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Album review “Watershed” by Opeth

Posted on April 28, 2008 in the Music, News category

The ninth album by Swedish Prog-faced hairy metallers Opeth was described as “Avant-garde” by frontman Michael Akerfeldt. He couldn’t be more correct. The biggest question is how does a band top an album which pretty much everyone agreed was perfect? 2005’s “Ghost Reveries” was the perfect combination of beauty and brutality, so beautality or brutiful does come to mind, where each song arrangement, melody and riff melded into place perfectly. This album does a lot of things differently from any other Opeth release. It is shorter, only 7 songs in total, and totally breaks the rules as to what Opeth are capable of. Metal guitar, piano, mellotron and acoustic guitar adorn seven tracks on an “observation” with cryptic track names like “Hessian Peel” and instrumental track “Hex Omega”. Opening song “Coil”, is probably the only Opeth song ever to come under the 4 minute mark, and is quite simply one of the most haunting acoustic songs i have ever heard. Female vocals sing the second verse and chorus on a simple lamentation from a man who is quickly proving himself to be as gifted a songwriter as a master of the riff.
Second track “Heir Apparent” breaks into more familiar Opeth territory, gutteral vocals present and accounted for, jazz free-form solos available for the afficionado. “The Lotus Eater” and “Porcelain Heart” both make up the meat of the album, the former of which playing about with out-tuned acoustic guitar and an oddly sampled laugh, probably courtesy of Michael. The best thing about Opeth is the technicality and complexity, and, more importantly, length of their songs never make the listener uncomfortable. Their songs become hypnotic and even when the double bass drum/ death metal riff/ demonic vocals come in, the songs never become overbearing. Understandably to some, the prospect of an 11 minute song which ranges from Nick Drake-esque acoustic folkyness to Morbid Angel sounding brutality will be a bit too much to take. To others, this will be a perfect addition to their catalogue.
This could in many ways be considered the “Ok Computer” of the progressive death metal genre, in that a talented band could have continued along the path most walked, but chose to try something a little different instead. Hopefully, this will pay off and finally catapult this amazing band into the metal mainstream.

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