Opeth : Watershed (lyric, ambient, metal, great song, single)

[Inuzuka Skysword]

Originally Posted by Rainard Jalen

More deathly sound than Meshuggah, eh? If Deliverance sounds more Death Metal than Meshuggah to you, I suggest getting your nerve endings checked out.

What I mean is Meshuggah is more chuggah-chuggah whereas Deliverence had a bit of that, but still had a really dark vibe to it. Meshuggah isn't really dark. I never found their albums dark, just heavy and dissonant.

[Comus]

Nope, in the studio Opeth is a completely different beast, and now they're finally re-creating the magic they have created live.

[Rainard Jalen]

And yet they sound more or less unchanged in 8 years of recording...

I used to love Opeth, but this band are now officially among the most redundant, jejune, dull bunches of pure hack-writer journeymen in the history of prog metal and it's so transparent as to be sad (but also funny) that so many seemingly cannot see through it.

Infinitely funnier, though, is the point that those who are willing to settle for this underwhelming tripe are also seemingly the exact same people who enjoy slating WAY more adventurous and inventive non-prog experimental artists.

[Comus]

I find this is the first Opeth album I can enjoy properly since Blackwater Park, and even then I found it tedius, I've never ever called Opeth masterful, I have found their earlier albums boring, pretentious and lacking in any form of energy. Watershed is a step in a completely different direction, the songs now have energy and there's some true form of passion put into it, especially the more prog oriented parts.

The overall sound of the album is completely different as well, there is far straightforward metal, and while the focus on singing reveals some weakness in lyrics, who the **** cares? It's Opeth.

Listen to their earlier albums, and tell me this isn't different.

[Rainard Jalen]

Originally Posted by Comus

I find this is the first Opeth album I can enjoy properly since Blackwater Park, and even then I found it tedius, I've never ever called Opeth masterful, I have found their earlier albums boring, pretentious and lacking in any form of energy. Watershed is a step in a completely different direction, the songs now have energy and there's some true form of passion put into it, especially the more prog oriented parts.

The overall sound of the album is completely different as well, there is far straightforward metal, and while the focus on singing reveals some weakness in lyrics, who the **** cares? It's Opeth.

Listen to their earlier albums, and tell me this isn't different.

You may have some points, and so I will redress the topic after listening a bit more.

[jackhammer]

I have only played the new album once but I was instantly struck by the very clean sound which I don't actually like and a few tracks had the same loud/quiet structure that did'nt give the tracks a huge amount of seperation. I still like it but it needs a few more listens until I can post a more acurate review.

[chiron]

I don't think that Opeth have released a uniformly consistent album since SL, except perhaps Damnation which can't really be considered a typical Opeth album.

This album is very good on its own but is still disappointing.
I'd rate the individual tracks as;

Coil - awful, one of their worst songs ever.
Heir Apparent - excellent, great growls and will be a crowd favourite at their shows.
The Lotus Eater - arguably the best track on the album and with Opeth at possibly their most technical.
Burden - another great track, the ballad track of the album and worthy enough to be considered among songs like To Bid You Farewell and Face of Melinda as their best work. Reminds me a lot of older Porcupine Tree.
Porcelain Heart - good one, compared to The Grand Conjuration but far better than that disaster.
Hessian Peel - this is like Harlequin Forest from GR, decent track with no bad parts but nothing stands out much either.
Hex Omega - this is a bit repetitive like Porcelain Heart but is not unbearably so. Nice keyboards too.

I guess this has to be the most divisive Opeth album yet; while GR wasn't as brilliant technically it didn't get nearly as many negative reviews either. Also somehow despite trying many new things in terms of instrumentation the sound remains too much typical to the band.

People seem to expect Opeth to blow them away with every new album they release but it seems to me that they finally have reached their limits of musical expression and style. They still remain my favourite band overall but I'm sure that Watershed won't be album of the year for me.

Originally Posted by Rainard Jalen

Well first and foremost, the best and most creative album Opeth ever did, by a cakewalk, was Morningrise.

I'd say it was Orchid even though it didn't have the varitey provided by the acoustics in BRI and To Bid You Farewell. It is probably the only Opeth album I still listen to regularly. As a whole I think the songs on Orchid is better than the ones on Morningrise.

Also the break part in Under the Weeping Moon about 6 minutes in is imo the best thing Opeth have ever done.

Edit: the poll seems to be broken btw.

[Demonoid]

Can i change my opinion to excellent?
This is turning out to be one of my favorites.
Might seem a bit fanboyish, but i came to this conclusion after listening to it more than 10 times!
Definitely gets better with more listens.

[Seltzer]

Agreed - it gets better with every listen... I still find Porcelain Heart to be a bit bland and boring, but the rest is top notch. I'll be damned if Burden isn't one of the best songs they've ever written and Heir Apparent isn't one of the most brutal.

They're definitely progressing too - there's a lot synth work throughout and they seem less restrained in that regard... for example, the chicken funk (in the words of a negative review I read) section in the Lotus Eater.

I'm changing my vote too.

[Demonoid]

Originally Posted by Seltzer

I still find Porcelain Heart to be a bit bland and boring

I love that track...prolly my 3rd favorite now from the album.(only after Burden & Heir Apparent...akerfeldt's vocals are so brutal there)

Anyways, i find that most ppl who dislike this release is mainly on the basis that they haven't progressed all that much. I do kinda understand that argument, but I'm still far from being bored my them. One should just enjoy their consistency. Still very few bands out there try to copy their style.(unlike what happened to 'melo-death' which i just ignore now-a-days) I mean, give me any of their release and I'd still enjoy listening to it.
And their sound is definitely changing imo...The usual long structure and harsh/clean vocals thingy still exist, but the atmosphere doesn't feel the same at all...not to mention, akerfeldt's harsh vocals has definitely changed a bit. More in the vein of Unblessing the purity.
The only thing I'm worried about now is Roadrunner Records. I don't care even if they sell out(or whatever it's called) as long as they do their own thing and nothing influenced by the record label.

EDIT:After another listen, Porcelain Heart has got a bit boring...It's still catchy but i think the problem is that it stretches for too long and way too formulative...But Heir Apparent just becomes better and better with each listen. Quickly becoming one of my all time favorites.