Customer Reviews
Album of the year, no doubt about it. - By: Ryan Corr, 29 Jul 2008 
Well, for a start, it's better than Cavalera Conspiracy, so scratch one "best of the year/bestin metal ever" sentiment off the list for that good-but-got-old-fast album. I can see myself liking Watershed for a lot longer. Already its made me giddy with glee a good few times during the impossibly sweet opener "Coil", recoilin horror at the sheer death metal force of "Heir Apparent" & brand "Hessian Peel" the new owner of my favourite riff, a twisting wretch of a thing its impossible not to air-shred to. Shredding seems a good place to begin talking about this album, as the changein guitarists from (my personal favourite Opeth member) Peter Lindgren to former Arch Enemy twiddler Fredrik Akkeson has brought a prolific sonic alteration to Opeth. Akkeson's fierce shredding (there's that word again) skills have, it seems, inspired head honcho Mike Akerfeldt to take the metal side of Opeth up a notch, with far less jazzy or bluesy fret-bothering than previous outings but plenty of blistering riffs (and harmonics!) to make up for it. While the change is apparent to any fan upon first listen, I doubt it'll cause many frowns.
Like I said, the opening "Coil", a mellow little number featuring Nathalie Lorichs (me neither) on vocals & described by Akerfeldt as "cute" (the song, not Lorichs, who happens to be his drummer's girlfriend) is as nice as Opeth has ever been. Such feelings are chucked inside a cement mixer, removed & hammered into fractionally smaller cement blobules before being urinated on by the relentlessly heavy & dare I say terrifying "Heir Apparent", which a good friend of mine described as "hunting for something to kill". New drummer Martin Axenrot silences naysayers immediately with his pummeling force, before soon after giving way to the more traditional, Lopez-style cool grooves that he's equally capable with. But a death metal drummer is a death metal drummer, & Akerfeldt, fully aware of Axe's abilities from their concurrent band Bloodbath again takes advantage of the lineup change to refine & tweak the band's sound. Thus, endless tom fills & even BLASTBEATS appear on this record, double kicks unstoppable & restless with plenty of snare foreplay to counterbalance. Per Wiberg has expanded his role as keyboardist to wind instruments, with flutes & English Horn the most prevalent. Akerfeldt always boasted of how his keyboardist could play anything, & its nice to finally hear it. The other most noticeable element on this record are the folk elements, Akerfeldt going as far to call one of the sections a "Nick Drake riff", a spot on assessment if I've ever heard one, reminding me of "Three Hours" the first time I heard it. Soin summation of the sound, scary death metal meets English folk, with one complete & unabashed ballad thrownin for measure. And bearin mind, this is no "ballad by Opeth standards", this is a bloody ballad, as pure as they come & worthy of a place on any three-disc driving rock compilation. We also get a nod to Led Zeppelinin a backwards pledge to Satan, & a box that looks like an envelope for no immediately obvious reason. The standout track initially seems to be the classic-written-all-over single Porcelain Heart, though there's a lot of depth here & plenty to be discovered on repeated listenings (I'm currently on my consecutive third). I'm not fond of comparison, but there's no denying this is Opeth's most dense work since Still Life ten odd years ago, particularly impressive given the virgin lineup, but it also stands out as one of their best albums. It lacks the style-diversity of predecessor Ghost Reveries, but eclipses the focused nature of Damnation & Deliverance. Most importantly, its a great album & the best of the year so far. Sorry Max.
They've done it again... - By: A viewer, 28 Jul 2008 I tend to get nervous when Opeth release a new album, because I'm always worried that their insanely high standards will one day slip & they'll give us something that doesn't blow us away. I'm happy to say that I'm still waiting for this to happen. Watershed is absolutely superb.
Some have criticised some of the newer elements on here, but I think they all work. The addition of the female voice on the opener is a great touch, & I love the funky breakdownin Lotus Eater - to me there is no suggestion that it was just chuckedin there. Even the detuned guitar trick sounds right, & it's pretty hard to take a piece of music that's meant to sound bad & put it into a song so it doesn't just sound like exhibitionism.
As has been pointed out, there is less death metal growling on here than many of their albums, but that doesn't bother me, as Mikael's clean vocals are getting better & better over time anyway. His vocal performance on Burden is marvelous. And he CAN still do the growls when he wants to, as Heir Apparent will prove.
The "new guys" (Axenrot & Åkesson) fitin very nicely, & Per Wiberg really starts to make his presence felt with a lot of proggy keyboard work. Åkerfeldt is still the core of the band, & without him Opeth would no longer exist, but he knows how to surround himself with talent & write to their strengths.
It's tricky to pick out a best song, because Opeth's albums aren't really designed like that, but for me, Coil, Hessian Peel & Heir Apparent are especially excellent. But the album works brilliantly as a cohesive whole, & should really be listened toin this way.
I can now relax until they announce their next album, whereupon I'll start getting unjustifiably nervous again!
a low point - By: J. W. Moore, 25 Jul 2008 
shame i was really looking forward to this one. Have played it for weeks now but it doesnt seem to go anywhere. I just hope this a career blip as my arms, blackwater park & reveries are masterpieces
4 1/2 stars really - By: bandcandy, 08 Jul 2008 Opeth's latest offering, "Watershed" was really something of a surprise, & comes as proof that they will never let us get comfortable & settle into a predictable rut as so many talented bands do. Instead, Opeth continue to challenge their listeners with something really quite different, not only from "Ghost Reveries" but also from all their previous albums. Of course it is still unmistakably Opeth, with Akerfeldt's trademark vocals & their unique combination of blasting death metal ferocity with mellow acoustic brilliance & awesome prog solos. However they have gotten a bit more experimental on us & mixedin some touches of jazz/blues (for examplein the beautiful "Burden" & the unexpected funk section at the end of "the Lotus Eater"), a few moments of strings & flutesin the awesome "Heir Apparant", some very effective but not overused female vocalsin the stunning opener "Coil" & the unexpected humour of the discordant ending of "Burden".
"Watershed" is also pleasantly varied & progresses very neatly through different styles, blending them together perfectly. They move very skillfully from the mellow acoustic sadness of "Coil" with its moving female vocals & beautiful lyrics into the brilliantly heavy, fantastically discordant "Heir Apparant", moving into the jazz tinged acoustic perfection of "Burden", then varying between the heavy & the melodic with their usual ease throughout the remaining songs. Some of them don't quite hit you at first & take a few listens to appreciate. Initially, hearing the complete change of direction of "The Lotus Eater" & the discordance of "Heir Apparant" I wondered what had gone wrong with Opeth, but "Watershed" is one of those albums that you will still be listening toin a year's time, not something catchy which hits you on the first listen & then you forget about it. I still think "Ghost Reveries" & "Still Life" probably can't be beaten, but "Watershed" hardly fails to live up to expectations.
IF ONLY EVERY SONG WRITER WAS THIS GOOD! - By: Mr. E. J. Mordecai, 03 Jul 2008 I am very new to Opeth (8 weeks). A Death Metal Drummer guy at work said 'try this mr prog rock!' So I did & WOW! I love a bit of cheesy prog truth be told but really love dirges a.k.a Pink Floyd (Animals being their best albumin my opinion). But Opeth are something else & now that I have listened to every album many many times, all the timein fact, i think they have become my favorite band! How sad... I dont think i have ever heard a band that has produced so many great ideas per album & consistently created atmospheres worthy of Floyd & then some! The only thing I have a problem with is that I have been working with this guy for two years & he has only just showed me what I have been missing!
