Watershed (Opeth album)

Watershed is the ninth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. Released by Roadrunner Records, Watershed is the first studio album by Opeth to feature guitarist Fredrik Åkesson and drummer Martin Axenrot, who replaced longtime guitarist Peter Lindgren and drummer Martin Lopez. The artwork for the album was made by Travis Smith (who has created the artwork for eight previous Opeth releases) in collaboration with Mikael Åkerfeldt.^[3] It is the band's last studio album to contain death growls or any death metal elements to date.

Watershed
Cover art by Travis Smith
Studio album by Opeth
Released	19 May 2008 (2008-05-19)
Recorded	1 November 2007^[1]–10 January 2008
Studio	Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden Junkmail facilities (additional)
Genre	Progressive rock progressive metal death metal^[2]
Length	54:56
Label	Roadrunner
Producer	Mikael Åkerfeldt Jens Bogren
Opeth chronology
The Roundhouse Tapes (2007) Watershed (2008) The Candlelight Years (2008)
Alternative cover
Special edition
Singles from Watershed
"Porcelain Heart" Released: 19 April 2008 "Mellotron Heart" Released: 3 June 2008 "Burden" Released: 9 December 2008

Overview

On opening track "Coil", Mikael Åkerfeldt duets with Nathalie Lorichs, who was dating drummer Martin Axenrot at the time.^[4] The band has revealed that they were initially going to start the album with what eventually became the second track, "Heir Apparent"; however, they preferred "Coil" as an introductory track for its contrast to "Heir Apparent".^[4]

Åkerfeldt was inspired to write the single "Burden" while listening to the Scorpions song "Living And Dying" during a stay in Turkey.^[5]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	82/100^[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[2]
Blender	^[7]
Blabbermouth.net	9.5/10^[8]
Consequence of Sound	A−^[9]
The New York Times	^[10]
Pitchfork	7.5/10^[11]
PopMatters	9/10^[12]
Q	^[13]
Rock Hard	9/10^[14]
Sputnikmusic	^[15]

The album was met with universal acclaim according to Metacritic, receiving a metascore of 82/100 based on 10 critics.^[6]

On Metal Hammer's Critic's Choice Top 50, Watershed was named as the second-best album of 2008 (behind only Metallica's Death Magnetic).^[16] In the January/February 2009 issue of Metal Edge, Watershed was voted the number 1 album of 2008.

In a fan club interview dated to November 2008, a few months after the album's release, former guitarist Peter Lindgren praised the album, noting that "it was a weird feeling to get a new Opeth CD...that he hadn't been a part of", and that he "had trouble following the new songs at first", but called it "damn good".^[17]

Release history

Watershed was released as a standard edition, a 180 gram vinyl edition, and a special edition. The special edition includes three bonus tracks, a bonus DVD with a 5.1 surround sound mix of the entire album (not including bonus tracks), video content featuring rehearsals, and studio footage, as well as expanded artwork. The vinyl release comes in gatefold packaging and contains the album on two LPs, as well as a CD copy of the album (both including the bonus track "Derelict Herds") and a poster.

"Mellotron Heart" was included on a separate disc with a limited number of copies of the album. It is an alternate recording of the song "Porcelain Heart", performed on mellotron and mini-Moog synthesizers by Åkerfeldt himself. The cover for the CD is the standard album artwork with the figure and writing desk replaced by a mellotron. The track is also available as a free digital download exclusively for those who pre-ordered the album from The End Records, and to people who insert the CD into their computer via Opendisc.^[18]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Mikael Åkerfeldt; all music is composed by Åkerfeldt except where noted

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Coil"		3:10
2.	"Heir Apparent"		8:50
3.	"The Lotus Eater"		8:50
4.	"Burden"		7:41
5.	"Porcelain Heart"	Åkerfeldt Fredrik Åkesson	8:00
6.	"Hessian Peel"		11:25
7.	"Hex Omega"		7:00
Total length:			54:56

Special edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
8.	"Derelict Herds"	Åkerfeldt Per Wiberg	6:28
9.	"Bridge of Sighs" (Robin Trower cover)	Robin Trower	5:55
10.	"Den ständiga resan" (Marie Fredriksson cover)	Marie Fredriksson	4:09
Total length:			71:28

Special edition bonus DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Prologue"	6:58
2.	"From Another Planet"	8:30
3.	"The Lotus Eater"	13:48
4.	"The Junkmail Studios"	16:23
5.	"Epilogue"	6:41
Total length:		52:20

Personnel

Opeth

• Mikael Åkerfeldt – vocals, guitar
• Fredrik Åkesson – guitar
• Per Wiberg – keyboards, synthesizer
• Martín Méndez – bass guitar
• Martin Axenrot – drums

Additional musicians

• Nathalie Lorichs – female vocals (on "Coil")
• Lisa Almberg – English horn, oboe
• Christoffer Wadensten – flute
• Karin Svensson – violin
• Andreas Tengberg – cello

Production and design

• Mikael Åkerfeldt – production, artwork
• Jens Bogren – production, recording, mixing, mastering
• Mikhail Korge – recording (additional)
• David Castillo – engineering (additional)
• Johan Örnborg – engineering (additional)
• Travis Smith – artwork

Usage in media

• The song "Heir Apparent" was featured as a downloadable content in the video game Rock Band 4.
• The song "The Lotus Eater" was featured in the 2011 video game Saints Row: The Third.

Chart positions

Weekly Chart (2008) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)^[19] 7 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[20] 53 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[21] 90 Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[22] 17 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)^[23] 84 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[24] 14 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)^[25] 1 French Albums (SNEP)^[26] 47 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[27] 23 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)^[28] 37 Irish Albums (IRMA)^[29] 59 Italian Albums (FIMI)^[30] 37 Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[23] 15 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)^[31] 26 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[32] 7 Polish Albums (ZPAV)^[33] 35 Scottish Albums Chart (OCC)^[34] 37 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[35] 7 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[36] 24 UK Albums Chart^[23] 34 US Billboard 200^[37] 23

Monthly Chart (2008) Peak position Poland (ZPAV Top 100) 38^[38]

Region	Date	Label	Format	Catalog
Continental Europe	30 May 2008	Roadrunner	CD	RR 7962-2
United Kingdom	2 June 2008	Roadrunner	CD	RR 7962-2
North America	3 June 2008^[39]	Roadrunner	Enhanced CD	R 1384409
Australia	3 June 2008	Roadrunner Records (Australia)	Enhanced CD	RR 7962-8

References

1. "Opeth: To Begin Recording New Album Tomorrow". Blabbermouth.net. 31 October 2007. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
2. True, Christopher M. Watershed review allmusic.com. Retrieved on 13 October 2009.
3. "Watershed Artwork Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 31 March 2008.
4. Hensch, Mark. "Opeth Interview". antiMusic. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
5. "Opeth interview - Mikael Akerfeldt (part 2)". YouTube. 25 November 2008.
6. "Watershed - Opeth". Metacritic. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
7. Watershed review blender.com. Retrieved on 13 October 2009.
8. . roadrunnerrecords.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
9. "Opeth - Watershed". 20 June 2008.
10. Ratliff, Ben. Playlist nytimes.com. Retrieved on 13 October 2009.
11. Lee, Cosmo. Watershed review 4 June 2008. Retrieved on 28 August 2014.
12. Begrand, Adrien Watershed review 5 June 2008. Retrieved on 13 October 2009.
13. "Opeth - Watershed". Q. No. 264. July 2008. p. 101.
14. "Rock Hard review". issue 253.
15. Stagno, Mike. Watershed review Retrieved on 13 October 2009.
16. Metal Hammer critics’ top 50 albums of 2008: 3-1 metalhammer.co.uk. 23 December 2008. Retrieved on 29 November 2009.
17. Hellström, Jörgen. . Opeth FanClub Sweden. Archived from the original on 28 August 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
18. "Mellotron Heart: Exclusive Digital Delivery for Opeth Pre-Order". RoadrunnerRecords.com. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
19. "Watershed in Australian Charts". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
20. "Watershed in Der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
21. "Opeth - Watershed" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
22. "Opeth Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
23. "Opeth's Watershed Tops Finnish Album Chart". blabbermouth.net. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
24. "Watershed in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
25. "Watershed in Finnish Charts". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
26. "Watershed dans Les Charts Français" (in French). lescharts.com. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
27. "Offiziellecharts.de – Opeth – Watershed" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
28. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2008. 23. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
29. "Irish-charts.com – Discography Opeth". Hung Medien. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
30. "Watershed in Italian Charts". italiancharts.com. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
31. "Watershed in New Zealand Charts". charts.nz. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
32. "Watershed in Norwegian Charts". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
33. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
34. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
35. "Watershed in Swedish Charts". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
36. "Watershed in Der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 13 August 2008.
37. "Opeth Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
38. . muzyka.interia.pl. Archived from the original on 12 March 2009.
39. "Opeth – Roadrunner Records". Roadrunnerrecords.com. 5 February 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.