Although Blackwater Park did not chart in North America or the United Kingdom, it was a commercial breakthrough for the band.

'[11] Following a few live dates in Europe, Opeth's guitarist and vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt went to an old friend's house in Stockholm, Sweden, to record some demos and develop ideas for the new album.

[12] The band's engineer Fredrik Nordström had arranged for the group to stay in a small room in the studio that had four beds.

[2][3] A special edition of Blackwater Park was issued in 2002 with a bonus second disc that included "Still Day Beneath the Sun" and "Patterns in the Ivy II".

[18] 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.

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".

[28] CMJ also wrote a very positive review calling the album "Godlike ... a metal fusion of Pink Floyd and the Beatles".

Co-produced by Opeth and Wilson and engineered by Fredrik Nordström, it’s one of the first death metal albums to feel, well, different.

"[30] Similarly, Pitchfork noted that Wilson's "production help and encouragement teased out the band's explorations of acoustic-led arrangements as much as electric ones while further showcasing Åkerfeldt's sweet, clear singing as much as the roars on songs like "The Leper Affinity" and the title track.

"[23] British magazine Record Collector called Blackwater Park Opeth's finest hour and added that much of the credit "can be attributed to the advanced vision of Steven Wilson.

[36] Rolling Stone ranked Blackwater Park as 55th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.

In 2009, MetalSucks compiled a list of the "21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far" based on the opinions of various musicians, managers, publicists, label representatives and writers, where Blackwater Park ranked at No.

[39] In June 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Blackwater Park at 28th place for their list of "Greatest Prog Rock Albums of All Time".