2002-2004 Archived News

September 2004

The members of Opeth want to express their shock and sorrow in light of the recent tragic death of Pantera / Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrel. Condoleances goes out to his family and especially his brother Vinne Paul who we hear is wounded but alive. We hope for a swift recovery. Things like this should not happen!

More Opeth "family" related news.
On the 21st of August Peter Lindgren got married with his longtime girlfriend Jessica Svensson at Gålögården outside Stockholm. Pictures coming (hopefully) soon! Congartulations!

Mikael Åkerfeldt's wife, Anna gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl on the evening of Monday the 13th. This is the couple's first baby, and also the first born child within the Opeth camp. Their daughter's name? Melinda Åkerfeldt (of course)!! Weight: 3290 grams, height: 50 centimeters.

Opeth's management, Northern music are still negotiating with several recordlabels. At this point there are no information about who might be the (lucky) label that gets to release the next Opeth opus. Speaking of which is currently being written (between changing diapers) at the Akerfeldt household. Hopefully to be recorded in the late Spring of 2005.

Opeth have secured a endorsement co-operation with Seymour Duncan pickups. Mikael is already using their SH-10 pickup on 2 of his PRS guitars.

Opeth session keyboardist Per Wiberg has laid down his keyboard tracks at Studio Fredman for the new, upcoming Spiritual beggars album. Due for release late this year or early 2005. He's also recently embarked on a shorter North-Swedish tour with legendary blues band, Sky High, led by famed guitarist Claes Yngström.

Bloodbath will soon release their second full length Cd, "Nightmares made flesh" at the end of September. Although Mikael has stepped down from the vocal position in favour of Peter Tägtgren it is still very much a endorsed release by the Opeth camp!

Peaceville records have slight, though yet unconfirmed plans to release a 5.1 surround sound mix re-release of Opeth's 4th album, "Still life". More information as we have it.
"Opeth's DVD, "Lamentations - Live at Shepards Bush empire" has reached Gold status in Canada! Thanks guys!!!

Opeth have secured a endorsement co-operation with Seymour Duncan pickups. Mikael is already using their SH-10 pickup on 2 of his PRS guitars.

August 2004

Music for nations have now officially closed their doors. Opeth have luckily been dropped from BMG/Zomba and is looking through new offers at the moment.

Opeth have now finished over 16 months of touring. The last gig (until next time) was done in Sölvesborg/Sweden rock festival. The band also played the massive Download festival in the UK a few days before. All members will now take a well deserved break during the Summer. Thanks to ALL the fans for your support during the last 2 years!

Mikael Åkerfeldt has started writing for what is supposed to be the next Opeth album. Hopefully to be recorded sometime in the early Spring of 2005.
Music for nations is likely to close their doors within a near future, leaving their roster in the hands of BMG. What will happen to the bands is so far unknown, but it's possible that Opeth will be without a record contract in the near future. This is an effect of the massive merge between Zomba records and BMG.

Sad news... Quorthon from the legendary Swedish band Bathory was found dead in the beginning of June. All members of Opeth wish to express their sincere regards to his memory and family.

June 2004

Mikael Åkerfeldt recently visited No man studios in Hemel Hampstead/UK to lay down some guitars + backing vocals for the next, yet untitled Porcupine Tree record. Mikael plays guitar on one track and sings backing vocals on another five songs. Album is due for release late this year.

Thanks in advance for all the drawings that's been sent in. You rule! There's been some pictures that already's been sorted in the "possible use" cabinet. Keep 'em coming!

It is likely that Opeth will put out an audio version of the Shepard's Bush (DVD) concert. If this becomes a reality, there will be some fantastic and super-exclusive extra features!

Also, keep your eyes open for Michail Korge.

Maj 2004

Opeth just returned home from Australia where the band unertook their last tour in support of Deliverance and Damnation. All 6 concerts were fantastic and the support from the crowd was overwhelming! Almost 1800 people came to the Sydney show at the Enmore theater, and the 2 first Melbourne gigs were both sold out! Great attendance everywhere really! Thank you very much!

Opeth are confirmed to play the prestigious Download festival in the UK. The festival is located at Donington Park, the site of the legendary Monsters of Rock festival. The band will play on the 5th of June. More good news? Metallica are headlining! Check out www.downloadfestival.co.uk. This is one out of 2 festival appearances for Opeth this Summer, the other one being the Sweden Rock fest in the south of Sweden. Check out www.swedenrock.com for more details.

We want your drawings!! The idea for the next Opeth album is to have drawn (black/white) pictures of the band members as opposed to a photograph. Are you a skilled artist? Please send us your work at info@opeth.com. Think Rainbow's "Long live rock n' roll" and you'll get the idea on what we're after!

March 2004

Opeth recently returned home from their 4th North American tour in support of their "double D" and the "Lamentations" DVD. The band was supported during the 6 + weeks by legendary Portugese band Moonspell as well as new found band Devil driver. Overall this was Opeth's most succesfull tour in terms of attendance. However, it didn't start well.

Due to delayed flights and sheer unprofessional behaviour from the Lufthansa airline, Opeth missed the first concert in Edmonton, Canada.

And due to Martin Lopez's mental state, the band had to do 2 shows without him. Filling in for 5 songs in Calgary, Canada was Opeth's longtime drum tech, Damon Dougherty. The band performed 5 songs with Damon. In Vancouver, Canada, the band did the same 5 songs with Damon as well as played "The drapery falls" and "Demon of the fall" with drum legend Gene Hoglan!

Martin Lopez is now feeling much better and does on behalf of the band apologize for the cancelled gigs + the concerts he could not attend. Now everything is completely back to normal! Doctor's have found the reason for his state and he's now on medication.

Only 2 days after returning home from the North American tour, Opeth had another 3 gigs scheduled in Budapest/Hungary as well as in Thessaloniki and Athens/Greece. All three shows we're sold out!

The plagued scheduling of Opeth's first middle eastern show in Amman/Jordan has again lost it's track. The band was supposed to play in Amman on the 12th of March but the promotor of the show decided to cancel the gig as he didn't think the date was good enough. Opeth sincerely apologize to all fans who had been looking forward to this event, and hope that whenever a new opportunity rises, the fans in Jordan and all countries nearby will come and support them.

Opeth were nominated for a Swedish grammy award for the "Damnation" record. This was the 3rd year in a row that Opeth recieved nominations. The band picked up the award in 2003 for the "Deliverance" album, but this year the award went to The Haunted for their "One kill wonder" album.

The band are turning down offers for Summer festival slots due to a well deserved upcoming rest. The only festival scheduled is the classic Sweden Rock festival in the south of Sweden. Appearing on the bill apart from Opeth are acts such as: Judas Priest, Scorpions, Dio, Europe, White lion etc....not exactly Download or Ozzfest in other words.

Opeth are leaving on the 20th of March for their last tour of 2004. 6 gigs in Australia have been arranged and are selling well. Support on some of the shows will come from Oz band, Dungeon.

Mikael Åkerfeldt and the band will go into writing mode sometime in May of this year.

The "Lamentations - Live at Shepards Bush empire" DVD has entered the official charts in America (# 15) and in Canada (# 5). Pretty amazing!

THANKS to all Opeth fans for pictures, designs, tattoos etc. They will be published here on the official site/Fan section within a week or two. Please be patience!

The promoter has cancelled the gig in Jordan/Amman. The promoter wants to move the gig and Opeth wants to do the gig now on the 12th of march. Therefore this cancellation. We want to make clear that the cancellation is not down to the band.

January 2004

Edmonton
Due to routing /plane tickets its highly unlikely that the gig in Edmonton will be rescheduled.

Opeth has once again been nominated to the Swedish Grammy award in the category best Rock/Metal act of the year. This is the third year in a row that Opeth has been nominated. Last year they won the award for their 6th album Deliverance. This year Damnation are nominated. The nominees in this category are apart from Opeth, Backyard Babies, Evergrey, The Haunted and Mustasch. Keep your fingers crossed on the 9th of february!

JORDAN gig confirmed!
On the 12th of march Opeth will appear in Amman at the Al-Arena Theatre.

Good news!
Lopez is feeling much better and joined the band in Seattle! Due to Lopez sickness Opeth were forced to cancelled the gig in Edmonton. In Calgary and Vancouver Opeth played a reduced set.

December 2003

Opeth are confirmed to play the annual Sweden Rock festival in Karlshamn/Sölvesborg in July 2004. The festival will be one of very few FESTIVAL appearances during 2004 as the band will be in resting/writing and eventually recording mode. Sweden Rock is headlined by the newly reformed, Halford fronted Judas Priest among others.

We have a new section on the official site dedicated to YOUR pictures, artwork etc. Due to numerous people showing the guys their Opeth tattoos, we also have a section where we flaunt YOUR tattoos on the official site. Please send them in (jpegs) along with your names and maybe a short story on why you decided to get this ink done. Also…have you met Opeth and got some pictures taken with them? Send ‘em in an’ we’ll put ‘em up!” Reach us at: info@opeth.com

Rumour say that the Jordan/Amman gig has been rescheduled to take place on March 12, 2004! We will confirm this as soon as possible!

The upcoming USA tour will feature support from American band Devil driver as well as Portuguese legends, Moonspell.

Martin Lopez is now in a much better state. As expected, the doctor's ordered a few weeks of relaxation due to overload of stress!

November 2003

Jordan gig cancelled!
Opeth have been forced to cancel yet another gig due to sickness. Here's what Mikael has to say:

"It's seem to be a dark spell upon Opeth at this moment. First Chile and now Jordan. I'm in a terrible state myself right now but will try to explain to you our reasons for cancelling.

Martin Lopez called me 10 minutes before I was supposed to get in the cab for the airport saying he couldn't go. He's suffered a stress related breakdown and said he simply couldn't do this. We've never cancelled a gig ever before due to the state of the band, so I knew he was serious when he said this. He has a doctors appointment and my guess is that he's suffering from panic or anxiety attacks. This is the reason why we decided to cancel this gig in Amman, Jordan.

Yesterday our entire (all but one) crew dropped off due to the recent terrorist attacks. See, our crew is from the UK and were worried they'd be going into trouble. So at one point we had no crew, and the gig was in danger of being cancelled. After close talk with Mute recods we decided that we'll go anyways regardless if we had enough crew guys or not, and now this!!

I want to stress out to all the fans that has travelled high and low to get to the venue in Amman that we are beyond sorry! I can't tell you how bad we feel about this. We sincerely hope that we'll get another chance to do a gig in Jordan soon, in fact we are trying to talk to Mute records about that possibility. All of us really looked forward to going to Amman, not only becuase of the gig but also because there was a day set out for us to do some serious sightseeing of your country.

These are dark times for Opeth and it seems like the circumstances got the best of us this time. We've done over 150 gigs this year I believe so in a way I'm not surprised.

As I'm writing this I've just got informed about a death in the Akerfeldt family so my mind is not what it should be. I'm trying to keep it together here and explain to you, and apologize for all the problems we've caused.

Anyways, we love you all and again, we're so sorry!! I'm gonna post something about Martin Lopez state as soon as I know myself."

Best regards
Mikael

Official excuse + explanations for the cancelled gigs in Santiago/Chile.
We are very sorry for this, but I want to stress out that situation was out of our hands. We went to Mexico in order to do that gig + go to Santiago for another two. We we're all very excited about this!! Please don't think that we deliberately wanted this. Would you travel for 15 hours just to cancel gigs??

Reason is the sheer incompetence of the Mexican and Chilean promoters. I believe they're called Edge Entertainment, Carlo Hernandez. He had given us a flight routing to Chile that was impossible for us to make. We had a contract for a straight flight there. On the day of the gig in Mexico Carlo Hernandez revealed that we we're on a flight bound for Costa Rica at 5 in the morning where we would have to spend 12 hours in a transit hall. And he wanted us to leave instantly after the Mexico city gig. Carlo Hernandez deliberately kept the flight details a secret until the very last minute thinking that the stress factor might have us go regardless of what kind of trip it would be. On top of this we never got paid the money for the 3 gigs. We're told it was being paid but never saw a receipt.

The return flight would have us getting off in Lima/Peru to change flights. The leeway to next flight would have been less than an hour to get 9 people + 20 or so items through customs and checked in to the next flight. This is obviously impossible!

We always intended to go to Chile. I hope you understand this! Carlo Hernandez offered to try and fix new tickets during Sunday morning. He got back to us saying we've got tickets Monday morning. Fine!! So, as we're getting ready to go, Carlo Hernandez calls yet once again saying that now, all of a sudden we DON'T have the tickets anymore...that they're sorry!

I am so sorry that Carlo Hernandez have made this mess. As always, we'll take the blame personally anyways, but we want you to know that this was out of our hands and that we ALWAYS intended and really looked forward to going to Santiago and Chile.

We sincerely hope that we can make this up to you in a near future.

Best regards
Mikael
on behalf of Opeth

Mikael will be featured as a guest vocalist on the new album by Ayreon entitled "The human equation". Mike has already recorded vocals and screams (indeed) on 8 tracks. Recordings took place last week (6/11) at mastermind Arjen Lucassen's home studio in Holland. Check out www.ayreon.com for futher information.

Opeth recently returned from their first ever Scandinavian tour. The band performed live in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. The Finns finally had a chance to see the band live in concert for the first time ever, and Opeth tried to repay their "debt" by playing a set over 2:20 minutes long in Helsinki. Surprise for this tour was the inclusion of "April ethereal" from the 1997 album "My arms your hearse". This has only been played live twice before back in 1997.

The long awaited DVD, "Lamentations - Live at Shepards Bush empire" will be released in late November through Music for nations. American release is set for the end of February 2004. Candlelight records have re-issued the 3 first Opeth albums (Orchid, Morningrise, My arms your hearse) in embossed tin-can editions. This is a very limited release and they're available now!

Since Opeth have been in North America 3 times in support of Deliverance and Damnation there will be some drastic changes in the band's live set list for the upcoming 2004 tour. To keep the interest from the fans the band will pull out a series of never before played numbers from albums past and present. Some songs up for rehearsals are "The moor", "Nectar" and "Blackwater park" amongs others. We'll see which songs that make it to the stage.

2004
Before the band start on their next album they will hopefully be playing Greece, Turkey and USA in Jan, Feb and March.

Australia - re schedule
Opeth have had to re schedule their previously announced Australian tour scheduled for December because the price of flights to Australia were ridiculously expensive due to the time of year making the tour uneconomical.

The dates will be re scheduled for the last week of March 2004.Dates will be posted shortly.We will also be attempting to include Perth if possible this time.

Israel
Yes, the band are playing a Damnation set in Jordan but it is not logistically possible time wise to play Israel as well and generally we feel that at this time it is not safe for the band to go there. Be assured when it is the band will come.

Andy Farrow, Northern Music Company

October 2003

Australia
Whilst there has been a lot of demand to play Perth on the forthcoming Damnation tour, despite a great gig there on the Deliverance tour it will not be possible to play Perth this time round because it is not financially viable. As it is the current tour is not breaking even and it is vital that any percentage breaks help fund the tour. We have been advised by the promoter that to play Perth will result in further losses. We hope to be able to get the band to Perth the next time they play Australia.

Thanks for your support! Opeth have spent the weekend supervising the pre-mix of the live tracks recorded on the 25th in London. "Deliverance" mixer and co-producer Andy Sneap will take care of the final mix. The as of yet untitled DVD will contain both the mellow and heavy set with a running time of approximately an hour each, as well as a unique 65 minute documentary about the band with in depth focus on the recording of Deliverance and Damnation. It will also include excusive interviews with the band and producer.

Rumours say a 2Cd live album will be issued as well in the coming months.

The band are currently in between tours and are concentration on the DVD as well as rehearsals for the upcoming Scandinavian tour starting on October 15 in Helsinki, Finland. The set list will consist of songs from Opeth's entire career.

South American dates have been confirmed for mid November. There will unfortinately only be gigs in Chile and Mexico. We will post them here as soon as possible.

The Australian tour will start in Adelaide on the 9th of December and finish with 3 (13th, 14th & 15th) nights at the Hi-fi in Melbourne.

Huge Opeth interview in Metal Rules! Magazine issue #17! Visit www.metalrulesmagazine.com for order info or email Jeff - jrappaport249909@comcast.net for a store near you!

September 2003

Opeth's European "Damnation" tour starts tomorrow (22 september) in Gothenbourg. Actually, the 2 first gigs (Gothenbourg & Stockholm) are warm up gigs for the London show where the band will perform 2 sets (one mellow, one heavy) based on the Music for nations catalogue releases. These 3 gigs obviously being nothing less than exclusive. After London Opeth will return to playing the softer set throughout Europe. No confirmed support band has been announced as Opeth will have local support acts.

The Scandinavian tour starting on the 15th of October will feature Norwegian band Extol on a few dates, Dan Swanö's Nightingale on a few + local support. More info as we have it.

Opeth have been offered to perform in Jordan, and rumours say that the band has agreed to the gig which will take place sometime in November. We have no more information at this point, but if the gig becomes a reality Opeth will be the first metal band to play in Jordan. Obviously you'll know more as we get the info.

A Australian tour in support of "Damnation" will take place in the first 3 weeks of December. We'll post a complete list of gigs here soon.

South American gigs have been discussed and will soon be confirmed for November.

Another North American tour is being planned for January/February 2004.

Opeth will possibly enter the studio to record the follow up to Deliverance and Damnation late in 2004.

August 2003

Opeth recently returned home from their last North American tour with Porcupine tree. This was the first tour in support of their latest album "Damnation" and in comparison to any previous tours the set list was a bit different:
Windowpane
In my time of need
Death whispered a lullaby
Closure
Hope leaves
To rid the disease
Ending credits
Weakness
-------------------
Benighted
To bid you farewell
Soldier of fortune (Deep Purple cover)
Face of Melinda

Nice huh? This is the first time that the band has stricktly concentrated on their mellower side.

The band wish to extend their regards to Porcupine tree as well as the Opeth and PT fans for making this tour so successful. Mikael took over the vocal duties during Porcupine tree's last gig on the NA tour which took place in Seattle. The song? "A smart kid" off of the Stupid dream album.

An European "Damnation" tour for September is being planned at the monent. More info as we have them.

A Scandinavian tour is confirmed for October/November. Dates here soon!

Australian "Damnation" tour will take place in December this year.

The band are currently enjoying their first proper time off since November 2002. This was granted them because of Mikael's wedding on the 15th of August.

New album....no information yet!

July 2003

Apologies for the cancellations in Finland
Dear friends
We are extremely sorry that we had to cancel the two festivals in Finland. Reason is that we have to rehearse for the upcoming US tour. Might seem to be a lame reason I know, but we have been so busy touring this year that we only have say 4-5 days off in between tours. As you know the US tour is not more important because it's in the US, it is because it will be a whole new live gig for us. We'll have acoustic guitars, a keyboard player ( a new member in a way) and all the songs we're gonna play we've never played live before. It is very hard for us to keep up with the demand for gigs especially since we did two albums in a row.

However, a Scandinavian tour is in the making and Finland is our number one priority for obvious reasons. Look at it this way, instead of a 4 song 50 minute festival set you'll get a full hour and a half and also you'll get some of those songs that we've never played live before.

We all sincerely hope that you'll still come and see us once we finally get over to Finland. Please don't hold this against us, even though we understand you're pissed off and you payed a lot of money for those tickets. Somehow we'll try and repay you for this fuck up, hell, we'd even take requests to please you.

And last but not least, please refrain from all the "we're gonna kill you" comments. I think that's uncalled for. Again, we're fucking really sorry for this, but hope to see you in the fall.
Cheers
Mike on behalf of Opeth

Opeth Tusku Festival Helsinki 11th July/ Illosaarirock Joensuu 12th July
It is with regret that Opeth will have to withdraw from performing at the above two festivals. The reason for this is that with the bands schedule of touring and promoting two albums at once ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Damnation’ has meant that there hasn’t been enough time for the band to probably rehearse for their upcoming Damnation US tour which begins in Canada on 15th July. This set involves the implementation of a keyboard player who due to other band commitments is only available on certain times. This fact coupled with the fact that the band would have to fly directly to the US from Finland with 2 sets of instruments one for the Deliverance set and one for the Damnation set would mean huge excess baggage charges on the flight and thereby making it logistically and financially impossible.

This fact coupled with the fact that the band would have to fly directly to the US from Finland with 2 sets of instruments one for the Deliverance set and one for the Damnation set would mean huge excess baggage charges on the flight and thereby making it logistically and financially impossible.

Sincere Apologies
Andy Farrow

We can now reveal that Opeth are going to appear in Finland and this will happen in october! More than one date are on the list... As soon as we know more it will be posted here on the official site. Please be patience!

June 2003

Opeth just returned home from the second leg of their Deliverance tour, this one christened the "A fair judgement tour" The band did about 4 weeks in the US with support act Lacuna coil. Thanks once again to all the fans showing their support for Opeth by coming to the shows.

And more US related news. Opeth will now definately return to North American shores to play a few gigs in support of the semi-legendary "Damnation" record. The band will play some exclusive shows around the bigger cities of the continent between the 15th of July and the 5th of August. More good news...the tour will be a co-headline jaunt with Porcupine Tree. As most of you guys know, this is the band led by Opeth's producer, Steven Wilson. This, our friends, nothing less than exclusive. Make sure to get your tickets as soon as possible as the interest in this tour is going through the roof. For this upcoming trip Opeth have recruited Hammond organ/keyboard legend Per Wiberg, most famous for his work with Spiritual beggars.

The gigs themselves will not feature any of the heavier material that Opeth is most famous for. Instead the crowd will be treated with their more mellow opuses. It is rumoured that Morningrise classic, "To bid you farewell" is in the setlist. This track obviously has never been played live before. The band is also rehearsing more of the older "balladlike" tracks, in order to please old and new fans alike.

Opeth recently appeared on Swedish major TV channel TV4 playing two tracks live for the morning TV section. The two songs were "In my time of need" as well as "To rid the disease".

"Damnation" entered the prestigious Billboard charts in North America at # 192. And is advancing slowly to the number one spot!

A Scandinavian tour is also in the making as you read. The band will cover Sweden/Norway/Finalnd and Denmark sometime in October and November. Stay tuned for more news on this.

May 2003

Tour plans
In July Opeth will return to the USA supporting their 7th album "Damnation". This time Opeth will be going on tour with Porcupine Tree! Tour dates have not yet been confirmed and the dates that you will find under the Upcoming gigs! section are subject to change!

Opeth has a hectic tour schedule and after the tour in the USA, with Porcupine Tree, rumours are floating around that they will be heading off to Europe. After that plans are that Opeth will do a Scandinavian tour. A visit in South America later this year may come true, but nothing is confirmed. Japan, and again, a visit to Australian is also being planned. As soon as we know more... it will be posted here!

Mikael Åkerfeldt and Martin Lopez have done an interview with Headbangers ball in the USA when they played New England Hardcore and Metal fest. So if you live in the USA make sure to watch it! As a thread in the Opeth forum stated it will be aired on the 25th of march.

In related news we can tell you that opeth.com has an average of 17.000 visitors/week since November last year! Thanks for visiting the site!

April 2003

Touring plans are piling up for the band who just returned home from a European tour (with Madder mortem). We'll frequently update the website for all the confirmed dates. Several Summer festivals will be confirmed as will the tour for the "Damnation" album.

Rumours say that Mikael Akerfeldt and Steven Wilson plan to participate in a Linda Perhacs (early 70´s US singer songwriter) tribute. The duo is said to be thinking about covering a song from her one and only album, 1970´s "Parallelograms"

"Damnation", like "Deliverance" will be released as a limited edition digipak version (around 20000 copies) as well as a standard jewel case edition. For vinyl freaks we can now reveal that MFN will also print a 1000 copies of virgin vinyl/gatefold sleeved Lp's. As for a vinyl release of "Deliverance", there are no actual plans although Relapse records have shown great interest, as have some smaller labels.

The "Still day beneath the sun"/"Patterns in the ivy 2" vinyl ep released through the Robotic empire label is sold out and out of print. The 1250 copies sold out within a week making this item a real collector's item. And to make things even better...out of the 1250 copies, 150 was made on grey wax. Check www.ebay.com

Peaceville records have put out 2nd reissue of the "Still life" album. The stock of the original + reissued album are completely sold out and the new version boasts a high gloss digipak package. No extra tracks are added though.

Australian Tour - Ticket Info!
Brisbane- Skinny's,Rocking Horse & The Arena Ph 3252 5690
Sydney- The Metro Box Office Ph Chg 9287 2000 or www.metrotheatre.com.au
Adelaide- Venue*Tix & CIB Ticketing
Melbourne- The Corner Ph 9427 9198, Missing Link & Gaslight

March 2003

Czech and Polish festivals are confirmed:
April 5th Katowice Spodek
April 6th Ostrava Sport Hall

Opeth will appear at the Oslo Inferno festival at the 19th of April.

Two festivals in finland are also confirmed:
11th July Helsinki Tusku Festival
12th July Joensuu Ilosaari Festival

February 2003

Opeth, Deliverance won the Swedish Grammy!!! Opeth was awarded for the second year in row in the category best Rock/Metal act of the year.

Opeth recently returned home from the first leg of the North American "Deliverance" tour. Second leg will start in May. Out of the 14 shows the band did, 10 was sold out, and all 14 very successful. The setlist:
Intro, The leper affinity, Advent, Deliverance, The drapery falls, Godhead's lament (changed to Serenity painted death for the last 2 shows), Credence, Bleak, A fair judgement + Demon of the fall. Opeth wish to express their appreciation for all the fans showing up at these gigs. Still, no rest for the wicked...European tour kicks off in Paris on Sunday the 9th of February.

A newly found Music award, the P3 Gold Radio award (biggest station in Sweden) has awarded Opeth & "Deliverance" as best "Rock/Metal" of the year. The nominees in this category were apart from Opeth, Hammerfall, In flames, the Hellacopters + Totalt jävla mörker. Unable to pick up the price, Mikael made a brief "thank you" speech on the phone from somewhere in Kansas. Check out P3 gold/Swedish radio website at:www.sr.se/p3/p3guld.
You can even listen to Mike's speech and the whole event if you click on the links to the right.(Swedish only)

In related "nominee" news, Opeth have also been nominated in the Rock/Metal category for the Swedish grammys. Second year in row. Keep your fingers crossed.

"Damnation" will probably be pushed back to a May release, as the bands hectic tour schedule will interfere with the intended March/April release date.

January 2003

Madder Mortem has been confirmed for the support slot on the upcoming European tour. Their new album "Deadlands" is out now. M. Åkerfeldt himself highly recommends this piece! A second support act will most likely be confirmed during the coming month.

December 2002

Lacuna coil have dropped off the upcoming North American tour due to problems getting the required work permits. The final and complete line up for this short but intensive trek is Opeth, Paradise Lost and openers Tapping the vein. Get your tickets now, some shows have already sold out!

Opeth just returned home from a highly successful trip that took the band to London/UK where they headlined the Astoria 2/Mean fiddler to a nearly sold out venue. On the 6th the band also did their first ever Greek gig at the Rodon in Athens. Again, the venue was close to sold out, and the band who were alone on the bill has expressed a newfound devotion for the Greek fans and are citing this gig as one of their top 3 performances ever.

A heartful "thank you" to the fans that attended these 2 shows. A cancellation was extremely close as Mikael had become ill just days before the shows. A doctors appointment and a few painkillers got him in good enough shape to undertake the concerts and he's now resting back home.

A approximately 2 week US tour will soon be confirmed. This will be a "coast to coast" venture where Opeth will headline with support from Paradise lost and Lacuna coil + a third yet unnamned act. All info about the gigs/venues will be posted here as it is 100% confirmed. However, the planned tour will start on the east coast around the 17th of January. Make sure to be there!

As for Europe, Opeth will do a full European tour starting in February and throughout March. Support act is yet to be announced but rumour has it that Nile and Madder mortem has shown interest. Interesting huh? Check this spot for more news. "Deliverance" entered the Billboard "little sister", the so-called "Heatseeker" chart in the US at number 14. The Cd has also gotten in several other charts as well in Sweden, UK, Holland and more. This is the first time ever since Opeth have had a charting release. Steven Wilson has done a 2nd remix of the already cult status-like album "Damnation". And Travis Smith are about to finish off his duties with the artwork which reportedly will be similar to the one of "Deliverance". Songtitles can now also be confirmed:

1. Windowpane
2. In my time of need
3. Death whispered a lullaby
4. Closure
5. Hope leaves
6. To rid the disease
7. Ending credits
8. Weakness
The album is set for a March/April 2003 release.

November 2002

The finishing touches to "Damnation" (vocals and some guitars) was recorded early October at No mans land studios, London by Steven Wilson who will also mix the album. The album is set for a March 2003 release worldwide. Reportedly the material for this album sounds “nothing like anything we’ve ever done before”, has a “strong 70´s vibe both in material and production”.

Two gigs have been confirmed!
Opeth will play at the Mean Fiddler/Astoria 2 on the 4th of December together with Akkercocke + another tba support band. And finally Athens/Greece will be visited by the boys. A yet unnamed venue will be filled with Opeth music on the evening of December the 6th.

Proper worldwide touring will take place in 2003. Opeth plan to do one full worldwide tour concentrating on their heavier material with some extra weight on the new “Deliverance” album.

As for the “Damnation” tour there will be fewer and more exclusive gigs where Opeth will concentrate on the new mellow album as well as doing some remakes of their older mellow material.

Apparently Per Wiberg, the keyboard legend from Spiritual beggars, Mojobone etc will be acting as a guest musician on this tour.

At present Opeth are busy doing press and promotion for the new album. Peter Lindgren is gracing the CMJ music fair in New York while Mikael is at home taking care of phone interviews. Both have also done a short press trip of Germany, France and the UK. So far, “Deliverance” has been very well received by the press and media.

There are rumours of a ultra limited vinyl release of the 2 “BWP” bonus songs, “Still day beneath the sun” and “Patterns in the ivy”. These are scheduled to be put out on a small piece of 7” vinyl soon. Pressing? A mere 1250 copies, so get it while you can.

September 2002

Exclusive first peek at the cover for "Deliverance" provided by the official site. Note that changes can be made, this is only a rough version. We can now also confirm the songtitles for "Deliverance".
They are:
1. Wreath
2. Deliverance
3. A fair judgement
4. For absent friends (Instrumental)
5. Master's apprentices
6. By the pain I see in others

Opeth recently returned home from the small town of Ripley (UK) where the band mixed the first part of the upcoming double release together with legendary mix-mogul Andy Sneap. The 6 titles spans over a total running time just over 61 minutes.

As for the 2nd part, "Damnation", Mikael will return to the UK during October to finish of the vocal tracks together with producer Steven Wilson at his No mans land studio.

Release date for "Deliverance" is confirmed for the 4th of November (Europe) + 11th of November (US). Rest of the world: No idea right now.
"Damnation" will follow with a March 2003 release

Side project, slasher-death metal band Bloodbath featuring Mike on screams have a new website found at http://www.bloodbath.biz. New album "Resurrection through carnage" out soon through Century media records worldwide.

August 2002

Opeth have now confirmed the title on the two Cd´s recently recorded.The heavy album will be called Deliverance and the soft album will be called Damnation. At this point no more information has been given. The band has spent the last 2 months recording their 2 album project down in Gothenbourg with producer Steven Wilson. 5 songs + a short instrumental has been cut for the heavy album + another 10 done for the more mellow record.

June 2002

There’s been mass confusion about a number of festival dates that Opeth are supposedly playing. All we can say is that if the dates are not shown here at the official site, it’s not happening. This is a result of eager promoters who are confirming dates without getting the final word from the band. Opeth are sorry to have caused any problems or disappointments because of this. The special edition of “Blackwater park” has been released. This double Cd feature 2 new songs (“Still day beneath the sun “ and “Patterns in the ivy 2”) as well as a video clip for the song “Harvest”. Opeth recently got back home from a short tour of the UK. The band did 7 shows together with main support Arch enemy and Danish deathsters Withering surface. Opeth want to thank their English fans for making this a great experience. A worldwide tour is currently in the making for the support of the upcoming double disc release. This time around the band will cover all grounds with full headline tours of the US and Europe as well as Asian, South-american and Australian dates.

April 2002

Opeth are confirmed to appear at the Exeter, Phoenix UK, Metal hammer midsummer nights fest 1th of June. They will also appear at the Arvika festival in Sweden on the 12th of July and they have also been slotted on the mini version of the Dynamo festival on the 14th. Music for nations plan to release a special edition version of Opeth’s last album ”Blackwater park”. This edition would feature a additional Cd with 2 new tracks, amongst them a part 2 version of “Patterns in the ivy” plus approximately 5 minutes of enhanced material from the recording session of the album. The artwork will also be slightly altered courtesy of Travis Smith who did the original art. Watch out for the release later this year. Opeth have started a co-operation with the Northern music management lead by Andy Farrow who also takes care of Paradise Lost. Opeth are confirmed to appear at the 2000 Decibel festival in Bengtsfors/Sweden on the 18th of May. They are also confirmed for the Rockwawe fest in Athens/Greece on the1- 2nd of July. It’s also rumoured that Opeth will be on the bill for this years Arvika festival/Sweden. Northern music/Motor also plan to bring Opeth over for a string of UK dates in late May, here are the dates!
Opeth / Arch Enemy UK tour
26th Liverpool Uni
27th London Mean Fiddler
28th Glasgow Cathouse
29th Manchester Uni
30th Birmingham academy 2
31st Leeds Cockpit
Further gigs are being planned as you read, so do make sure to check this spot once in a while.
Nacksving/Maestro music studios have been booked for the recording of the upcoming double release. Fredrik Nordström will once again (4th time) take care of the sound production + mix while Steven Wilson are trying to find the time to help out with production duties. Recording will start on the 22nd of July. This is the studio that Opeth used for 1999’s “Still life” album.

Peaceville records will have the vinyl release of “Still life” out during the month of May. This release will be a heavy duty double album housed in a gatefold sleeve.