Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Album of the year, no doubt about it., 29 Jul 2008
Well, for a start, it's better than Cavalera Conspiracy, so scratch one "best of the year/best in metal ever" sentiment off the list for that good-but-got-old-fast album. I can see myself liking Watershed for a lot longer. Already its made me giddy with glee a good few times during the impossibly sweet opener "Coil", recoil in horror at the sheer death metal force of "Heir Apparent" and brand "Hessian Peel" the new owner of my favourite riff, a twisting wretch of a thing its impossible not to air-shred to. Shredding seems a good place to begin talking about this album, as the change in guitarists from (my personal favourite Opeth member) Peter Lindgren to former Arch Enemy twiddler Fredrik Akkeson has brought a prolific sonic alteration to Opeth. Akkeson's fierce shredding (there's that word again) skills have, it seems, inspired head honcho Mike Akerfeldt to take the metal side of Opeth up a notch, with far less jazzy or bluesy fret-bothering than previous outings but plenty of blistering riffs (and harmonics!) to make up for it. While the change is apparent to any fan upon first listen, I doubt it'll cause many frowns.
Like I said, the opening "Coil", a mellow little number featuring Nathalie Lorichs (me neither) on vocals and described by Akerfeldt as "cute" (the song, not Lorichs, who happens to be his drummer's girlfriend) is as nice as Opeth has ever been. Such feelings are chucked inside a cement mixer, removed and hammered into fractionally smaller cement blobules before being urinated on by the relentlessly heavy and dare I say terrifying "Heir Apparent", which a good friend of mine described as "hunting for something to kill". New drummer Martin Axenrot silences naysayers immediately with his pummeling force, before soon after giving way to the more traditional, Lopez-style cool grooves that he's equally capable with. But a death metal drummer is a death metal drummer, and Akerfeldt, fully aware of Axe's abilities from their concurrent band Bloodbath again takes advantage of the lineup change to refine and tweak the band's sound. Thus, endless tom fills and even BLASTBEATS appear on this record, double kicks unstoppable and restless with plenty of snare foreplay to counterbalance. Per Wiberg has expanded his role as keyboardist to wind instruments, with flutes and English Horn the most prevalent. Akerfeldt always boasted of how his keyboardist could play anything, and its nice to finally hear it. The other most noticeable element on this record are the folk elements, Akerfeldt going as far to call one of the sections a "Nick Drake riff", a spot on assessment if I've ever heard one, reminding me of "Three Hours" the first time I heard it. So in summation of the sound, scary death metal meets English folk, with one complete and unabashed ballad thrown in for measure. And bear in mind, this is no "ballad by Opeth standards", this is a bloody ballad, as pure as they come and worthy of a place on any three-disc driving rock compilation. We also get a nod to Led Zeppelin in a backwards pledge to Satan, and a box that looks like an envelope for no immediately obvious reason. The standout track initially seems to be the classic-written-all-over single Porcelain Heart, though there's a lot of depth here and plenty to be discovered on repeated listenings (I'm currently on my consecutive third). I'm not fond of comparison, but there's no denying this is Opeth's most dense work since Still Life ten odd years ago, particularly impressive given the virgin lineup, but it also stands out as one of their best albums. It lacks the style-diversity of predecessor Ghost Reveries, but eclipses the focused nature of Damnation and Deliverance. Most importantly, its a great album and the best of the year so far. Sorry Max.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The album that truely got me into Opeth, 26 Oct 2008
A couple of years ago, I purchased the album 'Still Life' as I was curious to see what Opeth were like after hearing positive comments about them. Being a fan of metal and prog rock, I thought there was a good chance I could get into them. However I was not blown away by it, and only really listened to the opening track 'The Moor' which is a great song. I only listened to the album a few times, and thought it was average at best.
After listening to their latest effort, my view of Opeth completely changed! This album really gripped my attention on the first listen, and ended up listening to it regularly, liking it more every time. This album focuses much more on the prog rock element; 'Hessian Peel' is an outstanding piece of prog rock with bluesy elements, which has a sound derived from the 70s. From the opening track you can tell this is going to be something different from Opeth, with its pastoral introduction of "Coil" (even has a female vocalist!). The next two tracks feature their very heavy, death growling vocals, but they also combine interesting experimental prog rock elements, really taking the listener on a ride with plenty of depth for repeated listens.
Personally my favourite song has to be 'Burden'. This song is just beautiful; it was while hearing this for the first time which demonstrated what a talent band Opeth are. Instantly likable, but still gets better with every listen. Its short piano introduction, the slow melodic verses which suddenly abrupt into dramatic harmony, and the awesome instrumental which has elements similar to Deep Purple and Pink Floyd, while still remaining unique.
It was after hearing this album I began to appreciate 'Still Life' and other albums. They are a band that get better with every listen, so if you are into bands such as Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Porcupine Tree or even Radiohead, there are worse things to do than listening to this with an open mind!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
IF ONLY EVERY SONG WRITER WAS THIS GOOD!, 3 Jul 2008
I am very new to Opeth (8 weeks). A Death Metal Drummer guy at work said 'try this mr prog rock!' So I did and WOW! I love a bit of cheesy prog truth be told but really love dirges a.k.a Pink Floyd (Animals being their best album in my opinion). But Opeth are something else and now that I have listened to every album many many times, all the time in fact, i think they have become my favorite band! How sad... I dont think i have ever heard a band that has produced so many great ideas per album and consistently created atmospheres worthy of Floyd and then some! The only thing I have a problem with is that I have been working with this guy for two years and he has only just showed me what I have been missing!
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