GHOST REVERIES

I will call myself a level 1 on this Opeth album, as I have heard and liked track 6, Hours of Wealth. My experience with Opeth, thus far, has been, in general, that I like the music and the "clean" vocals. However, it's the so-called "death metal growls", AKA the Cookie Monster vocals, that they insist on using that I have issues with. So, if the Cookie Monster doesn't make too many appearances, it'll be ok. If he does, it's going to be a tough listen.

Track 1 - Ghost of Perdition

Cookie Monster must have been locked in a box before this song started, because he starts out screaming his head off immediately as the song begins. At around 1:10, we get a cool prog metal riff and clean vocals. Nice harmonies on the second verse. But Cookie Monster (CM hereafter) cannot be held back for long. He comes back briefly before a mellow section with beautiful vocals from Michael Akerfeldt, backed by 12-String acoustic guitar. The riffage returns at around 4:10, with vocal harmonies being added to the clean vocals. There is a nice instrumental break at around 5:30. CM returns at 6:40, but briefly. There is a beautiful mellotron feature just after that. Excellent guitar solo at around 8 minutes, before CM comes back. The playing is fantastic. There is a nice acoustic feature at just after 9 minutes, followed by more great band playing.

Track 2 - The Baying of the Hounds

We start with a big power chord and go into a cool 6-8 with organ and heavy guitar, but they put CM on the mic again. Instrumentally it reminds me of a heavier version of Deep Purple, too bad the vocals ruin it. Clean vocals begin around 2 minutes, followed by harmonies. The playing in this song is amazing, sometimes reminding me of Dream Theater. There is a vibraphone part at around 3:30, with a tight, but controlled rhythm section pattern underneath. After some clean vocals, there are some nice bass fills. The intensity level rises again at around 5:30, still instrumental. Gothic choir vocals follow that, but the CM comes back. Thankfully the CM sections have been a brief annoyance, as the instrumental sections are fantastic. There are moments of pure beauty, like starting around 7:40 until CM returns at 9:40. He stays until the end about a minute later.

Track 3 - Beneath the Mire

This one starts off with a funky drum fill and an almost funky riff with a mellotron melody on top. After about a minute the music shifts rhythms., but then the funkiness returns at around 1:30. CM shows up at around 1:45. Clean vocals come in at about 2:40. Akerfeldt has a nice soulful voice when he's not growling. Things chill out at around 3:25 and we have just piano and a mellow guitar solo on top. Then it goes into an almost jazz fusion groove with clean vocals, then a nice guitar solo with an octave effect on it. There is a scream at about 5 minutes, but the clean vocals quickly return. CM starts growling again at about 6:15. A nice melodic guitar solo follows. There is a cool little breakdown part as the song fades out.

Track 4 - Atonement

A synth sound fades in to be joined by a mid-tempo drumbeat & bass, then followed by a melodic guitar solo. Nice intro. Excellent clean vocals join in. This one has a bit of a Middle Eastern vibe. At around 3 minutes there is a droning sound and what sounds like Tabla drums with vocals with an effect on them over the top. This one is all about the groove. I like it. So far CM has stayed away. There is a false ending at around 5:20. Then a clean guitar riff follows, with some other sounds accompanying. Probably my favorite track so far. (I'd have liked the others better if it weren't for CM messing them up.)

Track 5 - Reverie/Harlequin Forest

Distorted guitar and clean vocals start this one quickly followed by the rhythm section. This has a promising start. I love the turn around fill at around 1:50. The CM returns at around 2:35 - sigh. A wonderful 12-string acoustic section follows that. Things really chill after that with sparse instrumentation and clean vocals. The rhythm section joins at around 5:15. I like the harmonized guitar parts that begin around 6:00. We get heavier around 7:20, but still clean vox so far. There is a long growl at around 8:15. Full-on CM growling begins around 8:40. I don't know why that vocal style bothers me so much, but it ruins songs (or at least sections of them) for me that I might otherwise love. There is so much good happening here, I don't know why they feel it's necessary. There is a cool "Morse Code" type of riff (albeit at a moderate tempo) as the song ends.

Track 6 - Hours of Wealth

This is the one that I have indicated that I heard and liked before, but I can't say I really remember it. Let's see if I agree with my past self.

We begin with clean electric guitar parts. Flute mellotron sounds join in. Things are slowly building in terms of dynamic level. Clean voice with sparse instrumentation begins at 2:30. His voice here reminds me of Greg Lake & John Wetton. Following that is a nice bluesy guitar solo. Simple song, but I like it, still.

Track 7 - The Grand Conjuration

This one reminds me of Dream Theater in the intro. Tight heavy playing. Then things drop down and clean vocals come in at around 1:20. There is an excellent roto-tom fill, very similar to what Alan White plays in "Does it Really Happen," on Drama. Unfortunately, it heralds the return of the CM at just after 2 minutes. Luckily, he doesn't stay long. Well, fooled me, after a few lines of clean singing he returns. A fantastic guitar solo takes over at 3:30. He comes back afterward. Things cool down for a few seconds at around 5:10, then some very fast playing happens. The CM will not be defeated in this one; he keeps coming back. There is a really cool riff at around 6:40. Then at 7:15 there is a low keyboard & vocal part that reminds me of Porcupine Tree (Steven Wilson did not produce this one, though). Things jump back up in intensity at 8:35. There is a cool gothic choir sound as we approach the ending. There are growls along with it, but not too prominent.

Track 8 - Isolation Years

We close with the shortest track on the album at under 4 minutes. Clean, arpeggiated electric guitar starts us off here, joined by clean lead guitar. Nice clean vocals join in, along with drum accents. I love the sound here on the choruses. It's almost Moody Blues-esque. Big mellotrons and lush guitars with the vocals. Might be my favorite from the album, but it seems to stop as soon as it gets going.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:

As I have said before, I have mega-respect for Akerfeldt & company. They are super-talented. I just wish they'd leave the gimmicky growling behind. IMO the music suffers for it. It distracts from so many other good things that are happening. They'd probably contend with Dream Theater for my favorite Prog-Metal band, if it weren't for that. I am thankful though that the CM growls are dispersed and not constant. I can tolerate it in short bursts like they do here, even though I don't really enjoy it. I gave the 2 previous Opeth albums I've reviewed a 4 out of 5 for Damnation (as I recall, there weren't any CM vocals there) and 3 out of 5 for Still Life (which had an abundance of them). I think I'll split the difference and give this one a 3.5 out of 5.

Clicking 3, but really 3.5.