It’s been one year since Opeth released their twelfth studio album Sorceress. This effort led these progressive metal masters to perform at two iconic venues – New York City’s Radio City Music Hall and Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, among other venues. These Swedes had quite the journey on the road and since we interviewed frontman/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt earlier this year, we knew they were fixing for a break.
Back then we asked if he was thinking about working on a follow-up to the album and he told us:
“I thought about it maybe. I like to take a little bit of a break because it’s kind of like a rat race once you start writing for a record that’s the start of a whole touring cycle as well. Once you write, the management says “when can you record?” And then the whole cork starts turning. You start discussing tours again, and we’ve done that for many years now, so I like to take a little bit of a break.”
Eon Music recently asked the frontman the same question and his break has turned into a sabbatical. He also revealed we shouldn’t expect to see a new album until at least mid-2019:
“Maybe the end of, or mid-2019, I’m thinking. I want to have a sabbatical, because we’ve been doing this for a long time, so I want to keep away, and just be with my kids. Once I write songs, I want to sit and be.”
Despite taking time off, Åkerfeldt does have plans for the new album and he wants it to be “something twisted.”
He expressed:
“Yeah, I’m happy. ‘Sorceress’ for me, is old hat; it’s a lovely record, you know, but whatever; it’s back ‘there’. I’m not lingering on it, because it’s old now. I’m not lingering on this record as being a beacon of hope for anything; it’s just what we did then, and I’m hoping next time we’re going to do something different, and I hope, something twisted. Nothing necessarily ‘great’, but twisted at least.”
