Release date: June 6
Genres: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Roadrunner
Around the time when Opeth signed with Roadrunner, I recall being very amused by the reaction of some fans who feared their rightfully beloved band would pass “go” and collect an obscene amount of money. Obviously that did not happen -- “Ghost Reveries” was released mixing their trademark “dark & light”-approach and all was as it should be. Opeth have always shown small hints of progression between their albums, incorporating a few new colours to their already broad palette. The progression this time is definitely incorporating influences from the '70s prog-rock scene, along with some more technical passages. In all fairness, neither of the new ingredients should alienate any fan of their previous couple of releases. Opeth have set themselves a very high standard and are hands down one of the most reliable bands around, without turning stale for that matter. “Watershed” somewhat surprisingly opens with the soft and beautiful “Coil”, only to go headfirst into “Heir Apparent”, which as far as I can recall features some of Åkerfeldt's darkest and deepest growling to date. The first proper taste of the new more progressive and technical ingredients are found in “The Lotus Eater”. It's not often that my jaw drops these days, but the first time I heard the band get to that jam-ish sounding section around the 6-minute mark, I had to hear it again. And again. And again. But as we all know, a funky section does not a great album make. Luckily, there're quite a few good tunes left after the third song.
However, an inherent problem for me with Opeth seems to be that while I can't classify any of their albums as less-than-good, I have a hard time considering any of them better-than-very-good, which would be around 8-8.5/10 for those of you hungry for numbers. Like many of their albums, “Watershed” is without any really obvious flaw, but it just starts to drag towards the end. I'm not overly crazy about “Hessian Peel” or “Porcelain Heart”, but neither of them are bad by any means. They just don't hit the spot, and I can't really point out a valid reason. Maybe it's just too much of the same, as amusing as that may sound since we're dealing with very progressive music. Perhaps I'm not meant to ever hear an Opeth album that pushes all my buttons, but I suppose “Watershed” isn't a bad fit after all. After all, it's a really good album and will probably make my Top 10 by the end of the year.
Genres: Progressive Death Metal
Label: Roadrunner
Around the time when Opeth signed with Roadrunner, I recall being very amused by the reaction of some fans who feared their rightfully beloved band would pass “go” and collect an obscene amount of money. Obviously that did not happen -- “Ghost Reveries” was released mixing their trademark “dark & light”-approach and all was as it should be. Opeth have always shown small hints of progression between their albums, incorporating a few new colours to their already broad palette. The progression this time is definitely incorporating influences from the '70s prog-rock scene, along with some more technical passages. In all fairness, neither of the new ingredients should alienate any fan of their previous couple of releases. Opeth have set themselves a very high standard and are hands down one of the most reliable bands around, without turning stale for that matter. “Watershed” somewhat surprisingly opens with the soft and beautiful “Coil”, only to go headfirst into “Heir Apparent”, which as far as I can recall features some of Åkerfeldt's darkest and deepest growling to date. The first proper taste of the new more progressive and technical ingredients are found in “The Lotus Eater”. It's not often that my jaw drops these days, but the first time I heard the band get to that jam-ish sounding section around the 6-minute mark, I had to hear it again. And again. And again. But as we all know, a funky section does not a great album make. Luckily, there're quite a few good tunes left after the third song.
However, an inherent problem for me with Opeth seems to be that while I can't classify any of their albums as less-than-good, I have a hard time considering any of them better-than-very-good, which would be around 8-8.5/10 for those of you hungry for numbers. Like many of their albums, “Watershed” is without any really obvious flaw, but it just starts to drag towards the end. I'm not overly crazy about “Hessian Peel” or “Porcelain Heart”, but neither of them are bad by any means. They just don't hit the spot, and I can't really point out a valid reason. Maybe it's just too much of the same, as amusing as that may sound since we're dealing with very progressive music. Perhaps I'm not meant to ever hear an Opeth album that pushes all my buttons, but I suppose “Watershed” isn't a bad fit after all. After all, it's a really good album and will probably make my Top 10 by the end of the year.
0 Response to "Opeth – Watershed"