Ranking Every Opeth Studio Album From Worst To Best
1. Ghost Reveries (2005)
As the embodiment of their past, present, and future, Ghost Reveries is ultimate Opeth album. It combines the viciousness of its forebearers with the vibrant complexities of its follow-ups and then decorates it all with mediaeval majesty. The fact that it’s the swan song for both Lindgren and López – and the introduction of Wiberg – only adds to its magnitude.
Ghost of Perdition kicks things off with arguably the most drastic dynamic swings of any Opeth tune. It ebbs and flows between robust demonism and reserved delicateness, all the while establishing the record’s inconsistent plot about man wrestling with guilt after committing matricide. Later, The Baying of the Hounds and The Grand Conjuration perform comparably malleable magic.
In-between, Beneath the Mire escalates with razor-sharp eccentricity prior to the lovingly golden mysticism of Atonement. Next, Reverie/Harlequin Forest is a mind-blowing cycle of disparate segments that paves the way for the symphonic and warmly calming Hours of Wealth. The narratively unrelated and relatively simple Isolation Years caps it all off with heartbreaking remembrances that stay with you long after they’re gone.
Opeth have gone through many phases over their twenty-five-year history, and every one of them is epitomized on the superlative Ghost Reveries.