I’m sure you guys have all heard by now that Opeth have been busy in the studio and are in the process of putting out a new album! I don’t know too much more than that, but Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt caught up with Metal Assault and spoke a bit about their new record! Check it out!
Upon listening to your new album, I felt that it has a very similar vibe to your previous release Heritage. Would you say its a continuation of that album in that sense?
Yeah, to a certain extent. I mean, its the next album so I guess its closer to that album than say the first album. But Id like to think theres an upgraded sound, and by that I dont mean a modern sound. We were looking at some of the late 70s and early 80s production, and thats what we were going for sound-wise and its one of the reasons why we ended up recording at Rockfield Studios in Wales which is a legendary studio where many of our favorite bands recorded. So musically I guess you could say its similar to Heritage but Id like to think its more hard rock and metal sounding. We also have something new that we didnt have before in certain songs. I dont really know what it is, which I like. I like to either recognize our sound or to hear something completely new, and I think we have both on the new album.
The cover art for Heritage was very impressive and I think its the best youve done so far. For the new album, have you thought of ideas yet or are you still far from that process?
No, we have a concept that we are working on with Smith again, who did the Heritage cover too. I think itll be of a similar style to a certain extent, but also different. Im looking for more of a medieval-thinking look, and its going to be like a gyst of three different paintings next to each other. So thats whats going to be on the cover. Its pretty far from done now, so we still have a lot of work to do. But I agree, Heritage for me was an amazing cover for a record. If we end up doing something that kind of resembles that, Ill be happy. But the idea is to have something that looks a bit more medieval this time around.
Very interesting. Yeah, I have the Heritage shirt which I got at your show a few years ago, and when I wear it out, people who even have no idea about metal or Opeth, they notice the shirt. Thats the kind of impact an album cover should have!
Yeah! (laughs) Its just such a beautiful piece to look at, I think. Its also fun in a way. Its got so much symbolism going on in that picture. I absolutely love it, and Travis did a fucking fantastic job coming up with it. I mean, I had the concept but he realized it and it was just amazing. So were hoping were going to be as lucky with the new one.
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