BLACKWATER PARK

After epic STILL LIFE Opeth began a long collaboration with Steven Wilson. His presence is quite perceptible on "Blackwater Park" since his style and influence are well-known to every neo-prog fan.

The album sounds softer than previous releases, every tone is clear: drums, guitars and vocals use whole wide spectrum of frequencies which results in nice, fruity sound. Mikael Akerfeldt' growls are powerful as always, but the mellow parts sound different. I preferred his singing style from STILL LIFE as it was more mellow and stylized - here Mikael decided to sing more naturally.

If it was ending on Drapery Falls it would be 5 stars EP. But there are another 4 songs which are, in my opinion, weaker than brilliant first half. After aforementioned track Opeth just draw in its horns, the songs become less mature and less interesting. The first four songs are incredible - original, emotion provoking, epic! I don't know what happened to Mikael.

It's an excellent album by an excellent band, but I cannot rate it as a 5 star masterpiece since there are some tracks I found weaker than average Opeth' songs.

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