Blackwater Park - Release and Reception

Release and Reception

Blackwater Park was originally released on February 27, 2001. This was the first Opeth album to be released in North America at the same time as it was in the rest of the world. It has been released on compact disc and vinyl record formats. A special edition of Blackwater Park was issued in 2001 with a bonus second disc that included "Still Day Beneath the Sun" and "Patterns in the Ivy II". Those two bonus tracks were released together as a vinyl-only 7" EP by Robotic Empire Records in February, 2003. The limited edition EP sold out in less than 24 hours and continues to be one of Opeth's most sought-after releases to date. Two singles were also released to promote Blackwater Park. A shortened radio edit version of "The Drapery Falls" was released as a promo single. The bonus track "Still Day Beneath the Sun" was later released as a vinyl only single.

Blackwater Park did not chart in the United States or United Kingdom. As of May 2008, Blackwater Park has sold over 93,000 copies in the United States.

On March 29, 2010, Opeth re-released a Legacy Edition of Blackwater Park which included a live version of "The Leper Affinity" and then a second DVD which is the entire album in 5.0 Surround Sound and a making of documentary.

Blackwater Park received positive reception on its initial release, and Opeth was compared to critically acclaimed groups from previous eras. The Village Voice wrote in their review of the album, that "Opeth paint on an epic canvas, sounding at times like... metal's answer to '70s King Crimson". CMJ also wrote a very positive review calling the album "Godlike....A metal fusion of Pink Floyd and the Beatles". The Canadian music magazine Exclaim! wrote that the album "...might be the best metal record this year, and it is worth every bit of energy the band has put into the creating of it". Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic wrote that the album was "a work of breathtaking creative breadth" and noted the album's critical praise stating that "not since the release of Tiamat's groundbreaking masterpiece Wildhoney in 1994 had the extreme metal scene witnessed such an overwhelming show of fan enthusiasm and uniform critical praise as that bestowed upon Blackwater Park". He also said that the album is "surely the band's coming-of-age album, and therefore, an ideal introduction to its remarkable body of work". A more mixed review came from Alex Silveri of Sputnikmusic, who praised several of the album's songs but wrote negatively about "The Drapery Falls", "Dirge for November" and "The Funeral Portrait", which Silveri referred to as "boring to the point of tears". The album was ranked at number eighteen on IGN's list of the "top metal albums", issued in January 2007.

In 2012, Loudwire listed "Blackwater Park" as number two on their list of the Top 50 Metal Songs of the 21st Century.