Midnight
The Ever-Present "It"
Pick your favourite song.
Opeth
- Thread starter Cornfed Hick
- Start date
They are doing By Request shows next year, and you can vote for a few songs they give you from each album. Those 3 were given for Orchid.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I've reached Ghost Reveries and have a new found enjoyment of it. Song for song I don't think it's Opeth's best (maybe third or fourth best), but two aspects are unparalleled in their discography: the tracklist and flow of the music and the ability to interpret the theme/concept of the lyrics in whatever way you choose.
It is a pretty well documented fact that Mikael intended to write a "dark" concept album about "Satan", but then upon writing Isolation Years decided to abandon this theme. It has never been explicitly stated, but most people (myself included) tend to assume that the rest of the album makes up the majority of a concept regarding Satan, murder, and being forsaken by your own actions. Here is my new track order based on what I think pieces the lyrical story together in a very dark, psychological and scary manner.
1. Hours of Wealth
It may seem like an interlude, a reprieve, but I think it's even darker as an opener (and fits the general Opeth concept of placing a light interlude as the first track).
Story: We come to the story in the middle, the turning point for our protagonist. He has been haunted for years by something and has finally found a way to get rid of his pain. He lives in isolation, away from his home and those who know him. This can be seen as a conceit of loneliness and despair or a justification for doing what he's about to do. He's embracing "darkness". He's "biding his time" until he is given his "task".
2. Beneath the Mire
The instrumental literally sounds like someone tripping, slipping away, and finally sinking.
Story: A voice calls out to our protagonist, the "way" he had previously found begins to corrupt his mind, his heart, body and soul. Beneath his pain lies emptiness, but he is not scared away, he is "willingly guided". He begins listening to the voices in his head (or the voice of Satan, however you want to look at it). We begin to hear about the figure that has "haunted" him as he is shown his true pain, the reason for his pain. He seems to find sick joy in pointing out the "failure" of this person, the "pleasant hope" they hold, the "transparent skin" (we will later come to learn this is the protagonist's mother, who has ruined him as a person and upon whom he will have his revenge). Here he submits to faith in the darkness, the devil, he abandons the old and finds a new "master." And yet, he knows this is wrong, a "delusion", but he cannot help but sink deeper down.
3. The Grand Conjuration
Story: Our protagonist fully embraces evil and his dark fate. He summons the devil (or he gives in to his darkest, most sadistic desires if you want to stay metaphorical). He regains a sense of power by accepting Satan into himself, by becoming a servant and a vessel.
4. The Baying of the Hounds
The instrumental is immediately full of movement, panic, it sounds like running. The bridge also has a nice callback vibe to Beneath the Mire, which makes sense with this tracklisting.
Story: Realizing his mistake, our protagonist flees. He has a single moment of realization of what he has done and wants no part in it, he is overcome with pure terror. He hears "the hounds" in the distance calling him to become one of them, a murderous dog in league with Satan. His true nature battles with his dark side and he tries to escape what is already inevitable. He will succumb. He will become one of the hounds, a weapon, no longer in possession of his own consciousness. He drowns in his own decisions and his past hatred. He is "too weak to resist". He is awaiting a "reverie", one last hope that this is all a dream. But alas, he is now one of the hounds, barely human. He is called back to the place of his fateful actions: his childhood home.
5. Ghost of Perdition
This is both the most directly obvious lyric on the whole album and also the most impossible to decipher. There's a lot packed in here.
Story: The protagonist returns home and murders his mother. We learn that the devil was the one who told our protagonist "she was the one." Only this horrific action would set the "faithful servant free". We go even deeper into the family history, debating whether there ever was a true reason for the son's actions or if he is maybe just evil or insane. It seems that the mother potentially tried to kill herself while pregnant, "cutting the source at the flow" and thus maybe is responsible for her own fate by causing brain damage or simply instilling a hate in her son that would never fade.
6. Atonement (and Reverie)
This whole song feels like a dream. The vocals are underwater (or "beneath the mire") and the eastern-tinged melodies clearly are meant to create a sonic dreamscape.
Story: The haze is lifted seconds after committing such a terrible action. The protagonist is free from his pain, from the "fog" that "blurred his sights". He no longer feels the "ache" to "honor" his master. It seems his connection with Satan has been severed, that he was merely an agent used for a necessary task. Of course, as night falls this seems too good to be true. He becomes riddled with doubt, he cannot "justify what he has become." A heavy peacefulness settles over our protagonist, but something is not right...the "reverie" is passing, this hopeful daydream is a mirage, one final trick of the devil.
7. Harlequin Forest
Once again, an instrumental that literally never stops moving. It feels like someone fleeing. All of the themes come together here.
Story: Awakened in fear, realizing the scope of what he has done, our protagonist flees the scene of the crime. He runs "further away from his home" and the hounds (re: his murderous intent, the grasp of Satan, or literal fucking hell hounds cause Opeth) are hot on his trail. He is now haunted by the murder he has committed. He runs forever, but he arrives nowhere. His last final hope, he believes, is to pray and repent for his sins. But there is no hope. He is no longer in control because he is dead. His last action in life was to "drop" the blade on to himself, regretting everything as he does it, forgetting immediately as he dies and enters "the forest". The forest is hell. Here he is, haunted by himself and his actions, forever. For so long that he joins the other lost souls, the "trees" that make up the forest, full of "rotten pulp" and with roots sucking from the youngest souls to enter, to regain any remembrance of life. The woods burn, the blackened remains of the trees, the victims suckered in by Satan, an eternal funeral pyre for the wicked.
*Obviously this is only one of many hundreds of interpretations, but it makes for an absolutely brutal listen and fits in nicely as the swan song of "evil Opeth"*
It is a pretty well documented fact that Mikael intended to write a "dark" concept album about "Satan", but then upon writing Isolation Years decided to abandon this theme. It has never been explicitly stated, but most people (myself included) tend to assume that the rest of the album makes up the majority of a concept regarding Satan, murder, and being forsaken by your own actions. Here is my new track order based on what I think pieces the lyrical story together in a very dark, psychological and scary manner.
1. Hours of Wealth
It may seem like an interlude, a reprieve, but I think it's even darker as an opener (and fits the general Opeth concept of placing a light interlude as the first track).
Story: We come to the story in the middle, the turning point for our protagonist. He has been haunted for years by something and has finally found a way to get rid of his pain. He lives in isolation, away from his home and those who know him. This can be seen as a conceit of loneliness and despair or a justification for doing what he's about to do. He's embracing "darkness". He's "biding his time" until he is given his "task".
2. Beneath the Mire
The instrumental literally sounds like someone tripping, slipping away, and finally sinking.
Story: A voice calls out to our protagonist, the "way" he had previously found begins to corrupt his mind, his heart, body and soul. Beneath his pain lies emptiness, but he is not scared away, he is "willingly guided". He begins listening to the voices in his head (or the voice of Satan, however you want to look at it). We begin to hear about the figure that has "haunted" him as he is shown his true pain, the reason for his pain. He seems to find sick joy in pointing out the "failure" of this person, the "pleasant hope" they hold, the "transparent skin" (we will later come to learn this is the protagonist's mother, who has ruined him as a person and upon whom he will have his revenge). Here he submits to faith in the darkness, the devil, he abandons the old and finds a new "master." And yet, he knows this is wrong, a "delusion", but he cannot help but sink deeper down.
3. The Grand Conjuration
Story: Our protagonist fully embraces evil and his dark fate. He summons the devil (or he gives in to his darkest, most sadistic desires if you want to stay metaphorical). He regains a sense of power by accepting Satan into himself, by becoming a servant and a vessel.
4. The Baying of the Hounds
The instrumental is immediately full of movement, panic, it sounds like running. The bridge also has a nice callback vibe to Beneath the Mire, which makes sense with this tracklisting.
Story: Realizing his mistake, our protagonist flees. He has a single moment of realization of what he has done and wants no part in it, he is overcome with pure terror. He hears "the hounds" in the distance calling him to become one of them, a murderous dog in league with Satan. His true nature battles with his dark side and he tries to escape what is already inevitable. He will succumb. He will become one of the hounds, a weapon, no longer in possession of his own consciousness. He drowns in his own decisions and his past hatred. He is "too weak to resist". He is awaiting a "reverie", one last hope that this is all a dream. But alas, he is now one of the hounds, barely human. He is called back to the place of his fateful actions: his childhood home.
5. Ghost of Perdition
This is both the most directly obvious lyric on the whole album and also the most impossible to decipher. There's a lot packed in here.
Story: The protagonist returns home and murders his mother. We learn that the devil was the one who told our protagonist "she was the one." Only this horrific action would set the "faithful servant free". We go even deeper into the family history, debating whether there ever was a true reason for the son's actions or if he is maybe just evil or insane. It seems that the mother potentially tried to kill herself while pregnant, "cutting the source at the flow" and thus maybe is responsible for her own fate by causing brain damage or simply instilling a hate in her son that would never fade.
6. Atonement (and Reverie)
This whole song feels like a dream. The vocals are underwater (or "beneath the mire") and the eastern-tinged melodies clearly are meant to create a sonic dreamscape.
Story: The haze is lifted seconds after committing such a terrible action. The protagonist is free from his pain, from the "fog" that "blurred his sights". He no longer feels the "ache" to "honor" his master. It seems his connection with Satan has been severed, that he was merely an agent used for a necessary task. Of course, as night falls this seems too good to be true. He becomes riddled with doubt, he cannot "justify what he has become." A heavy peacefulness settles over our protagonist, but something is not right...the "reverie" is passing, this hopeful daydream is a mirage, one final trick of the devil.
7. Harlequin Forest
Once again, an instrumental that literally never stops moving. It feels like someone fleeing. All of the themes come together here.
Story: Awakened in fear, realizing the scope of what he has done, our protagonist flees the scene of the crime. He runs "further away from his home" and the hounds (re: his murderous intent, the grasp of Satan, or literal fucking hell hounds cause Opeth) are hot on his trail. He is now haunted by the murder he has committed. He runs forever, but he arrives nowhere. His last final hope, he believes, is to pray and repent for his sins. But there is no hope. He is no longer in control because he is dead. His last action in life was to "drop" the blade on to himself, regretting everything as he does it, forgetting immediately as he dies and enters "the forest". The forest is hell. Here he is, haunted by himself and his actions, forever. For so long that he joins the other lost souls, the "trees" that make up the forest, full of "rotten pulp" and with roots sucking from the youngest souls to enter, to regain any remembrance of life. The woods burn, the blackened remains of the trees, the victims suckered in by Satan, an eternal funeral pyre for the wicked.
*Obviously this is only one of many hundreds of interpretations, but it makes for an absolutely brutal listen and fits in nicely as the swan song of "evil Opeth"*
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I know people like to compare classical and metal music a lot, but this seems inaccurate.
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
Mikael should produce an actual opera for one of his albums - perhaps Still Life. It would be both hilarious and terrifying.
Bob Growley
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
All this time waiting to know the wifi pass. Thanks!!! 
The Dissident
Ancient Mariner
So I've never been one to like non-clean vocals, today I decided to give a part of Blackwater Park a listen on youtube... Musically it was amazing, even vocally I didn't mind it, I might actually have found music with growling vocals I enjoy. I've listened to about half the album and am seriously considering to purchase the album.
The Dissident
Ancient Mariner
This lasted so long... purchased Blackwater Park and Still Life, they are due to come in the mail in a month or a little longer. We will see what this amounts to in the long run.
