Opeth is an uncompromising band. They do not make compromises with anything - not only with the content of the albums, but with their live performances neither. That makes every new album of theirs a provocation to the ones that will dare to be exposed to their music to decode its messages. “Watershed” appears right on time - several months after our euphoria from the impressive live album “The Roundhouse Tapes” has passed, and a few before our patience for its new vigorous heir is snapped. It’s good to specify that this disc is both typical Opeth and a new step in the ascending development of the band. The almighty guru Mikael Åkerfeldt - leader and frontman of the group from the beginning - has done a great job again, but the result wouldn’t have been so successful if there weren’t the wonderful musicians next to him to help. Fredrik Åkesson (guitar) and Martin Axenrot (drums) are really fresh fill-ups, but the more I listen to “Watershed”, the more I realize that Mikael is right when stating he can’t remember if the band had bigger luck from the present in the choice of new members. They both have contributed to creating the latest dark and full with surprising twists story, told in only seven (but what a great seven!) chapters. Opeth know well how to grab you from the beginning. This time it’s with a ballad - yes, “Coil” is one of the best acoustic songs that I’ve ever heard from them! After it, the brutality continues under the heavy fist of “Heir Apparent”, the multilayered charm of “The Lotus Eater” and the stunning variety of “Burden” and “Hessian Peel”. “Watershed” is an album-manual - with all details made perfect in every respect - and Opeth is a band with its own style, which deserves everything that’s happening to the musicians, namely the chance to live from their music and climb the world’s sales charts.