Sparrow, Im still yours...

The Sparrow, and the Dog

A sheep-dog had not a good master, but, on the contrary, one who let him suffer hunger. As he could stay no longer with him, he went quite sadly away. On the road he met a sparrow who said, "Brother dog, why art thou so sad?" The dog replied, "I am hungry, and have nothing to eat." Then said the sparrow, "Dear brother, come into the town with me, and I will satisfy thy hunger." So they went into the town together, and when they came in front of a butcher's shop the sparrow said to the dog, "Stay there, and I will pick a bit of meat down for thee," and he alighted on the stall, looked about him to see that no one was observing him, and pecked and pulled and tore so long at a piece which lay on the edge, that it slipped down. Then the dog seized it, ran into a corner, and devoured it. The sparrow said, "Now come with me to another shop, and then I will get thee one more piece that thou mayst be satisfied." When the dog had devoured the second piece as well, the sparrow asked, "Brother dog, hast thou now had enough?" "Yes, I have had meat enough," he answered, "but I have had no bread yet." Said the sparrow, "Thou shalt have that also, come with me." Then he took him to a baker's shop, and pecked at a couple of little buns till they rolled down, and as the dog wanted still more, he led him to another stall, and again got bread for him. When that was consumed, the sparrow said, "Brother dog, hast thou now had enough?" "Yes," he replied, "now we will walk awhile outside the town." Then they both went out on to the highway. It was, however, warm weather, and when they had walked a little way the dog said, "I am tired, and would like to sleep." "Well, do sleep," answered the sparrow, "and in the meantime I will seat myself on a branch." So the dog lay down on the road, and fell fast asleep. Whilst he lay sleeping there, a waggoner came driving by, who had a cart with three horses, laden with two barrels of wine. The sparrow, however, saw that he was not going to turn aside, but was staying in the wheel track in which the dog was lying, so it cried, "Waggoner, don't do it, or I will make thee poor." The waggoner, however, growled to himself, "Thou wilt not make me poor," and cracked his whip and drove the cart over the dog, and the wheels killed him. Then the sparrow cried, "Thou hast run over my brother dog and killed him, it shall cost thee thy cart and horses." "Cart and horses indeed!" said the waggoner. "What harm canst thou do me?" and drove onwards. Then the sparrow crept under the cover of the cart, and pecked so long at the same bung-hole that he got the bung out, and then all the wine ran out without the driver noticing it. But once when he was looking behind him he saw that the cart was dripping, and looked at the barrels and saw that one of them was empty. "Unfortunate fellow that I am," cried he. "Not unfortunate enough yet," said the sparrow, and flew on to the head of one of the horses and pecked his eyes out. When the driver saw that, he drew out his axe and wanted to hit the sparrow, but the sparrow flew into the air, and he hit his horse on the head, and it fell down dead. "Oh, what an unfortunate man I am," cried he. "Not unfortunate enough yet," said the sparrow, and when the driver drove on with the two hoses, the sparrow again crept under the cover, and pecked the bung out of the second cask, so all the wine was spilt. When the driver became aware of it, he again cried, "Oh, what an unfortunate man I am," but the sparrow replied, "Not unfortunate enough yet," and seated himself on the head of the second horse, and pecked his eyes out. The driver ran up to it and raised his axe to strike, but the sparrow flew into the air and the blow struck the horse, which fell. "Oh, what an unfortunate man I am." "Not unfortunate enough yet," said the sparrow, and lighted on the third horse's head, and pecked out his eyes. The driver, in his rage, struck at the sparrow without looking round, and did not hit him but killed his third horse likewise. "Oh, what an unfortunate man I am," cried he. "Not unfortunate enough yet," answered the sparrow. "Now will I make thee unfortunate in thy home," and flew away.

The driver had to leave the waggon standing, and full of anger and vexation went home. "Ah," said he to his wife, "what misfortunes I have had! My wine has run out, and the horses are all three dead!" "Alas, husband," she answered, "what a malicious bird has come into the house! It has gathered together every bird there is in the world, and they have fallen on our corn up there, and are devouring it." Then he went upstairs, and thousands and thousands of birds were sitting in the loft and had eaten up all the corn, and the sparrow was sitting in the midst of them. Then the driver cried, "Oh, what an unfortunate man I am?"

"Not unfortunate enough yet!" answered the sparrow; "waggoner, it shall cost thee thy life as well," and flew out.

Then the waggoner had lost all his property, and he went downstairs into the room, sat down behind the stove and was quite furious and bitter. But the sparrow sat outside in front of the window, and cried, "Waggoner, it shall cost thee thy life." Then the waggoner snatched the axe and threw it at the sparrow, but it only broke the window, and did not hit the bird. The sparrow now hopped in, placed itself on the stove and cried, "Waggoner, it shall cost thee thy life." The latter, quite mad and blind with rage, smote the stove in twain, and as the sparrow flew from one place to another so it fared with all his household furniture, looking-glass, benches, table, and at last the walls of his house, and yet he could not hit the bird. At length, however, he caught it with his hand. Then his wife said, "Shall I kill it?" "No," cried he, "that would be too merciful. It shall die much more cruelly," and he took it and swallowed it whole. The sparrow, however, began to flutter about in his body, and fluttered up again into the man's mouth; then it stretched out its head, and cried, "Waggoner, it shall still cost thee thy life." The driver gave the axe to his wife, and said, "Wife, kill the bird in my mouth for me." The woman struck, but missed her blow, and hit the waggoner right on his head, so that he fell dead. But the sparrow flew up and away.

:( Gladly you live, sadly I too do, but away from you.

Ghost Reveries, Opeth

One of the most brilliantly performed Opeth albums, this clearly sets a threshold for any "copy-cats bands" to be able to reach, a feat yet to be surpassed. Although all of the songs are not as impressive as some of those from the previous albums, the album as a whole is simply stunning. Here's more inspiring words on the album by someone more suited to do the job.

Let me start by stating the obvious: Opeth isn't exactly the most accessible metal band around. Too boring for those who only need METAL!!!1 and too extreme for the fans of lighter genres, it takes either a fair amount of patience, or an unusual enough taste to appreciate. Ghost Reveries doesn't change this at all, with five large, complex compositions and three shorter, calmer songs working, as great as they are, as interludes more than anything else. Still, there's plenty of those, including the one writing this, who really enjoy thorough digging into the creations of Mr Akerfeldt and co., and the reason is simple enough – it's extremely rewarding in every way. The journey we're taking on Ghost Reveries isn't exactly an optimistic nor a simple one – we're dealing with ghosts (in the more spiritual meaning rather than the fantasy one), solitude, guilt, and even occultism at more than one point. It takes time and patience to fully get into the world presented here, but the way it is presented makes it worth the effort entirely. As (nearly, there's Damnation after all) always in case of Opeth, the music is a combination of straightforward death metal with a progressive edge, more melodic and melancholic sections, and the calmest, mostly acoustic parts. On Ghost Reveries, all three are executed and combined with perfection and finesse, as the music can pass from crushing riffs and deep growling to acoustic guitars and clean vocals within 30 seconds, and it feels entirely natural. However, this time the focus is definitely on darker parts, even though there are four songs feeling – more or less – lighter than the others. The longest one of them, and actually also the longest composition of the album, called Reverie/Harlequin Forest, is an impressive work with a more melodic approach, some beautiful guitar leads and solos, and also an amazing combination of clean vocals and heavier riffs in the first part. It's still not void of heavier parts with growls, which are very nicely combined with the rest, but this time it's not the main part. This song also perfectly displays another strength of the album – the incredible use of keyboards and mellotrons. This is the first Opeth album recorded with Per Wiberg, and also the first “normal” album using the keyboards so extensively - they're present pretty much from start to finish of Ghost Reveries, they hardly ever take the lead, and greatly add to the whole sound. They're used to great effect in the heavier sections, just as the first half of The Baying of The Hounds and intro/outro of The Grand Conjuration, but obviously, it's the lighter parts in which they have more space and importance. The three shorter songs, called Atonement, Hours of Wealth and Isolation Years, are particularly dominated by the use of keyboards. Atonement has a slightly jazzy feeling to it, but it's the vocals that shine the most – it's one of the most emotional moments of the entire album, with a beautiful, slightly processed voice that really remains in your mind... Hours of Wealth may be the weakest track of Ghost Reveries, but it still works as a very good acoustic interlude. However, the closing track – Isolation Years – is a different thing entirely. The most melancholic and the shortest track on the album, but full of emotion and feeling, it's extremely memorable since the first listen, and the perfect ending of the album, it's also probably the most impressive clean vocal performance of Mikael Akerfeldt on Ghost Reveries. The most impressive growling performance, on the other hand, would be the first half of The Baying of The Hounds. Actually I'll go as far as saying this is one of the best growling performances I've ever heard, with a really deep, dark, powerful voice, that really will make you feel the lyrics (and we're talking about lyrics such as “the cities lay dead and beyond despair”). The truth is that vocals on the whole album are absolutely top notch, emotional, powerful and simply excellent in every way, and these examples are just the ones that stand out the most, but there are many, many more (such as the beautiful “Drown in the deep mire...” part – The Baying of The Hounds, again). I admit I had considered Mikael Akerfeldt a good, but not great vocalist – I was proved entirely wrong by this album, which is vocal-wise one of the best things I've ever heard. The metal side of the album is nearly perfect as well, and the aforementioned The Baying of the Hounds is one of the heaviest tracks, dominated by excellent death metal riffs, with a particularly great, heavy, chugging one around the 7th minute. Another one is the opener, Ghost of Perdition (which seems to have gained a nearly untouchable spot in the band's live setlist), also alternating a bit between heavier and softer moments, both being equally brilliant. Beneath The Mire is the most unusual and probably also the most prog-metal oriented track on the album, with a slightly more technical approach and some unconventional experiments (such as the opening riff), and also an amazing outro. And then, there's the song which has really possessed me. But hell, I'm happy with that. It's called The Grand Conjuration, and it's hands down the heaviest and darkest piece on Ghost Reveries. It's the most focused on the theme of occultism and ritual, which is rather obvious, looking at the title, and the atmosphere is so dark and dense that it's capable of giving chills during most of its duration. On one hand, there's the particularly grim growling style, sounding like you really don't want to mess with him, and on the other – there are the quiet moments, with a repeating low guitar sound, and a clean, silent, nearly whispered vocal style... but the way it sounds is so incredibly discomforting (especially with the “ritual” whispers in the background here and there) that it manages to sound even darker than the heavy parts, which, by the way, are just filled with amazing riffs, from start to finish. And the outro... I've mentioned it when talking about keyboards, I'm mentioning it again, and it's still not enough. I'm listening to this song for around the twentieth time and it feels just as incredible, monumental and powerful as for the first time. I'm not the “if it's the heaviest, it's my favourite” type, especially on albums like this, but this is an exception... One more thing that shines on the album, in fact on The Grand Conjuration the most, is the drumming. This is the last Opeth album with Martin Lopez, and his performance here is excellent, with lots of finesse and feeling, but also a lot of punch in the heavier parts. This was one of those rare albums which I had decided to try not really knowing what to expect, and ended up forgetting about the rest of the world for two weeks. If someone can't stand long songs and the “boring” acoustic sections, I don't think Ghost Reveries can change his/her opinion. Otherwise – this is an album with amazing songwriting (and with this song length and the diversity of musical styles involved, this means a lot), absolutely stunning and incredible vocals, excellent riffs and drumming, beautiful softer parts, and everything combined together by a unique, dark atmosphere. Impossible to do all at once? Maybe. But this is Opeth.

Originally from: the records of Encyclopaedia Metallum, done by Darkes_7