BLACKWATER PARK

The first thing I have to say is that this is the first Opeth album I have owned, and that, when I asked this forum what their opinion was, I was told that this was their best album. (I have bought other albums since then.)

And I have to say, I'm very, very pleased. Opeth has become one of my favorite bands, and I do think this is an essential edition to ANY prog library, because of it's highly varied styles and its awesome guitar playing. Now, don't expect any super-fast, keyboard saturated, polyrythmic, or meter changing Circus Maximus type riffs in any of these songs. That's not Opeth, and for exclusive listeners of those types of prog bands, this CD should be an eye opener.

This CD starts right off the bat telling you what it's going to sound like with Leper Affinity and Bleak as it's first two songs. Here's a good sketch of the style:

Distorted, Sometimes Dissonnent Heavy Guitar Chordy, Open Sounding Riffs (unusual for a metal band) Mike Akerfeldt's Strange Acoustic Fingerpicking Runs and Solos Mixes between gruff, deep, chest-centered metal growls and high-ranged clean singing Long, incredibly deep and layered songs Meter switches a la classical music, King Crimson, or Rush

When I first picked up my guitar to learn some of these songs, I was in for a surprise. I, an adept heavy metal and progressive player, was been shocked by some of these chordy riffs. No chugging, no strings of fast sixteenths at high-speed on the low E-string. These riffs are fully fleshed chord progressions with Mike Akerfeldt's fingerpicked add-ons that give each song a unique feel.

This album is full of emotion; something most other progressive music lacks. Something about the acoustic/chordy parts in songs like Drige for November or Harvest have thise rainy day feeling...much like the cover of the album.

The one thing I can stress is that this CD deserves to be not only in every prog fan's collection, but in every metal and acoustic fan's collection also. Opeth is so drastically different from every other band of any genre that can be tagged on it, and this (in my opinion) is their best CD.

The amazing musicianship here is apparent, and I beg you, the interested reader, to pick this up as your first Opeth CD or as part of your Opeth collection. It gets a VERY easy 5/5.

Musicality, creativity, and emotion at their best.

mindsmoothie

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