Legendary Swedish prog-metallers Opeth will release their eleventh studio album, Pale Communion, on August 25th in Europe, and on August 26th in North America via Roadrunner and BraveWords is offering up an exclusive stream below (restricted to some territories)! Pale Communion was produced by the band’s very own Mikael Åkerfeldt and mixed by longtime collaborator and Porcupine Tree frontman/guitarist Steven Wilson.

“The best way for me to write is always to just write the stuff that I want to hear myself,” states Åkerfeldt on his vision with Pale Communion. “I’m pretty headstrong, so a few negative reactions to Heritage didn’t push me in any way. That album started something new. Every record feels like part of a chain. We wouldn’t have done Heritage without the previous records and the same is true of Pale Communion. I sat down and wrote the songs like I did for Heritage and the one before that. Heritage rejuvenated the band a little bit and I could see a way to continue doing this band without focusing on what we’re known for. We’d done that for so many records that I was a bit fed up with it. Now we have a future and Pale Communion is the continuation of that.”

 

 

“I would have to say that we’re happy band right now and there have been times when we weren’t happy,” Åkerfeldt adds. “Everyone’s pulling their weight and it feels like a collective with the same ideas. We’ve been touring a lot for the Heritage record, so we’re a tight unit. We hang out a lot as friends. We play well and we get along well and we have a mutual understanding of where we want to take this band. And I know the guys can play anything. They’re fantastic musicians. As I was writing the songs, Fredrik [Åkesson, guitar] came down to my studio to lay down some solos. He was really involved in the process and listening to whatever I came up with.  It was the first record for Joakim [Svalberg, keyboards] and he’s been really psyched about doing this record. Long before we started recording he was saying that he couldn’t wait to be involved, and he really stepped up to the plate. Axe [drummer Martin Axenrot] and [bassist Martin] Méndez are a tight unit too. Axe went over to Barcelona where Méndez lives to rehearse for a few days and then they put everything down in three or four days in the studio. It was easy. It was easy for everybody.”

Pale Communion tracklisting:

"Eternal Rains Will Come"
"Cusp Of Eternity"
"Moon Above, Sun Below"
"Elysian Woes"
"Goblin"
"River"
"Voice Of Treason"
"Faith In Others"

"Eternal Rains":

"Cusp Of Eternity":