Ghost Reveries

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ghost Reveries
Ghost Reveries cover
Studio album by Opeth
Released Flag of European Union 29 August, 2005
Flag of United States 30 August, 2005
Recorded March 15 - June 1, 2005
Genre Progressive death metal
Length 66:24
Label Roadrunner
Producer(s) Jens Borgen
Professional reviews
Opeth chronology
Damnation
(2003)
Ghost Reveries
(2005)


Ghost Reveries is the eighth studio album release from the progressive death metal band Opeth. It is their first album with their new record label, Roadrunner Records. It is also the first album by Opeth to include Per Wiberg as a "permanent" member, although Wiberg contributed keyboard work to Opeth's live performances starting around the time of Deliverance.

Ghost Reveries was recorded at Fascination Street Studios, which are located in Örebro, Sweden. The album's artwork is by Travis Smith, who has contributed artwork to Opeth's previous releases. Ghost Reveries was released in Europe on August 29, 2005, and in North America on August 30, 2005, and peaked on the Billboard 200 at #64.

The album's single is "The Grand Conjuration". A music video of the song has been released, though about half the song was edited from the video due to the length of the song.

This album also sees the return of heavy vocals, absent from their previous album Damnation.

A special edition of the album was released by Roadrunner Records on October 31, 2006. It is packaged in a large digipak and contains a CD and DVD, along with new cover art and an extended booklet featuring extra album artwork and a letter from Mikael Åkerfeldt. The CD contains the original tracks from the album as well as a bonus cover of "Soldier of Fortune" by Deep Purple, which was recorded as a live take with the band's new drummer, Martin Axenrot. The DVD contains a Dolby 5.1 Surround Sound mix (though does not include the bonus track), and 40 minute documentary, and the video for "The Grand Conjuration". This documentary details the making of Ghost Reveries, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the band's day-to-day life while recording and touring.

Contents

[edit] Concept

Ghost Reveries was initially intended to be a concept album, with numerous tracks linking together a story of a man's turmoil after killing his own mother. However, Mikael Åkerfeldt claims he wanted the track "Isolation Years" on the album despite its irrelevance to the plot. Thus, the album only partly portrays a concept, not fully arranged in the poetic manner as previous opuses such as Still Life and My Arms Your Hearse.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Ghost of Perdition" – 10:29
  2. "The Baying of the Hounds" – 10:41
  3. "Beneath the Mire" – 7:57
  4. "Atonement" – 6:28
  5. "Reverie/Harlequin Forest" – 11:39
  6. "Hours of Wealth" – 5:20
  7. "The Grand Conjuration" – 10:21
  8. "Isolation Years" – 3:51
  9. "Soldier of Fortune (Bonus Track)" (Deep Purple cover; special edition only; recorded June 21, 2006) – 3:15

[edit] Notes

  • In the track "Reverie/Harlequin Forest", "Reverie" is a pregap to track five "Harlequin Forest" - hence the name "Reverie/Harlequin Forest". In all modern CD players, the pregap to any track (besides the first track) will be played following the end of the previous track (in this case, track four), which has led some people to believe that "Reverie" was actually a "hidden track" of sorts to track four, "Atonement". If you "rewind" from the beginning of track five on a modern CD player, you should see a negative time display, which is the "Reverie" pregap.

[edit] Credits


Opeth
Mikael Åkerfeldt | Peter Lindgren | Martin Mendez | Martin Axenrot | Per Wiberg
David Isberg | Andreas Dimeo | Kim Pettersson | Johan DeFarfalla | Stefan Guteklint | Mattias Ander | Nick Döring | Anders Nordin | Martin Lopez
Discography
Studio Albums: Orchid | Morningrise | My Arms, Your Hearse | Still Life | Blackwater Park | Deliverance | Damnation | Ghost Reveries
Singles: The Drapery Falls | Still Day Beneath the Sun | The Grand Conjuration
Live Albums: Lamentations