After reading the session diary for Watershed, I have some questions

[batmura]

Okay, thanks to a cool dude from this board, I was directed to the Opeth site (I very rarely go there otherwise) to read the session diaries. To be honest, I didn't even know such a thing existed before, so kudos to you...

Anyway, it was a great read and I have some questions. It'd be cool to hear your thoughts...

- Mike says the vocal production each song is different. What exactly does that mean in your opinion?

- He also notes that he borrowed a line from Rotting Christ's "The Forest of N'gai". Anyone know if/where that line ended up on the album?

- He mentions how brilliant the drumming on the new disc is quite often. He seems totally blown away by it. While I agree the drum performance on the CD is definitely strong, I'm not sure I'd deem it Opeth's best, given Lopez' drumming on albums like BWP, Deliverance, and the oft-ignored Ghost Reveries.

So, yes? Any thoughts?

 

[Kalabalik]

- He also notes that he borrowed a line from Rotting Christ's "The Forest of N'gai". Anyone know if/where that line ended up on the album?

Didn't he just borrow a few lines for a demo, just to have sth to sing while demoing vocal lines?

EDIT: Yep: "Back home I always just improvise the lyrics and they mostly come out real crappy. Just a mish mash of everything. I remember this time around I'd nicked a line from a Rotting Christ song, "The forest of N'gai" for the demos." (taken from opeth.com)

 

[Heir Apparent]

- He mentions how brilliant the drumming on the new disc is quite often. He seems totally blown away by it. While I agree the drum performance on the CD is definitely strong, I'm not sure I'd deem it Opeth's best, given Lopez' drumming on albums like BWP, Deliverance, and the oft-ignored Ghost Reveries.

So, yes? Any thoughts?

I think this is the best drumming on an Opeth CD yet, sparing a few songs where Lopez really shone through. While Lopez was fantastic he never managed to grab my attention throughout the song. With Axe however I have been listening very closely to the drums. Definitely one of the best drum performances i've heard in a while IMO.