Opeth – Blackwater Park (2xLP White Vinyl)

The re-release via Music For Nations will be lovingly pressed on heavyweight audiophile vinyl, with various deluxe variants and in a gatefold artwork sleeve, with updated liner notes and acknowledgements. The deluxe variants, including a hardcase CD, feature an updated artwork booklet that includes new liner notes, never-before-seen memories of the band, and exclusive content provided by the Opeth fan community. It remains a must-have for Opeth enthusiasts, completists and casual listeners alike

"In many ways, Opeth's 'Blackwater Park' can be seen as their answer to The Beatles' 'Revolver', both uncompromising and experimental but equally commercially viable and unbreakable masterpieces

Mikael Åkerfeldt comments

"I know that 'Blackwater Park' was the stepping stone to professionalism for us. Since then, the band has taken up all of our time and we've never really looked back. Always forward

It's well known that Steven Wilson came to produce the album, and that was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. I think the songs were different from what most other bands were doing at the time, but the production definitely set us apart from the rest. Steven helped bring out the real strength of the band, which was and still is our versatility."

After four albums of imaginative and infectious heavy music, the band was ready to make a career-defining statement. At the time, the metal world was bumbling along in a state of post-grunge confusion, while Opeth were forging a creative path all their own and fearlessly so. Back in 2001, prog was just being rehabilitated in the eyes of the mainstream, but there was still something bold about Opeth's rise. With several songs topping the ten-minute mark, "Blackwater Park" was no kind of commercial compromise. Instead, its popularity and acclaim proved a few valuable points: that music fans (and metalheads in particular) are often much more open-minded than they're given credit for, and that depth, subtlety, sophistication, and imagination are all credible selling points

Already enjoying a steadily growing reputation, the record has been well received by fans and critics alike. Thanks to new production techniques with Steven Wilson, a longer recording time and new personnel, the record made its peers seem slim, small and colourless in comparison. From the towering grandeur of The Leper Affinity to the psychedelic ebb and flow of the closing title track, Blackwater Park brimmed with exhilarating dynamics and genre-bending inventiveness, but it was also blessed with melody: huge, life-affirming melodies and soaring choruses, instantly memorable lead guitar hooks and, through the gentler tracks like Harvest and the instrumental Patterns In The Ivy, flashes of exquisite, fragile restraint

"Blackwater Park" didn't make Opeth millionaires, but it did introduce the band to a much wider audience and broadened their appeal from the somewhat restrictive confines of the metal underground to the broader metal scene and, as seemed only right, the world of progressive rock. In the meantime, Opeth have spent the ensuing two decades constantly evolving and releasing many more groundbreaking and mind-expanding masterpieces. They have evolved from tentative beginnings into one of the most exceptional live bands in the world, and their music continues to be a major beacon in the heavy and alternative world.

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