Final take on Ghost Reveries:
Ghost of Perdition – My favorite Opeth song. The best Opeth song. It has absolutely everything that makes Opeth great and (especially) catchy. The opening verses are astoundingly brutal, from the screams to the timing to the lyrics…it’s fucking great. The riffs are non-stop on this song from start to finish. “Devil cracked the earthly shell” is hands down my favorite Opeth vocal and musical moment, especially once the harmonies kick in. The spidery riffs in between the lines are perfect and the drum and bass accents during the final line (“You have to live before you die young”) are so incredibly synced up that it blows my mind. I find the transition into the quiet part to be masterfully done, with a confidence that other bands could never possess. The entire section is beautiful and that short, bluesy guitar solo makes it perfect. Just like the previous section, I adore the “darkness by her side” bit. The drum accents and riffing in this song blow by mind. I think the transitions throughout are excellent (don’t know what NP is talking about). When we get through the next big, catchy vocal and harmony section and transition into the heavy chorus with the double bass as a lead-in…it’s just musical poetry. Genius-level stuff. The next quiet break at 7:09 with the leading melody is a nice reprieve before the big meaty chord section that follows and another brilliant, melodic, catchy guitar solo. I love the Dream Theater-ish jazz section after the final growling part (which has a taste of the delicious ending riff) that takes us into another “aye-aye-aye” bit. There’s nothing in this song that I don’t find catchy, everything is at peak catchiness here. The ending is abrupt, yet final, powerful and melodic. I love it. I fully believe this is Mikael Akerfeldt’s songwriting peak. “Ghost of Perdition” is Opeth’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name.” 1,000,000,000,000/10
The Baying of the Hounds – Swinging it’s way into an evil verse, this song starts off strong. Mikael’s growls are intense and downright scary. However, the first two minutes are a bit too “wall of sound” for me. It seems like a regression back to the MAYH sound, and that’s not for the best. I do not like the second verse section with the chromatic chords rising up. The vocals don’t work for me. The first clean vocal section (“Everything you believed is a lie”) starts wonderfully and ends just as well (“You are everything, they are nothing”) but the vocals in the middle are a bit droning. The whole middle is stellar, though, from the jazzy/prog breakdown into the drum-n-bass sync-up during the “drown in the deep mire” part: this is top notch Opeth music. It’s chilling and groovy, with everyone firing on all cylinders. The Martins’ hitting together on those kick notes is fantastic. The next heavy vocal part feels static again, but some solid Still Life-style riffing makes up for it. A guitar solo that I can only assume is played by Peter cuts through with pure brilliance. It lays perfectly in the mix, works well for the song, and leads us into a trance-like acoustic section. Subtle piano really shines through during the end of this with some equally-subtle tom-tom drumming from Lopez. Ultimately, the Damnation-style sections on this song are superior to the heavier sections and the music throughout is better than the vocals. It’s good, but easily the least memorable track on the album. 7/10
Beneath the Mire – Some cool jazzy drums kick-in followed by a riffy Eastern-melodic groove. The slow double bass and octave chord riff that follows is also awesome. The verse vocals and riffing is crushing, and slightly reminiscent of “Master’s Apprentices”. Mikael’s single-tracked clean vocal section brims with confidence and leads into that absolutely sublime guitar harmony, before dropping out entirely for a bit of piano and lead work followed by another Damnation-inspired section. I don’t love the vocals over this, but I do love Mikael and Per’s unison line that follows. This bridge twists and turns in the best of ways, yet the transition into the big scream still works. The constant hit section at 5:20 is startling, but this part (and the next vocal part) really hints at where the band will go on the next album (and even the three following that). Time signatures and outstanding drumming build to a really weird, creepy-ass outro that sounds like someone sinking into the mire. 9/10
Atonement – That heartbeat ending of “Mire” leads perfectly into this tune, which explodes like a Beatles fever dream. This is a weird song for me. I love it sometimes and get bored with it other times. The lead guitar work and the strings are masterful, and the weird keyboard accents work to keep the mood a bit “stoned” if you will. Blurry-water vocals keep things bizarre and we get a recall of the GOP “ah-ah-ah” bit before the jazzy Eastern leads return. I’m not a huge of the psychedelic sound here, but it’s a nice break from the heaviness of the first three tracks and the outro is outstanding. Congas and a straight-up jazz piano solo really add a new flavor to the Opeth recipe. A very cool live jam, but not the most engaging. 8/10
Reverie/Harlequin Forest – I’m so glad that “Reverie” exists because it is 100% essential to bridge the gap from the weirdness of the previous track. Once the song proper kicks up it’s pure joy. Top five Opeth, easily. The vocals, the riffs, the panned guitar leads following the first verse, Mendez’s amazing bass fills, Lopez’s constant double-snare hits…just perfect. I love the guitar riff that follows each set of three lines, it’s a catchy turnaround. The growl leading into…the growls…is awesome and we get super heavy without feeling too heavy for the tone of the song. The lyrics in this song are really great and Mikael punctuates them in exactly the right ways (“laughing stoCK!”). Once we get to the mellow section, this song reaches new heights of greatness. Starting with “nocturnally helpless,” we get some of Mikael’s best clean vocals. The melodies and conviction are so smooth and catchy here. Just when I think it can’t get better, there’s a guitar harmony that’s not always a harmony and has counterpoint stuff happening and OMG just let me die now of happiness. If there’s one thing that’s not perfect it’s the name-checked section that comes next, where the vocals feel a bit out of place. But, it’s short enough and certainly not bad, so it doesn’t derail the power of such an amazing song. The ending recalls “Deliverance,” but still has a life all its own. Definitely the second best outro in Opeth’s catalogue. 10/10
Hours of Wealth – I absolutely adore this song. Not many people feel the same way, but I think it’s easily one of the two best “slow/ballad/quiet” Opeth songs ever (in conjunction with “Benighted”). It’s a beautiful piece of guitar playing and subtle keyboard work. I love Mikael’s vocals, I love the lyrics, I love the progressions, it’s a great song. The guitar solo takes this song to a whole new level. My favorite thing is that it sounds like Mikael Akerfeldt sitting in a room, playing chords on a piano and earnestly singing. It’s the most intimate moment in the discography. The emotional, raw catchiness of the vocals gets me every time. Top tier Opeth. 100,000/10
The Grand Conjuration – And then we learn that “Hours of Wealth” was perfectly placed because as soon as this simple, bone-crunching song kicks in we are reminded of how brutal Opeth can be. The distorted bass and piano bit that recites the main riff with some wailing ghouls in the background is so haunting. I see the clean verses of this song as a perfection on the poor choices made with “By the Pain I See In Others” – instead of underwater goblin screaming we get light falsettos with layered whispering and it’s a million times creepier – paired with the devil-worship spookiness of “Master’s Apprentices”. In general, it sounds like all of Deliverance boiled down into one song that is better than half of that album. This song is intensely scary. I think it’s a beautiful work of brutality and scare tactics. The growled parts sound like they are stretching from the very bowels of hell, especially with the syncopated hits underneath. That riff at 6:30 (again with a ghoul behind it) is one of Opeth’s best moments. The entire band fires on all cylinders on this track. I’ve really come to like TGC over the years and it has jumped up higher than any other single song on this album. 10/10
Isolation Years – Just like “Weakness”, we get a closing track that feels tacked on. Personally, I think TGC would have made a far better closer for this album and kept the concept pretty tied together. It’s a beautiful piece of music with touching lyrics and nice melodies, I just don’t believe it serves the album very well. Also, when it comes to quiet tracks on GR, my heart only has room for “Hours of Wealth”. Great sad song, but should have been a bonus track or left for a different album. 8/10
All of the songs on Ghost Reveries are not perfect, but I do think it has the single best take on mood and ambiance of any Opeth record. The songs flow together (for the most part) and the sounds are consistent, building a dark and haunting mood that creates vivid imagery with music. GR is a truly great record that works as a whole better than most Opeth albums (possibly even better than SL).
Album rating - 9.0
At 7:37 the classic Opeth riff makes its final appearance in Opeth's discography and the awesomeness lasts until 9:06. The rest of the song is just repeating the "ayayay perdition" nonsense. There's a lot to like in this song but overall it's a mess in terms of arrangement.
The whole section of the song with dueling clean and harsh vocals and the start-stop riffs is incredible. Just can't not headbang to that part. Middle section is even more brutal. Just an evil riff after evil riff. The ending is a bit repetitive but that riff is so awesome that I don't mind, plus Lopez mixes things up enough compared to the previous appearance of the riff. Ending is epic as fuck live too.
), In My Time Of Need (was so tough to decide between this one and To Rid The Disease, they are equal in my eyes), Hope Leaves, Ghost Of Overratedition, The Boring Of The Hounds and Beneath The Mire (tough choice between this one and Isolation Years :/).
