I will start this review by addressing the 5.1 mix of the album.I played through the entire album using the 2 channel CD first 3 times on a mid to high end 2 channel setup.I then switched to the DVD including the 5.1 mix. My system is properly calibrated. DTS and Dolby sounded nearly identical. For whatever reason the DTS mix sounded brighter less bass. That may be placebo.The mix makes very good use of using surrounds for keyboard synths and vocals along with mixing guitar segments to them. The vocals are also well placed and do not sit on the center channel much. Some of the guitar and keyboards get a bit overwhelming in the rear sometimes almost distracting. Given that most people will not have full range rears and will be bass managed by the sub they always tend to sound bright.The 5.1 mix sounds much cleaner than the 2 channel mix. Drums are much more defined. The sound is much fuller. The 5.1 mix on this album is much better than the Ghost Reveries mix, more attention to detail is used on this album and the sound floor is much lower, very little hiss or distortion at high volumes. But my big complaint is that if you are going to master a 5.1 mix you may as well include 96/24. Aside from that the mix is very good for a metal album. I would recommend the special edition just for this reason. It makes the 2 channel sound flat and muddled.Now onto the editorial part. I don't listen to much metal anymore because most of it is redundant. The bands that defined death metal and hardcore metal with emphasis on being technical were bands like Carcass Disincarnate. Fear Factory came in with Soul of New Machine that started the death/grindcore sound that still carries on today.Opeth caught my ear 2 years ago when I heard them on satellite radio.I listened to all of Blackwater Park and loved the sound. This was by far the best new type of metal I had heard. I went on to listen to the rest of their work. I would call almost all of it excluding their early work ground breaking. The progressive slower sounds were even almost genre transcending. Where I could play some of the music to people who really were mainstream/radio only pop listener and they liked it.But some of the progression from metal to rock they did was not so pretty. Some of it sounded cheesy bordering the power ballads of the 80s with more class.We get to the new album, and while songs like Hessian Peel and The Lotus Eater follow that amazing progression in musical talent many of the slower songs sound fabricated, dated and frankly, bad.And its not because they are bad songs, its just because they are playing music in a different genre. And I think while the singer has a good voice he over sings on these tracks.A band is a label and I am all for progression and change, but if you want to play outside your genre launch a side project or different band and actually compete in that genre, there is more success to be had in terms of following.There is also difference is lead guitar riffs in this album some of them have a very plastic metal feel to them. Some in a good and some in a bad way. The wailing lead riffs send me into bad flashbacks of the Pantera days listening to guitar complexes come alive. Its rare but noticeable.Overall this is an average Opeth album, its different but there are only a few tracks that really grabbed me. The musicianship is to be commended here. Opeth, interestingly, have balanced perfectly both death metal and prog aesthetics. The production is excellent, the presentation and the 5.1 mix especially impressive, with some real attention to detail. Powerful, melodic, defiant, all this makes for a multifaceted record, which will no doubt take some time to exceed. How does it compare to the band's previous releases? It's better than any other record the band has put out, Watershed is certainly a solid entry into Opeth's catalogue, and it will provide some hard listening for the next few years, an instant classic.Opeth are the most unique metal band out there. The Watershed CD is incredible. The best part of the CD is how "Coil," a mellow song leads into a much speedier and death sounding, "Heir Apparent." The whole album is great. Probably, there best one from beginning to end. I honestly think that the the B sides on the DVD are amazing songs. "Bridge of Sighs" sounds like Government Mule. A twist a classic heavy rock. Tribute to Mikael Asherfeldt's love for classic rock. The DVD of the practice sessions great stuff. They are a very successful band and show you no cockiness. Great CD. Opeth is the best metal band right now.Llegó en excelentes condiciones y en no lo pude haber conseguido en otro lugar que no fuera aquì.Some may say Opeth never left but for the most part Ghost Reveries just didn't do it for me with the exception of a few tracks including the title track. It lacked emotion from Akerfeldt. Watershed bounces Opeth back into there game of clearing the rest of the struggeling metal genre with double the brutality and beauty. The songwriting is beyond the curve and yet again proves this band is untouchable.
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