After Watershed, where I thought only half the tracks were good, and Heritage, which for me was a huge disappointment, I thought I would pass on this one. But when I saw that PC is up on Spotify, curiosity took over and I listened to it three or four times over the weekend. Pale Communion is so much better than Heritage, at least imo. I really liked what I heard and now I must go out and buy it.
PC is even more relaxed and layed back than Heritage but it is more cohesive. Where Heritage's songs plod along sometimes aimlessly, the songs on PC seem more focused, more to the point. But I need several more listenings to see where it stands for me in the Opeth discography.