32. Opeth - Ghost Reveries
The first Opeth song I ever heard was an edit of The Lotus Eater, off of a Metal Hammer cd compilation and damn, it was on repeat for many days. After that I started picking up Opeth where I could, my first buy being The Candlelight Years with the first three albums, all fantastic, but my favorite would have to be Ghost Reveries. Nudging out Watershed and My Arms, Your Hears by just a tiny bit, Ghost Reveries is an amazing record all around, from the artwork to the music contained inside. Mikeal is one of my favorite vocalists in metal, for the reason that both aspects of his vocals are extraordinary. His growl is powerful, and ferocious, where as his clean vocals are crooning, and calming. Muscianship is something that is never lacking in Opeth, whether you prefer Lopez or Legolas, you're in for a treat with the drumming, bass is just splendid, and guitars are never lacking, with the warm acoustic tones, and the electric raze of their electric guitars. Opeth is also a band I never really compare to other bands because they have such a distinctive sound, you know right away that you're listening to Opeth when they come on, even with Heritage. Now more so onto why I consider Ghost Reveries their best. Along with the descriptions about their musicianship above, Ghost Reveries is just extremely memorable to me, and while their catalog is for the most part, Ghost Reveries just edges out on top. Also it has some of my favorite songs from them, The Grand Conjuration being one of my most favorites, the transitioning in the song gives me goosebumps, plain and simple. So if you haven't given Opeth a chance yet for some crazy reason, and you're okay with growling, Ghost Reveries would be the album to start at, as it's simply radulartastic.
Favorite Tracks: Ghost of Perdition, Reverie/Harlequin Forest, The Grand Conjuration