Various Artists "A Call To Irons (A Tribute To Iron Maiden) (USA, Dwell Records, CD-1011)"

A Call to Irons is one of the earlier tribute albums released to honour the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It includes a diverse collection of bands ranging from power metal bands like Steel Prophet to extreme progressive metal bands like Opeth.

Tracklist:

1. "Ides of March/Purgatory" Steel Prophet 5:27
2. "Powerslave" Ancient Wisdom 5:54
3. "The Trooper" Vital Remains 4:06
4. "Genghis Khan" Angel Corpse 3:27
5. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" Solitude Aeturnus 7:34
6. "Phantom of the Opera" New Eden 6:35
7. "Remember Tomorrow" Opeth 5:01
8. "To Tame a Land" Morgion 10:06
9. "Strange World" Evoken 7:00
10. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" Opera IX 13:03
11. "Transylvania" Absu 3:42

Issued in a jewel case, with 4-page booklet.

Hype sticker on jewel case:

"File this release in the Iron Maiden bin".

Mastered @ NRP

Back cover and booklet:

℗© 1998 Dwell Records. Manufactured and marketed by Dwell Records

Printed in U.S.A.

Disc:

℗© 1998 Dwell Records, Inc. Manufactured in U.S.A.

Track times not printed on the release.

Opeth "Ghost Reveries (2006, CD + DVD, Roadrunner Records, Deluxe Edition, Digipak)"

Ghost Reveries is the eighth full-length album by Swedish heavy metal band Opeth. It was released on August 29, 2005. It was their first album after signing with Roadrunner Records.

Ghost Reveries is the first album by Opeth to include keyboardist Per Wiberg as a "permanent" member (although Wiberg contributed keyboard work to Opeth's live performances starting around the time of Lamentations), and it is the last Opeth album to include drummer Martin Lopez and long-time guitarist Peter Lindgren.

The album's only single is "The Grand Conjuration". A music video of the song was released, although about half of the song was edited from the video, due to the length of the song. Lopez does not appear in the video, as he was sick and was temporarily replaced by Gene Hoglan.

Opeth returned home in 2004 to start writing new material for its eighth album, and by the end of the year, they had finished writing it. For the first time since Still Life, the songs for Ghost Reveries were written for the album before going into the studio. This gave Opeth three weeks to rehearse and perfect the recording in the studio. The band had to decide whether to record the album at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, or at Sonic Ranch. They eventually chose Fascination Street Studios, as it was closer to their homes.

Opeth's European label, Music for Nations, closed its doors in 2005, and after negotiations with various labels, the band signed with Roadrunner Records. Åkerfeldt said the primary reason for signing with Roadrunner was the label's wide distribution, ensuring the album would be available at larger-chain retailers. When news leaked that the band was signed to Roadrunner, who predominantly worked with trend-oriented rock and metal, some fans accused the band of selling out. "To be honest," Åkerfeldt said, "that's such an insult after 15 years as a band and 8 records. I can't believe we haven't earned each and every Opeth fan's credibility after all these years. I mean, our songs are 10 minutes long!"

The album marks a temporary return to the progressive metal styles of the previous albums and features death growls, though still includes some of the progressive rock elements of Damnation.

Ghost Reveries was initially intended to be a concept album, with numerous tracks linking together a story of a man's turmoil after committing an unconscionable act, symbolised by killing his own mother. However, Mikael Åkerfeldt commented:

"I had intended to do a occult concept piece lyrically and got off to a great start with some downright evil lyrics like "The Baying of the Hounds" and "Ghost of Perdition", then I did "Isolation Years" which had nothing to do with the intended concept but I liked it so much I decided to ease up on the concept idea in favour of this one lyric. Why I decided on a occult theme? Well, I've always been intrigued by it, especially Satanism and stuff like that. I studied some books that oddly enough my wife had in her collection like "Servants of Satan" as well as "Witchcraft and Sorcery" + some more. I figured it'd be interesting to see what a mature 31 year old mind would make of this subject as opposed to the 16 year old kid who used to pose in front of his Bathory poster. I'm quite happy with them to be honest, and they're ... evil!"

The album only partly portrays a concept, not fully arranged in the poetic manner as previous releases such as Still Life and My Arms, Your Hearse.

"The Baying of the Hounds" is partially inspired by lyrics from the song "Diana" from Comus's album First Utterance.

The artwork was created after the completion of the album. Åkerfeldt commented on the artwork, saying:

"I'd been looking for one of the old medieval looking woodcuts, me and Peter went to the Royal library here in Stockholm looking for a evil (yep!) picture, but that was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Couldn't find one. In the meantime, I'd received some pics from good ol' Travis Smith. And as per usual with Mr. Smith, he's a genius ... the candle pictures just blew me away ... that's the cover, fuck the woodcuts! I love it! It's probably the most gothic looking cover we've had, right?"

Ghost Reveries was released in Europe on 29 August 2005, and in North America on 30 August 2005.

A special edition of the album was released by Roadrunner Records on 31 October 2006. It is packaged in a large digipak and contains a CD and DVD, along with new cover art and an extended booklet featuring extra album artwork and a letter from Åkerfeldt. The CD contains the original tracks from the album, as well as a bonus cover of "Soldier of Fortune" by Deep Purple, which was recorded as a live take with the band's new drummer, Martin Axenrot. The DVD contains a Dolby 5.1 surround sound mix (not including the bonus track), a 40-minute documentary, and the video for "The Grand Conjuration". This documentary details the making of Ghost Reveries, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the band's day-to-day life while recording and touring.

Some copies of Ghost Reveries were mastered using HDCD. Although it is unmarked, playing the album in a CD player able to decode HDCD will give superior sound quality.

"Ghost of Perdition" is included in the soundtrack for the video game Saints Row 2 on the radio station Krunch 106.66. As of 29 November 2011, it is also available for download for the video game Rock Band 3. "The Grand Conjuration" is included in the soundtrack for the video game Sleeping Dogs, on the radio station "roadrunner records". It is also included in the soundtrack for the video game Final Fight: Streetwise, being the boss battle theme song of one of the game's bosses, Famine.

Ghost Reveries peaked on the Billboard 200 at number 64 and number 62 in the UK. The album reached number nine in Sweden, higher than any previous Opeth release.

Ghost Reveries received widespread acclaim upon release. Thom Jurek of AllMusic cited Ghost Reveries as a culmination of everything Opeth had worked towards throughout their career. Jurek defined the album as "fully realized, stunningly beautiful, and emotionally fragmented; it's a terrain where power, tenderness, and sheer grief hold forth under heavy manners. Awesome." Billboard described the album as delving further towards Opeth's progressive tendencies, commenting that the "alternating between powerful metal bursts and gauzy atmospheres requires patient listening, but it allows for better exploration of the beautifully dark world Opeth creates." Brandon Stosuy of Pitchfork praised Opeth's diverse musical influences and instrumentation, as a blend of "prog, jazz, stoner haze, blues-rock, Indian raga, pastoral tips, and acid-tinged freakers." Exclaim! reviewer Max Deneau similarly praised their songwriting and musicianship as key to Opeth's formula, whilst commenting on the addition of keyboardist Per Wiberg as having added "a volatile new dynamic to the band." Keith Bergman of Blabbermouth.net gave the album ten out of ten, one of only 21 albums to achieve a perfect rating from the site. Decibel called Ghost Reveries "achingly beautiful, sometimes unabashedly brutal, often a combination of both." The Aquarian Weekly placed Ghost Reveries among the band's finest work, writing: "This record was in the running for best metal release of the year before it even came out and now that it has, it may very well have decimated any competition."

Ghost Reveries was named the best album of 2005 by Metal Hammer. It was also ranked No. 1 on PopMatters "Best Metal Albums of 2005" and on webzine Metal Storm. Ghost Reveries appeared on many end of year lists, including Kerrang!, Terrorizer, Drowned In Sound and The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll. In a retrospective list, Loudwire named it the best metal album of 2005.

In 2014, TeamRock put Ghost Reveries at #46 on their "Top 100 Greatest Prog Albums of All Time" list commenting that "this was a partial concept album, with Satanism as its theme. It’s now regarded as one of the defining albums of 21st-century progressive metal." Loudwire placed the album at #3 on their "Top 100 Hard Rock and Heavy Metal Albums of the 21st Century" list, only being beaten out by System of a Down's Toxicity (#2) and Tool's Lateralus (#1).

Tracklist:

Disc 1 (CD)

1. Ghost of Perdition 10:29  
2. The Baying of the Hounds 10:41
3. Beneath the Mire 07:58   
4. Atonement 05:24  
5. Reverie / Harlequin Forest 12:43
6. Hours of Wealth 05:21
7. The Grand Conjuration 10:21
8. Isolation Years 03:52   
9. Soldier of Fortune (Deep Purple cover) 03:24  

Time:   01:10:13

 

Disc 2 (DVD)

1. Beyond Ghost Reveries: A Documentary 38:01  
2. Ghost of Perdition (5.1 Mix) 10:29  
3. The Baying of the Hounds (5.1 Mix) 10:41  
4. Beneath the Mire (5.1 Mix) 07:58  
5. Atonement (5.1 Mix) 05:24  
6. Reverie / Harlequin Forest (5.1 Mix) 12:43  
7. Hours of Wealth (5.1 Mix) 05:21  
8. The Grand Conjuration (5.1 Mix) 10:21  
9. Isolation Years (5.1 Mix) 03:52  
10. The Director's Cut of the Video: The Grand Conjuration 05:06

Time:   01:49:56

 Specifics:

• Deluxe edition of the record (include a bonus track)

• A 40 minute documentary about the making of the record complete with the bands own private tour footage.

• The video for "The Grand Conjuration"

• Liner notes

• Photos

• Enhanced 24-page booklet

- "Reverie" appears in the pregap of track 5. However, most CD ripping software add the pregap to the previous track. This causes a tracklist error, where tracks 4 and 5 are really as follows:

4. Atonement / Reverie (6:28)

5. Harlequin Forest (11:39)

The error exists widely, for example in iTunes and Amazon.

- Ghost Reveries was initially intended to be a concept album, with numerous tracks linking together a story of a man's turmoil after committing an unconscionable act, symbolised by killing his own mother. However, Mikael Åkerfeldt commented:

"I had intended to do a occult concept piece lyrically and got off to a great start with some downright evil lyrics like "The Baying of the Hounds" and "Ghost of Perdition", then I did "Isolation Years" which had nothing to do with the intended concept but I liked it so much I decided to ease up on the concept idea in favour of this one lyric. Why I decided on a occult theme? Well, I've always been intrigued by it, especially Satanism and stuff like that. I studied some books that oddly enough my wife had in her collection like "Servants of Satan" as well as "Witchcraft and Sorcery" + some more. I figured it'd be interesting to see what a mature 31 year old mind would make of this subject as opposed to the 16 year old kid who used to pose in front of his Bathory poster. I'm quite happy with them to be honest, and they're ... evil!"

The album only partly portrays a concept, not fully arranged in the poetic manner as previous releases such as "Still Life" and "My Arms, Your Hearse". "The Baying of the Hounds" is partially inspired by lyrics from the song "Diana" from Comus's album "First Utterance". Deluxe sleeve

• 5.1 surround exclusive mix of the record made by Jens Bogren.

"Reverie" appears in the pregap of track 5. However, most CD ripping software add the pregap to the previous track. This causes a tracklist error, where tracks 4 and 5 are really as follows:

4. Atonement / Reverie (6:28)

5. Harlequin Forest (11:39)

The error exists widely, for example in iTunes and Amazon.

Recording information:

• Recorded between March 15-June 1, 2005 at Fascination Street Studios, Örebro, Sweden.

• Mastered at Cutting Room in Stockholm, Sweden.

Jens Bogren – production, engineering, mixing, mastering (at Cutting Room Studios), 5.1 remix
Opeth – production, engineering, mixing, mastering, art direction, recording ("Soldier of Fortune")
Pontus Olsson – engineering ("Soldier of Fortune"), mixing ("Soldier of Fortune")
Rickard Bengtsson – recording
Anders Alexandersson – recording
Niklas Källgren – recording
Thomas Eberger – mastering

"Soldier of Fortune":

• Recorded on June 21, 2006 at Atlantis Studios in Stockholm, Sweden.

• Mastered at Cutting Room in Stockholm, Sweden.

Opeth "Deliverance (Reissue, Music For Nations)"

Deliverance is the sixth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 12 November 2002. It was recorded between 22 July and 4 September 2002, at the same time as Damnation, which was released five months after this album. The two albums contrast starkly with one another, purposely dividing the band's two most prevalent styles, as Deliverance is considered to be one of the band's heaviest albums, whereas Damnation experiments with a much mellower progressive rock-influenced sound.

The band originally intended for Deliverance and Damnation to be released as a double album, but the record company eventually decided against this and released them separately, approximately five months apart from one another in order to promote them properly. The recording sessions also became a writing session of two albums worth of material, causing the recordings to be long as there were no songs written prior to that point. Åkerfeldt wrote the songs in the night and recorded them with the band during the days.

The track "Master's Apprentices" was named after the Australian hard/progressive rock group The Masters Apprentices. "For Absent Friends" was named after a song on the album Nursery Cryme by progressive rock group Genesis.

At the end of "By the Pain I See in Others", the final note fades slowly and ends at 10:40. Silence follows until 12:00, followed by two backmasked (hidden tracks) verses from "Master's Apprentices" at 12:00 and 13:15.

The recording for Deliverance and Damnation was fraught with troubles. The band had originally started recording the album in Nacksving Studio, but the recording process was plagued, not just by a variety of technical issues ranging from equipment breaking down to drum mics changing positions or disappearing, but also internal band issues. Eventually, the band would return to Studio Fredman (upon which they would be joined by producer Steven Wilson) to finish off the record.

During the recording process, Mikael Åkerfeldt's grandmother was killed in a car accident. He would later dedicate both Deliverance and Damnation to her.

Deliverance peaked on Top Heatseekers at No. 16 and the Top Independent Albums chart at No. 19, making it the first Opeth release ever to chart. Opeth also won a Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock Performance after releasing the album.

The album appeared on several lists of the best albums of 2002, including that of Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Terrorizer. In 2012, Loudwire ranked Deliverance as the third best album of 2002.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mikael Åkerfeldt.

1. "Wreath" 11:11
2. "Deliverance" 13:36
3. "A Fair Judgement" 10:21
4. "For Absent Friends" (instrumental) 2:17
5. "Master's Apprentices" 10:30
6. "By the Pain I See in Others" 13:50

This release has a white disc.

"Deliverance", the 6th observation by Opeth was recorded between the 22nd of July and the 4th of September 2002 at Nacksving studios and at Studio Fredman, Gothenburg, SWE.

Mixed at Backstage studios, Ripley, UK.

All songs published by Zomba Music Publishing Limited.

℗ 2002 Music For Nations & © 2006 Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd.

Distributed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Made in the EU.

Recording information:

Recorded between July 22 and September 4, 2002, at Nacksving Studios and at Studio Fredman, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Co-Engineered by Opeth

Co-Produced by Opeth.

Mixed at Backstage Studios, Ripley, UK.

Opeth "Blackwater Park (2012 Reissue, CD + DVD, Music for Nations, Digibook, Legacy Edition)"

Blackwater Park is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on March 12, 2001 in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. The album marks the first collaboration between Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson and the band, as Wilson had been brought in to produce the album. This contributed to a shift in Opeth's musical style. The songs "The Drapery Falls" and "Still Day Beneath the Sun" were released as singles.

Although Blackwater Park did not chart in North America or the United Kingdom, it was a commercial breakthrough for the band and is often considered their magnum opus. The album was highly acclaimed among critics, with Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic stating that the album is "surely the band's coming-of-age album, and therefore, an ideal introduction to its remarkable body of work.” In 2020, Loudwire listed Blackwater Park as the number one progressive metal album of all time. Rolling Stone ranked the album as 55th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'

Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth's guitarist and vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt went to an old friend's house in Stockholm, Sweden, to record some demos and develop ideas for the new album. The album is named after the German progressive rock band of the same name and was the first album for which the group had a title before they started recording.

This album featured heavy input from Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson, whose relationship with Opeth had begun in the past when an interviewer, who was a friend of Åkerfeldt's and knew the latter was a fan of Wilson's work, gave Wilson a copy of Opeth's then-latest release Still Life, which Wilson ended up liking so much that he contacted Åkerfeldt about it. A few months after the making of the demos, Åkerfeldt was having dinner with Wilson in which the two discussed the idea of Wilson producing the next Opeth album. After Åkerfeldt sent Wilson the demos he had recorded, Wilson agreed to produce the album.

Opeth entered Studio Fredman to begin work on Blackwater Park on August 10, 2000. The band had no previous lyrics written and had only rehearsed three times before entering the studio. The band's engineer Fredrik Nordström had arranged for the group to stay in a small room in the studio that had four beds. Opeth stayed there for around two weeks and then later rented out Dark Tranquillity member Mikael Stanne's flat. After recording the basic drums, rhythms, bass and acoustic guitars, Wilson arrived to produce the clean vocals and add some guitar leads. Åkerfeldt wrote that Wilson had an "immense impact on the recording" and after working with him the group entered "a new phase".

Åkerfeldt described the recording of the album as "rather smooth". Soilwork was recording in the studio at the same time as Opeth. Åkerfeldt wrote that Opeth felt like "a bunch of amateurs in comparison. They were working all the time. When they came into the kitchen for a break, we're still there, on the same break we took 3 hours ago. We don't want this to become a 'job', or something you do because you have to. We wanna have a good time, and thus we only work when it feels right."

Blackwater Park was originally released on March 12, 2001 in Europe and a day later in North America. This was the first Opeth album to be released in North America at the same time as it was in the rest of the world. It has been released on compact disc and vinyl record formats. A special edition of Blackwater Park was issued in 2002 with a bonus second disc that included "Still Day Beneath the Sun" and "Patterns in the Ivy II". Those two bonus tracks were released together as a vinyl-only 7" EP by Robotic Empire Records in February 2003. The limited edition EP sold out in less than 24 hours and continues to be one of Opeth's most sought-after releases to date. Two singles were also released to promote Blackwater Park. A shortened radio edit version of "The Drapery Falls" was released as a promo single. The bonus track "Still Day Beneath the Sun" was later released as a vinyl only single.

Blackwater Park did not chart in the United States or United Kingdom. As of May 2008, Blackwater Park has sold over 93,000 copies in the United States.

On March 29, 2010, Opeth re-released a Legacy Edition of Blackwater Park which included a live version of "The Leper Affinity" and then a second DVD which is the entire album in 5.0 Surround Sound and a making of documentary. This version was released in North America in April 2012 by The End Records.

Tracklist:

Disc 1 (CD)

1. The Leper Affinity 10:23   
2. Bleak 09:16   
3. Harvest 06:01   
4. The Drapery Falls 10:54  
5. Dirge for November 07:54  
6. The Funeral Portrait 08:44   
7. Patterns in the Ivy 01:53
8. Blackwater Park 12:08
9. The Leper Affinity (live) 09:27   

Time:  01:16:40  

Disc 2 (DVD)

1. 5.0 audio mix of the original CD 01:07:13  
2. Documentary: The Making of Blackwater Park 35:00  

Time:   01:42:13  

The DVD features the remixed and remastered version of the original CD with a live version of 'The Leper Affinity', a bonus DVD with a 30 minute 'making of' documentary and the record in 5.0 audio and liner notes plus lyrics in its booklet.

Recording information:

Recorded at Fredman Studio, August-October 2000.

Mastered at Mastering Room.

The live track was recorded during a European tour.