Opeth, Blackwater Park Review

“Let me say this: Opeth is an extremely innovative band...”

Written on: 05/10/2003 by possums (2 reviews written)

Good Points
Long songs, extreme death vocals, beautiful vocals, whack riffs, good drumming, audible bass.

Bad Points
repetetive, needs more variety, lyrics are less poetic than earlier attempts, overall corny feel.

General Comments
Let me say this: Opeth is an extremely innovative band that has broken tons of barriers in metal. I like Blackwater Park. It's got some incredible riffing... "Leper Affinity," "Dirge For November," and the title track are all well composed. I'm glad that there's a band that's not afraid to use acoustic guitars.



Problem is, this is really corny. Switching from electric to acoustic gets lame after awhile. There are some songs, such as "Dirge For November," that I wish were kept all acoustic. While "Harvest" is the softest song, even that feels kind of awkward. So Opeth have kind of worked themselves into a corner. The songs are just too predictable; every time you hear the guitarists hold a distorted note for more than one measure, you know, "Oh, it's acoustic time!" Can we get something weird?



If you can put that aside, like many can, you will dig this album. Just be prepared to not listen to it more than a couple times.