Opeth’s new album, Sorceress, their first for Nuclear Blast via the band’s imprint label Moderbolaget Records, is proof chief architect Mikael Åkerfeldt has a near-endless well of greatness inside. From the album’s opener “Persephone” to “The Wilde Flowers” and “Strange Brew” to the album’s counterpart title tracks “Sorceress” and “Sorceress II”, Opeth’s twelfth full-length is an unparalleled adventure, where visions cleverly and secretly change, colors mute as if weathered by time, and sounds challenge profoundly.

Åkerfeldt and guitarist Fredrik Åkesson recently gave TeamRock a track-by-track breakdown of Sorceress. An excerpt is available below.

"Will O The Wisp"

Mikael: “It’s a song inspired by Dun Ringill by Jethro Tull (from the album Stormwatch, 1979). I wanted to do a song with my capo really high, so it’s up on the fifth fret. It makes the guitar sound really glittery. I just wanted to go for a simple, catchy vocal melody. It has a slightly positive vibe to it, but the lyrics are really, really dark. It’s a beautiful song, I think. I’m really happy with that one.”

"Strange Brew"

Mikael: “That’s one where Fredrik came up with the theme that repeats. It had a completely different arrangement.”

Fredrik: “Yeah, I recorded a completely different version of it. It was a more evil version of Dazed And Confused by Led Zeppelin, but it turned into something totally different.”

Mikael: “When Fred plays me something, I look for what we can turn into a song and what’s going to happen next, and that theme was perfect. We rearranged it and then I added the middle section, which is a crazy Mahavishnu Orchestra-style thing… and then it changes into a really bluesy part. That was inspired by Cream, which explains the title. I was listening to Disraeli Gears a lot. I even tried to get that guitar tone.”

Fredrik: “I always really enjoy it when me and Mikael do trade-off solos. We do these long bluesy solos – Mikael does the first one. That’s really fun.”

"Era"

Mikael: “It’s a catchy ‘80s heavy metal song. It’s so fast! It’s really fucking difficult to play.”

Fredrik: “I remember when we recorded the guitar rhythms for that, because it goes on for such a long time! I had this blister on my finger and it was going to explode at any moment. I just kept going and it never exploded! (laughs)."

Mikael: “People are either going to hate that song or absolutely love it. It’s a contender for a single. The first single will be Sorceress, the second will be 'Will O The Wisp' and then, I think, 'Era'.”

Click here for the complete rundown.

For Sorceress, Opeth returned to Rockfield Studios in Wales, also home to pivotal releases from Queen, Rush and Judas Priest, where the Swedes had tracked Pale Communion in 2014 with Tom Dalgety. The band spent 12 days recording at the countryside venue among its serene and inspiring surroundings. The result is nothing short of a powerful and intriguing record that will add yet another layer to the band’s celebrated career.

Sorceress trackisting:

“Persephone”
“Sorceress”
“The Wilde Flowers”
“Will O The Wisp”
“Chrysalis”
“Sorceress 2”
“The Seventh Sojourn”
“Strange Brew”
“A Fleeting Glance”
“Era”
“Persephone (Slight Return)”

In celebration of the release, the band have planned three special shows at historic venues across the globe in support of the record, including Radio City Music Hall in New York on October 1st, Wembley Arena in London on November 19th and the world famous Opera House in Sydney on February 6th, 2017. Grab tickets for the Wembley Arena show at this location

At the shows, Opeth will be performing two sets of music; one from their forthcoming album, Sorceress, together with fan favourites from their lauded catalogue, then a second special set featuring material from Deliverance and Damnation.

Åkerfeldt states, “We’re getting pumped up for the coming Sorceress world tour. We have three shows scheduled that are quite 'out of the ordinary' due to their legendary status and location - Wembley Arena in London/UK, Radio City Music Hall in New York/USA and the famous Opera House in Sydney, Australia. These three shows will be completely unique in terms of songs, spanning over two separate set lists. We’ll pull out songs from our back catalogue and mix it up with newer stuff during the first set. The second set will consist of songs exclusively from the Deliverance/Damnation records, that was just celebrated with a re-release combo package by the newly revived Music For Nations label. So it’s a little bit of a celebration indeed! We’ll only play this set list three times on the whole world tour, so if you miss it, you’ll have missed it. Of course, all other shows will be treated with the same amount of respect and we’ll chisel out a nice diverse set list spanning over our entire career for every single show during the tour. We very much hope to see you there!”

These landmark gigs also celebrate the recent release of Opeth’s Deliverance & Damnation box set, featuring the band’s classic 2002 and 2003 records packaged as one complete work - as originally intended - and their just-released Lamentations - Live At Shepherd’s Bush Empire show which is available now on DVD AND 180 gram triple LP vinyl via Music For Nations.

Opeth have announced a North American headline tour, which will kick off with a performance at Ozzfest/Knotfest on September 24th in San Bernardino, CA. The tour will continue through the following month before wrapping up on October 26th in Vancouver, BC.

Tour dates are listed below. To purchase VIP packages and tickets visit this location.

Tour dates:

September
24 - San Bernardino, CA - Ozzfest/Knotfest @ San Manual Amphitheater
29 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
30 - Silver Spring, MD - Fillmore

October
1 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall
2 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
4 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
5 - Toronto, ON - Massey Hall
7 - Detroit, MI - Fillmore
8 - Akron, OH - Good Year Theater at East End
9 - Chicago, IL - Riviera Theater
10 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
12 - Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom
13 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
14 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
15 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Live
18 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
19 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theater
21 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
22 - San Francisco, CA - Warfield
24 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
25 - Seattle, WA - Moore Theater
26 - Vancouver, BC - Orpheum