.
.

OPETH

(SWEDEN)

WATERSHED

(2008)
LABEL:

ROADRUNNER RECORDS

GENRE:

DEATH METAL

TAGS:
Acoustic, Growl, Melancholic, Opera-Rock
""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."
STRUCK (13.06.2008)  
5/5
(0) opinions (0) comment(s)
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

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
   
(0) MIND(S) FROM OUR READERS    
Top of the page
   
(0) COMMENT(S)    
 
 
Top of the page
READERS
4.5/5 (18 view(s))
STAFF:
4.8/5 (17 view(s))
MY RATING
 
LAST NEWS
OPETH: The Last Will And Testament
LAST INTERVIEW
OPETH (July 2019)
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!
 

"Osmium out now !"
OTHER REVIEWS
MIKE OLDFIELD: Hergest Ridge (1974)
PROGRESSIVE ROCK - Hergest Ridge is a pastoral masterpiece... the second of many for Mike Oldfield...
SEPULTURA: Beneath The Remains (1989)
THRASH - "Beneath The Remains" is a monument of Thrash/Death which seems not to take a wrinkle in spite of the years.
 
 
OTHER(S) REVIEWS ABOUT OPETH
OPETH_In-Cauda-Venenum
In Cauda Venenum (2019)
4/5
4.2/5
NUCLEAR BLAST / PROGRESSIVE METAL
OPETH_Sorceress
Sorceress (2016)
5/5
4.1/5
NUCLEAR BLAST / PROGRESSIVE ROCK
OPETH_Ghost-Reveries
Ghost Reveries (2005)
4/5
4.5/5
ROADRUNNER RECORDS / DEATH METAL
OPETH_Deliverance
Deliverance (2002)
5/5
4.6/5
MUSIC FOR NATIONS / DEATH METAL
OPETH_Blackwater-Park
Blackwater Park (2001)
5/5
4.8/5
MUSIC FOR NATIONS / DEATH METAL
 
.
F.A.Q. / You found a bug / Terms Of Use
Music Waves - Rock (Progressive, Alternative...), Hard Rock (AOR, Melodic,...) & Metal (heavy, progressive, melodic, ...) Media
Reviews, News, Interviews, Advices, Promotion, Releases, Concerts
© Music Waves | 2003 - 2024