GHOST REVERIES

Since the marvellous Still Life, Opeth has managed to release a bunch of incredible albums... Deliverance is still my favourite one, but I must say Ghost Reveries is maybe the most complete album they have released (maybe Watershed will surpase it in variety and quality?) Nevertheless, is not their best in my opinion.

The Per Wiberg's contribution made the Opeth's music going a step further, giving the songs even more personality and new textures... You have only to hear the great ambience of songs like The Baying of the Hounds and Atonement... This man is a master in the keys. Not only in the playing. His best is giving a deep feeling to the songs, and sounding always perfect and in the right place every moment... I am a big fan of Spiritual Beggars too, and when I heard about this man joining Opeth, I could only agree!

Apart of the keyboards, when you hear Ghost Reveries after all the other Opeth's albums, you notice this is a more diversified one... Maybe their most luminous album, and along with Damantion, the most 70's influenced Akerfeldt's work. The psychedelic elements of Beneath the Mire, the mellow parts of Ghost of Perdition, the whole Atonement act... Per Wiberg's keys also help to create this proper and original retro ambient mixed with the usual Opeth's technical death metal.

The musicians also bright specially here... The Martín Méndez bass shines in every track. I really love his work on Beneath the Mire (although I consider this song is not so good like the rest...) Martín López made his best work here, without a doubt... Both in the hard and mellow parts he shines in every minute. His drums playing is so full of details... It's a real pleasure to hear this really talented man here. And so good is hearing the Akerfeldt's improving on vocals... The growls are so good as always. But his clear voice is in Ghost Reveries better than ever... So this great musicians's playing along with the outstanding quality of the music, make Ghost Reveries a true pleasure to the ears!

Despite this amount of good facts, the quality of the album is not so homogene... Beneath the Mire is under the great level of the fist two tracks. Is not bad, specially the acoustic section, but not so great. And although Atonement manages to recover some of the outstanding quality of the beginning with its 70's psychedelic feeling, it doesn't comes back completely to Harlequin Forest, another classic from this album. But then, Hours of Wealth push the album down again... I think that Opeth was not really inspired with the acoustic tracks here! They are good, bot not so great like in Damnation. Also the acoustic sound is not so good, not so direct...

Best songs: Ghost of Perdition (of course... The best song of the album. I specially love the drums and the great guitar riffs), The Baying of the Hounds (the most progressive track of the album... A variated and complex song), Harlequin Forest (it includes the best acoustic part of the album in my opinion...) and The Grand Conjuration (a bit repetitive... But really catchy, with another bunch of great riffs... This song is perfect to be played live! I loved it when I saw Opeth live in Madrid...)

Conclusion: this is one of the best Opeth's albums... They have maybe 4 or 5 albums that could be considered masterpieces... And Ghost Reveries is one of them. Not so hard than Deliverance, even more diverse than Blackwater Park, with the same feeling than Damnation, more surprising than Still Life... This album is just another step further in one of the most exciting and incredible metal acts of the last years. I can't give it five stars because it has some weak moments, specially Beneath the Mire and Hours of Wealth... And I consider than the acoustic sound is not so brilliant as it was with Steve Wilson on production. But I strongly recommend this album to every lover of the good music, and specially to the prog metal fans, because Ghost Reveries is simply one of the best prog metal releases of the new millennium!

My rating: ****

Share this OPETH review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to The Crow
• Report this review (#169504)
• 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