Sweden’s most revered and respected progressive metal mavens Opeth will release Heritage, their third album for Roadrunner, on September 20th. The first single and video will be the song “The Devil’s Orchard.” Heritage follows up 2008’s Watershed and 2005’s Ghost Reveries, each of which garnered the forward-thinking, genre-bending band some of the best reviews of their career.
Opeth frontman and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt weighed in on Heritage, saying, “It will be our 10th album/observation. I dig it; we all do. In fact, it feels like I’ve been building up to write for and participate on an album like this since I was 19.”
Åkerfeldt went a little deeper and described the music contained within Heritage, saying, “It’s quite intense at times in some ‘old’ murky way, and quite beautiful and stark at times, if I may say so myself. It’s obvious I’m going to say nice things about it since I wrote basically the whole piece, but I guess it will raise a few eyebrows and it certainly is an acquired taste. I think you’ll need a slightly deeper understanding of our music as a whole to be able to appreciate this record. I’ve realized my influences for this album are so diverse that I can’t really say what it sounds like. If I can compare it to any other band, it would have to be Opeth, but it’s different from the stuff we’ve done before. I’ve listened a lot to Alice Cooper for the last year, yet I can’t say it sounds like ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy.’ I hope you’ll like it once you hear it.”
The album was produced by Åkerfeldt and mixed along with Porcupine Tree frontman/guitarist Steven Wilson, who is a labelmate of Opeth. Longtime collaborator Travis Smith also worked with Åkerfeldt to create, design and execute the album’s artwork.
The track listing for Heritage is as follows:
- “Heritage”
- “The Devil’s Orchard”
- “I Feel the Dark”
- “Slither”
- “Nepenthe”
- “Haxprocess”
- “Famine”
- “The Lines in My Hand”
- “Folklore”
- “Marrow of the Earth”
Heritage will be released in several configurations that will certainly incite the interest of Opeth’s legion of fans, known for their passion for collecting and collectibles. The album will be released as a standard version; as a special edition loaded with extras; as a box set exclusive to the Roadrunner and the bands own official Omerch webstore; and as a double LP. There is something for every Opeth fan, thanks to this expansive variety of options.
Opeth will return to North American soil for a seven-week, headline tour which kicks off September 19th in Worcester, Mass. and runs through November 1st in Baltimore, with a couple of dates in Canada. They will headline the shows, with their fellow Swedish countrymen Katatonia providing the support on all dates.
Opeth will also play a one-off show this weekend as part of the vaunted Bonnaroo Festival outside of Nashville. They band performs on June 10th in what should be a “can’t miss” performance.
Heritage sees the band expanding mightily on their progressive influences.
Dates are below. For information on VIP ticket packages and on sale dates, visit www.Opeth.com.
9/19/2011 The Palladium Worcester, MA
9/20/2011 Webster Theatre Hartford, CT
9/21/2011 Webster Hall New York, NY
9/23/2011 The Trocadero Philadelphia, PA
9/26/2011 Newport Music Hall Columbus, OH
9/27/2011 Expo Five Louisville, KY
9/28/2011 Cannery Ballroom Nashville, TN
9/29/2011 Amos’ Southend Charlotte, NC
9/30/2011 Center Stage Atlanta, GA
10/1/2011 House of Blues Lake Buena Vista, FL
10/3/2011 Warehouse Live Houston, TX
10/4/2011 Stubb’s Waller Creek Austin, TX
10/5/2011 Granada Theatre Dallas, TX
10/6/2011 The Beaumont Kansas City, MO
10/7/2011 First Avenue Loop Station, MN
10/8/2011 Burton Cummings Theatre Winnipeg, MAN
10/10/2011 Edmonton Events Centre Edmonton, ALB
10/11/2011 MacEwan Hall Calgary, ALB
10/13/2011 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, BC
10/14/2011 Knitting Factory Spokane, WA
10/15/2011 Showbox SoDo Seattle, WA
10/16/2011 Roseland Theater Portland, OR
10/18/2011 The Warfield San Francisco, CA
10/18/2011 The Mayan Theatre Los Angeles, CA
10/20/2011 House Of Blues San Diego, CA
10/21/2011 The Fox Theater Pomona, CA
10/22/2011 Marquee Theatre Tempe, AZ
10/24/2011 The Complex Salt Lake City, UT
10/25/2011 Ogden Theatre Denver, CO
10/27/2011 The Rave Milwaukee, WI
10/28/2011 Vic Theatre Chicago, IL
10/29/2011 St. Andrew’s Hall Detroit, MI
10/31/2011 Mr. Smalls Millvale, PA
11/1/2011 Rams Head Live Baltimore, MD
