"Orchid retains a sort of timelessness(probably because of it being so unstructured)."
It is quite unstructured, I agree. I don't see how it is timeless though.
Blackwater Park on the other hand is a much tighter album and this very reason causes it to lack longevity(in relative terms). Also some of the songs do tend to drag, and the album feels a bit too long. I could say the same about Still Life too(but to a much lesser extent).
"I completly disagree with you here. If you have that impression, and pardon my being presomptuous, it could be because the quality of the writing is far superior on Blackwater Park than on any other Opeth album. It doesn't feel too long to me at all, it flows quite nicely and the melodies are all very memorable"
The point I'm trying to make is that, the newer ones hold more appeal during the first listens itself, while Orchid grows with time.
"I disagree again. Blackwater Park grew on me and in fact it is still growing.
Orchid has never mesmerized despite repeated listens. I wish I could like the album more but it hasn't."
"Anyway, I guess John Chedsey is one of the better reviewers and if he likes an album its probably pretty good, which is good enough for me"
Check out this review. As many others music connoisseurs and high level musicians, this critic also realizes that the songwriting on Blackwater Park is superior than on previous Opeth releases. Not to say that I am right but that some agree with me.
This review is from All Music :
Not since the release of Tiamat's groundbreaking masterpiece,Wildhoney, in 1994 has the extreme metal scene witnessed such an overwhelming show of fan enthusiasm and uniform critical praise as that which was bestowed upon Blackwater Park, the astounding fifth effort from Sweden's Opeth. Of course, the album's impact has yet to be tested by time and the scale of its influence, and few would argue its very obvious stylistic debt to Wildhoney itself, but such conjecture shouldn't detract from Blackwater Park's well-deserved acclaim. Rarely does a band manage to break new ground without losing touch with its roots, but Opeth remain steadfastly committed to their black metal origins, which they regularly unleashed in all its savage fury throughout the album. A work of breathtaking creative breadth, Blackwater Park (named after an obscure German progressive rock outfit from the '70s) keeps with Opeth tradition by shattering the foundations of conventional songwriting and transcending the limits of black metal with its progressive rock aspirations. The difference between this effort and prior offerings lies not only in the remarkably high songwriting standards achieved by main man Mikael Akerfeldt, but also in the first-time involvement of Porcupine Tree leader Steve Wilson, whose contributions as producer lend an unprecedented fluidity in the way the band presents their inventive arrangements. Divided not so much into songs as "movements" (as the band likes to call them), tracks start and finish in seemingly arbitrary fashion and traverse a wide musical terrain including, but not limited to, acoustic guitar and solo piano passages, ambient soundscapes, stoner rock grooves, and Eastern-tinged melodies (the vocals also run the gamut from bowel-churning grunts to melodies of chilling beauty). With all this in mind, pointing out exceptional tracks is mostly an exercise in futility, but in the spirit of first-time listeners, these are urged to start out with the Arabian-flavored riffs of "Bleak," the memorable chorus of "The Drapery Falls," the surprisingly gentle intro of "Dirge for November," and, finally, the all-encompassing title track. Then, with patience, the rest of the album's grand scheme will be revealed. [The 2002 reissue appended a second disc featuring the video for "Harvest" and two bonus tracks: "Still Day Beneath the Sun" and "Patterns in the Ivy II."]
If it does, then im not ever aware of it hehe.
