OPETH — Blackwater Park (review)

OPETH — Blackwater Park album cover Album · 2001 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Sleepwalker
According to many people Blackwater Park is among the most accomplished of Opeth's releases, or even their best album. This is often because Blackwater Park shows a more melodic Opeth than ever before, and the album has a better production than the band's earlier releases (Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson is responsible for this, for a part). I completely agree with these things, but apart from them I don't see what makes Blackwater Park such an exceptional album. Most of the songs are just decent, with some obvious exceptions, and I think the album sounds kind of blank compared to some of Opeth's other releases.

Many of the songs on this album are good, but nothing more. "The Drapery Falls" for example is a song that sounds excellent for a minute or two, but it just can't keep me interested, while a lot of other Opeth songs definitely can. The same thing can be said from the entire second half of the album. "Dirge For November" is probably the best on the second half. The song starts ot soft, but will turn into a much heavier song. It is nothing more than a good song though. "Blackwater Park", the title track, is also decent, though just like "The Drapery Falls" just doesn't really do anything to me. The second half also features "The Funeral Portrait", which is one of the few Opeth songs that I don't like at all. The songs acoustic intro is the only thing that sounds nice.

Fortunately there is some great music on the album as well. "Harvest" is one of Opeth's more accesible and mellower songs. It sounds very melancholic and is a very beautiful piece of music. "The Leper Affinity" is one of Opeth's heaviest songs. From the crushing first guitar chords to the melodic soling later in the song, it all is great. The song is, though being fantastic, not as brilliant as "Bleak". "Bleak" is more straight forward than the usual Opeth song, but really features some killer riffs and music. The song also features Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson on the vocals. Those vocals (that sound very different from Mikael's) being combined with Mikael's growling makes the song sound very interesting and diverse.

Definately not as great as I expected it to be. Blackwater Park is a nice album nevertheless, and therefore I rate it three stars. I would recommend it to anyone who likes Opeth, though I think they have made much better music than what's on this album.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Negative Music Hardcore Punk
HAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night Progressive Metal
NIGHT VERSES
Buy this album from MMA partners
Witches Burn Alive Stoner Metal
LOVE YOUR WITCH
Buy this album from MMA partners
I Doom Metal
KAPUTTH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Kingdom Of Guilt Metalcore
THE WARRING TRIAD
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

ScapeGoat Official Lyric Video
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 2 days ago
FireFlame - The Last Ride (Official Video)
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - Hezekiah (Official Music Video)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - The Silent Wall
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - Corrosion (Visualizer)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed