Disco de Opeth: “Blackwater Park ”

Not since my high school years, 93-97, had I been a fan of metal. After talking to a fellow college classmate about Slayer, I decided to take him up on his suggestion to check out the band In Flames. After purchasing Colony, and having the epiphany that there could possibly be great metal out there, despite the decline of The Headbanger's Ball, and the obvious failings of the so-called metal bands dominating the charts in the US, I decided to peruse the reviews on Amazon to see where this hopefully resurrected metal fan needed to search next.

Everywhere I looked: Opeth. To boot, I had never heard such words used to describe a metal band: eloquent, majestic, beautiful, exquisite, touching, emotional, poignant, epic, delicate...ok, I must stop here because the references to positive transendence, though absolutely fitting, might give you the idea that this is not a heavy metal band at all.

And perhaps that is true. If there is a band in the metal genre which perfectly symbolizes the evolutionary certainty of all quality music bending the limits of genre, then Opeth is it.

No band has ever captivated my imagination and love for music the way this band has, and Blackwater Park is the album that started it all.

The escalating, soft tension of the opener, "The Leper Affinity" exploded into the most demonic of riffs. Not because the riff is pure evil, but because the melody, so seductive and oddly soothing, epitomizes true darkness as it is compelling in the true nature of sin. This band surpasses musical genius by honing the exact ebb and flow of extreme human emotions.

Throughout this 67 minute, 8-track opus, Opeth guide the listener through a world of vivid lament, psychosis, rage, reconcilliation, victory, and defeat. I do not know of any album (and my collection of pop/rock/hip-hop/jazz/jamband/soul/etc. reaches near the 2,000 mark) that ends so fittingly as this one, when Mikael exclaims, "The sun sets forever, over, Blackwater Paaaaarrrrrrrkkkkkkk!" at the album's closing. At this zenith, the listener truly feels the inescapable suffocation of death, and the unfathomable possiblities of an afterlife. I dare any reviewer to name a band which can conjure such emotions.

What's for sure is that Opeth accomplishes such seemingly impossible feats by coupling patient songwriting with flawless instrumental execution. Guitar players who instantly become enthralled with the idea of replicating the tasty guitar passages, pause for just a second. The tracks on this album are so layered, that if you wanted to produce the exact same sound live, you'd need a band to rival the numbers of your local city's orchestra.

It is this thoughtfulness in composition that truly separates this band from others, and allows this album to rest upon the apex of metal along with its ancestor, Still Life (to this day I cannot decide which of the two reigns supreme). Every moment of this album, the extreme death/black/progressive elements and the folkish/melancholic-acoustic-doom progressions, accentuates the duality of darkness, in its most dormant and aggressive manifestations.

Together, these polar opposites collide to produce a musical experience unmatched by any in the metal field. Aside from pulling this fan from his metal grave, Blackwater Park ensures that this decade will not fail the world of music in producing an incomparable contribution to extreme/heavy music.

Blackwater Park was my first Opeth *album* (having only heard snippets of Morningrise before).

A small point of interest - the chief criticism here seems to be band's insistence on employing growl vocals.

Repeated listenings to Blackwater totally changed my view on the matter - I realised that far from being the lamely overaggressive screaming of an otherwise talentless vocalist, the profound and multifaceted artistry in this volume would simply not be able to be communicated without the tool of harsh vocals.

They are not used for their own sake, nor to simply stop the gaps of an incomplete band lineup, but are just another component in a seamless tapestry of such potent beauty and majesty there is insufficient time in most our lives to listen and appreciate all it has to offer, let alone to just bask in incandescent admirative glow one ends up helplessly projecting on repeated listenings of Opeth.

Regardless, as you will discover in any of the acoustic or dynamically constrasted tracks such as "Harvest" or "The Drapery Falls", singer Mikael Akerfeldt's talent, ability and range is accomplished, to be more than modest.

I suppose the fact that there are only SEVEN reviews of the odd hundred-and-fifty-three before this that are negative, and half of these are from people that could not lay aside a dislike of growling enough to appreciate the album should let you know that this may be the biggest hurdle for someone considering picking this up

The other 3 were either just plain wrong in their assumptions - anyone who questions Opeth's musicianship or compositional talents can be safely and objectively sidelined as a cook: As whether you find them boring and prententiously irrelevant, or pray to them daily at nightfall , their technical talents cannot be queried by anyone with even an ounce of musical knowhow - or else provided no clear logic to their heresy.

Buy this album if you one of those who considers music to be *anything* more than a diversion used when performing menial chores or long distance driving. Even if -it takes you a year to come to appreciate what it is, any rational person will eventually come to at least respect this masterwork.

It doesn't get much better than this. Opeth's Blackwater Park album in 5.0 (as it says on the box and on the disc, but it sounds/feels like 5.1 so maybe that's a Europe thing?) is the best thing I've ever heard. Steven Wilson's vocals on "Bleak" are awesome (well I dont want to give it away if you haven't bought this yet), also "The Drapery Falls" is something totally worth getting the Legacy Edition to hear. You'll know what I mean. In fact, "The Leper Affinity" will set the tone as to what to expect quality-wise because there are some things in that one you can't here on even a lossless file from the cd. The making of documentary is a good watch as well.

For all of you concerned in the US about compatibility, don't worry. I live in Chicago, all of the regional coding is right, it's NTSC, etc etc.

If you are viewing this item, you are an Opeth fan, and there is no such thing as a "casual" Opeth fan, so take my advice and buy one of their best albums in 5.0 (again, it sounds/feels like 5.1 so I'm not sure why it is advertised as 5.0) It's almost as good as hearing it live in its' entirety like I heard on their Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology tour (amazing show by the way, flew out to NYC for it)

I've found listening to OPETH a near-religious experience. When I search my vast collection of thoughts regarding Metal music and my involvement in the scene as both a participant, fan, and now critic, I'm humbled by the fact that OPETH alone have been one of the very few; and I mean very few bands, who have ever been able to stir this level of emotion in me. Now that was a very long sentence and if challenged to do so I could easily ramble on endlessly about OPETH and their immense creativity and uncanny ability to write and perform music that transcends all recognizable barriers. Its one thing to mesh opposing styles but OPETH have gone beyond the call and created something no other band can lay claim to. In this whirling vortex of a scene with a myriad of Metal styles, that's an accomplishment few can claim.

Blackwater Park. Why is it that this title fits so well? Leave it to the mysterious nature of this Swedish prodigy and be content with the outcome, which as you may have guessed by now given my long-winded introduction to this album, is stunning. What is most interesting about this release is that, as incredible as it is, it was not an instant classic upon first listen. Then again, every previous effort by OPETH has had the same slow, gravitational effect on me. One listen demands another, then another until at some point you realize that it's yet another classic piece of moody, dramatic, ethereal, dreamy and probing Metal craftiness.

No long time fan of the band are likely to feel cheated by the fact that OPETH have really not brought anything new to the table on this album. You've come to expect the very best from the band and that's exactly what you get with Blackwater Park. However, some may have anticipated some new ingredient to be introduced. Not so in the big picture here. What OPETH have done is simply picked up where Still Life ended, thrown in some earlier elements from My Arms, Your Hearse and journeyed further into the nether of dark, emotionally charged musical nirvana. The eight tracks on this album represent over an hour of brilliant, heartfelt intricacy layered through and through with haunting acoustical backdrops, fanged guitar bites and bolstered by alternating vocal styles now commonly associated with the band's style. The flow and tempo of the album is remarkably consistent and fine-tuned which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has followed the band through their career. Vocalist Michael Akerfeldt is at his pinnacle on this album and all supporting members again brandish their finest musical traits. The vocal passion in this album is deeply interwoven amidst the sinister attack of Akerfeldt's darker side. The Jeckyl and Hyde personality is strong and always absorbing.

There are times when Blackwater Park may come across as a more simplistic rendition of Still Life but listen again because so deep is this tireless work of art that several spins of the disc are required for one to grasp the full brunt. The album is all about synchronicity and character and surely the emotive balance is striking with waves of sorrow, love, hate and madness all rolling in like successive waves at high tide.

OPETH seemingly have settled into a niche they are comfortable with and all the more power to them because whatever this is, its working and working like clockwork. Blackwater Park is as beautiful as it is dark and unsettling. A masterpiece? Yes.

First of all I just want to say the only reason I prefer Opeth's "Still Life" is purely due to personal thinking, it is not musically superior to "Blackwater Park", in fact, I don't think anything can touch it!

With every album Opeth have demonstrated their formidable talent, uniqueness and confindence in not being afraid to hold anything back, but equally importantly they have shown increasing maturity as they have progressed through the years, and "Blackwater Park" is definately their most mature work to date, a stunning masterpiece packed with melodies, guitar solos, death metal and many calm passages, theres even a fully acoustic song here: "Harvest", brilliant and very professional.

On first listen of "Blackwater Park" songs that caught me especially were "Bleak" and "Blackwater Park", the title song. Both very lengthy and dark, the latter exceeding 12 minutes, and every second is worth it. "Patterns in the Ivy" is a very short song no more than 2 minutes long with just a guitar and piano, I must admit I think this a beautiful piece of music, as I'm sure many people will agree, perfectly suited to preceed the epic closer.

Other really bulky songs on this album are the great opener "The Leper Affinity" and "The Drapery Falls", again both demonstrating brilliant musicianship and confidence, I'm guessing conifidence is not an issue for a band like Opeth.

People have told me in the past their favourite song on this album is "The Funeral Portrait", this song does indeed possess one of the albums best riffs, but personally I prefer "Dirge for November", it is slightly shorter than your average Opeth song, and has rather a different structure aswell, with a long deathy bridge in the middle, preceeded and succeeded by acoustic parts, the later acoustic part being my favourite passage in the whole album, simply outstanding and almost "Katatonic" that is, sounding slightly like Katatonia, but lets leave the comparisons to Katatonia aside, I prefer Opeth!

Every album by Opeth possesses it's own element that is above all the other albums, with "Blackwater Park" I would say it demonstrates another step forward for Opeth with regards to maturity, and song writing brillance, without tailing off into looking for an excuse to show off, a fault I feel Dream Theater have demonstrated.

My favourite songs: "Bleak" "Blackwater Park".

I'd strongly recommend "Blackwater Park" to anyone looking for something different to listen to in terms of heavy music, in fact I'd probably bore them to death by going on about it too much!