When I wrote the review of Katatonia's
The Great Cold Distance (the 2007 5.1 by Jens Bogren) a few days ago I said that I should maybe revisit
Ghost Reveries to check whether Bogren's first foray into surround was better than I remembered, just as with Katatonia's album, or not
The short answer is: yes, it's a lot better than I remembered. I'm actually quite surprised. I don't know, there's something about my new system/room that makes Bogren's mixes sound so much better than on my previous two systems. Of course the new one is better quality and better calibrated (and better room) but the leap is definitely more pronounced in Bogren's work than in others', for some reason.
My recollection is that this was one of the first 3 surround mixes I ever bought; the others were Porcupine Tree's
In Absentia and Dream Theater's
Systematic Chaos. I don't remember the exact order, but I do remember that I found Opeth's 5.1 mix extremely disappointing, unlike the other two, despite being my favourite album of the three.
I thought it was 'big stereo'. It is not - it's actually quite discrete at times, especially in the second half of the album, as previously mentioned. I even followed
@edisonbaggins' advice of turning off the front speakers for confirmation, and it confirmed indeed there's a lot more discrete stuff going in the rears than I initially thought. Perhaps, the problem is that the first two songs, maybe three, which are long (10 min each) and quite amazing (I consider "Ghost of Perdition" to be the best Opeth song ever) are mixed much more conservatively despite being musically just as suited for multichannel as the rest of the album. Not sure why.
Regardless of how interesting or not it is from a surround standpoint, it's an amazing sounding mix. Sounds great despite being a bit brickwalled (didn't measure DR, but I thought the 5.1 sounds slightly more dynamic than the stereo). I also love that the drums are mixed from a drummer's perspective instead of an audience's perspective. I always prefer this approach, but it's somewhat uncommon. Additionally, it doesn't hurt that the album is musically sublime. A solid candidate for the best Opeth album, IMO. Great compositions and flawless performances by every member.
I'm glad to prove myself wrong. This is a very enjoyable mix that will get a lot of spins again over here. I'm voting 7, which would've been 8 had the first 2-3 songs been mixed like the rest from 4 onwards. For comparison, had I voted guided only by my recollections, it would've been 5 or 6.
Time to revisit the other Opeth mixes Bogren did, I guess. Those were clearly better even on my previous system so I have decent expectations now!
