Progressive rock/metal band Opeth have announced that they have signed to Nuclear Blast Records and have also announced that they will be releasing their 12th studio album Sorceress later this year.
Vocalist/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt states, “We’re happy to confirm that we have indeed signed a deal with Nuclear Blast Entertainment and will be putting out our 12th studio album Sorceress via our own imprint, Moderbolaget Records. The decision was made in Markus Staiger’s (Nuclear Blast kingpin) ridiculously potent Porsche going at 150 mph somewhere in the south of Germany. We’re happy to be part of the NB team and look forward to a fruitful relationship.”
Staiger adds:
I am honored that OPETH has joined the Nuclear Blast family. Mikael Åkerfeldt and his fellow bandmates have demonstrated time and time again that OPETH are a band that never releases an album that sounds the same. You never know what their new music will sound like! Nuclear Blast has been following the musical journey of OPETH from the beginning with Orchid to landmark albums like Still Life, Deliverance, Damnation and Blackwater Park, right up to 2014’s Pale Communion. The band has become one of the most challenging artists in rock music today. It is not often that we get to work with musicians of their caliber and I am thrilled to have such a unique genre-leader on the label. The future for OPETH and Nuclear Blast looks very bright.
I’m a huge fan of this band, so I’m incredibly excited to see what they come up for Sorceress. Yes, I miss the days when they were full on progressive death metal but being a part of their journey over the past 15 or so years (that’s when I started listening to them) has been pretty amazing. There has obviously been a change of musical approaches but they’ve always remained interesting and exciting.
Opeth’s last release was 2014’s Pale Communion (review).