Black Water Park

Grunt vocals are a very divisive issue now with death metal outfits - many fans of the thundering riffs are sick of the cookie-monster-with-gas shtick, while others are huge fans. Opeth has taken this genre and welded it together with classic rock, jazz, acoustic segments and alternating soft and harmonizing vocals to offset the grunting.
Granted, Mikael Akerfeldt does his share of grunting, but he also supplies plenty of real singing, making the growling more of an atmospheric touch than a cornerstone. Which is essential, because Akerfeldt is an incredible songwriter and musician, who seemlessly delivers heavy riffs and ultra cool jazz soloing, swooping guitar tonalities that recall some of Jimmy Page's string bending wizardry from "Dazed and Confused" without being derivative or a blatant ripoff.
Some reviewers view Opeth as a highly experimental band, but actually, "Blackwater Park" is a wonderful voyage of many musical realms, and the fact that it retains its cohesiveness is indicative of the genius Akerfeldt possesses.
Never boring, even though the cuts are pretty lengthy, "Blackwater Park" and Opeth are truly a heavy band that loves many kinds of music, and it's exciting and refreshing to know they're out there. This band, in a perfect world, would be bigger than Metallica used to be, but alas, the world has to make room for Amy Winehouse and any number of horrible pop acts that clutter up the music scene and relegate heavy music to cult status, where it's ignored by all the big trade mags except those that specifically cover metal and guitar oriented music. It's sad, but ditzy fans of the crap on Top 40 radio wouldn't get Opeth, anyway.

For most, "Blackwater Park" is considered Opeth's best release though it's probably the one that got them the biggest attention. Like most of their albums or "observations" as they call them, you're going to get tons of changes in riffs, tempos, vocal styles and varying degrees of length. Though there's nothing inherently new about each record, its the refinement and better songwriting that's more noteworthy and with this record, the band still likes to have lots of sections and long songs but they're done with more care that you don't even notice that it's taking so long for the song to end and it's a good thing.

The Leper Affinity: Naturally the track has a quiet fade-in before blasting out of the speakers with a massive riff and goes through a number of riffs from syncopated breakdowns to Mikael Akerfeldt's underrated vocals to a gorgeous piano outro. 8/10

Bleak: A lot of people said this was their favorite off the record and have to admit it took awhile before it caught me. Beginning with a big sense of dissonance, then comes in a great catchy riff before its off-kilter verses. Not only is it well executed but it's even structured accessibility with its own "chorus". 9/10

Harvest: If you were a fan of "Benighted" from the last album or the entire Damnation cd, this'll be up your alley. Tons of acoustic chording all over the place and it's catchy to a certain degree though strangely I kind of find it...boring. Blasphemous I know but aside from the vocals, the track never really pulled me in though I'm sure lot of people will love it. 8/10

The Drapery Falls: Depressing chording and E-bow riff (the heavy part goes on a bit too long for me) but Mikael uses his vocals to great effect in the clean parts and its "chorus" but the heavy sections didn't really interest me and there was only a couple riffs that I loved and the outro is basically another intro taking up 2 whole minutes of one section. Poo. 7.5/10

Dirge for November: I don't really care for this one but the intro with its acoustic guitar and blues-y solo is gorgeous only that goes away and the heavyness kicks in again with more E-bow (they loved that thing on this record). It's simple enough and not really long but it's just not that interesting 6/10

The Funeral Portrait: Awesome groove the main riff creates during the intro and the song is practically chockful of awesome riffs and solos that it's easily a highlight on the album. I'd very much recommend listening to this one. 9/10

Patterns in the Ivy: More of a prelude to the closer with just an acoustic guitar doing folkish arpeggios before a piano comes in and offers chord accompaniment and then some more higher key melodies. It's lovely and fun to play though probably not iPod worthy. 8.5/10

Blackwater Park: Probably one of the coolest chord progression the band has with our trusty E-bow again before going into more heavier riffs with one having a great groove to it before going into a long clean part that's nice to hear in its strange lovelyness (even if it's slightly too long for me) and the ending riffs are awesome but strangely it's that middle section I'm not a big fan of. Odd I know. 8.5/10

Blackwater Park could be considered a great starting record if you want to get into the band. All the songs are not over 10 minutes like Morningrise, complex like Still Life or slightly meandering like Ghost Reveries. It's a solid release from a band that knows how to balance the quiet with the supremely loud.

Having heard other Opeth tracks at the time, this was the first album I actually purchased. It may be the last I let go of. The songs on this track opened my ears and filled my head directly with some of the most amazing metal ever. Bleak, the second track, contains some of the most perfect vocals by Mikael that I have heard. From start to finish, this album is damn good.

Let me just start off by saying that I agree with some of my fellow reviewers in that I usually don't care much for the black metal style vocals. Usually that style vocal can really take away from an otherwise great metal song. Opeth is something different entirely. Mikael Akerfelt, the singer/songwriter for Opeth is in my opinion the most talented man in music today. Everything, I mean everything he writes into his music has a purpose, even the black metal style vocals. Its obvious that he is influenced by so many styles of music. (I've heard that he likes prog masters Camel just much as Bathory.) Akerfelt's guitar tones are superb as are both his singing and screaming vocals. Every part of an epic Opeth tune has meaning. Give yourself a break and just go ahead and buy everything Opeth has every recorded. You won't be sorry. If you like good music and you are willing to have an open mind you WILL be impressed. Remember to have an open mind. Just let the music wash over you and blow your mind!

VERY few albums ever grab me in this way. I had always been a fairly moderate Opeth fan... grabbing a slow appreciation for the harsh cookie-monster vocals. (Which are completely clear and coherent and NOT an average death metal growl.) This album has alot of clean singing too, and it's amazing that such a tender sounding voice comes from the same guy who growls from someplace beyond his stomach. Now, I still have several Opeth cds to buy, mainly because this one IS JUST THAT GOOD. All tracks are flawless, but Bleak is hands down one of my favorite metal songs ever produced.

Perfect production qualities... all decisions were made with the utmost of care. Just go buy it... if you buy no other album, buy this one. I don't see how they could top it.