GHOST REVERIES

This is my first Opeth album.I actually dislike death metal (the growling), so this album took over five listens to sink in (I have heard this over 10 times) and get used to the growling here. The difference of this band with a typical death metal band is that Opeth is influenced by structures from prog rock songs, is very virtuosic (the drumming and guitar especially), has atmospheric and mellow musical breaks (very beautiful), and of course : they write melodies!!

Prog? Well, if you define prog as the sound you hear in the 70s, this is not prog. However, this album, like Tool's Lateralus and Radiohead's Kid A, is extremely progressive in terms of creating something new in music. This is a genre on itself .. it is like Progressive space- metal. I am happy that these musicians are getting recognition as they can give the world intelligent music, and may convert them to the beauty of progressive metal.

Ghost of Perdition begins immediately with some good times! The growling is introduced in this section. Then to my surprise, it gets acoustic and porcupine Tree-style music is played in a level of beauty that band could not achieve. The haunting melody combined with the acoustic riff is magical. Then, it starts alternating between acoustic music and heavy metal. This track is excellent!

The Baying of the Hounds starts as a death-metal track with hammond organs and contains growls like its predecessor, but later the changes occur: while it keeps having very heavy riffs, the singer performs normally without any screams. Like in all the album, Opeth's mellow sections gives me goosebumps like in Tool's, and this song is full of them!

Beneath the Mire is somewhat weaker in quality, but I still love it to Death. The best part of this song is the first half : it floors me whenever I hear those powerful guitar riffs. The middle section is soft and melodic. The song ends with powerful distorted guitar riffing and avant-garde soloing.

Atonement is a hypnotic, brilliant, melodic and beautiful song with piano, organs, mellotron, great percussion, effective haunting vocals, and a gorgeous guitar riff which I adore, though the later section is a bit unnecessary.

Reverie/Harlequin Forest is an epic that metamorphes so often in its 11 minutes that it requires multiple listens to enjoy it fully. There isn't much to say here. This is an outstanding heavy (and light) track that ends with a repetitive bizarre rhythm that is great.

Hours of Wealth is a mellow track that starts with symphonic arrangements which show how important a keyboardist is in music. The second half is dominated by Mikael's vocals and keyboard chords. A slow melodic guitar solo ends the piece. Everything about this song is great.

The Grand Conjuration is the heaviest track in the album. However, this track is one of the most accessible pieces of Opeth. The reason is that the guitar riffs are instantly likeable and the rhythm is very impressive. The song is not fast and heavy all the time. There are moments where the singer sings melodically while the electric guitar follows the melody and the percussionist plays the best possible drumline that one could ever come up with in such a situation. The choruses are extremely heavy and has a genius use of rhythm guitars.

Isolation Years is a melancholic sounding track like Hours of Wealth. It is a solid closer to a solid album, with excellent choruses that contain vocal harmonies and jazzy percussion.

1. Ghost of Perdition (10/10) 2. The Baying of the Hounds (9/10) 3. Beneath the Mire (8/10) 4. Atonement (9/10) 5. Reverie / Harlequin Forest (9.5/10) 6. Hours of Wealth (9/10) 7. The Grand Conjuration (9/10) 8. Isolation Years (9/10)

Verdict : This is a serious band that only want to create masterful metal music and never fool around with it. This is probably their best album. If you like death metal, you are missing the greatest album of that genre. If you do not like death metal, try it anyways. I do not like death metal, and I consider this the best album since 'Pink Floyd - The Wall'

My Grade : A-

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