Blackwater Park-Dirt Box (1972)

Another German band that succumbed early in the rock world was Blackwater Park. Despite releasing a remarkable progressive hard rock album, they unfortunately failed to achieve commercial or media success in their time. Founded in Berlin near the end of 1971, their original lineup consisted of guitarists and vocalist Richard Routledge and Michael Fechner, drummer Norbert Kagelmann, and bassist Andreas Scholz. Thanks to the German label BASF, they recorded their only album in 1972, "Dirt Box", which showcases their musical preferences for hard rock. Raw, incisive guitar riffs, the occasional Hammond organ, and a progressive undercurrent with psychedelic touches propel a series of commendable songs within a melodic and catchy framework. That progressive and psychedelic avant-garde is present in "Rock Song", while the heavy "Roundabout", the psychedelic "One's Life", the bluesy "Indian Summer" or the melodic rock "Mental Block", make up a very good work that would go totally unnoticed until many years later, when the Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, would rescue them from oblivion by titling their fifth album in their honor "Blackwater Park" (2001).