Search - Opeth :: Blackwater Park

An Outstanding Album

Derek Daniell | Atlanta, Georgia | 10/15/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I got this album about 2 years ago, and at first I hated it because of the death metal vocals. I had read plenty of very positive reviews on this album and I REALLY wanted to like it. But it just wasn't do anything for me. I let it collect dust on the shelf for a while, and the only song I would half listen to and like was The Drapery Falls. This is one of their more popular songs. They usually close their live set with this song.



Fast forward a couple of months and all of a sudden my opinion on the album drastically changed. And this forever changed my taste in music. All of a sudden I started digging their sound. I finally "got" what they were trying to do. Their style is pretty varied from time to time, and I started listening to it over and over again and soon I had to buy more of their albums. I even introduced my best friend to the album and he started loving it too.



This is an album that comes along once in a blue moon. A "classic" in its own right, not a lot of bands will ever achieve what Opeth did on this album. Usually known as their "breakthrough" album, it combines great msuicianship with a great (very dark) theme. I love how it opens with The Leper Affinity. It is the perfect opening song and you can tell that they're just getting started. The song ends with a great little piano piece that surprised me at first when I heard it because I didn't expect something that beautiful to be on such a "brutal" album. But my favorite moment on the album is when it's coming to a close. The song Blackwater Park ends the album nearly perfectly with the lyrics "Sick liasons raised this monumental mark, the sun sets forever over blackwater park." You can really tell that everything is coming to a close. Just listen to the almost unrelentless double bass that epically ends the album.



This album has made Opeth my favorite band now and has opened my eyes to so much more in the music world. I have since bought all of Opeth's albums and have been to three of their concerts. They are also extraordinary live. If you like this album, I suggest you check out every single one of their other ones because they are all very polished and very worthy of many listens.



Notable Tracks:



Bleak

The Drapery Falls

Blackwater Park

"

A well-crafted masterpiece, almost like Opeth's "Master of P

William Dorfer | 11/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Being an Opeth fan for some time now and owning almost all of their studio albums, I think that "Blackwater Park" may be their overall best, even if it isn't my overall favorite. The first thing you'd probably think after reading that is, "What makes this Opeth's best album?". And my answer would be this:



"Blackwater Park" is probably Opeth's overall best album because it captures their songwriting at its best. Opeth writes each of the eight songs by going by what makes musical sense. The songs are more concise, with the sections being less drawn-out. This shows that Opeth was focused more on the content of the song, and not just writing a 10-minute song for the sake of writing a 10-minutes song (even though three of the eight songs are over 10 minutes, but regardless...).



Keep in mind though, I am NOT trashing Opeth as songwriters. I think they make some of the most exciting and interesting metal of their peers. However, on other albums some songs, as great as they may be, may have had passages that went on for a little too long, were a little too drawn out. I think here, Opeth's songwriting skills are at their peak: Each one of the songs is interesting and well-done, and there wasn't a second when I thought it was too drawn-out.



Of course, Opeth has also always been a band that is packed with musical talent. Mikael Akerfeldt, alongside being a skilled guitarist, is, in my opinion, the greatest death metal vocalist today. His growls are so powerful and gigantic, it's as if his vocals came from demons. HOWEVER! Mikael is also the possessor of a beautiful clean voice; when he sings cleanly over gentle, acoustic passages, shivers run down my spine. It's hard to believe somebody could be amazing at both demonic death growls and beautiful clean singing. The rest of the band is great, too, being on top of every change in each song and doing so with gusto.



From the brutal and intense heavy parts to the mystical and beautiful soft parts, this album just works. It's amazing to think that such a work of musical art comes from a band that can be considered death metal, but that's part of what's so great. Such a landmark metal album comes highly recommended to both death metal fans and non-death metal fans. For something that combines beauty with brutality, "Blackwater Park" is a high-water mark in an amazing band's history. Thanks for the time, and peace."

Green Andy Reviews: Opeth - Blackwater Park

A. ZIATS | New York, NY, USA | 10/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's a rare day that anyone has any serious criticism for Opeth, and I'm certainly not going to try here. Like the rest of their work, Blackwater Park is an absolutely amazing moment in Swedish death metal history. It might not be their very best album (that award goes, at present, to 2005's GHOST REVERIES), but it was certainly their best album at the time it was released, and in fact can be considered the first album made by the group in the midst of their popular hype. Thankfully, Opeth lived up to it.



Normally I spend the middle of these reviews mentioning specific songs on a record, the very best or very worst points on the album, etc. That's a tough thing to do with this album, because the songs (described as "movements" by the band) really do play as one continuous piece. Not in the sense that the album is one-dimensional or monotonous, because it's the exact opposite: each song is filled with so many different changes and sections that it takes a careful listener to discern the running theme (either lyrical or melodic) to each one, and picking out a favorite might be difficult. Regardless, there are lots of attractive passages, like the pretty Middle Eastern melody that runs through most of "Bleak", and the slow crawl from gently-strummed acoustic guitar up to stately death metal and back down to acoustics in "The Drapery Falls". Every song has a multitude of twists and turns that keep the piece interesting without sounding overly busy, a testament to the compositional skills of Mikael Åkerfeldt, no doubt aided by the guidance of first-time Opeth producer Steve Wilson (from Porcupine Tree).



The band overall plays incredibly fluidly, moving from passage to passage, from fierce Swedish death metal tones to hushed folk melodies, delicately picked acoustics, washes of noise, and back with confidence and drama. Truly if anyone outside the death metal world needs evidence of the genre's artistic possibilities, Opeth is the band to turn to, and Blackwater Park is one of their finest examples. Highly recommended."