The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
There's no shame in being the weakest song on Watershed. It's an awesome record.
OPETH SURVIVOR 2016: Results -> The sun sets forever over Blackwater Park!
- Thread starter Night Prowler
- Start date
There's no shame in being the weakest song on Watershed. It's an awesome record.
Coil
Cool intro song. Opeth should use more female vocals, there are lots of moments in the discography where I thought they could've fit some.
Hair Appointment
This is a good song, but it has the same problem as two other songs on the album: harsh vocal lines are terribly written and forced af. He's belting them out too fast and in a monotone way compared to previous albums. Musically I don't have a problem with the song whatsoever. Riff beneath the "Invisible cat!" line is quite badass. Calm moments between brutality are great and the outro solo is incredible and doesn't sound like anything they did before.
The Lotus Eater
When I saw Opeth in concert, Mikael introduced this song as their most complicated song to play live (when he said that I thought they're gonna play Harlequin Forest
). Like Hair Appointment it also has horrible growling lines. Should've just ditched them from this album altogether and I wouldn't have minded. It's obvious he wasn't into using them anymore. Funk section is another sign of the death of Opeth as we know... it's really cringey. The rest of the song doesn't appeal to me too much. Too upbeat and happy. Very overrated song.
Burden
Great song musically but would've liked a more restrained vocal approach from Mikael. More vocal layers and reverberation like on some older songs. Solo section is fucking awesome though. Harmony at 5:11 is incredible.
Porcelain Heart
Incredible song and y'all are bonkers for voting for it. Apart from Axe going all Finally Free between 2:13 and 2:29, this song is perfect. Obviously a sequel to A Fair Judgement but still awesome. Awesome riffs. Awesome atmosphere. Awesome vocals. Awesome everything. Most undeserved elimination in this game, made even worse by the fact that everyone but me voted for it. Obviously that only means one thing: y'all are crazy.
Hessian Peel
First part of the song is very cool. It's a slow burn without payoff though, since at 5:44 the song morphs into forced forgettable death metal again. Shame because the first part of the song could've made this song the best on the album if they built on it instead of basically merging it with the unrelated 2nd part.
Hex Omega
This song is a grower for me. It doesn't have any truly amazing parts but it's consistently solid and thankfully doesn't try to force death metal at all. Cool song but definitely shouldn't be the album closer. Feels like the true closing song is missing.
Derelict Herds
Meh bonus.
Overall this album is much worse than I remembered. I think it just slipped below Pale Communion in my ratings.
Voting for Godhead's Lament, Ghost Of Perdition, The Baying Of The Hounds, Coil, Heir Apparent, The Lotus Eater, Hessian Peel and Derelict Herds.
Cool intro song. Opeth should use more female vocals, there are lots of moments in the discography where I thought they could've fit some.
Hair Appointment
This is a good song, but it has the same problem as two other songs on the album: harsh vocal lines are terribly written and forced af. He's belting them out too fast and in a monotone way compared to previous albums. Musically I don't have a problem with the song whatsoever. Riff beneath the "Invisible cat!" line is quite badass. Calm moments between brutality are great and the outro solo is incredible and doesn't sound like anything they did before.
The Lotus Eater
When I saw Opeth in concert, Mikael introduced this song as their most complicated song to play live (when he said that I thought they're gonna play Harlequin Forest
). Like Hair Appointment it also has horrible growling lines. Should've just ditched them from this album altogether and I wouldn't have minded. It's obvious he wasn't into using them anymore. Funk section is another sign of the death of Opeth as we know... it's really cringey. The rest of the song doesn't appeal to me too much. Too upbeat and happy. Very overrated song.Burden
Great song musically but would've liked a more restrained vocal approach from Mikael. More vocal layers and reverberation like on some older songs. Solo section is fucking awesome though. Harmony at 5:11 is incredible.
Porcelain Heart
Incredible song and y'all are bonkers for voting for it. Apart from Axe going all Finally Free between 2:13 and 2:29, this song is perfect. Obviously a sequel to A Fair Judgement but still awesome. Awesome riffs. Awesome atmosphere. Awesome vocals. Awesome everything. Most undeserved elimination in this game, made even worse by the fact that everyone but me voted for it. Obviously that only means one thing: y'all are crazy.
Hessian Peel
First part of the song is very cool. It's a slow burn without payoff though, since at 5:44 the song morphs into forced forgettable death metal again. Shame because the first part of the song could've made this song the best on the album if they built on it instead of basically merging it with the unrelated 2nd part.
Hex Omega
This song is a grower for me. It doesn't have any truly amazing parts but it's consistently solid and thankfully doesn't try to force death metal at all. Cool song but definitely shouldn't be the album closer. Feels like the true closing song is missing.
Derelict Herds
Meh bonus.
Overall this album is much worse than I remembered. I think it just slipped below Pale Communion in my ratings.
Voting for Godhead's Lament, Ghost Of Perdition, The Baying Of The Hounds, Coil, Heir Apparent, The Lotus Eater, Hessian Peel and Derelict Herds.
I was going to mention this. Still Life has the reputation of being the most complex Opeth album, and that might still be true in terms of having more guitar parts than guitarists to play them, but I tried playing several Watershed songs on guitar last night and they were technically more difficult than anything on Still Life. Lots of complex riffs and the songs switch gears a ton. Harder fingerpicking sections too.
Eliminated after Round 11:
Porcelain Heart - 6 votes
Derelict Herds - 6 votes
Hessian Peel - 4 votes
Hex Omega - 4 votes
Heritage joins the game!
There were 12 songs left but since I won't be around to update for a week or so, I felt you guys could use the time to brush up on Heritage
Pyre and Face In The Snow are bonuses and The Throat Of Winter is a single that was released before Heritage, but fits in musically with the said album, hence it's part of it in this game.
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
This is insane. Didn't Face of Melinda have 4 votes, which was more than the other 3 songs from Still Life? Why didn't it get eliminated?
Even though you have an undying love for Porcelain Heart, I agree that it should not have been eliminated this early. It's a solid song.
Anyway, my votes:
Melinda (great 2nd half can't save the boring 1st part)
Hounds (so overrated compared to the other 3 remaining tunes)
Burden (one of the most overrated Opeth songs and the weakest on this album by far)
Heritage
I Feel the Dark (too random at times)
Slither (the outro is the only good part)
Famine (the heavy part and flute are great but the rest is meh)
Marrow (instrumentals aren't Opeth's strong suit)
Throat
Melinda had 3 votes.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Final thoughts on Watershed:
Coil – This song is a masterpiece of simple, catchy songwriting and completely un-Opeth in delivery. I love it. Mikael sounds fantastic, Natalie sounds fantastic. It’s a very odd opener, but it works in every way. Beautiful lyrics and guitars layered with keyboards and great melodies – sign me up. It sounds like a very personal song for Mikael, which makes it even more interesting that he implements the use of a guest vocalist. Mendez’s bass work is great. I also like that the opening song acts as a bridge between the old band members and the new, considering there is no lead guitar or drums on this. A stunning number. 10/10
Heir Apparent – Coil is even better when contrasted with this juggernaut. The one-two punch of this album is bizarre, but goddamn does it work. The band from hell roars out of the gate before dropping down into an intensely creepy piano bit that makes everything even heavier by way of simplicity. The riffs and vocals during the verse are straight up terrifying. I love the second part of the verse, “Clean the slate,” where it sounds as though Mikael is ripping his throat out. The riff at 2:30 and the following introduction to Fredrik’s insane soloing is absolute perfection. One of the best moments in all of Opeth. Once we hit the acoustics and the bizarre keyboard/orchestra flourish that sound like a demented meadow (the fields of sorrow, perhaps), I know we’re in for it…and sure enough we get it. The next two verses are pure brutality. When the music breaks into a jazzy acoustic jam with ghoul guitar layers at 4:40, it seems like we might get a reprieve for awhile. But alas, we are once again pummeled in the face. I honestly think this might be Opeth’s most brutal death metal song. It’s crushing from start to finish while still having beautiful Opethian acoustics and jazzy bits. Shit literally hits the fan at 7:05 and then we get that sweet outro riff, which happens to be the most melodic part in the whole song. I agree with @Mosh that is clearly Opeth’s swan song to death metal. There might be growling on later songs on the album, but this is a band saying goodbye to their old ways. No more. 10/10
The Lotus Eater – I don’t know what to say about this song. It’s absolute insanity. It doesn’t make sense. It is at times brilliant and at times infuriating. I love it, but I don’t. It’s like taking a carnival ride at high speed through Opeth’s entire career, but out of order and while tripping on cocaine. The blast beats and mellow vocals over them make no sense, but it somehow works because Mikael is awesome. I love the break at :55 and the subsequent vocals, it’s incredibly catchy stuff. “Changing and waiting and seeking the truth of it alllllllll…” is just fantastic. Mikael’s cleans sound stellar on this track, way better than his growls. The insane keyboard break at 2:15 is…insane. Once we hit the halfway point and fumble around through some plinky guitar stuff and keyboard layers it seems like the song might calm down, but of course it does not. That jazzy little solo at 5:30 is wonderful and then things pick back up and insanity resumes, albeit quieter than before. We come to hear the sounds that Mikael will embrace on all of their future records before crunching back into a more classic Opethian refrain. The ending is stupid and weird and I don’t like it, but it is experimental and it provides a creepy, backmasked intro to Burden…so, there’s that. 9/10
Burden – This song is 100% necessary after TLE. It’s simple, beautiful, touching, bluesy, catchy, and expertly performed. I love every second of it. The chorus part with the whole band building up and smashing back down is just masterful. Mikael’s vocals have never been better or more earnest. Honestly, this is probably one of my top 10, at least top 15, Opeth songs. The production here is out of this world, especially on the vocals – perfect layers, perfect panning. The guitar solos are gorgeous, as is the acoustic outro. The detuning is silly, but I’ll allow it. 10/10
Porcelain Heart – Opens brilliantly with a sludgy, proggy riff that would not be out of place on a latter-day Sabbath (or Heaven and Hell) record. The verses are melodic and interesting as they pair back and forth with the heavy doom riff and Axe’s drum fills are pure madness that contrast the stark simplicity and melancholy of the verses rather well. The transitions are less clean here, especially the break at 4:30 that drops into what sounds like an improvised guitar solo. It’s bizarre. The falsetto vocal section is so eerie, like a dark minstrel tune (complete with the odd keyboard layer). However, this section simply ends and then we fade back into the main part of the song, which sounds rather scatterbrained. It’s a solid song, but it lacks staying power and some cohesion. I was wrong, however, about this being the weakest song on the album. 8/10
Hessian Peel – Beautiful guitar work opens this tune and I love it. Everything up until the backmasked section is wonderful, but that part feels tacked on and oddly transitioned. The symphonic parts that follow are neat, but I’m not sold on the vocal melodies during the next part. I like the bluesy quality but it just doesn’t seem to fit very well. The heavy riff at 4:20 is awesome, though, even if it does end too soon for another ooh-organ minstrel section, followed by a terrible transition into a piano part. The piano part is good, just makes zero sense. Almost as little sense as the bass and keyboard drone that intros the guttural fury. At least we are gifted with the swinging, amazing riff at 6:30 and the one that immediately follows it. Best part of the whole song for sure. The next clean vocal section is nice, especially bookended with the acoustic version of that sweet riff from before. The random insanity of the “ah, ah, ah” part is silly. Once again, the ending to this is a stupid Pro-Tools experiment and rather annoying. The good parts of this song outweigh the bad, but it’s ludicrously disjointed and foreshadows the songwriting style we’re about to experience on Heritage. My least favorite track here. 7/10
Hex Omega – Heavy, creepy, and very effecting. I don’t love the melodies, but Mikael pulls it off very well. The dynamics are great on this song. We get some spidery riffs, some more Sabbathy doom riffs, and nice guitar fills by Fredrik. It’s a very odd closing number (just as Coil is an odd opening number), but I think it brings the album to a nice coda. Not my favorite, but a solid effort. It certainly paves the way for Heritage while putting a bow on the heaviness of the previous years with that outro, which serves as funeral dirge for death metal Opeth. A church organ sounds the final death knell and we move on to a different era for the band. 7/10
“Watershed” is defined as an event or period marking a turning point in a course of action or state of affairs. That is what this album is: a complete turning point for the band. The old remains, the new enters, they coalesce and become one, only to split apart later. Even the subject matter and track order feels like it could be a concept album about Mikael’s decreasing interest in the death metal side of his songwriting:
Coil introduces a simple, pretty melody that simply cannot escape from the raw brutality expected of him in Heir Apparent. Mikael writes the most brutal song of his career as a last goodbye, but the death metal still lingers throughout Lotus Eater even though the sonic soundscape has changed. Prog is the name of the game here, but it literally battles the more metal aspects of his career until the bitter end. Burden describes Mikael’s feelings on the weight he carries, the weight of being metal for the fans, but how he is ready to let it go. Porcelain Heart describes the shame he feels for promising something to everyone but ultimately making the decision to make himself happy rather than others (“I cling to my past like childish dreams”). He promises to stay but instead goes far away, with “icy roads” beneath his feet he cannot escape the shame, pondering on those who might view him as a false idol. Themes of innocence and death ring throughout Hessian Peel as Mikael battles with childish expectations and the spectres of his past (which he feels he can’t escape) that try to “lock his reasons why” he wants to “follow the siren” in his head. On Hex Omega, Mikael says goodbye to the “two lives” who have gone from Opeth and looks towards the future, keeping “demons inside.” There is space here for growth.
Just as Ghost Reveries is Opeth at the pinnacle of their sonic experiments with atmosphere, mood, and sonic cohesion, Watershed is Opeth at their most diverse and experimental, using every aspect of their sound (from death metal to prog to jazz) to create something truly unique in the discography. It’s not my favorite, but it is the most unique and interesting Opeth record.
Album rating – 8.7
Coil – This song is a masterpiece of simple, catchy songwriting and completely un-Opeth in delivery. I love it. Mikael sounds fantastic, Natalie sounds fantastic. It’s a very odd opener, but it works in every way. Beautiful lyrics and guitars layered with keyboards and great melodies – sign me up. It sounds like a very personal song for Mikael, which makes it even more interesting that he implements the use of a guest vocalist. Mendez’s bass work is great. I also like that the opening song acts as a bridge between the old band members and the new, considering there is no lead guitar or drums on this. A stunning number. 10/10
Heir Apparent – Coil is even better when contrasted with this juggernaut. The one-two punch of this album is bizarre, but goddamn does it work. The band from hell roars out of the gate before dropping down into an intensely creepy piano bit that makes everything even heavier by way of simplicity. The riffs and vocals during the verse are straight up terrifying. I love the second part of the verse, “Clean the slate,” where it sounds as though Mikael is ripping his throat out. The riff at 2:30 and the following introduction to Fredrik’s insane soloing is absolute perfection. One of the best moments in all of Opeth. Once we hit the acoustics and the bizarre keyboard/orchestra flourish that sound like a demented meadow (the fields of sorrow, perhaps), I know we’re in for it…and sure enough we get it. The next two verses are pure brutality. When the music breaks into a jazzy acoustic jam with ghoul guitar layers at 4:40, it seems like we might get a reprieve for awhile. But alas, we are once again pummeled in the face. I honestly think this might be Opeth’s most brutal death metal song. It’s crushing from start to finish while still having beautiful Opethian acoustics and jazzy bits. Shit literally hits the fan at 7:05 and then we get that sweet outro riff, which happens to be the most melodic part in the whole song. I agree with @Mosh that is clearly Opeth’s swan song to death metal. There might be growling on later songs on the album, but this is a band saying goodbye to their old ways. No more. 10/10
The Lotus Eater – I don’t know what to say about this song. It’s absolute insanity. It doesn’t make sense. It is at times brilliant and at times infuriating. I love it, but I don’t. It’s like taking a carnival ride at high speed through Opeth’s entire career, but out of order and while tripping on cocaine. The blast beats and mellow vocals over them make no sense, but it somehow works because Mikael is awesome. I love the break at :55 and the subsequent vocals, it’s incredibly catchy stuff. “Changing and waiting and seeking the truth of it alllllllll…” is just fantastic. Mikael’s cleans sound stellar on this track, way better than his growls. The insane keyboard break at 2:15 is…insane. Once we hit the halfway point and fumble around through some plinky guitar stuff and keyboard layers it seems like the song might calm down, but of course it does not. That jazzy little solo at 5:30 is wonderful and then things pick back up and insanity resumes, albeit quieter than before. We come to hear the sounds that Mikael will embrace on all of their future records before crunching back into a more classic Opethian refrain. The ending is stupid and weird and I don’t like it, but it is experimental and it provides a creepy, backmasked intro to Burden…so, there’s that. 9/10
Burden – This song is 100% necessary after TLE. It’s simple, beautiful, touching, bluesy, catchy, and expertly performed. I love every second of it. The chorus part with the whole band building up and smashing back down is just masterful. Mikael’s vocals have never been better or more earnest. Honestly, this is probably one of my top 10, at least top 15, Opeth songs. The production here is out of this world, especially on the vocals – perfect layers, perfect panning. The guitar solos are gorgeous, as is the acoustic outro. The detuning is silly, but I’ll allow it. 10/10
Porcelain Heart – Opens brilliantly with a sludgy, proggy riff that would not be out of place on a latter-day Sabbath (or Heaven and Hell) record. The verses are melodic and interesting as they pair back and forth with the heavy doom riff and Axe’s drum fills are pure madness that contrast the stark simplicity and melancholy of the verses rather well. The transitions are less clean here, especially the break at 4:30 that drops into what sounds like an improvised guitar solo. It’s bizarre. The falsetto vocal section is so eerie, like a dark minstrel tune (complete with the odd keyboard layer). However, this section simply ends and then we fade back into the main part of the song, which sounds rather scatterbrained. It’s a solid song, but it lacks staying power and some cohesion. I was wrong, however, about this being the weakest song on the album. 8/10
Hessian Peel – Beautiful guitar work opens this tune and I love it. Everything up until the backmasked section is wonderful, but that part feels tacked on and oddly transitioned. The symphonic parts that follow are neat, but I’m not sold on the vocal melodies during the next part. I like the bluesy quality but it just doesn’t seem to fit very well. The heavy riff at 4:20 is awesome, though, even if it does end too soon for another ooh-organ minstrel section, followed by a terrible transition into a piano part. The piano part is good, just makes zero sense. Almost as little sense as the bass and keyboard drone that intros the guttural fury. At least we are gifted with the swinging, amazing riff at 6:30 and the one that immediately follows it. Best part of the whole song for sure. The next clean vocal section is nice, especially bookended with the acoustic version of that sweet riff from before. The random insanity of the “ah, ah, ah” part is silly. Once again, the ending to this is a stupid Pro-Tools experiment and rather annoying. The good parts of this song outweigh the bad, but it’s ludicrously disjointed and foreshadows the songwriting style we’re about to experience on Heritage. My least favorite track here. 7/10
Hex Omega – Heavy, creepy, and very effecting. I don’t love the melodies, but Mikael pulls it off very well. The dynamics are great on this song. We get some spidery riffs, some more Sabbathy doom riffs, and nice guitar fills by Fredrik. It’s a very odd closing number (just as Coil is an odd opening number), but I think it brings the album to a nice coda. Not my favorite, but a solid effort. It certainly paves the way for Heritage while putting a bow on the heaviness of the previous years with that outro, which serves as funeral dirge for death metal Opeth. A church organ sounds the final death knell and we move on to a different era for the band. 7/10
“Watershed” is defined as an event or period marking a turning point in a course of action or state of affairs. That is what this album is: a complete turning point for the band. The old remains, the new enters, they coalesce and become one, only to split apart later. Even the subject matter and track order feels like it could be a concept album about Mikael’s decreasing interest in the death metal side of his songwriting:
Coil introduces a simple, pretty melody that simply cannot escape from the raw brutality expected of him in Heir Apparent. Mikael writes the most brutal song of his career as a last goodbye, but the death metal still lingers throughout Lotus Eater even though the sonic soundscape has changed. Prog is the name of the game here, but it literally battles the more metal aspects of his career until the bitter end. Burden describes Mikael’s feelings on the weight he carries, the weight of being metal for the fans, but how he is ready to let it go. Porcelain Heart describes the shame he feels for promising something to everyone but ultimately making the decision to make himself happy rather than others (“I cling to my past like childish dreams”). He promises to stay but instead goes far away, with “icy roads” beneath his feet he cannot escape the shame, pondering on those who might view him as a false idol. Themes of innocence and death ring throughout Hessian Peel as Mikael battles with childish expectations and the spectres of his past (which he feels he can’t escape) that try to “lock his reasons why” he wants to “follow the siren” in his head. On Hex Omega, Mikael says goodbye to the “two lives” who have gone from Opeth and looks towards the future, keeping “demons inside.” There is space here for growth.
Just as Ghost Reveries is Opeth at the pinnacle of their sonic experiments with atmosphere, mood, and sonic cohesion, Watershed is Opeth at their most diverse and experimental, using every aspect of their sound (from death metal to prog to jazz) to create something truly unique in the discography. It’s not my favorite, but it is the most unique and interesting Opeth record.
Album rating – 8.7
I've been thinking about this more lately, especially after reading @Night Prowler's disdain for the growls on this album. I think it would've been pretty bold for them to only have growls on Heir Apparent. Lotus Eater and Hessian Peel growl sections aren't very good and don't really add much to the songs. Maybe would've also left the door open for more Metal type songs on future albums since they'd already proven that they can do Metal without growls.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I agree. I think the growls on Heir Apparent are fantastic, but the other two certainly leave something to be desired. I wish they had gone that route so that they didn't automatically associate metal with growling.
@Night Prowler Won't be getting to this until this weekend probably. Can the poll be extended?
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I was gonna wait until I could relisten to this 3-4 times before voting, but there's no point. I'm still going to give it a fair shake and listen at least twice more in-depthly, but it's too easy for now. I'm voting for:
- every Heritage song except Devil's Orchard, Slither, and Lines in My Hand because these are the only actual songs on the album. The rest are glued-together ideas without form or reason. I debated sparing the title track and Marrow because they are okay instrumentals, but ultimately they won't survive so it's wasted.
- Throat of Winter
Pyre and (especially) Face in the Snow are better than 70% of Heritage. It might actually be a halfway decent album if the rest of it was more like those (aka prog-rock redux of Damnation).
- every Heritage song except Devil's Orchard, Slither, and Lines in My Hand because these are the only actual songs on the album. The rest are glued-together ideas without form or reason. I debated sparing the title track and Marrow because they are okay instrumentals, but ultimately they won't survive so it's wasted.
- Throat of Winter
Pyre and (especially) Face in the Snow are better than 70% of Heritage. It might actually be a halfway decent album if the rest of it was more like those (aka prog-rock redux of Damnation).
Yeah, it shall be extended.
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
How does Nepenthe fit that description? It's straight up jazz that actually has a structure.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Subsonic intro, 3 boring minutes, followed by random keyboard transition, cool riff for 15 seconds, more subsonic jazz playing...I'm asleep...oh, let's break the speakers with that cool riff and an insane guitar solo again. This song is more a victim of mixing than of creation. It's interesting, but the mixing is atrocious. I shouldn't have to adjust the volume mid-song just to hear what the hell is happening.
Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
I don't disagree with the poor choice of mixing (Opeth is NOT road music), but having heard the track live I was completely blown away with how tight and groovy it was.