2009 Archived News

12-Dec-2009

Winter Sale on selected Opeth Merchandise

Selected Opeth merchandise available for a very special price for a limited time only CLICK HERE

05-Dec-2009

“Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology” Ticket Links

Perhaps you've already heard the news that we're celebrating the 20th anniversary of our band with 6 very special shows next year and we'd hereby like to offer you, our beloved fan the first chance to get VIP packages for each of these shows.

We've got some pretty cool stuff lined up for this such as a sweet looking laminated VIP pass which will allow you to come in early in the day so you can watch how we sound check (which is actually boring as hell but we figured you'd might like to see how these things work). Sound check usually starts around 4pm-ish. Then we'll take you back stage for a meet n greet with all of us, splitting you up in groups so you can be sure you'll get some proper one on one time to fire off some questions you've always wanted to ask or just get some stuff signed.

At some venues you’ll be asked to leave after the meet n greet (for security reasons set by the venues which are beyond our control) until doors open again and at some venues you’ll be able to stay and wait until the show starts. If you’re at one of the venues where you’ll be asked to leave we’ve arranged that anyone who can show a VIP pass at the door can get into the venue again at least ten minutes before the doors open to the standard ticket holders so you’ll be guaranteed of a short cue at the wardrobe and you can calmly head off to stand or sit wherever you like.

The Lichtburg venue in Essen will be quite special as it’s a completely seated venue. We’ve reserved the first two rows of the balcony for our VIP’s at this one so you’re still close enough to see our nose hair but far enough for not having to smell our breath. (and that’s a good thing, trust me!)

At the venue you’ll also get a nice Opeth rucksack which will be filled with a Ltd. Edition t-shirt, unique to each show, a signed tour programme and a copy of the /Blackwater Park/ special edition CD/DVD/ /which includes a 5.1 mix and a 30-minute, never-before-seen documentary, all nicely packaged in a hard cover digipack (to be released end of March via Sony Music so don’t buy it already if it’s out before the show!)

That just about sums it up for now. We’ll be playing the Blackwater Park album in its entirety followed by another set which will include songs we’ve rarely or never played live before. All in all more than two hours of Opeth. Exciting times for our band and we hope that you’ll be there to share it with us!

Tour dates:

March 30th – Cirkus – Stockholm, Sweden

April 1st – Lichtburg – Essen, Germany

April 3rd – Bataclan – Paris, France

April 5th – Royal Albert Hall – London, UK

April 7th – Terminal 5 – New York, NY

April 9th – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA

The VIP tickets are exclusively available though the Omerch webstores:

For the European shows go to: http://www.bandstores.co.uk/shop/opeth/ and click on “Tickets Pre-order”

For the US shows go to: http://www.omerch.com/Opeth/ and click on “Tickets”

(Standard tickets for the Royal Albert Hall and the NYC and LA dates will also available through these links. Public on-sale for ALL dates will be Monday, Dec 7th through the normal ticket channels)

Login is: opeth

Password is: tickets

See you at the show!

Opeth

03-Dec-2009

OPETH “Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology”

Sweden’s OPETH, easily one of the most revered and respected bands in the metal scene and beyond for the past two decades, will commemorate their twentieth anniversary in Spring 2010 with six exclusive shows that will take place across the globe in; Stockholm Sweden, Essen Germany, Paris France, London UK, New York City and Los Angeles USA.

Front-man Mikael Åkerfeldt had the following to say on behalf of the band;

”I can’t believe it, but...fuck...we’re celebrating 20 years!! 20 years I’ve been in this band, ever since I was 16! It’s insane! As far as I remember, we’ve never had a release party, never celebrated anything officially. Well, now is the time, you hear? We’ve set up a string of shows, 6 of them actually, around the world. To say that they will be super-exclusive is beyond an understatement!

We’ve discussed the set list already and it seems like we’ll pull out a few songs we’ve never played before, some of which fans all over the world have been demanding to hear for years and years. Our main agenda for these shows is to have “fun” whilst trying to blow your fucking minds, you could say business as usual, but really…it’ll be special, trust me!

I can’t stress enough how exclusive this will be! We will not add any more shows on top of the 6 that we’ve confirmed already, so please make up your mind early on whether you wanna go or not (of course you fucking do!) as I would assume there’s quite a few of our fans that might be interested in seeing a thing like this.

We’ll spend the better part of January-March rehearsing for this. All to make YOU fucking happy! OK, we’ll be tight, very tight indeed…come see us! It’s a celebration!!!!

At each show, the band will perform two sets. The first set will feature the band playing its breakthrough epic Blackwater Park in its entirety. The second set will consist of mixed material from the band’s extensive catalog. The band will be playing for over two hours at carefully selected venues in order to achieve an element of intimacy and exclusivity, and an overall “You had to be there” vibe!

The venues include the famed and prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London, as well as the luxurious Lichtburg in Essen, the oldest fully seated cinema in Germany.

The band will offer exclusive VIP ticket packages to all shows which include a laminated VIP pass exclusive to each show, access to sound check, a meet ‘n greet with Opeth, a t-shirt exclusive to that particular show, a signed tour programme and a special edition CD/DVD of Blackwater Park, with a 5.1 mix and a 30-minute, never-before-seen documentary all nicely packaged in a hard cover digipack designed by artist Travis Smith. The special edition will be released in March 2010 through Sony Music. All the Opeth loot will be included in an Opeth rucksack. The VIP laminate will also allow early access to venues without seat allocation so that VIP’s can get the best seats in the house.

Below are the dates and venues:

March 30 – Cirkus – Stockholm, Sweden
April 1 – Lichtburg – Essen, Germany
April 3 – Bataclan – Paris, France
April 5 – Royal Albert Hall – London, UK
April 7 – Terminal 5 – New York, NY
April 9 – The Wiltern – Los Angeles, CA

VIP and normal tickets will go on sale next week.

02-Dec-2009

Progressive Nation Shirts now available on our webstore

Progressive Nation shirts have now been added to our store, check out the new additions at our official Opeth Webstore

19-Nov-2009

Opeth mailinglist

Now you can subscribe to an official Opeth mailing list setup by Northern Music.

SUBSCRIBE HERE!

You can also find a link to the list in the main menu FAN AREA.

16-Nov-2009

Rock Stars and their pets

Djurens Rätt, Sweden's largest non-profit animal rights organisation asked if Axe and his cat Max would be interested in being photographed for a very special calendar of Rock Stars and their pets. Axe being a big animal lover didn't hesitate one second which resulted in Max & Axe being Misters July! Members of Amon Amarth, Crucified Barbara, Dead by April, Dia Psalma, Hammerfall, Mando Diao, Millencolin, Motörhead, Sonic Syndicate, The Hives & The Soundtrack of Our Live all had their pics taken with their pets as well so if you want to see a slightly different side of your favourite rock band we suggest you order one of these beauties right away.

Swedish fans can buy it here: www.djurensratt.se/kalender and if you live abroad you can go to: www.djurensratt.se/portal/page/portal/djurens_ratt/sidor/kalender/calendar (PayPal only)

All profit goes straight into the important work these nice people at Djurens Rätt do.

13-Nov-2009

NOTE Date chang for the shows in Greece

Opeth will appear in Thessaloniki on the 4th of December and on the 5th in Athens.

20-Oct-2009

Opeth in Greece!

Opeth will appear in Athens and Thessaloniki. For details about the gigs check out the TOURDATES section!

20-Oct-2009

Additional news on the bus crash

Mikael has update his myspace regarding the accident. Go to: http://www.myspace.com/mikaelakerfeldt

15-Oct-2009

Opeth's tour bus crashed

Opeth's tour bus crashed into another car that made an unexpected U-turn in the middle of the highway as the band (minus Åkerfeldt, Axenrot, Äkesson who had flown home to Sweden) and their crew were on the way to Brussels/Belgium. Nobody in the band or crew got hurt, but apparently the driver of the other car got critically injured. We'll have more information on the matter soon. Opeth will go ahead and play the Brussels date on the 17th as well as the remaining shows of the Progressive nation tour.

30-Sep-2009

Opeth in Belfast!

On the 12th of October Opeth will play in Belfast. As previously announced Opeth will appear in Dublin the day after on the 13th of October.

20-Sep-2009

Opeth in Japan and Australia!

Yes we can now confirm that Opeth will return to Japan and Australia in November this year. Click on tour dates to check out the dates!

07-Sep-2009

Please note venue change in Israel

Please note that the venue is Hangar 11 Tel-Aviv Port.

01-Sep-2009

Opeth in Israel!

We can now confirm that Opeth will play in Tel Aviv at the Hall 11A Exhibition Grounds on the 10th of November. Get your ticket here: http://www.hadran.co.il

22-Aug-2009

Opeth Silver Ring now available from the Omerch webstore

Exclusive Opeth Ring...925 Sterling silver ring.10mm wide and 1,6mm thick. The "O" logo and "Opeth" logo engraved in the surface on each side so you can decide what way to wear this. To order now visit the Omerch webstore or CLICK HERE

15-Aug-2009

European tour!

A bunch of dates has been added for the upcoming European tour with Dream Theater, Opeth, Bigelf & Unexpect. Check out the TOURDATES section!

24-Jul-2009

Dates added on the European tour

Three more dates has been announced for European tour with Dream Theater, Opeth, Bigelf & Unexpect. These are:

26th of September - Spektrum, Oslo - NO
27th of September - KB Hallen, Copenhagen - DEN
30th of September - Luczniczka Hall, Bydgoszcz - POL

17-Jul-2009

Omerch classic brand t-shirts. For a limited time buy 2 for £18

That's right, Omerch classic brand t-shirts, for a limited time buy 2 for £18. A real bargain make sure you get yours now by visiting the Omerch Webstore

Also the first limited edition Drew Millward t-shirt has nearly sold out. Place your order now to avoid disappointment CLICK HERE NOW

16-Jul-2009

The Lotus Eater on Sony PSP game Saints Row

We may not like playing video games all that much but we do like it when our music is featured on them! Makes us a bit proud even when it's a game as big as Saints Row for the PSP and even prouder when the nice developer people show excellent taste by picking "The Lotus Eater" for it. So if you love playing video games: the game is expected to hit the streets around March 2010.

24-Jun-2009

Opeth live on Swedish Radio!

Swedish Radio P3 will broadcast Opeth´s live concert in Malmo from this spring on June 24th 21.30 CET. Check out www.sr.se/p3/live.

19-Jun-2009

Win a signed Opeth Canvas

Win a Roundhouse DVD cover canvas, hand signed by ALL members of Opeth!

To enter simply answer this question: What is the name of the tour that Opeth will be joining Dream Theater on later this year?

Please name subject "Opeth" and include your full name and address on email.

Email your answer to info@omerch.com

Closing date 21/9/09. Winners will be notified by email.

19-Jun-2009

First Limited Edition Opeth Shirt Available NOW!

Omerch Ltd presents the first in a series of Limited Edition t-shirts. This shirt is based on a USA tour poster designed by artist Drew Millard.

The shirt is printed on a high quality garment and ONLY 500 of these will be made. Each shirt will come with an individually numbered swing tag and hand signed by a member of Opeth

CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW

14-Jun-2009

EUROPEAN TOUR

We can now confirm three UK dates for the upcoming European Tour 2009. The line-up is: Dream Theater, Opeth, Bigelf & Unexpect. The dates are: OCTOBER
09th - Apollo, Manchester - UK
10th - Wembley Arena, London - UK
11th - SECC, Glasgow - UK

26-May-2009

Candelight Records to release 3CD Opeth boxset in Europe

Opeth 3CD box set called "The Candlelight Years", which was originally released in Japan in June 2008 featuring the the band's first three albums, will be released in Europe on July 13th via Candlelight Records. To pre-order click HERE

18-May-2009

Mikael Akerfeldt impostors on Facebook!

Note that Mikael does not run or endorse any of the facebook pages made. It has come to our attention that some of these pages have adapted the "offical" slogan and is posing as if it's the actual Mikael running the page. This is not true and legal matters will be taken against this parasite behaviour. Do not write or post to these impostor pages. The only page actually endorsed and run by Mike is his official MySpace page.

13-Apr-2009

Thank you Chile!

OPETH EN CHILE 2009

07-Apr-2009

Vote Mike in the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards

Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt has been nominated in the ‘SHREDDER’ category at this years prestigious Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards which take place on June 15th at IndigO2 in London’s iconic O2 Dome.

To vote go to http://goldengods.metalhammer.co.uk and VOTE MIKE!

31-Mar-2009

Beware of fake tickets. Please read

It has been brought to our attention that the website http://www.opethtickets.com/ is offering tickets for upcoming Opeth shows.

The tickets they are selling are fake, the band and their management strongly recommend that you do not purchase tickets from this site.

26-Mar-2009

DREAM THEATER TO TAKE THEIR “PROGRESSIVE NATION 2009” TOUR TO EUROPE / UK IN THE FALL WITH SPECI

New York progressive metal veterans DREAM THEATER will take their PROGRESSIVE NATION tour overseas for the first time with a run through Europe and the UK throughout Sept, Oct and Nov 2009.

PROGRESSIVE NATION founder and mastermind, DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy, once again hand-picked the bands based on musicianship, originality and diversity…not necessarily by popularity and marquee value. He comments: “After the excitement of putting together two very cool PROGRESSIVE NATION packages for North America, I knew it was time to bring the concept overseas and share some of these other great bands with our amazing fans throughout Europe and the UK”.

Joining the tour will be DT’s tourmates from PN08 (and Roadrunner Records labelmates), the legendary OPETH from Stockholm Sweden. Vocalist/Guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt was excited to partake in another PROGRESSIVE NATION experience: "Once my man "The Port" suggested they're going to bring PROGRESSIVE NATION over to Europe, I more or less begged him to get us on it, haha! We had such a great time doing it in North America and it did many great things for us as a band. It's fair to say that I can't wait to get going with this one. It will be a blast, believe me!!”

Los Angeles band BIGELF will bring their unique brand of psychedelic, progressive hard rock to PN09. Vocalist/Keyboardist Damon Fox adds: "When I first met Mike Portnoy, I felt like we were cut from the same cloth, a brother from another mother. We could talk rock & roll for eons (we probably will on tour, hell yeah!). Being added to the PROGRESSIVE NATION tour feels like the planets have aligned for us and the elves have finally come home to Rivendell. The mentality of Dream Theater and PROGRESSIVE NATION reminds me of a quote from the great Willy Wonka, "There is no life I know to compare with pure imagination. Living there, you'll be free if you truly wish to be..." We eagerly await our return to Northern Europe and on a special note, we have never performed in England. This has driven us completely mad over the years. We are just brimming with passion and excitement to be able to bring our music back to the homeland which has inspired us so deeply.”

Opening the show each night will be Canada’s UNEXPECT who will surely blow people’s minds with their insane musicianship and avant garde style of extreme progressive metal. Guitarist Syriak had this to say: "How can we rationally express that crazy excitement we feel about this awesome turn of events…Upon getting offered by Mike to be on board this amazing prog vessel, we accepted at once to participate and add our own mad musical touch to the crew! Being part of the European leg of PN09 is an extreme honor for us and playing in company of such talented musicians shall be a true and heartfelt enjoyment! See you all on stage guys!! "

The European leg of PROGRESSIVE NATION will follow on the heals of the North American version of PN09 which will run throughout July & Aug 2009 in the US and Canada featuring DREAM THEATER, ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA, PAIN OF SALVATION and BEARDFISH.

PROGRESSIVE NATION’s successful inaugural run throughout North America in 2008 featured OPETH, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME and THREE.

A festival and headlining run of Europe in June, followed by the two PN09 tours will be the first treks across the globe for DREAM THEATER in support of their newest Roadrunner Records release “Black Clouds & Silver Linings” which is slated for a late June 2009 release.

For more information, including dates to be announced soon, visit: www.progressivenation2009.com(coming soon) www.dreamtheater.net www.myspace.com/dreamtheater

24-Mar-2009

Summer festival dates added!

Opeth will play the annual Download festival in Donington, UK. Other bands on the bill is Korn, Def Leppard, Whitesnake, Slipknot, Faith no more, Marilyn Manson just to mention a few... For a complete list of all the bands go to: www.downloadfestival.co.uk/home/

Opeth will also appear at the Lowland festival in the Netherlands. All summer festival dates can be viewed under the TOURDATES section.

12-Mar-2009

Opeth adds an extra date in Mexico

The Opeth gig in Mexico D.F. on the 29th is sold out. Cheers to all the Opeth fans in Mexico! To please all the fans in Mexico Opeth is adding an extra date in Mexico D.F. The extra gig will happen on the 30th of March.

11-Mar-2009

Tonight´s show sold out!

Tonight's show in Trondheim Norway is sold out. A huge THANK YOU to all the fans in Trondheim! Have a great Opeth night!

10-Mar-2009

SVT was in Dubai with Opeth

Swedish Television (SVT) followed Opeth to Dubai and the report will be shown in a program called Kobra on the 24th of March, 21.30.

Read more about Kobra and the episode here. (Swedish only)

05-Mar-2009

Opeth cancel Tel Aviv show

It is with deep regret that Opeth have had to cancel their show in Tel Aviv , Israel due to the fact that it became logistically impossible to deliver gear and backline to Israel and have it clear customs in time for the show

The band hopes to be able to play in Israel later in the year when their schedule is less heavy time wise allowing sufficient time for freighting necessary equipment

We send our sincere apologies to our fans Israel

24-Feb-2009

New concert dates added!

In April Opeth will visit Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece. They will also appear in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Eskisehir in Turkey also in April. In May they will play three festivals in Germany and in June they return to Germany for a gig in Munster. On the 21st of June they head off to Spain for the Metal way festival in Zaragoza.

For venue and dates, please click on TOURDATES.

16-Feb-2009

Opeth at Provinssirock!

On the 13th of June Opeth return to Finland for Provinssirock. For info and tickets visit: www.provinssirock.net

11-Feb-2009

The concerts in Oslo and Bergen are SOLD OUT!

Thanks to all the fans in Oslo and Bergen!
You can still catch the guys in:
11th of March - Trondheim, Samfundet
12th of March - Volda, Rokken
13th of March - Sognadal, Mejeriet
15th of March - Stavanger, Folken
17th of March - Kristiansand, Kick
18th of March - Drammen, Union Scene

09-Feb-2009

Concert review from India!

Screen print from "DNA Mumbai today" 1st of February, 2009. Credit to: Rasik Srinath and Indraneal B.

09-Feb-2009

Opeth in Israel!

Opeth will appear in Tel Aviv, Theatre Club on the 13th of April.

09-Feb-2009

Burden and Coil LIVE

At 03:00 AM Opeth headed out to the TV4 studio and preformed Coil with Nathalie Lorichs and Burden.

See the clip here!
Coil
Burden

29-Jan-2009

US Tickets!

Tickets will go on sale on the 29th of January @ 3pm-local time.

Get you Opeth ticket here!

28-Jan-2009

Opeth show you how to play Heir Apparent

Watch Mikael and Fredrik take you through the seven-minute epic 'Heir Apparent' on www.musicradar.com

28-Jan-2009

Opeth appears in the Swedish channel 4

Opeth will appear at TV4's morning show on the 9th of February. They will play two songs from Watershed.

28-Jan-2009

Opeth - Headline US Tour

Roadrunner press release:
After a stellar 2008 that found the band´s most recent release, Watershed, atop many critical "best of" lists, Swedish metal gods will return to the US for a third tour run. The tour -their third in support of Watershed, which earned the band the best reviews of its career- will kick off on May 1 and will be sponsored by Decibel Magazine. Enslaved have been confirmed as direct support.

Check out the dates under TOURDATES!

Tickets will go on sale on the 29th of January @ 3pm-local time. Get you Opeth ticket here!

16-Jan-2009

Saarang Festival, India ticket sales link

Tickets for the bands forthcoming show on the 25th January at the Saarang Festival in India can be bought by clicking HERE

08-Jan-2009

NOTE - Norwegian dates corrected

Please note that some of the dates have been corrected. Check them out under TOURDATES.

06-Jan-2009

South American dates confirmed!

Opeth will visit Monterrey, México, Bogota, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile and São Paulo between the 28th of March and April 5th. Check out all the details under TOURDATES in the main menu.

06-Jan-2009

Opeth in Norway!

Opeth will visit eight cities across the beautiful country Norway. They will start of in Oslo on the 10th of March and end in Drammen on the 18th. For all details click on TOURDATES in the main menu.

02-Jan-2009

NAMM fare signing session!!!

Mikael and Fredrik will be brought over by their endorsing guitar company, the great PRS guitar company, for a signing session as well as a exclusive little Q&A thingie at this years NAMM music fare in Anaheim, California. The signing session will take place at the PRS Booth (#5320, Hall B) on Saturday, Jan 17th from 12:30pm - 1:15pm And the exclusive Artist Q&A session on Saturday at 4:30pm in the PRS booth.