Can't understand why Hessian Peel has so many votes. IMO it is by far the worst song on the album. For once, Mike's songwriting has worn out its welcome. There are NO transitions. The switch from the piano/keys to the heavy part around 5:34 is abysmal. This is where a second song should have started. Moreover, none of it is really that interesting. A lot of dark prog, to be sure, and there are some good riffs in there, (like at 4:15) but I just get too much of a "Harlequin Forest Pt. II" vibe. Except the original is superior.
My opinnion on the rest of the songs:
Honestly, this album simply doesn't have the staying power that Ghost Reveries possessed. The only song that I still adore is Heir Apparent. So stinking heavy.
Coil is decent, but still an intro song. Like the chorus melody. Sets a good vide for the rest of the album.
Burden is forced and for once Akerfeldt doesn't seem honest in the emotions he writes/sings. I honestly can't say I feel moved at all by listening to it. Mind you, there is some excellent musicianship, but overall the song is tedious and uninspiring. Which is unfortunate, because I think it could have been better. The poorly-written lyrics don't really add to the atmosphere.
The Lotus Eater has got a lot of good parts but is super scattered and not very memorable. To be honest, it's not all that "wierd" or "different" from everything in the past--it's just a bit more random, spontaneous, and shape-shifting. These qualities can be very good in the appropriate times, but honestly there's no flow here. Again, the lack of transitions can be hard.
Porceline Heart seemed amazing at first, but the transitions are pretty bad. I like the The Grand Conjuration rehash w/tritone vocals, but it doesn't fit well with the rest of the song. Again, not getting a clear sense of emotion. Each part of the song is excellent in its own reguard...but that's also the song's downfall. It's little more than a collection of seperate parts slapped together.
Hex Omega is probably my second favorite song. Uses some decent transitions (thank God); like the way the first two verses slowly build into that monsterous chorus riff with the keys (then the lead guitar solo over the top). Good stuff. Makes you wonder, though, why the rest of the album seems so scattered. My biggest gripe with the song is the outro riff. It's so...slow and ugly. Hardly epic, and quite frankly I feel it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I thought Isolation Years was a perfect way to end Ghost Reveries. It was so touching. Not saying that it needed to ended on a soft note, but at least something MEMORABLE. Not that it's a bad riff but again, doesn't make sense in its placement at the very end. Also, the organ usage was very over-hyped. Wow, one long, drawn-out chord. I was hoping to hear some evil, doomy riff that could truly destroy a church organ. A bit disappointing.
I like this album, but there's no coherency. Each song feels like a single, its own entity, but there's no musical journey, no movements, no cohesion. Ghost Reveries was a traditional Opethian album in the fact that all the songs flowed into one another. Watershed is much more like Damnation; a collection of unrelated songs. Which, again, is not necessarily a bad thing but I just feel very unsatisfied.
Still Heir f**king Apparent!!! HOW SICK IS THAT OUTRO RIFF!!! Sounds like something Mikael borrowed from a MAYH-era outtake. Probably the best heavy song they've ever written.
