Rate Watershed on 5

[ramses]

I give it a 4 out of 5. Great album. I've been a fan since '96, and they make a concious effort (mostly for themselves, which should be first) to not tread the exact same path as the album before. Since MAYH, I know I'll be suprised. Geez, they replaced 2 longtime members, come on! It's going to have a different feel atmospherically/musically. I'm sure there's many besides me, that are curious to how the next Opeth album will be, with Fredrick and Martin having an album under their belt.

 

[Noel]

-porcelain heart (jokes)

I like that song but

 

[SerenityNow!]

4.5 Best Opeth album.
Very ballsy. Maybe a little too ballsy. The only problems are (imo) transitions like Coil into HA, the ending of Burden/Lotus Eater, and the lyrics (the ones I can hear) do nothing for me.

See, I think the transition from Coil to HA is absolutely brilliant! That's one of the high points, amazing!!

 

[philno]

gave it a 3.5 fyi

 

[Stillness7]

3.5
A 3.7 really... great and everything but lacking something. I like the different feel of Watershed, and the production.

 

[Prog_Please]

I give it a 4. Although I think the experimentation and new direction of the album was needed, overall I really enjoyed GR BWP and SL much better. Contrasting to what someone posted earlier, I really enjoyed the transition between Coil and Heir Apparent. You're listening to this cool introductory song and then all of a sudden you are bombarded by the heaviest song on the album (I played the album once for my roommate and while listening to Coil she remarked "This isn't so bad. Its actually kinda nice." Then all of a sudden Heir Apparent started and her panties almost flew off).

Also, maybe its just me since I haven't seen anyone else mention it yet, but on my bonus DVD the track "Coil" actually has the first part of "Heir Apparent" included in it. Maybe this is what the previous poster meant by "a rough transition"?

Anyways, I still enjoy the album and it gets a solid 4.

 

[chasepw133]

I gave it a 4.5,
the album seems to lack the same very-intense seriousness (haha) that I feel in all the other albums, but great nontheless.

 

[Kirkfjell]

3.

Some of the songs, are really fucking awesome. Those are Heir Apparent, The Lotus Eater and Hessian Peel. Coil is alright. Burden, Porcelain Heart and Hex Omega are all tracks far below the standard set on previous albums, the way I see it. As a whole, I think Watershed is Opeth's least good album, but that doesn't stop it from having its brilliant moments.

 

[Vuashke]

why are burden and hex omega far below the standard set?

 

[To rid you disease]

To me it's like everytime I been listening to the entire album in a row I feel like... there's something missing, like a common factor. Then I try to break it down into songs and see what's wrong with it and all I find is a bunch of really, really good songs! There are to me extremely few things to complain about song-wise, possibly the lyrics here and there but that would be it. I guess Watershed is a bit schizophrenic and the only thing connecting the songs would be the über-progressiveness

 

[Iki-ilkkuja]

Not the perfect Opeth album, but it's getting better by the day.

 

[Mr Samsara]

Since the band is progressing into a new direction, it sounds like Mike did his job well.

 

[Jackehh]

I think 4 is a justified rating: The album does indeed lack the "foresty, enigmatic" atmosphere that all albums had. I mean;

GR Had this sort of eastern, occult theme about it (big thanks to per on this one)

Deliverance was like black and white, so simple but so raw yet in some twisted way "subtle" and its BALLLLLLS of FUCKIN' steel about the album as well, heh.

Damnation is beautiful, dark and haunting.

Rest of hte albums are obvious

 

[Annihilat0r]

4.5 "Fucking awesome"

 

[Sickman]

I went with 3/5. I've spent more than enough time with this album, but it just never grew on me. Whenever I start to get into, a song or part of a song just takes me right out. And there's just no atmosphere to this album. All their other albums have a definite atmosphere (usually cold and dark), but I don't feel anything with this one.

I love Opeth and I'll be seeing them tonight in Worcester, but I don't like the new album.

 

[woodsmoke]

4.5

(5 if Porcelain heart is replaced by Derelict Herds)

Ditto.

 

[ramses]

See, I think the transition from Coil to HA is absolutely brilliant! That's one of the high points, amazing!!

Agreed! I just think of the two as one song. Though it may not be declared a "concept" album, all the songs do link together thematically.

 

[Annihilat0r]

Lets calculate the average like 1x0 + 4x2.5 + ... divided by total number of voters

Doing it this way, the average is 4.067.

 

[ramses]

I went with 3/5. I've spent more than enough time with this album, but it just never grew on me. Whenever I start to get into, a song or part of a song just takes me right out. And there's just no atmosphere to this album. All their other albums have a definite atmosphere (usually cold and dark), but I don't feel anything with this one.

I love Opeth and I'll be seeing them tonight in Worcester, but I don't like the new album.

That's the thing with Watershed....it does have an atmosphere, it's just that it's not the type that you're used to. Watershed's atmosphere is clausterphobic, suffocating, it has a warm organic-ness to it, and I think it's because of the lyrical themes in all the songs. All the other album's atmospheric elements lean more towards the ethereal, grey, and (in most cases) cold despair. The son in Watershed throughout the album is mentally overwraught with confusion, anger, guilt, and the dire need to get away from the suffocating oppression of his selfish father, and very damaged, needfull mother. It seems to me, that the son never gets a rest from the constant tug of things that weren't his doing or responsibility. Yet, he feels responsible in a way. Very suffocating, all the bad things he witnessed in that ominous looking house. Then, having to return after his mother's death, and grudgingly reconcile with his lying father. He just can't get away from the encompassing, negative arua of his past.

 

[Alteredmindeath]

3.5

its a short record, some less complicated stuff going on but overall still quite good.