Sell me on "Blackwater Park"
- Thread starter Slynt
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Risquit
Member
To me the biggest selling point of Blackwater Park is the melodies. Far from being a standard melo-death metal record, on BWP the melodies are everywhere, and they are memorable. From a songwriting perspective, it is very difficult to come up with great, original, melodic hooks. If you aren't a fan of hooks, than you probably won't like BWP.
Alex78
Fretbuzz Virtuoso
let's not forget the awesome guitar solos! (Leper Affinity, Funeral Portrait)
and Dirge for November, which may well be the most depressing song I've ever heard,
and Blackwater Park, which may well be one of the heaviest
and Dirge for November, which may well be the most depressing song I've ever heard,
and Blackwater Park, which may well be one of the heaviest
all_sins_undone
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beast from the east
Member
"Erk"? Doesn't really help. As to the point? We are talking about the best band in the world are we not? You know, those Swedish guys..Opeth.
I want to like Blackwater Park too, because I feel I am missing out on a bit of their discography, and also because at live shows I can expect two-three songs to be from that album and that means upwards of 30 minutes playtime.
Somebody mentioned the guitars, and I will pay more attention to them on my next listen. Maybe that will take away the focus on the less interesting drumwork of the album who knows.
Opeth have five albums in my Top 10 Albums of all Time list so it's worth a try innit. I am not bitching or anything FFS (the five Opeth albums are Orchid, Morningrise, My Arms Your Hearse, Still Life and Ghost Reveries; the five non-Opeth albums are Purgatory Afterglow, The Chtonic Chronicles, Turn Loose the Swans, Individual Thought Patterns and ...And Justice for All.)
all_sins_undone
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you really have your shit backwards brother.
lopez's drumming on BWP is nothing short of spectacular, and Mike's guitar work (especially the melodies) is incredibly varied and progressive. BWP is all about the atmosphere it creates, and the very memorable melodies. and Opeth are not the "best band in the world" ftlog...
lopez's drumming on BWP is nothing short of spectacular, and Mike's guitar work (especially the melodies) is incredibly varied and progressive. BWP is all about the atmosphere it creates, and the very memorable melodies. and Opeth are not the "best band in the world" ftlog...
I think they are the best band in the world, and I mentioned that in answer to another question. Can you please give me examples of the drumwork on Park that impresses you?
IamReptar
Yar be pirating
raiseyerfists
New Metal Member
For Lopez' drumming, what sticks out the most to me is the drum fill right before 'Bleak' kicks into high gear, the one where he goes down the toms and hits the splash, rolls on the snare a little and EXPLODES on the crashes.
That whole song is awesome drumming as a matter of fact. The drumming on 'Drapery Falls' is very good, as is 'Funeral Portrait'...fuck it's all great drumming. It's very subtle and tasteful throughout the album - but I have to say that you can't just single out one performance on that album. The reason it all works so well is that everybody was near flawless on that album. Lopez never sounds like he's going over the top because he never needs to compensate for a shitty guitar riff. Same with Mendez. Basically this album is fantastic because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
And whenever I'm not feeling a supposedly great album, I smoke a fatty and give it a spin. It usually opens my ears up to it.
That whole song is awesome drumming as a matter of fact. The drumming on 'Drapery Falls' is very good, as is 'Funeral Portrait'...fuck it's all great drumming. It's very subtle and tasteful throughout the album - but I have to say that you can't just single out one performance on that album. The reason it all works so well is that everybody was near flawless on that album. Lopez never sounds like he's going over the top because he never needs to compensate for a shitty guitar riff. Same with Mendez. Basically this album is fantastic because the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
And whenever I'm not feeling a supposedly great album, I smoke a fatty and give it a spin. It usually opens my ears up to it.
.
I guess if you can't get into the album, don't bother with it. Your loss imo.
IamReptar
Yar be pirating
I really don't see the point of this.
You seemingly want other people to change your opinion(for whatever reason that may be), yet YOU don't seem to want to change your opinion(which seems to be in concrete).
If you aren't into it, you aren't into it.
You seemingly want other people to change your opinion(for whatever reason that may be), yet YOU don't seem to want to change your opinion(which seems to be in concrete).
If you aren't into it, you aren't into it.
Mr Samsara
Misanthropic Moderator
.
Let's just leave it at that. To do otherwise would be considered Trolling which is not tollerated here. Sorry.
hibernal_dream
A Mind Forever Voyaging
Best thread actually related to Opeth in months. And that's not just because I agree with the OP.
Thank you Yeah, you know, it's a discussion about one of Opeths album, it should be relevant as all hell.
I'll admit that the track "Bleak" has it's moments, but at the same time I think it sounds so, I don't know, "commercial"? It's like Metallica's "Sad but True", heavy as shit, but somehow too accessible and not as progressive as earlier works; Steven Wilson's influence on Park in particular is not very interesting if you ask me, and the song goes on and on and on, and there is so little in the way of exciting tempo changes and all that jazz that makes earlier Opeth works so interesting. "Bleak" is too sing-a-long for me to be an awesome Opeth song though I think it's the second best piece of the album after "The Leper Affinity".
Yeah, you know, it's a discussion about one of Opeths album, it should be relevant as all hell. I'll admit that the track "Bleak" has it's moments, but at the same time I think it sounds so, I don't know, "commercial"? It's like Metallica's "Sad but True", heavy as shit, but somehow too accessible and not as progressive as earlier works; Steven Wilson's influence on Park in particular is not very interesting if you ask me, and the song goes on and on and on, and there is so little in the way of exciting tempo changes and all that jazz that makes earlier Opeth works so interesting. "Bleak" is too sing-a-long for me to be an awesome Opeth song though I think it's the second best piece of the album after "The Leper Affinity".
BefriendedUnit
They wear white for me
There's a bit in Bleak that I never really felt before hearing the live version. On Blackwater Park, it begins at 6:40. It's this deep, brooding, sorrowful relapse from the intensity of the previous passage with the guitar shredding and whatnot (although that could be said for many parts of any Opeth song). It strikes me as... Russian? Dunno. But once I noticed it, I liked the song a LOT more than ever before. So I hope that helps.
hibernal_dream
A Mind Forever Voyaging
Thank you
I'll admit that the track "Bleak" has it's moments, but at the same time I think it sounds so, I don't know, "commercial"? It's like Metallica's "Sad but True", heavy as shit, but somehow too accessible and not as progressive as earlier works; Steven Wilson's influence on Park in particular is not very interesting if you ask me, and the song goes on and on and on, and there is so little in the way of exciting tempo changes and all that jazz that makes earlier Opeth works so interesting. "Bleak" is too sing-a-long for me to be an awesome Opeth song though I think it's the second best piece of the album after "The Leper Affinity".
These are interesting thoughts. I'm glad i'm not the only one who doesn't fully appreciate Steven's contribution. The parts on BWP where Opeth sound most alive are "Leper Affinity" and "The Funeral Portrait", and that's only because of Mikael's metal karma. Steven seems to want to turn everything into a sort of aural ecstasy, and I sort of get to the point where I enjoy what i'm hearing, but it's only a dream. The earlier records were not numbing in this way, but felt alive and more real. That's the only way I can explain it. I guess I just don't see much in the knob-turning production tricks that Steven specializes in.
Hibernal, you have a gift for describing things.
anyway.
I was introduced to Opeth with a lot of songs from BWP so that was the sound I came to love. I'm of the opinion that the earlier 2 works feel a bit 'raw' and still life and BWP are refined, and run by very smoothly. Still I like all Opeth anyway so that really doesn't matter.
Blackwater Park is an amazing album to play at night in a dark room while lying in bed. The atmosphere is incredible.
anyway.
I was introduced to Opeth with a lot of songs from BWP so that was the sound I came to love. I'm of the opinion that the earlier 2 works feel a bit 'raw' and still life and BWP are refined, and run by very smoothly. Still I like all Opeth anyway so that really doesn't matter.
Blackwater Park is an amazing album to play at night in a dark room while lying in bed. The atmosphere is incredible.
dwoakee
Suboptimization Expert
I don't think BWP is too repetitive. Only the first acoustic interlude in the title track could be repeated less often. I've said this elsewhere: Checkout Metallica's St. Anger for a album that's too repetitive. With Opeth, there's so many parts in a song and the parts often don't occur again later in the song so it's ok for me if the riff in one part is repeated relatively often. Though I do like MAYH I found it was a little too compressed, too short. The parts changed too quickly to really enjoy them. But what can I do or say if you don't feel/see it that way?
Other than that I like the melodic riffing, the open sound, the great acoustic and mellow parts. I like Harvest pretty much, also Drapery Falls, and Bleak. In fact the whole album ... doesn't help much, or does it?
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