Opeth - Blackwater Park (Dlx)
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Free Music Notes for Blackwater Park (Dlx)
Free Music Review: Magnificent - sweeping, bold, and affecting
Hit: 5 Stars
Opeth's fifth album shoots for the stratosphere, not only of metal, but of rock music in general. Most bands that attempt something so lofty are doomed to failure, but Opeth has been working up to this moment over four increasingly great albums. With the addition of ambient special effects by producer Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree and No-Man fame), Opeth's complex arrangements occupy even more sonic space, an element that imbues the already stunning music with an extra emotional push. Misery has never sounded so good.
With an average track length of over 8 minutes, Blackwater Park demands a longer attention span than some listeners may be bothered to devote. It's not that the album is slow; after a menacing 30-second fade-in, The Leper Affinity's first blast of distorted guitar and punishing drums delivers a wave of extreme metal fury. Yet after a few satisfying minutes of thunderous force, the mood abruptly shifts from anger to gothic, poetic sadness. Acoustic guitars take over and Akerfeldt's voice changes from a throaty roar to a warm and mellow near-croon. Shifts like these can be jarring and off-putting, but Opeth executes them with such grace and sensitivity that they seem inevitable. Both the heavy and light halves are possessed of the same dark mood, and together they make for a far more complex and interesting whole than they would otherwise. As The Leper Affinity glides to an elegant piano outro, listeners have already been to more places than most albums will ever take them - and there's far more beauty to come.
The rest of the album follows a similar template. Bleak's exotic lead riffs duel all the way into a warm chorus and fade out with frightening lo-fi guitar sounds courtesy of Wilson. Harvest is an all-acoustic piece, but again the mood is similar, with understated but effective guitar work. The Drapery Falls is perhaps the highlight of the record as it makes the most extreme shifts, going completely progressive toward the midsection and carrying a memorable melody through its entire run. Dirge for November begins with the most fragile, beautiful guitar fill of the album thus far before going into the thunderous body of the song, and ends the same way. The Funeral Portrait is a more rhythmic, propulsive, furious piece of riffery than anything since the beginning of the album, but toward the end its elegance comes out once again in some richly orchestrated vocal harmonies. Patterns in the Ivy is a stunning little interlude, with all the intimate power of Pink Moon-era Nick Drake, and engineered so expertly that the squeak of Akerfeldt's guitar strings become a part of the music. Finally, we come to the eponymous, epic closer, which crushes with a superlative groove, frightens with a horror-movie midsection, returns to extreme metal force, and finally ends the album with an understated, lovely acoustic guitar bit. The serenity of the conclusion is magnificent, wrapping up all the force of the previous hour with grace.
Blackwater Park is almost certainly the best metal album of this decade to date, but it's more than that. Stacked up with the best Led Zeppelin records, Blackwater Park holds its own. It's seriously that good. If you listen to it with headphones on, extra nuances pop out and you just might swear you've never heard a better record. Any fan of rock music should not be without this. Highlight tracks (nearly arbitrary choices when all the material is this strong): The Leper Affinity, The Drapery Falls, Patterns in the Ivy.
Free Music Review: The best of Opeth?
Hit: 5 Stars
Opeth's fifth album, released in 2001, is considered by many fans to be their best. And "Blackwater Park" is also a bit different from other Opeth albums, because, even though it incorporates Opeth's famous progressive rock alongside some heavier songs, it doesn't quite have the death metal influence of some of Opeth's other albums, like "My Arms, Your Hearse," or 2002's "Deliverance." Other than that, however, every ingredient is here for a great Opeth album (death metal growls, lots of breakdowns, acoustic guitar strums, long songs, etc.) The album opener, "The Leper Affinity," is around ten minutes long, and features a propulsive main riff, mean, death metal vocals, and two breakdowns (the first of which is an acoustic breakdown; the second one has some cool piano playing). Next, "Bleak," a Mediterranean-esque song with guest vocals by Porcupine Tree's Steve Wilson, is mostly heavy (with heavy riffs and bellows); but part of this song is occupied by light, eloquent guitar strings and singing. Elsewhere, "Harvest" is a pretty, acoustic driven semi-ballad, and "The Drapery Falls" puts more light, acoustic strums alongside dreary, harmonic vocals, but also some staccato, electric guitar riffs. "The Dirge For November" is cut into two pieces: the second half is heavy, but the first half is so light and restrained, you can actually hear Mikael breathe in. Next, "Funeral Portrait" rockets into pounding riffs, and "Patterns In The Ivy" is an instrumental, acoustic and piano ballad which is as beautiful as it is docile. Finally, with fast, propulsive riffs, the album ending title track (a personal favorite of mine) returns Opeth to their heavier, death metal roots. Finally, the limited edition version of this C.D. features a bonus track, "Still Day Beneath the Sun," which is also required listening for all Opeth diehards. So, even though this may not be as heavy as some of this band's other works, "Blackwater Park" is still a wonderful album, and definitely Opeth's first or second best. I very strongly recommend it to all music fans.Free Music Review: Blackwater Park? Limited edition? Gimme.
Hit: 5 Stars
I've reviewed _Blackwater Park_ elsewhere so here I will focus mainly on the limited edition...The limited edition comes with a second disc, featuring two new songs and a video to run on your PC. The two new songs are both stunning. The first is "Still Day Beneath the Sun", yet another track that shows the band's limitless capacity to write beautiful music. All acoustic, the song is best appreciated for showing how good of a singer Mikael Akerfeldt has become. His infirm voice from the days of _Orchid's_ rare moments of clean singing have evolved into a chilling, bardic vocal with range and beauty.
The other song is "Patterns in the Ivy II", a fitting continuation to the eerie serenity from _Blackwater Park_. This is not an instrumental like part one, and it is mainly acoustic with the occasional electric sparkle. Like on "Still Day...", Akerfeldt experiments here with his voice a little bit - he sings higher, a little bit of melisma, and with interesting vocal harmonies. These songs make me even more excited for the forthcoming "mellow" Opeth album, _Damnation_, which is to be released in March 2003.
There is also a video clip for the song "Harvest". It's not a music video, per se, just some footage of the band in studio with their producer Steven Wilson. You can watch the band eat some snacks, play some PlayStation, and work on some music.
Opeth is simply one of the greatest, most innovative metal bands ever, and they certainly trump the swarms of "re-progressive" metal bands out there. Their juxtaposition of stunning beauty and devastating metal makes them just about the most powerful force in music. If you've never checked them out before, I can think of no better time to do so. If you are a hardcore fan, you won't want to let any of the new songs here slip away (remember...limited edition!). A must-have for everyone!
Free Music Review: Opeths Blackwater Park
Hit: 5 Stars
This may be one of the best Metal albums there is. Opeth seem to have a great skill as song writers, and this album proves that more than no other. The first track we hear is titled "The Leper Affinity". It is a great way to start your journey into the blackwater park. Mixes all the aspects you will hear on this album, and there is also a beautiful piano at the end of it. The next song is "Bleak". The lyrics are great, and the riff's are killer. The third track is "Harvest". this is the lightest song on the album. Stays the same about all the way through but keeps you interested. Mikael shows off his clean vocals more on this song and they are amazing. The next track is a big Fan favorite. It is called "The Drapery Falls". It's is a great mixture of beauty and horror. Next we have "Dirge for November". This track start off slow and very tragic sounding but then kicks into anger. The singer has a great way of expressing emotion through his music. Now, for the heaviest track on the album, "The Funeral Portrait". This song has the best riff's of the whole album. The vocal are so aggressive, and the band is just all around great on this song. The next track is a short instrumental and the guitar work is VERY similar to the guitar work on "Dirge for November", but I think they did this on purpose, as like a flashback or something. There is piano that blends in very well on this track also. Last but not least, we have the title track "Blackwater Park" and this is what the whole album has been working up to. The intro just kicks in the chest and goes on from there. The Riffs are very catchy and about 5 and a half minutes into this song, you hear the best growl vocals Mikael has ever gave. Classic way to end a classic Metal album.Free Music Review: My Favorite Opeth Album
Hit: 5 Stars
And i would probably say opeth's best (i haven't herd still life though so im not sure i am capable of making such a decision), however no opeth album truley stands out we have orchid, there debut which is a soild helping of opeth, then morningrise - there 5 track masterpeice (all tracks being over 10 minnutes with black rose immortial being a whopping 20) then comes my arms, your hearse - there concept album that is mostly there death metal side, then still life - there most enjoyed from what i have herd (i have yet to hear this one myself though sadly) then this one blackwater park -which plays more into there split personalities which were lost on mayh, then comes deliverance (which is like morningrise only injected with more death metal) and it's counterpart - damnation there all clean vocal's cd and lasty ghost reveries which is baically everything form there other cd's mixed into one. Now that i have ran down opeth for a new reader i shall get to the 2 disc edition of blackwater park. I could do this track by track but the minnute i put the cd into my player i became utterly entranced by it and track number's became meaningless. The best songs on here are "the drapery falls", "the funeral portrait" and the title track.
I would reccomned the 2 disc version over the one disc seeing as the 2nd disc contains 2 very rare tracks "still day beneath the sun" and the sequal to the instrumental track pattern's in the ivy as well as a very interesting video track (for pc us as an enhanced cd) for the song harvest.
All in all if your new to opeth this proibably would be a good place to start with them