14 Albums later Akerfeldt is the only original member but I am willing to count anyone who has been playing since "Deliverance" so that makes two. I know some are going to be thrilled about the return of the growl. I get it, but I would be more stoked for songwriting on the level of "Blackwater Park". Sure we get some proggy chaos, it's impressive, but it does not feel like the heart is invested in as much as they are punching the clock to give fans what they think they want., It is better than "Heritage' so I will accept that. The second song finds Joey Tempest from Europe lending his voice to the background, and he still has it. Ian Anderson also does a spoken word narration throughout. I do like the second song better than the openers as there is more of a backbone to it.
After checking out the first two songs, I started the album with track three, this album is not big on song titles, and let it play. The next thing I knew I was on song 5, so the songs run together at times. We are hearing more of Akerfeldt's lower range in places. What separates them is the fact that the 4th song is a closer return to their older sound if we are calling "Ghost Reveries" their older sound. Granted it gets broken up with odd interludes so the momentum to headbang is never emphasized as it once was.. In fact, the song wanders out into a flute solo. They also fire off some impressive guitar solos if you are into that kind of thing.
The 6th song falls out of the previous one like it's an extended jam. It has a stronger groove than most we have heard on this album up to this point, not the most metal moment, but it leaves things open to going in that direction. I like the way the guitar is phrased in the middle of the song it reminds me of "Deliverance" which is my favorite album by these guys. I think this best captures what they do. The guitar solo does rip out from this song in a heroic fashion. It takes you on a similar journey as the songs before it, just in what I think is the most classic manner from the band. The drummer really gets down on the 6th track, though I do not think it is as good as the previous song, but better than most prog metal these days.
The 7th song dances between the death metal vocals and the jamming grooves they work off of. There are some darker more deliberate moments that I enjoy. The last song "A Story Never Told" is more of a proggy power ballad but feels true to who they are as a band., It wanders around the mellower drift of the chord progression more like something ELP might do. I will give this one a 9.5, not a perfect album, and perhaps it just needs to grow on me, but one of the best things they have done in a long time, it almost makes me forget some of those post- "Watershed" albums.
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