ok well I'm bumping this, and a couple of these are responses to issues that were talked about earlier in the thread
-nothing wrong with letting the other guys in the band contribute more to songwriting. although if they had anything major to contribute, they would be, seeing as Mike has claimed to be open to anything they have, but the band is more or less comfortable and has accepted the fact that Mike will do a majority of the writing
-Per in the band is fine. keys are fine. it's new and different for them. you got what... 7 releases without keys? "if you want to hear Still Life, listen to Still Life", blah dee blah
-nothing wrong with keyboard leads either, don't see how they're any less valid than guitar leads
having said that though, there were a couple moments on GR where the keyboard parts sounded too "grand" and just, I don't know, generic and cheesy (5:28 to 5:52 in TGC is an example)
Hours of Wealth on the other hand, wow
9:42 to 10:14 on BOTH and the intro of BTM are a couple more examples of some keys that sounded great to me. and obviously the solo in unison on BTM
but what do I know
-as far as "new" or improved elements - up the atmospheric focus by a lot. can't Per play guitar as well? (Mike said before that he contributed a riff or 2 to GR... either here on the forum or in some interview, although I don't specifically know how he meant it). if he can, give him a guitar. I'm talking post-rock elements. not only would this further Opeth's sound and open up more doors and approaches to songs or sections, but it would reopen up a door they've inadvertently closed in adding Per to the band - what if Mike came up with a lot of material where keyboards didn't belong?