GHOST REVERIES

Is one of my all time favorite Prog Metal Albums! I've listened to it so many times that I'm tired of it, but if you really want to know what's up with this album, read the following review. Took a long time, but there was nothing better to do...

"Ghost of Perdition": A Strong opener for Ghost Reveries. This song has great progressions along with showing many aspects of Opeth. Features Death Metal vocals, clean vocals, and steel guitar. 4/5 Stars.

"The Baying of The Hounds": Starts off on a different note than most Opeth songs. A solid metal song that progresses with Mikeal's clean voices. Great use of the sound texture. Per's addition on keyboards fits quite well also. And as always Opeth's drummer keeps the song going strong the whole way through. Parts of this song sounds like previous works, but gets back on track with the original sound of the song. And if you open your ears hard enough you'll find a great bass riff towards the end. The song ends the way it began, but just on a stronger note. All in all this is a solid song that proves to be more progressive than previous works. 4/5 Stars.

"Beneath The Mire": Is my personal favorite though I'm not going to let this effect my rating. The song in generally is cool and catchy especially with the Mellotrone mellotroned all the way up. In the beginning the guitars kind of go to a repetitive mode like BWP, but then slams you back with the mellotrones and then the awesome opening growl. This song is definetly more on the metal side, and is a really awesome metal song, but not really progressive...The mellow section is solid, but nothing that blows you away. After that the song gets kind of pointless. The beginning of this song was awesome even though it wasn't really progressive, and towards the middle it was just solid metal, and as for the end....just kind of went its own way in a different direction. 3/5 Stars.

"Atonement": The beginning reminds me of The Beatles "Blue Jay Way" in a way. Kind of has a Neo/retro/psychedelic sound. The effect used on Mikeal's voice is cool, but is a little misused in my opinion. The effect (used on Mikeal's voice)reminds me of the effect used at the beginning of "Cicatriz Esp" by The Mars Volta if you catch my drift. The song itself is experimental considering that it's Opeth. The guitar riff is quite dilibrate, but fitting along with the synths. By the time the song cuts off and starts again you wouldn't care if it actually ended... Another good solid Opeth song 3/5 Stars.

"Reverie/Harlequin Forest": Great opening vocal/riff, gets kind of repetitive though. Once the growls came in I didn't care for it because they seemed a bit misplaced and misused. The growls throughout this album are quite superb as a whole. The clean vocal part is also a bit misplaced though it goes into a little section about trees....Nothing really progressive;;;; repetitive, misplaced, and sometimes even boring. But even so, Opeth has a way to keep you listening regardless. If you've listening to this album a little bit or a moderate bit, none of the music really gets old, but if you've listened to it for like 40 times like me you'll begin to notice everything that is good and bad about this album. This album takes some time to get EVERYthing. I say this regarding this song because it took me a while to notice the flaws in it. The growls towards the end of the song are again misplaced. 2/5 Stars, I can see how some people see this as a masterpiece, as Opeth does a really good job at putting everything together. Just look deeper than that...Not to mention the ending of this song is really repetitive. Again, 2/5 Stars.

"Hours of Wealth": A nice clean intro, this song is more on the "Damnation" side. The synths and piano really add a fullness to the sound as before this it would've been straight up acoustic guitar and bland piano. Great clean depressing vocals followed along with a "Floydian" guitar solo. The song is a nice mellow prequisete to "The Grand Conjuration". On BWP the prequisete to Blackwater Park was the bland "Patterns in the Ivy", "Hours of Wealth" is definitely a good step forward. 3/5 Stars.

"The Grand Conjuration": Has a great beginning, though it is nothing special or quite progressive. The following guitar riffs (along with the rest of the song) are repetitive, but catchy. This song was their single as it proved to appeal more to the mainstream audience. The clean vocals are a great build up to the following breathtaking growl (which is also foreshadowed). The song is quite cool, but nowhere prog. Just a FYI, this song is satanic if you didn't already put it together with the name of the song. I personally don't mind, but just a heads up. Towards the end of the song it concludes (vocally) with the general same clean vocals it started with. Following that there's the same repetitive guitar riff you started hearing like 10 mins. ago...3/5 Stars.

"Isolated Years": Settles the album down to its end. It also sounds like something off of "Damnation". The depressing clean vocals fit superbly with the song and the albums' conclusion. A little bit repetitive, but not as overdone as "Reverie/Harlequin Forest". 3/5 Stars, a great ending that left me wanting more honestly.

This album is a must if your into extreme metal such as black metal, death metal, etc...(Or if you don't mind the Growls) As far as a person into prog metal, not so much. Again, this is one of my favorite prog metal albums and my favorite from Opeth. This is a huge step forward from Deliverance and even Blackwater Park in my opinion; as I can't even listen to these 2 ablums straight through.

3 Stars.

Share this OPETH review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to dethics
• Report this review (#135417)
• Buy OPETH music online with PA partners
• Show all OPETH MP3/Stream
• Go to OPETH page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Ghost Reveries page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for OPETH related discussions