Gonna give it a 4. It is a low 4 however. 3.5 is too low and 4 is a little high but I'll settle with 4. The initial hard on would have me rating it at least 4 maybe a 4.5 but now that the dust has settled it's a low 4. I do quite like all the songs minus PH. Overall it is a obviously a good album. But it is a shadow of their once invincible selves. IMO each album after BWP is slightly worse than the previous and while IMO WS is better than GR it isn't by much.
The last two albums have had a significant thorn in their sides names TGC and PH stopping them from being anywhere close to the trilogy of ridiculousness that is mayh, sl and bwp. For a 9th album it is impressive as it is by no means awful. I mean PH being the weakest track imo isn't shit it just pales in comparison to the rest of the songs let alone any song before GR. Production and his vocal especially were a highlight and the new members seemed to have slot in well. But iyam the songwriting isn't close to the otherworldly level they reached at their peak.
Tbh Opeth were for me invincible to all other metal bands for quite some time and GR made them very vulnerable to being taken over the top spot in metal that they had held for so long. But WS unfortunately didn't stop them from being taken over. What goes up must come down, I'm just glad it didn't come crashing down and they are going out gracefully. Still arguably my favorite metal band and a top 5 favorite band of all time for me. They have made numerous classic albums which I will always love. They will always be arguably the most influential band for me; certainly of my adult life.
But Watershed however is not a classic album imo, but a more than acceptable album at this stage of a bands life and a good enough album that even after 15 years they are still one of the best. It's replay level is still pretty big as Lotus, Burden and Hessian are up to the standards with some of the previous works imo. But I can't see myself listening to PH very often at all. Derelict Herds is good, nothing incredible however I don't mind the covers. I especially liked Den ständiga resan. So, in conclusion I am pleased with it, but the fanboy in me wanted another masterpiece and their top spot held, but alas they had their peak and what a peak it was. Most bands won't make one album at the level of Still Life for example, I'm happy we have numerous and they are aging without everything turning to shit. All this being said WS does have moments of genius, but the albums in their peak were crammed full of genius. They set such a high standard which has barely been met by many albums let alone bands. Though I have to say 08 is the first year where Opeth were significantly beaten in a year by another Metal band. Ala Esoteric. GR didn't get the best of 05 but it wasn't heavily beaten. But this is TMV we are talking about.