Blackwater Park is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on 12 March 2001, in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. the album was highly acclaimed among critics, with Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic stating that the record is "surely the band's coming-of-age album, and therefore, an ideal introduction to its remarkable body of work". In 2020, Loudwire listed Blackwater Park as the number one progressive metal album of all time. Rolling Stone ranked the album as 55th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'
Production
Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth's guitarist and vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt went to an old friend's house in Stockholm, Sweden, to record some demos and develop ideas for the new album. The album is named after the German progressive rock band of the same name and was the first album for which the group had a title before they started recording. A few months after the making of the demos, Åkerfeldt was having dinner with Wilson in which the two discussed the idea of Wilson producing the next Opeth album.
Åkerfeldt described the recording of the album as "rather smooth". Soilwork was recording in the studio at the same time as Opeth. It has been released on compact disc and vinyl record formats. A special edition of Blackwater Park was issued in 2002 with a bonus second disc that included "Still Day Beneath the Sun" and "Patterns in the Ivy II". The bonus track "Still Day Beneath the Sun" was later released as a vinyl only single. As of May 2008, Blackwater Park has sold over 93,000 copies in the United States.
On March 29, 2010, Opeth re-released a Legacy Edition of Blackwater Park which included a live version of "The Leper Affinity" and then a second DVD which is the entire album in 5.0 Surround Sound and a making of documentary. This version was released in North America in April 2012 by The End Records.
Critical reception
Blackwater Park received critical acclaim upon release. Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic wrote that the album was "a work of breathtaking creative breadth" and noted the album's critical praise stating that "not since the release of Tiamat's groundbreaking masterpiece Wildhoney in 1994 had the extreme metal scene witnessed such an overwhelming show of fan enthusiasm and uniform critical praise as that bestowed upon Blackwater Park.” He also said that the album is "surely the band's coming-of-age album, and therefore, an ideal introduction to its remarkable body of work.” CMJ also wrote a very positive review calling the album "Godlike ... a metal fusion of Pink Floyd and the Beatles". The Canadian music magazine Exclaim! wrote that the album "might be the best metal record this year, and it is worth every bit of energy the band has put into the creating of it.” Similarly, Pitchfork noted that Wilson's "production help and encouragement teased out the band's explorations of acoustic-led arrangements as much as electric ones while further showcasing Åkerfeldt's sweet, clear singing as much as the roars on songs like "The Leper Affinity" and the title track."
Loudwire ranked Blackwater Park as the 15th best metal album of all time, claiming the album reflected the group's "70s art-rock influences, supported by consistently intricate, wildly imaginative nine-to-ten-minute epics, each one more awe-inspiring than the last."
Sputnikmusic placed Blackwater Park at No. 39 on its list of the Top 100 Albums of the Decade.
Accolades
In 2020, Loudwire listed Blackwater Park as the number one progressive metal album of all time. It was Metal Storm's number 1 album of 2001 and number 4 on the Top 200 albums of all time. LA Weekly named it the 5th best metal album in history. Rolling Stone ranked Blackwater Park as 55th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.
In 2009, MetalSucks compiled a list of the "21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far" based on the opinions of various musicians, managers, publicists, label representatives and writers, where Blackwater Park ranked at No. 3 on the list. Decibel magazine similarly named Blackwater Park the 3rd best metal album of the decade. The album was listed at No. 5 on Terrorizers best albums of the 2000s.
In June 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Blackwater Park at 28th place for their list of "Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time". TeamRock placed the album at #36 on their "Top 100 Prog Albums of All Time" list.
In 2012, Loudwire listed the title track as the second best metal song of the 21st century. Q magazine included Bleak in its 2004 list of "1010 Songs You Must Own!"