Opeth Return

A new Opeth album is always a cause for celebration as, along with the usual selection of surprises from the Swedish progressive maestros, there’s always a feast of great tones, searing leads and lush harmonies to be found within their unique compositions.

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Thirteenth opus In Cauda Venenum (latin for Poison In The Tail) has all that and more. Recorded in Stockholm late last year before being mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London, it also offers fans the added twist of being available in Swedish and English language versions. We spoke to the band’s mastermind Mikael Åkerfeldt to find out more…

Was your first instinct to write and sing the lyrics in Swedish and was that a new impulse for you with the band? Mikael: “No, I just came up with that idea one day taking my kids to school… We hadn’t done that before and the idea worked as a catalyst to get going with the songwriting really.”

Do you still have your songwriting space that you go to?