GHOST REVERIES

I feel like a bit of a bitch for blagging a pre-release version of this album but don't worry because I will definitely be buying a real copy when it comes out. I have heard quite a few people saying that this album is good but doesn't offer much that hasn't been heard on previous albums. I think this is a very fair point and sometimes it is true, yet I am going to go against the grain and say there is a lot of new things here, I will also explain why I think this.

"Ghost Reveries" has the vocals and riffage that is most reminiscent of "My Arms, Your Hearse" and "Blackwater Park". Very dark and brutal. This album has a lot of experimental aspects on tracks like "Atonement", "The Grand Conjuration" and "The Baying of the Hounds" that is similar to some things they tried out on "Deliverance". There is also a lot of the acoustic parts that sound like "Blackwater Park" and "Damnation". "Hours of Wealth" and "Isolation Years" are complet acoustic tracks that sound like "Damnation". There is also a heavy use of keyboards/Hammonds/Mellotrons.

However, Opeth take all these aspects and make new uses for them. "The Baying of the Hounds" shows off experimental sides that are completely different to anything previous. The riffage is also new, yet still very Opeth sounding. The opening riff on "The Baying of the Hounds" is showing off some new styles and sounds like something they haven't really done before. The acoustic tracks sounds less like they are done for the hell of it and feel like they have a better placement on the album. The drum patterns on the opening track are very original for Opeth too.

"Atonement" is an amazing, mostly instrumental piece that sounds like it has invited symphonic rock into its overall prog metal feel. This is a very proggy track and shows off the amazing addition of keyboardist Per Wiberg. "The Grand Conjuration" secures the band a place for incredible drumming, best compared to "Deliverance" which had some stunning drum work on it.

"Ghost Reveries" keeps the theme of their gloomy atmosphere and ghostly lyrical and conceptual themes going that has become their trademark. This album displays more of a leaning towards black metal that hasn't been around properly since "My Arms, Your Hearse". The lyrics are less about seasons and forests and more about rituals and demons again on this album, yet there is still a feel of both parts of Opeth's sounds.

Overall this album does include all of their past trademarks, yet finds new ways to use them. There certainly is a lot of new things to hear here, which counts even more so for people who discovered this band through "Damnation" and "Blackwater Park" and haven't really ventured into their other works. This is a brilliant album indeed, perhaps not their best yet it is great to here this new venture.