#3: Opeth - Blackwater Park (2001)---TRACKLIST---(1) The Leper Affinity (2) Bleak (3) Harvest (4) The Drapery Falls (5) Dirge For November (6) The Funeral Portrait
(7) Patterns In The Ivy (8) Blackwater Park
Oh hey, Blackwater Park is on another top albums list. I bet you’re all surprised. Unlike some of my other picks, this record is almost universally regarded on these forums to be pretty damn awesome, so I’ll keep this relatively quick. Simply put, this is Opeth at their finest. Every element they do right is done better on this album than the rest of their discography. The contrast between the heavy bits and the softer bits is perfect, it has that distinct, wintery atmosphere, and most importantly, the songs are all great. What really makes this album special to me, however, is just the sheer power it has. While it might not be their heaviest record, it definitely feels like the “biggest” and most energetic. It’s hard to put into words, but once you hear the sheer force and driving power behind songs like the amazing
Bleak, you should know what I mean. From the crushing intro of
The Leper Affinity to the bombastic finale of the title track, this album is an amazing ride throughout. Speaking of the title track… Oh God. My top three albums contain my three favorite songs of all time, and
Blackwater Park stands loftily at number two. I love that song so much you don’t even know. It starts out with a fantastic, heavy intro that pumps you up and prepares you for the sheer greatness that’s to come. Then, it suddenly retreats into a quiet, ambient section out of nowhere. Now, I fucking LOVE when a quiet section suddenly breaks into a bombastic, heavy section out of nowhere, and oh man, this section completely EXPLODES into it. The quiet part of the song makes the rest of the song seem even heavier than it already is, and once said transition is complete, it’s a nonstop barrage of sheer, orgasmic brutality that builds and builds into the absolutely stunning finale. Amazing song, amazing album, completely worthy of all the praise it gets.
---FAVORITE SONGS---The Leper Affinity,
Bleak,
The Funeral Portrait,
Blackwater Park