First off, I'm not a death metal fan. I find stuff like Cannibal Corpse unlistenable, and wouldn't touch one of their albums with a ten foot pole. So naturally, I was very hesistant when a friend of mine reccomended Opeth to me.
I decided it couldn't hurt to download the album and give it a chance. After all, this friend had very good taste in music, and I trusted him with this. I was very surprised by what I heard.
"The Leper I was expecting, but unlike with most death metal, they actaully sounded good. Buried under these raging riffs was a great melody, and evidence of great songwriting and composing. By about three minutes into the song, I could tell I was going to enjoy this.
But then the song got even better, as the time signature changes started coming into play, and it showed some complexity. Around the 5 minute mark, the cookie monster vocals stopped and were replaced by a crystal clear, starightforward vocal style. It hardly sounded like the same band.
By the time the high-powered "Leper Affinity" was over, I couldn't wait to hear the rest of it. And sure enough, it didn't let me down a bit. "Bleak" is a relatively simple song, with a melody catchy enough to be enjoyable, but loud enough to get you fired up.
When the vocals shift to normal style overtop of the electric riff, it really shows just how amazing a band Opeth is. After two amazing songs in a row, "Harvest" falls a little short, but is still a good song. It gives a glimpse of what would come on 2003's Damnation, as it is all acoustic guitar and clear vocals, making for a very beautiful piece.
"The Drapery Falls" returns to the brilliant style of the first two songs, opening with a short acoustic intro before more of Opeth's soaring guitar riffs kick in. The melody here is great once again, and the structure makes the song an incredible ride, constantly shifting from quiet acoustic bits to explosive rock outs. "Dirge For November" opens as another simple acoustic piece, before the ususal wall of electric guitars comes from nowhere.
This is the most sinister sounding song on the album, and one that fans of the usual type of death metal will appreciate. That said, the intensity it reaches is incredible, and it certainly ranks among the finest songs in Opeth's repetoire. "The Funeral Portait" has one of the most high energy riffs on the album, and the guitar solo shows that these guys have a pretty good idea of how to play their instruments.
That said, it's also the least addictive track on here, and the Ivy" is a brief but beautiful acoustic guitar and piano instrumental, serving as more of an interlude than anything. "Blackwater Park" closes the album out the same way it started. Crushing riffs, screamy vocals and a weird but cool song structure.
This song is a true epic, and will be appreciated by anyone who likes loud music. As a whole, this is the only time "cookie monster" style vocals have not bothered me. Opeth takes the attitude of death metal, but gives it a rythm and melody, as well as great lyrics.
If some death metal bands would only learn from them, the genre could maybe become tolerable. In fact, several months after first discovering and loving this album, it has not only held up over time, but I've grown to love it even more. I can honestly say this record deserves 5 stars, and any music listeners should hear it.
Liking metal isn't important, they are so easy to appreciate that it shouldn't matter. One of Posted Saturday, May 29, 2004, 14:07 EST |
So now you think how this can be, a guy that don't likes death metal declares an Opeth album to one of his all time favorites..
.a contradiction in terms? No, by no means at al.
Yes, Opeth features a lot of death metal growls and yes, normally I don't like them BUT it's totally different with Opeth. I got this record and was in doubt about it but loved it from it's first track, in an instant. But what are the elements that makes Opeth so different from "normal" death metal acts?
It's for sure the mixture of totally aggressive and fragile mellow parts, the antagonism of the death metal growls and Mikaels clear vocals, the polarity of heavy riffing and beautiful acoustic parts and all within one song. heard because Blackwater Park was my first album. Aggressive in the beginning and of corse with acoustic breaks featuring Mikaels fine voice.
I can't understand why Mikael thinks that he is a novice relating to singing...
"Bleak" is a damn good song it catches you with it's great melody. time it starts with the acoustic part and gets heavier afterwards. This song features more breaks than other songs, the band switches more often from mellow to heavy parts.
The mellow parts could not be any better, awesome (I think you can find the Mp3 above, try it and you will also see if you like Opeth at all, it is very representative) the guitar solos, they're awesome in my opinion. "Patterns in the Ivy" is an Instrumental, very short but beautiful..
.when you have the "the last song, the title track "Blackwater Park" closes the album in a perfect way. produced this album.
Steven and Mikael are good friends (Steven even played Piano on and "Deliverance" as well. For sure some influences are identifiable. So if you want to get into the world of Opeth this is the key, no doubt.
It got me and I'm sure it will get you as well. Don't mind the growls, just try it and I'm sure they Posted Saturday, May 29, 2004, 20:24 EST |
After reading the reviews for the Opeth albums, i was intruiged to hear what melodic death metal sounded like. I had to know, and i didn't have a clue what to expect but after i got the album it simply blew me away.
Never have i heard a progressive piece like this sound so well produced. The album manages to blend its mellow parts with its agressive parts superbly, like Tool and Dream Theater but Opeth take it to the extreme by mixing acoustic guitars with death metal growls and screams. It doesn't sound like an awful corss over but it sounds like its meant to be, something beautiful and mysterious.
I've never seen any other band attempt such extremeities, so hats off to them. Mike's voice throughout the whole album is incredible, whether he is tangled up in brutal agressive death metal screaming and growling, or if he is passionately putting his heart into singing the great lyrics the band have written. Somehow the singing just seems perfect, not over the top or dull at any moment.
The rest of the band play incredibly throughout, there is multi layered sound that weaves in and out of mellow acoustic guitar rhythms and hard hitting full on heavy metal riffs. The drummer sure knows just flawless on the musical front. It is incredible how well they manage to make this album flow, this album has the perfect amount of balance between heavy and mellow which blows me away.
They have obviously put a lot of work into this and it is definetly a masterpiece. "The Leper Affinity" is a great opener, the song starts quietly and fades in with suspense, instantly making the listener feel secure about the journey they are about to embark on. Things get better from there as this highly progressive piece never fails to please.
The song succeeds in blending sorrow with fury, which i think is the main offering on the plate for this song, as well as introducing us to a great new experiment in sound. The opening exploding riff is immense and there is some great riffage ahead. Mike's voice sounds really evil and this is definetly the best death metal album i have ever heard in my life.
When it flows into the first mellow section with acoustic guitars it sounds like pure heaven and Mike's voice goes into an excellent mellow section, his voice sounds incredible and inspiring. It has just as much power as his angry growls but in a whole new way. It is incredibly emotional, helped out by the amazing lyrics.
The track flows back into hard hitting riffs, the fury of the bass and double bass drum are used very effectively. Opeth also add in this gloomy essence which reflects their misty album covers. Around 8:10 is my favourite section when that amazing soft guitar creeps in and it somehow ends up climaxing with a warm piano piece.
Opeth sound like they could make a soundtrack to a gothic horror film or something. An incredible start to one hell of a masterpiece. "Bleak" stretches us furthur with more brilliant experiments in emotion, this song is an almighty melee of heavy sound.
The vocals are very powerful and this is an excellent song. Again the death metal vocals are amazing, this one has a less furious and agressive sound to it but a more paced sound, powerful in new ways. There is a great build up here as there is a quiet acoustic break where it would seem like a mellow vocal part would come in but snakes back into the heaviness and then finds its way to the mellow section.
When this track progresses into the "devious movements in her eyes" section it is so bloody powerful and emotional. Definetly one of the best pieces on this album. It blows me away ever time.
This track shows of some of Porcupine Tree's Steve Wilsons great input as well. harsh vocals and apocalyptic guitars. This is a shorter piece that fits in well to give balance to the sound of the album.
"The Drapery Falls" is one of the best offerings on the album. It takes things to the next level and is almost like combining the acoustic rhythms of "Harvest" with the furious guitar work on "Bleak". The emotional singing is a real wonder hear and its even nice to see it explode into anger in the middle.
This song is constantly changing and it keeps the song fresh and captivating throughout. good listenings."Dirge For November" has an incredibly warm opening, in fact the whole album is very warm against the cold lyrics.
This soon progresses into furthur fury, more epic scales of furious vocals. There is a wonderous piece in the middle, 6 minutes in a beautiful and moving slower piece comes in, showing off the different sides of the guitarists amazing work. The band work so well together, each member getting to show off their own "The Funeral Portrait" carries on the incredible theme and again shows off the heavier, darker works.
This is probably the best song to headbang to as it seems to have a more evil edge to it. The solo work at the end is the best i've heard on the album, but they are amazing in all aspects of their music. "Patterns in the Ivy" serves as a short filler piece to link tracks 6 and 8 together.
It does the job well and also provides a really good piano and acoustic guitar piece. This will give the listener a little break from the intense moshing that the last song provided. I think the break here is an important one because it prepares the listener for the epic album closer.
It also shows off some of Opeths acoustic instrumental brilliance. This one is up with there with "Horizons" by Genesis and "Mood for a Day" by Yes. It has a similar effect as those pieces by making the album flow with balance.
You can start headbanging again when the title track comes on as this has a rocking intro. Another great piece, offering the best. Everything seems to have been perfected for this song and it contains most of the great elements of the previous songs to provide the best musically arranged piece on the album.
As this song progresses it sounds more and more like the world is ending with the ultimate power of the music and vocals. Blackwater Park is an incredible album and Opeth are an incredible band. Very unique in what they do, there is no other way to describe their music other than gloomy melodic prog death metal, and my life has certainly been enriched by this album.
The whole record is a worthy listen and there never seems to be any inconsistancy. The record often stretches to new heights yet it has enough familiarity to keep it appealing. One of the metal fans!
The balance on this album is a key point to why this album is so good. The band have created a winning formula on this album. Time to go get all their other albums!
Posted Monday, July 19, 2004, 15:24 EST |
In all honesty, this rating is probably a bit low, but this is where it falls for me, among OPETH's albums--behind the "great three" of My Arms, Your Hearse, Still Life, and Damnation, but still ahead of Deliverance. When a band is a true favorite of mine, I can't help but go a bit harder on it because there is a higher standard for them, and each album is weighed carefully against all the others in that artist's catalogue. This was my first OPETH album, and I guess it just hasn't made the same kind of impression as those three did, even after later listens.
I'm the type who likes concepts, and this is the one OPETH album that doesn't have one. Still, it must be said in fairness--this WAS the album that got me hooked on the band, and for The strongest points of Blackwater Park are, in my opinion, "Bleak", "The Drapery Falls", "Dirge for November", "The Leper Affinity", and "Blackwater Park" itself. "The Leper Affinity" is probably the best for its piano outro, which is strangely "The Drapery Falls" was actually my first OPETH song ever, and without this one I would have never given the rest of their catalogue a chance.
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