Ghost Reveries

Ghost Reveries is simply one of the best albums Opeth ever released, if not THE best one ever, this is what really got me into Opeth. Released in 2005, Ghost Reveries consists of eight songs which feature a variety of music styles, e.g. progressive death metal, progressive rock, even some acoustic guitar work. I love this album so much that I can't pick a favourite song from it, they're all really good and there are no filler tracks on the album whatsoever, I would say the same about all the other albums Opeth released before Ghost Reveries - Watershed and Heritage (which followed Ghost Reveries) are very good albums in their way as well but I don't think they quite have the magic that Ghost Reveries and the other albums before that had, still have and always will have in years to come. What I like about Ghost Reveries is that it is (to some extent) quite different from all the other albums Opeth released before that, while at the same time sticking to their musical roots. One thing I noticed with this album and not on any other metal album I have bought in my lifetime, is that in some of the songs on this album (if not all of them) Opeth used a guitar tuning which I never came across until buying and listening to Ghost Reveries, the guitar tuning in question is called Open D Minor 9 (low to high string: D A D F A E), although as far as I know they mostly used the Drop D tuning (low to high string: D A D G B E) as well as Open D Minor 9. Another thing to point out is that around halfway into the album the instrumental piece titled "Reverie" starts on a negative time of -1:05 before "Harlequin Forest" when the track mark on CD players changes from track 4 to track 5, even though on the album track 5 is titled "Reverie/Harlequin Forest", and when copying the album onto the iTunes library the instrumental piece "Reverie" becomes part of track 4 "Atonement" instead of track 5 "Harlequin Forest". Perhaps "Reverie" was used as a hidden track on the album, although maybe it could have been made a separate track or even part of track 5 in positive time instead of negative time making "Harlequin Forest" 12 minutes and 45 seconds long instead of 11 minutes and 39 seconds long, (it's not a criticism of any kind, it's just something I happened to notice while looking at my CD player and listening to the album). Overall, I very highly recommend Ghost Reveries to anyone who is a huge fan of metal music in general and to those who like very long tracks as four of the eight songs on this album are at least 10 minutes long, "Ghost of Perdition", "The Baying of the Hounds", "Harlequin Forest" and "The Grand Conjuration" being those four songs in question, whereas the other songs "Beneath the Mire", "Atonement", "Hours of Wealth" and "Isolation Years" are not as long but are just as good. A perfect album by such a fantastic metal band, well done Opeth.

Music on Vinyl has done an excellent pressing of Ghost Reveries. No crackling or any defects to be heard. Mikael's harsh and cleans sound absolutely phenomenal with a good pair of speakers! Immaculate presentation, the sleeve looks super high quality, and the vinyl discs themselves were spotless, not a scratch or bit of dust anywhere to be found. The inclusion of a poster is always a nice touch, with this one being around an A2 size!

Awesome stuff!!

If you listen to Reverie twice and don't like it, I can't help you. It's one of the best written songs ever with multiple layers. The rest of this album grew on me with subsequent listens until I even preferred a few of them. Perfect as a missing-link between Prog Opeth and Metal Opeth.

One of Opeths finest albums, been slowly building a collection of my favourite albums on 180g viynl and this is the latest. Great mix of growling, melody and all the other amazing stuff this band does. We'll worth the investment on black shiny plastic

If you like heavy metal definitely buy this album. Very good from start to finish.

Ghosts of Perdition alone is worth the asking price, add in The Baying of the Hounds and Reverie/Harlequin Forest and you've got yourself a great album. The changes from growls to clean vocals are done superbly by Mikael Akerfeldt and any fan of death metal owes it too themselves to pick this album up.

This was the first time i've purchased an opeth album, after reading great reviews of their efforts over the past few years. This opens up with an two stunning 10 minute belters, which ebb and flow with depth and heaviness as well as acoustic beauty. The style is difficult to pigeon hole, but perhaps one can imagine a heady concoction of Tool, King Crimson and even some Maiden in there. Add to that the best of traditional Swedish thrash, it will give you some idea of whats to come. Death blasts, savage guitar work balanced with lighter interludes, more delicate vocals and keyboards. A band unafraid to have some epic songs in there, and when its this good, its a great journey.

This pressing sounds absolutely amazing. Deep and well balanced mix.

Há algum tempo buscava por ele, extremamente satisfeito com a qualidade do produto.

Opeth has been my favorite metal band pretty much since I discovered metal. After all this time, they still take the cake and do what they do best. They have evolved like any band does, but that original metal spice is still going strong. In this album, I've really noticed a more progressive rock background. I think it's some Porcupine Tree influences along with all the other prog-rock bands they're influenced by coming out a bit more, and their experimentation on Damnation still lingering around on this album. There is even a new band member doing nothing but Mellotrons, Organs, and Pianos. These instruments don't really have their own solos or prominent melodies that much, but are constantly in the background adding that essential, newfound layer to the music. On the other hand, Mikael still has the best death vocals I've ever heard. If you're gonna growl, GROWL. Don't grunt, don't half-sing... Mikael does it right. Comparing to Blackwater Park, Deliverance, and MAYH though, this album has less of a "percentage" of heaviness I guess. It's comparable to Still Life or even Orchid in that sense. But the heavy parts and growling retain the Opeth seal of Quality and are as heavy as ever. "Ghost of Perdition" starts off with about 5 seconds of calm, progressive strumming before exploding into chaos. The first minute of this album is probably the absolute heaviest; Opeth like to give you a false preview I guess. It then dishes out one of those super sudden ultra-heavy to ultra-soft moments as Mikael begins singing softly aside calm acoustic strumming. The rest of this song keeps switching between death metal and prog-rock so much it makes your eyes cross. In a good way, of course. "The Baying of the Hounds" is an instant Opeth classic and the best on the album. The beginning part is more upbeat than most Opeth songs, it has an incredible rhythm to it much like "Master's Apprentices" or "The Funeral Portrait" but with keyboards in the background that seem so necessary underlying the growling vocals. It leads up to some great clean vocals shortly after and then goes into a much softer section with clean vocals and keyboards, but that heaviness you're craving inevitably returns at just the right moment, with that sharp metal edge the band still unquestionably possesses. This song gives me chills all over again just like "Bleak" did when I was first discovering the band and I'm sure it will match the power of your previously favorite Opeth song as well. "Beneath the Mire" begins with mellotrons like you'd hear on Damnation but with heavy guitar riffs going at the same time. It then changes into an incredible display of acoustics and distortion. This song really goes all over the place and completely changes its flow very suddenly. I'm talking very heavy sections that just stop before you could see it coming and vice-versa. You get the vibe of a certain texture or atmosphere just in time for it to backflip on you. They did this on a few songs in Deliverance too. But I assure you this is excellent songwriting; Opeth know how to make it work extremely well. It's a riddle for the ears. "Atonement" is the soft song of the album. Instead of being folk-influenced like before though it is full-blown prog-rock. It's got playful little percussion with a tinge of a middle-eastern feeling and a very tranquil atmosphere. An awesome guitar riff flows throughout and some dainty piano playing at the end. "Reverie/Harlequin Forest" This song is so huge it's very difficult to explain. I guess it's kind of like your "typical" Opeth song, nothing very out-of-the-ordinary. Typical like a vast, novel 10+ minute progressive masterpiece shifting into different moods, switching between death growls and spine-chilling clean vocals on top of amazing riffs, breaking down into well-prepared folk-inspired acoustic instrumentals. You know, that kind of typical. I guess this is probably the only song here that might fit on Still Life or perhaps Blackwater Park. The keyboards and mellotrons are somehow missing here and the folk-influence is visiting again. It gives you a good reminder of past accomplishments. "Hours of Wealth" is another calm song. It starts with a calm, acoustic melody, continues on and turns into a trance-inducing atmospheric section with layers of keyboards, then shifts into almost an a cappella session with just a few keys being pressed, then turns back into a melody similar to the beginning. "The Grand Conjeration" shifts moods and portrays a much more menacing feeling. You'll love that sudden absolutely crazy guitar solo somewhere in the middle. "Isolation Years" is practically a lullaby; a short piece with the most high-pitched clean vocals I've heard Mikael do. It's decent. All in all... this "observation" is an incredible display of the three elements of Opeth (prog-rock, metal, folk) wrapped beautifully into one package unlike ever before. A lot less folk, actually, but still. I would say this might even be the most accessible Opeth album to date, (not including Damnation because it wouldn't necessarily lure the listener into the other albums) without being the least bit "poppy" or a "sellout." If you're an Opeth fan already, God only knows why you haven't picked this up yet. However if you are not, I still think Opeth are the gateway to death metal and this would be another perfect album to start with.

Super dźwięk, super płyta. Warto kupić.

Ne connaissant que cet album en numerique, j ai eu envie de prolonger l experience avec cet album en vinyl et pouvoir faire une comparaison sonore. Resultat, bluffant! Cet album sonne extremement bien et le niveau de dynamiques et de details est superieur au cd!! Ce vinyl est l un de mes preferes! Les parties en clean sont magnifiques et les parties avec de la grosse disto sont de qualité. Un album tres bien enregistré et un mastering soigné!! Merci Opeth 🤘🏻