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| Watershed | 
 enlarge | Artist: Opeth
Label: Roadrunner Records
Category: Music
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $16.99
You Save: $7.99 (32%)
New (41) Used (14) Collectible (1) from $14.35
Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 11968
Format: Enhanced, Special Edition
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5 x 5 x 0.2
MPN: 179365
UPC: 016861793654
EAN: 0016861793654
ASIN: B0018CWWK0
Release Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new Item. CD, DVD, Book, VHS more than 400 000 titles to choose from. ALL days Low Price !
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| Tracks:
Disc 1
| • | Coil | | • | Heir Apparent | | • | The Lotus Eater | | • | Burden | | • | Porcelain Heart | | • | Hessian Peel | | • | Hex Omega |
Disc 2
| • | Rehearsal Tapes | | • | Watershed 5.1 Mix | | • | Derelict Heads | | • | Bridge of Sighs | | • | Den Standiga Resan |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
The Special Edition includes three bonus tracks, 5.1 audio mix of the entire album, extensive video content, expanded artwork and more.Special Edition includes DVD with bonus tracks. The forward-thinking Swedish titans, who seemlessly and fluidly combine metal, classic rock, prog, folk and free form jazz, continue the time-honored Opeth tradition on Watershed, their second album for Roadrunner Records. With this, their ninth effort, Opeth continue to shake things up, turn the corner and push the limits of their sound. And the results are breathtaking. Ultimately, Watershed sounds at once completely like and absolutely nothing like previous Opeth records. Watershed takes all that is Opeth, and goes where Opeth have never gone before.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 "My sweet Satan, I see you..." June 3, 2008
39 out of 44 found this review helpful
Watershed is the ninth Opeth album; and in some ways it signifies a new start for them. This is not totally surprising, given the band has a new guitarist and a new drummer now. Also, they they seem to be in a transition phase musically because Watershed, while encompassing lots of their past hallmarks, also delves into new musical territory.
The differences are mainly demonstrated in their impenetrable song structures, as Mikael Akerfeldt has constructed the album in a more evocative way this time time around. Unlike any other Opeth album, Watershed begins with the short acoustic track "Coil", where strummed acoustic guitars and beautifully arranged string work form the leeway for Akerfeldt and female guest singer Nathalie Lorichs to deliver the verses in an addictively melodic tone. Lorichs' vocals are amazing, and while the song clocks in at only three minutes, that's its charm.
Overall, Watershed is no where near as heavy as the previous Opeth discs, as it boasts a more experimental aesthetic throughout. However, the second track "Heir Apparent" is arguably the heaviest, most brutal Opeth song to date. Not only is it crushingly heavy, it is also the first Opeth tune with no clean vocals whatsoever. Sure, they have other tracks like "Blackwater Park", "Wreath", "The Amen Corner", and "April Ethereal" among others, but all of them contain some clean backing vocals, whispers, humming, et cetera whilst "Heir Apparent" is delivered with Akerfeldt's unmistakable growls from start to finish. Occupied by an assault of guitar fury in its chaotic intro, the piece contains laser-precise drumming and Akerfeldt's suffocating vocals that are contrasted by deft string work and clean, psychedelic-like guitar harmonies soaring over Axenrot's percussion. The ending to the song is equally baffling: smooth layers of guitar melodies overlapping each other.
New drummer Martin Axenrot will pleasantly surprise many an Opeth fan with his performance here. Not only does he play with admirable restraint on most of the album, but he also proves how capable a drummer is on "The Lotus Eater", which is another sound experiment for the band. The drumming on this dissonant tune is stupifyingly good, perhaps among Opeth's finest. Certainly the most technical song on the disc, it features blast beats over which Akerfeldt sings with clean vocals and then growls atop rapid-fire guitar riffery. Very interesting. The rhythm exercise of the song brims with energy, particularly during the instrumental break where guitars, drums and bass clash with each other without taking away from the composition.
Akerfeldt's love for the 70's is exemplified by the gorgeous ballad "Burden", whose main melody is very similar to the stuff Dan Swano does on Unicorn's Emotional Wasteland album. A bit like the material on Damnation, this one sees Opeth branching off into pure balladry mode, with moving guitar solos and vocals. The ending is especially confusing, as Akerfeldt's guitar is manually detuned in the finale. They obviously did it to escape the mellow ballad mood of the tune, and it definitely sets it apart. Despite that weird ending, Opeth proves they can write the best songs in any genre.
This album contains some of Akerfeldt's most enigmatic and personal lyrics, hence the reason why they have been excluded from the booklet. "Hessian Peel", the only ten-plus-minute song on the album, is a total embodiment of Opeth's current musical and lyrical vision. From the sombre acoustic intro to the mournful clean vocals, it evokes a funereal atmosphere where Martin Mendez' bass stands out in the mix. Too bad the bass in Opeth has been almost inaudible since the band's Dan Swano-produced albums, but this track has a healthy dose of his bass throbbing beneath Axenrot's calculated drum battery and the guitar duo's smashing rhythm parts. The song also contains some backward lyrics, most notable between 2:03-2:22. Obviously a reference to Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven", the lyrics read: "Out of the courtyard | Come back tonight | My sweet Satan| I see you". It's a dark tune with ghostly bursts of atmosphere, and Per Wiberg's Mellotron sounds as well as the string arrangement further enhance the tune's power.
Great shifting of dynamics permeats "Porcelain Heart", the only track Akerfeldt co-wrote with Fredrik Akesson. This is perhaps the only song where polar opposites are merged in a single composition: hammering guitar riffs are side by side with oboes (speaking of which, there is plenty of flutes, oboes, cellos on this album -- all live, not keyboard generated) and Akerfeldt's shift from hellish growls to lullaby-like singing in the middle part attests to his diversity. This is perhaps his most haunting moment -- very emotive and heartfelt.
The album ends on a creepy note with "Hex Omega", a curious mix of waves of guitar dissonance, strings floating across the whole track, and a forlorn piano motif. The droney ending of the song lends it a very creepy feel as well.
Watershed to me is a transition from Ghost Reveries much the same way Still Life was from My Arms, Your Hearse. It was only with Blackwater Park when they fully achieved the sound they were aiming for, so I feel their next album may present a larger picture as to where they want to go musically. At any rate, this album is another worthy addition to Opeth's back catalog.
BONUS DISC:
Besides the DVD and 5.1 audio mix as well as a cool "puzzle" (study the picture of the guy closely!), the Special Edition version also has a bonus disc with three tracks: the Middle Eastern-flavoured "Derelict Herds" with cool clean and heavy passages typical of Opeth; the amazing Robin Trower cover "Bridge of Sighs", a fairly loyal rendition of the original but Akerfeldt's vocals and especially the run-out blues solo are soul-crushingly beautiful; and the Swedish-sung "Den Standiga Resan", a largely acoustic tune dripping with sadness (it only features a heartfelt electric solo at the very end). Actually they were also supposed to include "Would?" by Alice In Chains, which would have been amazing, but sadly that tune has been left out.
Remarkably Consistent - Opeth Triumps Again June 26, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Leave it to Opeth to surprise us with every new album. Riding on the momentum built by their last two albums and recent successful tours, the Swedish quintet released in May their ninth studio album, "Watershed". Known for their wall-of-sound compositions and overall crushing tone, the album starts off with "Coil", a 3-minute acoustic song featuring diverse instrumentation, Mikael kerfeldt's softer side, and a cameo by female vocalist Nathalie Lorichs. It's quite a bold move for a progressive death-metal band, but it pays off as it leads into the merciless "Heir Apparent", arguably an upcoming single.
From there we are treated to a diverse tapestry of sound, most of which we can call "vintage" Opeth, with several surprises thrown in the mix. The band had received some criticism on their previous studio album, 2005's "Ghost Reveries", namely that their trademark loud-to-soft transitions were becoming too forced. Whether or not they chose to acknowledge this criticism is moot, but the transitions in this album are much more fluid and graceful. Songs like "Hessian Peel" grow slowly from folk-inspired acoustic passages to the chthonic assault that makes Opeth such a powerful force. Along the way the band makes use of flutes, ("Porcelain Heart"), and strings to great dramatic effect ("Burden").
Though their 70's-prog influences are still shining in this album, the Swedes are far from going soft. "Heir Apparent" and "The Lotus Eaters" contain some of the roughest, fastest riffage heard since "My Arms, Your Hearse". This is no surprise - kerfeldt has been saying for a long time that it was a worthy successor to the album, released a decade ago. In between, it is clear how tightly the band has honed their craft. Even with a lineup change, replacing longtime guitarist Peter Lindgren with Frederik Akkeson and drummer Martin Lopez with the apty-named Martin Axenrot, there is a definite sense of consistency in the band's catalog. The dynamic, and often frantic, balance between intense and soothing, is still there, but not as deliberate and self-aware as it was in "Ghost Reveries".
With "Watershed", Opeth have created an eponymous album that vastly exceeded my expectations. Much like prog-metal peers Symphony X and their release of 2007's "Paradise Lost", they have perfected their style and created a remarkable work of power, consistency, and beauty. Though not perfect, as exemplified by the album's lackluster closer ("Hex Omega"), it is a solid musical statement, driven by kerfeldt's intricate and disciplined songwriting. Whether you're a fan of the dark side of distorted metal or the serene landscape created by lush acoustics, Opeth will deliver.
Watershed in a nutshell.. June 3, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
I will keep this short.
Opeth in my opinion is one of the best bands on the planet.
Watershed is a mix of progressive psychedelic metal mixed with dark sinister ambiance mixed with Grunting vocals mixed smooth vocals and this new album reaches all ends of the Opeth spectrum.
Watershed is the bands 9th album, with two new members on this album they still pull off brilliance.
I have listened to the album 3 times already and I love it.
Get the special edition comes with a lot more for a few bucks more!
They are amazing musically in all ways.
BUY THIS ALBUM!! ITS AMAZING
Opeth continue to prove that they are the best metal band out there. June 6, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was worried what this album would sound like, since Martin Lopez and Peter Lindgren left. Sure, Mikael Akerfeldt is the most important member of the band, but still... Lopez and Lindgren were great musicians. And they were with the band for so long, so they knew what Opeth fans liked to hear, and they knew how to work with Mikael's vision of their sound. So what would they be like now that they've left. Would this be the end of Opeth?
No.... in fact, Watershed is a masterpiece. Fredrick Akesson is a great guitar player who trades leads with Mikael. His sound fits perfectly inside of Opeth's unique brand of music. Martin "Axe" Axenrot actually makes blast beats fit in amazingly with Opeth. They're much better than you would think. This is keyboardist Per Wiberg's 2nd studio album with Opeth, and his keys add a new dimension to Watershed. Bassist Martin Mendez is still as great as ever. His audibility has actually been a little louder on recent albums, which is always welcome.
Watershed is easily Opeth's lightest album since Damnation, but make no mistake that there's still plenty of heaviness to be found. Mikael's clean singing outweighs his growl. However, the song Heir Apparent is arguably their heaviest and thrashiest song to date! Angry blast beats and low guitar fill the song while Mikael demonically growls the lyrics, with no clean singing at all. The song does lighten up a little near the end, but it's still pretty heavy. The opener Coil is beautiful, and female singer Nathalie Lorichs is an excellent singer.
Watershed actually shows a side of Opeth we haven't heard before. First, there are many cellos, flutes, and lyres to be heard throughout the album. And they're not produced by Per's keyboards, either. They are the actual instruments. Second, while Opeth has always incorporated blues into their music, the song Burden and the bonus track Bridge of Sighs are all 100% blues. For a second, I seriously thought I was listening to a more depressing Muddy Waters or BB King. Burden has a great organ solo and is more of a blues-ballad. And Bridge of Sighs has a much more tormented feel to it. Both songs are great and you won't find anything like them on any of their previous albums.
My favorite songs are Burden, Porcelain Heart, Hessian Peel, and Bridge of Sighs, but every song is masterful and more than worth several listens. The special edition of Watershed comes with the 3 bonus tracks Derelict Heards, Bridge of Sighs, and the Swedish-sung Den staendiga resan. Apparently they're on the DVD so you can't listen to them on an mp3 player. So I recommend downloading the album since, quite frankly, they're all great tracks and you'll want to listen to them over and over again!
With this album, Opeth continue to push the boundaries of death metal and go beyond what all other bands have done. Their fusion of death metal, progressive rock, blues, jazz, and folk is unparalleled and mixes together together effortlessly. I highly recommend this album to all Opeth fans and to anyone interested in hearing some of the best, most unique music of all time.
Warning....Opeth fans only..... June 12, 2008
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
After 8 Albums a lot of artists tend to think they can **** on a record and people will lap it up. Each album Opeth has put out has been different than the last , and this album is no exception. If anything, Opeth has really gone out of the box on this one. I'll admit the first time I listened to it, I wasn't really sure what I was listening to. And then I gave it a second, more focused listen....and it's a new Opeth experience all over again.
With tracks like Heir Apparent, Lotus eaters, and hex orange, it has the beauty of damnation mixed with the violence of deliverance, all in one album. To put it plainly, this is a another great offering, from a great band. Their 9th album, and they're still fresh, and wonderful. If you're an opeth fan you have to own this.
If you're a casual death metal listener however, I would avoid this album. It's a very strange work by this band. Also, If you're first looking to get into Opeth, try "Orchid" or "my arms your hearse" first.
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