Take a moment and breathe a big sigh of relief with me. The wait is over, and what once seemed an impossibility is now a beautiful reality. Opeth have rightfully claimed the throne of death metal elitism with their ninth album Watershed. It wasn’t an easy journey to be sure. Ghost Reveries was an exceptional album in its own right, and the slightest misstep with Watershed could have been viewed as abject failure. How anyone copes with this type of pressure is beyond me. Thankfully, band mainman Mikael Akerfeldt thrives in such situations, perhaps even revels in it. Most bands who attempt to tackle what Opeth have achieved with Watershed usually come off as either insolent or completely inept. The band peel away any of the encumbrances that exist within the framework of a poorly conceived prog/death crossover album, and revisit the essential concepts that make progressive rock such an enticing medium. It’s a meticulous thing, prog is. Too much, and the whole affair can quickly become haughty and uptight. Too little, and the songs fail to resonate. Watershed balances a fine line between the two, and its organized chaos is delivered with fluid arrangement and near-deific presentation. Take for example ‘The Lotus Eater’. Its subtle, intelligent composition is laden with enough intricacy and brutality to satisfy both the prog rock and death metal purist, and the album is brimming with just such gems. It’s this sly concoction of dynamic dissonance and venerable death metal motifs which blend to create a sonic landscape that signifies Watershed as the quintessential extreme metal album of our time, bar none. What is most intriguing to me about this album is its unpretentiousness and ease of execution. It exudes an air of humility which is conveyed through its songs with quiet perfection. Watershed truly is a pastoral symphony of artistic greatness.