OPETH: Watershed

Produced by Mikael Åkerfeldt

Released: 2008

Opeth is one band who can do no wrong in my book. While there are those who yearn for the days of Blackwater Park or Still Life and still others who long for another Orchid, to me Opeth is one group that actually defines progressive, and that sort of rules out moving backwards. So while some can moan and complain, I'm quite happy to let Opeth get on with getting on.

Watershed appears in the aftermath of two key members of the band moving on, but like any group greater than the sum of its parts this hasn't seemed to have had much of an impact. Of course the chief component is Mikael Åkerfeldt, and he is still firmly in place, switching his vocal style with breathtaking skill and consumate ease as always.

The album opens with the acoustic, melancholia-drenched "Coil", probably to the consternation of many who would immediately think another Damnation was in store. In some ways that is correct, because Watershed continues the experimentation with 70s prog-rock that album explored but blends it with the classic Opeth sound. The end result is a mixture of blues-flavoured guitar licks, jazz rhythms, big pompous organs and bursts of crushing death metal interwoven with orchestral flourishes and acoustic interludes. The arrangements are also some of their most expansive ever. From "Coil", "Heir Apparent" builds into the heaviest and fastest track Opeth has created in some time, but it is also a dynamic one, slowly revealing its many facets from almost pure minimalism to thundering, hammering metal over the course of almost nine minutes. Later on, the grand and truly awesome "Hessian Peel" also bears the influence of the band's much heavier past while the sprawling "Hex Omega" is Opeth at their moodiest.

There are rare occasions where things sound a little more forced than we are used to hearing from Opeth, and this could be the legacy of Martin Lopez and Peter Lindgren's departures. These moment are fleeting however and really do little to detract from the overall vision which is, once again, epic and majestic and Watershed again shows that Opeth is one of metal's most important and interesting acts.

1. Coil
2. Heir Apparent
3. The Lotus Eater
4. Burden
5. Porcelain Heart
6. Hessian Peel
7. Hex Omega

Rating: 88%