Review Summary: We entered Winter once again...
There's something insurmountable about reviewing Blackwater Park. It's the album I was most looking forward to revisiting and the one I was least looking forward to covering in this journey through Opeth's discography that I've assigned myself. This is mostly due to the fact that everyone has an opinion on the album. It's the highest rated album of 2001 on Sputnik's scale, and yet just about everywhere you turn, there are the dejected cries of 'overrated.' So that raises the question. Is Blackwater Park overrated?
Yeah, a little bit. I suppose the more accurate descriptor would be 'overhyped.' I'd imagine that a larger fraction of the problem that detractors have is based around just how many times they were told how amazing this album is, and that's more than understandable. Complaints with the music at hand are often understandable as well, as ones that aren't nonsensical ramblings about the album not being that good are backed up with solid reasoning. But in this reviewer's humble opinion, Blackwater Park lives up to the hype. It's a monolithic, towering opus of an album, resplendent in atmosphere, delivered both by cripplingly gorgeous lyricism, unparalleled musicianship, and vocals that represent the absolute pinnacle that this kind of music has to offer. There is a reason that people talk about this album so much. The hype is far from unfounded.
There is simply not a moment that falters on Blackwater Park. Even on Still Life, an album I consider to be as close to flawless as albums get, there are times I have to be in the mood to properly enjoy it all the way through. This is simply not the case with Blackwater Park. Every song flows together so perfectly that the hour and seven minute runtime passes you in what feels like no time at all. It feels like one giant song, the entire album is so cohesive in feel and atmosphere that it tends to blend together into a symphony, an orchestration reminiscent of classical pieces. And the most impressive part of this is that it's extraordinarily accessible. Very few people need multiple listens to get into Blackwater Park, if they're going to get into it at all, and with an album that goes over an hour and feels like one massive composition, that's probably the best thing to be said about it. It's easy to get into in a way that doesn't sacrifice its integrity, and in fact only serves to bolster it.
Each of Opeth's albums appeal to their fans for a multitude of reasons, that's why you get such a wide range of answers from the question 'what's your favorite Opeth album?' There's not really a wrong answer because all of them have such different deliveries and feels that they all appeal to each member of the fanbase in a different way. Orchid is primarily reminiscent of bands like Iron Maiden, containing a distinct flair for the new wave of British heavy metal mixed with death and black metal vocal stylings and production. Morningrise felt even more black metal tinged, with a harsher, more aggressive feel, and more of a progressive flair. My Arms, Your Hearse was drenched in a ghostly atmosphere, as if it was delivered from the mouths of the dead. Still Life was aggressive, yet achingly beautiful, always at play with its lighter and darker parts, with the dark often winning. But this reviewer would hypothesize that the reason people are drawn mainly to Blackwater Park above the others is simply that the atmosphere is intensified. Through production, through vocals, through songwriting, through lyricism, everything is amplified even further from the absolutely stellar albums that preceded it. I think people are drawn to Blackwater Park because it feels like a true epic, a sonic odyssey. It is a masterpiece in a discography where the word itself is used so often it almost loses meaning. Until you return to this one, entering Winter once again...
Personal Track Ranking: Bleak, Blackwater Park, The Funeral Portrait, The Leper Affinity, Harvest, The Drapery Falls, Dirge for November, Patterns in the Ivy
Least Favorite Tracks: n/a
