Opeth mastermind Mikael Åkerfeldt is keeping pretty tight-lipped about the band's upcoming fourteenth album, but did slip fans some information during a recent interview with Classic Rock.
When asked if Jethro Tull vocalist and flautist Ian Anderson is actually on the new Opeth record like Anderson said he was, Åkerfeldt responded: "I'm under instruction to keep things under wraps, so I'll keep things extremely vague. I have been in touch with [Jethro Tull's] Ian Anderson about something. Emails were exchanged, containing something that could be described as music. Is that a good answer?"
For those unaware, Anderson said in an interview with the Mystery Tour radio show in February of this year: "Well, from time to time I play on other people's records, if they're interesting to me. I just did — last week I played on three or four tracks from a prog metal band called [Opeth]."
So the good news here is that new Opeth seems to be in the works, or on the way soon. The crappier is that Storm Corrosion – the band featuring Åkerfeldt and Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson – still seems to be fairly dormant.
"Me and Steve have been talking about that," said Åkerfeldt when asked about new Storm Corrosion. "I went to see Steven in London to talk and to drink [laughs]. There is a reissue of that album coming out, and Steven has done a new Atmos mix. So I pitched the idea of a possible next record from Storm Corrosion. He didn't really buy into my suggestion. That's a shame.
Åkerfeldt continued: "Steve doesn't want to send music [over the internet]. He prefers us to make it together in the same room. But I'll bring it up again, and I'm sure we'll do something new. Should it happen, I would like us to do a requiem, something completely overblown."
Opeth will hit the road throughout October with Tribulation. Check out the full list of dates below and get your tickets here.
10/11 Milwaukee, WI The Rave / Eagles Club
10/12 Cleveland, OH Agora Theater & Ballroom
10/14 Toronto, ON Queen Elizabeth Theatre
10/15 Montréal, QC L'Olympia
10/16 Worcester, MA Palladium
10/18 Brooklyn, NY Kings Theatre
10/19 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE
10/20 Washington, DC -– Warner Theatre
10/22 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
10/23 New Orleans, LA Fillmore New Orleans
10/24 Austin, TX Emo’s Austin
10/25 Dallas, TX Majestic Theatre
10/27 Denver, CO Mission Ballroom
10/29 Phoenix, AZ The Van Buren
10/30 Los Angeles, CA YouTube Theater
10/31 San Francisco, CA The Warfield