Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. While the band has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force since joining promptly after its inception.

Oddly, the name Opeth comes from the Wilbur Smith book 'Sunbird', Opet was the name of The City of the Moon and the band added an 'h' to the end of this.

Blackwater Park was released in 2001 and is the fifth studio album penned by Opeth.

Opeth, like beer and fine whiskey are an acquired taste yet well worth acquiring.

In my opinion this is the best band that has ever graced the soil of our home planet but of course this is highly subjective and your results may vary.

First of all this music is hard to categorize but I suppose progressive death metal infused with shades of jazz and folk might be vaguely appropriate.

The first thing that will probably make you think 'this Ziltoid guy probably has long black hair, an eyebrow ring and an angry attitude bestowed upon him by Satan' is the fact that there is a tremendous amount of guttural screaming that abounds throughout this magnificent work of art. 
My defense of this is that there cannot be darkness without light and the beautiful melodies are so much more profound when juxtaposed with the face melting passages.

For a gentle introduction to the album I recommend the second last track "Still Day Beneath the Sun" and from there perhaps jump right in and see if you can stomach the jaw dropping, bowel loosening title track 'Blackwater Park'.

The genius behind it all:



11.13 / 10

Ziltoid