Opeth – Ghost of Perdition

Section Analysis

Section

Time

Instrument

Function

Rpt

Text Hint

1

00:00

Guitar

Intro



2

00:08

Growl


4x

„Ghost of Mother“

3a

01:06

Guitar/Drum

Intro



3b

01:13

Voice



„Devil crack“

4

01:21

Guitar




3a

01:36

Guitar/Drum

Intro



3c

01:44

Voice

Voice Variation



4

01:51

Guitar




2

02:05

Growl


2x

„Holding her down“

5

02:34

Voice

Bridge


„Road into the dark“

6a

02:49

Voice


4x

„Higher“

6b

03:49

Guitar

Solo



7

04:08

Guitar

Bridge



8a

04:23

Voice


2x

„Darkness by her side“

8b

04:38

Voice

Voice Variation


„Rose up to it's call“

8c

04:47

Voice

Drum Variation


„Mother light“

9a

04:54

Guitar




9b

05:10

Guitar

Drum Variation



9a

05:25

Guitar




10a

05:40

Guitar




10b

05:48

Guitar

Variation



11a

05:55

Voice


2x

„In time the hissing“

11b

06:11

Voice

Voice Variation


„Incoherent talk“

12a

06:26

Guitar

Intro

2x


12b

06:36

Growl


2x

„Ghost of Perdition“

12c

06:46

Growl

Drum Variation

2x

„Keeper of holy hordes“

13a

06:58

Guitar

Intro



13b

07:07

Keys




13c

07:17

Keys

Variation



13d

07:27

Voice



„To see a beloved son“

13e

07:37

Guitar


2x


13f

07:58

Guitar

Solo

2x


14

08:18

Growl


4x

„Cut the source“

15

08:59

Guitar

Bridge



6c

09:06

Guitar/Voice

Variation


„Higher“

6d

09:22

Guitar/Voice

Variation



6e

09:37

Guitar/Voice

Variation

2x


6f

10:05

Guitar/Voice


4x


16

10:19

Guitar

Final



END

10:29





Statistics


Number

Repetitions

Average Length

Sections

16

2

0:35

Subsections

35

4

0:16

Observations

This song starts with a very short soft intro that nearly feels more like an upbeat. After that, sections 2, 3, and 4 give the listener the feeling of a verse-verse-chorus-chorus-verse structure lasting nearly two and a half minutes. But then the song wanders off into other sections.

Part 6, which follows the pseudo verse-chorus-verse setup after only a short bridge, is used as a framing device. It returns at the end of the song in 4 variations thereby framing parts 7 to 15 inside its to appearances. This is a technique often encountered on the Ghost Reveries album.

Parts 3 and 12 use the technique of introducing a riff first and then adding the vocals.

Part 13 starts with the riff introduction in 13a, then adds the melody on the keyboard while going soft (13b-c) and finally adds the vocals in 13d where it grows heavier again building up through 13e to culminate in a solo in 13f. This riff-intro/vocals/solo sub-structure can be found on other tracks aswell.

Opinion

This song is just great from start to finish. No flaw here. Highlights abound. From the falsely tranquil intro 1 to the sudden driving force 2 to the rejoicing of 3 and the brilliant lick in 4 to the bridge 5 and subsequent soft framing part 6 across bridge 7 to the punctuated build up in 8 then the release in part 9 and again the build up through 10 to the urgent part 11 followed by the definitive dark side in 12 and the glimpse of light in 13 to the doubts in 14 again bridging with 15 back to the now more desperate prayer of 6 leading to the closing of the doors in the final 16 – this song is just killer.