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""Watershed" happens to be in the discography of Opeth a less direct work, less violent but still dark, powerful and melancholic and more than ever rich and impregnated with 70's influences."
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5/5
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Over the years, Opeth has gone through so many personnel changes that the Swedish band can be considered as Mikael Åkerfeldt's personal project. Last departures in this year 2008, those of Martin Lopez and one of the last faithful, Peter Lindgren... And yet, never an Opeth album has sounded so much like the fruit of a whole, notably because of the omnipresence of Per Wiberg's keyboards.
It all starts with the acoustic ballad "Coil" and its introduction with folk accents which, if we except the album "Damnation", is a surprise. A second source of astonishment could come from the participation of Nathalie Lorichs, Swedish singer in vogue (Jorn Lord, Deep Purple...) whose vocals magnifies this magnificent nostalgic beginning!
If this first track could have made us think that Mikael Åkerfeldt had a new "Damnation" in store for us, the following tracks that are the fantastic "The Apparent" and "The Lotus Easter" remind us of the great hours of "Deliverance". Huge blast beats, along with sublime atmospheric passages, folk and an improbable funky break, will reassure the most skeptical about the abilities of the newcomers, Martin Axenrot and Fredrik Åkesson.
But unlike "Ghost Reveries", "Watershed" is the album of the synthesis of the influences of the combo. It is in this optic that Mikael Åkerfeldt's band enchants us with "Burden", a floydian acoustic track marked by the imprint of Per Wiberg's omnipresent mellotron and its surprising dissonant folk final!
If the following title, "Porcelain Heart" can seem conventional, it will arrive nevertheless at its ends with a melancholic beginning to which will succeed a hypnotic psychedelic acceleration, an acoustic break with folk accents, the whole magnified by the superposition of the melodic vocals of Mikael Åkerfeldt. If the title will not be recognized by its originality, the magic operates.
And it is not finished because the main course arrives with the track "Hessian Peel". Characterized by a folk and then progressive beginning that will delight the fans of 70's progressive rock with its piano and its enchanting flutes, this track abruptly changes in its middle into a death metal monster, a brutal transformation as only Opeth knows how to do... Another new masterpiece in the Swedish discography with its apocalyptic final, closed by intimist keyboards that could remind the Who!
Ending on a "Hex Omega" sailing in the well known waters of a progressive death metal, "Watershed" is a less direct work in the discography of Opeth, less violent but still dark, powerful and melancholic and more than ever rich and impregnated of 70's influences. Probably less easy to access at first, "Watershed", once tamed, should be in the pantheon of the band's masterpieces for a high number of fans. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. Coil 02. Heir Apparent 03. The Lotus Eater 04. Burden 05. Porcelain Heart 06. Hessian Peel 07. Hex Omega
LINEUP:
Fredrik Åkesson: Guitares Martin Axenrot: Batterie Mikael Akerfeld: Chant / Guitares / Basse Per Wiberg: Claviers
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Top of the page
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READERS
4.5/5 (18 view(s))
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STAFF:
4.8/5 (17 view(s))
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IN RELATION WITH OPETH
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LAST INTERVIEW
OPETH (July 2019)
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Opeth, a leading figure in Swedish progressive metal, released his thirteenth album, "In Cauda Venenum". On this occasion, we went to meet the charismatic leader Mikael Akerfeldt!
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"Osmium out now !" |
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OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT OPETH
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