Blackwater Park

Blackwater Park is the fifth full-length studio album from the Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. It was originally released on February 27, 2001 under Music For Nations and Koch Records. The album is a further continuation of the styles explored on Still Life, incorporating and further expanding on the band’s signature sound, which features the merger of death metal, progressive metal and folk music elements. The album is named after the German progressive rock band of the same name.

Blackwater Park was the first Opeth album to be produced by Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson, who also provided backing vocals in some of the album’s songs. The album was a critical and commercial success for the band, introducing them to a new range of fans. Many Opeth fans and critics alike consider Blackwater Park to be Opeth’s magnum opus. The album was ranked 18 on IGN list of the “top metal albums”, issued in January 2007.

A special edition was later issued in 2002 with a second disc consisting of two bonus tracks (which were also released separately on the limited edition Still Day Beneath the Sun vinyl record single) and a music video for the song “Harvest”. The release was limited to only 2000 copies.

A radio edit of “The Drapery Falls” was also released as a single to promote the album.