GHOST REVERIES

Opeth are one of my favorite bands ever and I love every different shade of their music. Now they are considered as a complete prog entity, while in the past they were liked mostly by metal listeners. But they have always had a prog edge, from the beginning. And 'Ghost Reveries' was really prog oriented! I remember that they released a video for the song 'The grand conjuration' at that time; it was very raw and they said the director did not understand them, as they were not exactly a metal band. This is explicative of them: they use many languages but they are not caged in anyone. In this album Mikael's voice is at its top, both when it is clean and growling. Not even to say that his guitar ability is breathtaking; in some of the songs here there is an intricacy combined with an intensity that I have never seen in none else. What I love as well in this album is the almost 'jazzy' touch of Martin Lopez on the drums. Furthermore the songs are perfectly produced, and the sound is always poferwul and crystalline at the same time. But as far as I am concerned the real plus of 'Ghost reveries' is Per Wiberg's keyboards (piano, mellotron, moog, hammond): it gives to the songs a psychedelic sound that makes them unique. It is like a touch of 70's in a death metal framework: I think none else did anything similar. I saw them live during the tour and I amazed by this aspect of their music. Coming to the songs: 'Ghost of perdition' is simply one of their best songs ever. Even now, after many years, it is always in their setlist. It is like a rollercoaster of lights and shadows, condensing centuries of music in ten minutes. 'The baying of the hounds' is again an intricate succession of very heavy and very soft parts. Riffing is devastating! 'Beneath the mire' is another great piece of music. In this case what shocks me is a mellotron giving something like a Middle Eastern flavor. 'Atonement'is a really melodic song, mostly instrumental. Very sweet and silken, like a deep breath of fresh air. 'Reverie'Harlequin forest' is the track more reminiscent to 'Blackwater park'. 'Hours of wealth' is again a very soft and mainly based on a tapestry of keyboards and the acoustic guitar. It shows how awesomely evocative Mikael's voice can be. 'The grand conjuration' is the most conventionally Opeth song. 'Isolation years' is the last song of the album and the shorter as well. It is melanchonic with its intertwinement of soft guitar and mellotron.

'Ghost reveries' is Opeth at their finest.