Review by Adam M on April 14, 2026.

This is a great album that pushes the band forward and makes them stand alone.  It is similar in nature to the last one.  This is a bit more focused on pushing the band’s sound forward.  There are a lot of quiet atmospheric moments, but the heavy ones outweigh them.  The entire affair is very atmospheric and has a lot of emphasis on creating a nice mood.  There are very few weak moments and the entire affair is laden with emotion.

The musical performances are strong with good guitar playing and a heavy use of harsh vocals along with the clean ones to make for a good instrumental performance.  The variety of dynamics makes this another well=rounded entry into the band’s catalogue and an interesting album indeed.  There aren’t many faults with the musicianship and add in good drumming and the musical performances shine.

The problem I’m having with the disc is that it is somewhat more refined than previous releases and does not have as many adventurous segments as before.  The entire affair is somewhat more straightforward and does not have the same level of ambition as early releases.  Yet it is more refined and has a great feeling of being rounded out to perfection.

All in all, this was a very solid release with a good production job and a feeling of being one of the band’s notable releases.  It is more focused upon creating a solid atmosphere and has the ability to be crisp and performed nicely.  This is shown throughout and the overall feeling of the music is that it is well=constructed.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by Adam on May 27, 2001.

Mere words cannot describe how pleased I am with this disc. The atmosphere, production, and quality of the music and sound are top notch. Plus its over an hour in length! If there is one thing to love about Opeth, it is the fact that you always get your moneys worth. The band, once again, delivers nothing short of pure musical genious with a flawless production quality along with their own unique style.

In the past Opeth have tried to stick as many different vibes into one song as possible and while they still have very complex and diverse compositions, you can actually hear some refrains and repetitions of riffs in songs which is a nice touch to the overall feel of the record. You have more or less "songs" here, and each of the eight tracks, one being an instrumental, have that same power and determination to either brutalize or soothe or even both in the same track.

With songs like Harvest, which is a completly acoustic track, you see the band going for a normal verse and chorus structure but still keeping their own fresh style intact. For the most part, this is a continuation of where the band was going with Still Life and My Arms Your Hearse where the evil deathlike vocals do a constant balancing act with the more developed clean vocals. The harmonies pulled off on this cd are excellent and the leads which open tracks such as The Drapery Falls are eerily beautiful and atmospheric.

Opeth have outdone themselves yet again. Just when you think they could not think of anything else as powerful as what they had previously done, they set out to prove you wrong with a release like this. This cd is brilliant! What else can I say? If you are an Opeth fan, you should already have this, but for all you skeptics out there this is a great way to discover, firsthand, their complete and utter brilliance!

Bottom Line: In one word, Blackwater Park is Epic. It is everything a cd should be. I highly recommend any metal fan or fan of music period to pick up this cd!

Rating: 10 out of 10