WATERSHED

A perfect blend from the death metal of Still Life, Blackwater Park, and My Arms, Your Hearse, the monolithic riffage of Deliverance and Ghost Reveries, and the prog/classicism of Damnation. The intro (Coil) is pure magic with Nathalie Lorichs angelical voice singing the precious second verse and leaving me without breath in my first listening. After that, a pure death metal exercise a la Blackwater Park in Heir Apparent with Akerfeldt growling better than ever. I don't really like classic death metal, but this band challenges me every album more and more. In The Lotus Eater they try to take further than ever the progressive metal territories with King Crimson modern touch. This is the more experimental song. Burden it's absolutely 70's prog-rock with and incredible acoustic guitar work (there's a funny surprise at the end...). It could be perfectly a song written and played by Genesis or Pink Floyd in their golden era. Porcelain Heart it's a clever mix between killer riffings, epic chorus and acoustic and very very dark verses. Hessian Peel is a little masterpiece, a lesson to undersand what Opeth is at this time. The end, Hex Omega, is a new journey throught the dark in the Opeth reign. Not a song for a David Letterman show... really.