Forquite a while now, there haven't been many bands as surrounded by controversyand heated arguments as Opeth. Headlines read: Brilliant innovators ormonotonous bores? Which album was their finest hour? Where did they jump theshark? Which lineup kicked your ass the hardest? The debate rages on, and thatisn't about to change for Watershed.

There wasalready a buzz when the album was underway, mostly thanks to the departure oftwo longtime members who had formed a pretty integral part of the band duringits most distinctive period (Still Life to Ghost Reveries, thatis). Peter Lindgren parted ways, apparently after a long period ofdissatisfaction with his creative contribution to the band and Martin Lopezopted out due to health reasons. When you take a band this big and replacenearly half the lineup, you're obviously creating more than a few ripples. Theyhad already rocked the boat with Ghost Reveries, churning out a moreconcise, catchy style than before, so the clueless crowd had no idea what toexpect this time around.

Thatfeeling of uncertainty is maintained with the album opener Coil, anuncharacteristically serene start to an Opeth album, featuring plenty oflush arpeggiated acoustic guitar patterns and a folksy vocal duet between MikaelAkerfeldt and Nathalie Lorichs. You could be forgiven for wonderingwhether they were making a follow up to Damnation but then you noticethe bubbling malevolence in the background as the song trails off and suddenly,Heir Apparent bludgeons its way into your head like a ton of bricks.Monstrous doomy riffs walk the earth and then explode into action, slashing andpummelling with some of that familiar 'love it or hate it' stop-start attackand a couple of characteristic short acoustic breaks. Mike's distinctive roarpenetrates the mix effortlessly, and your fears are allayed – they haven't lostit at all. 

In fact, MartinAxenrot's full-throttle mauling of the skins is a noticeable contrast fromLopez's almost jazzy style, but they suit the newfound aggression that the bandhas embraced. And make no mistake, the guy is a versatile beast. As for theother new guy, Fredrik Akesson – he's no slouch either, brandishing acool solo style where he slickly switches between muted picking and fluidlegato runs. Makes a great complement for Mike's smooth jazz leads.

TheLotus Eaterskicks up the versatility a notch, blast beating over clean harmonised vocals(sounds like something only bands like Carnival in Coal could pull off, but it works), flaunting some of that typical Opeth swagger,hopping back and forth between dissonance and melody, and throwing a curve ballwith some crazy organ groove-jamming that kicks you back over 3 decades or so.In case you were wondering whether the oldschool prog rock angle was a one-offthing, the melancholy Burden comes on and puts all doubts to rest,playing like one of the tail-enders from the King Crimson debut. Infact, when he starts crooning the “Aaahhh..” refrain near the 4 minutebreak, you could practically fool yourself into thinking you were listening to Inthe Court of the Crimson King. As the soulful guitar leads trade off withsome cool keyboard noodling and mellotron backing, it's hard not to think thatall is well, even as things spiral down to detuned cacophony at the end. couldpull off, but it works), flaunting some of that typical

We'rethen handed some juxtaposition treatment with Porcelain Heart,alternating between heavy doom and eerie acoustic parts. There's even theX-files theme thrown into the mix around the middle. It's Spooky Mulder! Orjust plain spooky, maybe. That sets up the scene for Hessian Peel, whichclocks in at 11 and a half minutes, effectively claiming the title as leviathanof the album. This song is a perfect condensation of the album's essence,starting off with gentle acoustic tinkering which eventually tapers off into aseries of prog passages that start picking up in intensity and then mushroomcloud into full fledged extreme metal around the halfway mark before kicking insome more proggy groove to mix it up. They manage to capture and meld thegloomy essence of doom with the whimsical nature of prog pretty admirably in anutshell. That leaves Hex Omega on curtain call duty, and it takes its sweettime closing. Not that it's much of a complaint – after experiencing theever-mutating Hessian Peel, it's almost comforting to hear this oneuncoil at its own pace.

No twoways about it, this is a significantly different Opeth, and not in a badway. For starters, out of the 7 songs here, Mike uses growled vocals only on 3,and out of these, Heir Apparent is the only one where they dominate theplaytime. He seems to have recognised that not all heavy parts need harshvocals to complement them and is obviously experimenting with differentarrangements. Regardless of what critics say, Opeth don't appear to havebeen victims of trendhopping – the shock acoustic treatment with Damnationand now the embracing of 70s prog stand as evidence to this. Being the creativeforce behind the band, Mike obviously has some ideas about where he wants totake the band from here and so it's quite possible that the album title isn'tan empty promise, after all. There will still be naysayers, but this efforthits all the right points for those who've got love for doom and prog alike.What with the new Cynic and Communic also kicking ass, it'sturning out to be another great year for progressive metal.

Year ofrelease: 2008

Label:Roadrunner