This is nothing personal, but I'm not feeling the new Opeth track The Grand Conjuration.
For one, the song is somewhat repetitive, generic and bland. The keyboards replace Opeth's acoustic interludes but fail to bring on a sense of brutality or melancholy atmoshpere. The riffs about 2:00 into the song are reminiscant of nu/rap metal and very repititive.
4:18 into Grand Conjuration the song becomes listenable with more complex riffs and chord progresions but never really takes off or gives me a sense of direction, cohension, melancholy emotion or utter doom/death brutality.
For the first 3:00 of Grand Conjuration the drums sound awfully trigerred. Perhaps a drum machine? The keyboards are overused and sound like a third rate cross between Dimmu Borgir or your average nu/black/industrial metal.
I don't like the production on this track; the production on Opeth's Grand Conjuration sounds almost nu metal, almost industrial metal.
The new Opeth track is saturated with keyboards, but not in the atmospheric sensibility.
Mike's vocals are always great, specifically his death growls, but as wonderful as Mike's clean vocals are, they sound over processed.
I miss Steven Wilson's (Porcupine Tree's) production expertise, as I'll take Steven Wilson's production over the production on The Grand Conjuration.
The only way I would recognize this as an Opeth track is through Mike Akerfeldt's death growls, wich are orgasm inducing. The ripp on this track does not do Mike's vocals justice.
Despite the complaints that in the past Opeth wrote in a cut and paste style, the Grand Conjuration is just not a well written track, for whatever Opeth are trying to achieve with this song.
Gone are the juxstaposition of soft/mellow and heavy brutal, with emotional, beautiful acoustic interludes that Opeth are internationally aclaimed for.
I'm all for Opeth experimenting and trying something new and different, and groundbreaking, but within this radical change of sound, it seems that Opeth are missing the unique identity and emotional, brutality, and progressive tendencies that endear them to so many worldwide.
I hate to say this because up to now, I could listen to any Opeth track three or four times in a row over 10;00, 12;00, 20;00. The Grand Conjuration, being so repititive, but missing the progression, time changes, and brutal to soft juxtaposition, as this 9:55 track could cut be cut in half and no one would notice.
I'm somewhat upset, and I don't know what to say..I'll listen to the rest of Ghost Revelries, but I feel like I've been jilted by a lover, cheated, I just want to cry.
Some people might LIKE this track, as Grand Conjuration sounds like Tool with a good death metal vocalist. Opeth's more mainstream/streamlined musical approach in the Grand Conjuration could win over more trendy fans but lose long time extreme metal heads/fans in the translation.