise that this is truly incredible stuff. This is exactly how I feel about GR. Once again, musically, this is a masterpiece.

Musically, this is a better album than Deliverance. I could even go as far as saying that this is better than Blackwater Park. GR might not be as heavy as these 2 albums, but it sure has the upper hand on them as far as the music goes. The cleaner and acoustic parts on GR are a lot better than Deliverance and BWP's cleaner/acoustic moments. The clean/acoustic work on here is their best work since Still Life (leaving out the Damnation album) IMO. Heavy wise, its probably as heavy as Still Life though Tracks like Ghost Of Perdition and The Grand Conjuration could fit in nicely with BWP and Deliverance any day.

Some of the songs on here have more variations in them than any song on the last 5 Opeth albums. This is most noticable in Ghost Of Perdition and The Baying Of The Hounds. For a track that is just under 8 minutes, Beneath The Mire has about as many variations as any song on BWP or Deliverance where the average length of a track on those albums is around 10 - 12 minutes. The amount of variations in these songs is where you can compare it to Orchid and Morningrise.

Mikael's clean vocals are his best yet. I didn't think he could out do his Damnation work, but he has certainly out done himself here. His vocals on Atonement and Hours Of Wealth especially are absolutely flawless and you cannot ask for anything more. His growling is also excellent as usual. I'd say this is the first Opeth album where the growls and clean vocals are equally used compared to the growling being the dominant vocal style on the other albums. Thats not really much of a problem for me because his vocal styles are one of the best in the metal scene.

The keyboards also add an amazing atmosphere to the music as well. They can give a very black metal like feeling at times, especially in The Baying Of The Hounds and The Grand Conjuration.

The only reasons why I wont give this a perfect score is because of a few little things. The intro to Beneath The Mire can be a little cheesy at first, but it does grow on you eventually, besides this riff, the rest of the song is amazing. Also some of Mikael's clean vocals can sound awful at times. Not that this is necessarily a bad thing, can just sound weird or cheesy. But this only my opinion, I am sure others like it. The Grand Conjuration, which is the heaviest track on the album, is also the weakest and what lets that one done is lack of acoustic/clean melodies compared to the other songs. Not necessarily a bad thing, just lets it down a bit. Other than these areas, which are very small mind you, you once again have another Opeth masterpiece.

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).

A contender for album of the year? I think so

Ikil

No. No it doesn't. On the whole, this is a quieter effort than the Swedish masters have produced in the past - bar the band's recent entirely folk/prog rock effort, Damnation - yet Ghost Reveries still packs a hell of a lot of punch.

FIrst up is "Ghost Of Perdition", one of the two tracks leaked onto the net a few months back. Opening with ethereal guitar strumming, you'd be forgiven for expecting a "Closure" style ballad. Not so; we're suddenly blasted by a minute of Still Life-era heavy riffage. This is followed by Mikael giving more variety than we've yet heard in his vocals, leading into a melodic guitar section combining double-bass drums with some subtle mellotrons. This continues for another minute or so, until we get to the classic Opeth death-vox-meets-melodious-guitar segments we all know and love. Lopez shines on the drumming throughout the album, and this is a great kick-off point for his displayed skills, rivalling those of Sean Reinert or Dan Swano. At about 2:30, the track brings in the first quiet section of the album, which includes a rather beautiful harmony from Mikael, and brings Mendez's bass to the forefront, which is good, as I've always felt Opeth has lacked strong bass work since Morningrise. At the end of this relaxing interlude, the Gilmour-esque guitar wailing brings us back to reality, with Lopez's fills and Peter's riffs backing up another clean verse from Mikael. More nice melodies bring us to an astounding drum section, and more clean vocals, then about seven minutes in we hear Per Wiberg's mellotrons and Mikael's acoustic guitar adding life to an already pounding track. Per's keys are fairly consistent throughout the rest of the track, which ends on a heavy rendition of the song's first quiet interlude. A great start for the album, and with it's prog doom-death feel, would have felt most in place on Still Life.

The next track, "Baying Of The Hounds", begins with Deep Purple style organ riffs courtesy of Per while Mikael belts out lyrics that seem to be deliberate parodies of black metal's occult themes. This death-polka segment, almost remniscent of Finntroll, continues for about two minutes, then the organ continues while Mikael's vocals shift gears and we get some excellent harmonious verses - "you are are everything, they are nothing". Some very progressive guitar work follows, with Peter Lindgren tearing up and down the scale and switching time signatures like Buzz Osborne on crack. The next few minutes are a jazzy, subdued segment with some clean vocals and a lot of bass. This breaks into a black metal inspired epic riff, with eerie keyboards and constant double-bass kicks combined with Mikael's ever-asskicking death vocals. A Blackwater Park era segment rounds out the next few minutes, and then a quiet drum-and-acoustic section, with requisite mellotrons, jumpstarts into the song's final section - a heavy segment very, very reminiscent of My Arms Your Hearse if mixed with some Porcupine Tree style riffs (I think the mellotron and the general melody gives me this impression). That section is easily one of the best on the album. As with most Opeth tracks, "The Baying Of The Hounds" twists and turns for almost ten minutes, and ends up sounding nothing like it did in the beginning. Excellent.

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.

The first real quiet track of the album is "Atonement", with some nice subdued drumming and synth effects alongside Mikael's skillful solo work, which is often likened to that of David Gilmour. More keyboard effects come in to play here, and bongo-style drumming that builds up to Damnation style filtered clean vocals. A mellotron-rich harmony section brings the guitars back in, and we repeat the idea for another verse or two. Before some beautiful lounge piano comes in at around four minutes. This song seems to be set up to balance Mikael and Pers and show off their respective skills. At around 5:20, the song cuts out, then comes back in after a few seconds for a soft finale that lasts a minute and feels like it was ripped straight from Damnation. Guitar and keyboard synths cease just in time to blast right into the next track - however, this makes me think that the advance copy of the album which I got may not be 100% complete, as I'd believe that this last minute should be a part of the next song, much like the first minute of "The Apostle In Triumph" was always meant to be the final minute of "Requiem". Oh well.

"Reverie / Harlequin Forest" is a roaring track, very reminiscent of Blackwater Park in it's balance of heavy and soft movements. Again the lyrics follow a dark, occult theme - "a trail of sickness leading to me, if I am haunted then you will see." One wonders if this is a concept album like My Arms Your Hearse or Still Life. I suppose when I buy a copy and read the lyrics, I'll know for sure. Anyway, the first few minutes of this song are very proggy, with clean vocals and subtle organ work. The heavy vocals come in about three minutes along, but are still clear enough to be understood. A soft segment from Mikael and Mendez follows, then both drums and bass drop away for a solo of Mikael's vocals and guitars, that gradually brings in Per's keyboards to create an eerie, atmospheric quality. Mikael's acoustic comes back, as he begins to sing about trees (guess it fits in with the title, haha) in a deeply warm and melancholic fashion. He then gets another soft guitar segment punctuated by Lopez's fills until Peter's guitar storms into the scene again. "It's all false pretension, harlequin forest, awaiting redemption for a lifetime..." Sticking to the same melody, the song grows heavy for a while and then soft again, then ends with odd time-signatures, much like the previous song. Not as memorable as the others, but still has some excellent moments, especially in terms of vocals.

Now we get to the real quiet part of the album, "Hours Of Wealth". To say this is relaxing is an understatement. If you hated Damnation, you'll loathe this track, but then again in that case you'd probably be the kind of person who thinks Cannibal Corpse is the pinnacle of music. This is probably one of the best songs on the album, and reminds me a lot of "Weakness". It's incredibly quiet, with Mikael's voice layered to provide some beautiful effects. The music is minimalist keyboard and acoustic guitar for the most part, and the lyrics continue the band's on-again-off-again themes of solitude and suicide. "Looking through my window, I seem to recognise all the people passing by. But I'm alone, and far from home... nobody knows me." A cold, distant guitar solo winds up this heartbreaking track, which feels like a somewhat calculated prequel to "Dirge For November ".

Perhaps the most epic song on the album, and surely what will become the most crowd-pleasing due to it's catchiness, it's easy to see why "The Grand Conjuration" was the first track leaked to the internet. The main riff, which is heard throughout a large majority of the track, is brutal and certainly encourages headbanging. An incredibly cool clean vocal melody drives the verses, along with "Demon Of The Fall" style whispered, filtered backing vocals, and keyboard effects bordering on electronica. The heavy vocal sections are backed with asskicking mellotrons that give a black metal feel, pounding drum fills, and Peter's soaring, gothic melodies. The buildup at around 3:45 leads on to a heavy section with some excellent double-bass drums, and also drops in some nice keyboard interludes, before soaring to a heavy section replete with more mellotrons and a filtered death scream, which heads perhaps the heaviest section on the album in terms of both music and vocals. The albums builds up - with whispering, demonic voices - to a goddamn brutal version of the opening riff, which rolls along straight to fadeout (during which Eastern-sounding drums and chants can be briefly heard). This will be a killer ending to their live sets, and may even replace "Demon Of The Fall" as their encore song if it gets received like I expect it to be.

The album closer, and shortest song on display, is a nice little quiet piece called "Isolation Years". Basically, if you like "Hours Of Wealth", you will like this one. Quiet, acoustic, with a bit more bass guitar, and more mellotrons and more emotional singing. The final synth and acoustic guitar fadeout closes the album beautifully.

Has Opeth gotten more technical and progressive? Yes, certainly. But by no means has this compromised their heaviness. And, to reverse that statement, by no means does their heaviness (or their addition to the Roadrunner Records lineup) compromise their seriousness as artists. This is an incredible band, and to be quite frank, it's those who are too dumb to realise this that like to brand Opeth as boring or weak before going and listening to their roster of generic grindcore or pathetic mallcore acts. Opeth are progressive without being wanky, and they produce doom-death without becoming a one-trick pony. And that in itself is worth enormous praise.

Easily the best metal act of today.