Swedish Opeth was founded in 1990 as a style-retaining death metal band. Under the inspired leadership of singer, guitarist and composer Mikael Åkerfeldt, however, around their fifth album Blackwater Park (2001) more and more influences from symphonic rock began to appear. Progressive Death Metal has become the denominator of this style, where prog and metal balance each other better with every
… new album. Watershed is the group's ninth album on which they balance somewhere between Slayer and King Crimson. It is striking how Opeth, in seven epic pieces, mainly works with dynamics and brutally and unexpectedly cuts dreamy, seemingly endless passages with ferocious and often complex metal pieces. Also Åkerfeldt transforms from a sensitive singer into a relentless screaming with a deep grunt. Fortunately, they lack the theatrical, fantasy obsessions that often make many of their colleagues so good and unbelievable. Opeth lets the music speak, in an overwhelming way. This fine edition of Opeth's album Watershed comes with an extra DVD. On that DVD we see how the band worked on the album. In addition, space has been reserved for three bonus tracks. (MR)more
