GHOST REVERIES

For a very long time i was a growling-vocal-hater...i couldn't even stand hearing one short song which contained this singing technique,it was unbeareable to me, till i heard opeth's "the drapery falls"...this song was not unbeareable at all, in fact, it was awesome! so by listening to more of their material i become one of their potential fans, and now i can listen to growling vocals with no problems at all...and while listening to this band, i used to think "blackwater park" was their greatest work, that they couldn't get any better...i was surely wrong. "Ghost Reveries" is a truly amazing album, surely opeth's best one with "Blackwater park" and, maybe, "Damnation". It has everything a good progressive album should have: attitude, melody, instrumental parts, feeling, incredible drumming and, at least, one metal ballad. if you listen to this you won't get dissapointed at all.

"Ghost of Perdition" is a true progressive epic song, one of my favorites from the album. it starts with some dirty-effect keyboard playing and jumps right into really brutal death metal, showing you how the album is going to be from a start. it changes a lot through the whole song, and minute 3' is truly beatutiful. And how could i forget the instrumental part from minute 4:30' to 6' aproximately : incredible feeling.although, maybe, the song has too much different parts and is a bit too long.but, apart from that is truly amazing. 9/10

"The Baying of the Hounds" starts really death-metalish, since the previous track has already put you in the correct climax.this song has really incredible instrumental parts, with lots of chromatisms and the synthetizer has much more participation than in the previous track.Although it isn't an amazing track, it is really good. 8/10

"Beneath The Mire" has the best intro of the whole album. distorted guitars playing over a violin sample which is really simphonic (yeah, symphonyc opeth!), and these violins keep appearing through the son...althoug the orchestration is not incredible, it's really effective. from minute 1:40' to 2:30' aproximately the song goes totally black metal, to then transform into a melodic metal song with harmonized guitars which remember very much of iron maiden. a sudden change towards a part with lots of feeling which includes clean guitars and a piano, which really get it working...the following guitar solo is really good, and prepares the scene for the return of dark atmospheres and growling vocals, while the drums play amazingly and the whole song sounds power metalish...i don't know what else to say...this is my second favorite song from this album, it's great...10/10

"Atonement" is one of those songs which makes me ask myself "¿how much open-minded can these guys be?!"...instrumental parts with oriental influences and lots of sinthetisers create a fantastic oriental atmosphere...the lyrics sound very calming, while the drummer leaves the drums and goes over the percussion elements...this song is truly mystical, it has a great feeling overall and it's very different from the rest of the record...9/10 (only because it's a little too long)

"Reverie - Harlequin Forest" : this is it, the albums greatest track, and maybe one of opeth's best (competes with "the drapery falls" for me)...the beggining is sublime, the drumming is unbelievable, the lyrics are scaring and mikael sings like he has never done before...the riffs are really catchy and the song has really great rythm. the growling at minute 2:30' tells you "now the song is going brutal", but concludes in an acustic guitar at minute 3:30' which has a lot of melody...then the orchestration is reduced to the organ, which is then joined by a gothic acustic guitar creating a chilly atmosphere, and the song is unpredictable...the "harlequin forest" begins and reminds the listener of "damnation" in every way. this song has really good guitar solos which , although really non-technical, are amazing and show how much opeth's solos are alike to floyd's ones. the song keeps going in the form of a metal ballad for the rest of track with some heavier parts, until death metal gets in once more. this track is excellent, it shows what a great moment the band is going through...10/10

the quieter part of the album begins with "Hours of wealth", a great atmosphere and lots of changes through these song make it really interesting to hear...the lyrics remind of pop music in the way they are sang,and the guitar reminds of slow blues songs...akerdfelt simply shines in this track. 8/10

"The Grand Conjuration". the albums second epic. amazing drumming once more, there's no doubt that martin lopez knows what he's doing...great atmosphere, the song is really interesting, and has a great mystic, which is a little scary because of it's darkness...great solos, the guitar is great, although the track is a little boring by times, so it's an 8/10.

"Isolation Years" : what a way to close a record!! great atmosphere, great lyrics once more, and the hammond organ does a great job...the song is really good and doesn't bore because of not being too long...9/10

well, anyone who wants to start listening to opeth, this is the record you should listen first...you won't get disappointed at all...