OPETH Frontman: 'New Album Is Going To Really KILL!'

Roadrunner Records has officially announced the signing of OPETH. With a release planned for late summer 2005 — following a spate of international touring that includes the much-anticipated "Sounds of the Underground" run in the U.S. — OPETH has never been busier or more excited about the prospect of things. "The combination of a strong label and our best album so far is quite lethal!" states OPETH singer and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Since the merger of OPETH's former label Music For Nations into BMG, OPETH have been one of the most sought-after unsigned bands in the world. OPETH and its manager, Andy Farrow of The Northern Music Company, finally struck a deal with Roadrunner Records. "OPETH is the sort of band that humbles you with every note," states Roadrunner A&R man Mike Gitter, who adds OPETH to a personal roster of artists, which also includes the Grammy-nominated KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. "We're excited and proud to be working with them."

"I think all of us subconsciously had our minds set from the very beginning about signing to Roadrunner," says Åkerfeldt. "For us it's probably our biggest career move since we started. Roadrunner is/was the home of many of our favorite metal artists of all time." He adds, "As I’m writing this I am in the studio and we're recording the new album I know that this album is going to really KILL! It's sounding incredible already, and we're nowhere near finished." The follow-up to 2003's acoustic masterpiece, "Damnation", and OPETH's first disc in years without producer Steve Wilson, the album will include "Ghost of Tradition", "The Baying of the Hounds" and "Isolation Years".