OPETH UNVEIL THEIR EPIC NEW LIVE DVD
Historic US show gets a release date and Åkerfeldt teases forthcoming studio album.
Opeth prepare to release their fourth live audio-visual recording on November 2. Garden Of The Titans: Live At Red Rocks Amphitheatre is out on DVD, Blu-ray and vinyl through Moderbolaget/Nuclear Blast. It contains footage recorded last May at the famous Colorado venue that’s previously hosted Jethro Tull and Rush.
Frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt says, “When we arrived, you could see the list of everyone who’s played there. It’s legendary, and the view from the stage is absolutely beautiful because it’s so high up. It’s such a beautiful amphitheatre surrounded by the Red Rocks and it looks like it’s been hacked into the mountain. It’s amazing.”
The breathtaking scenery also inspired the cover art, which was created by long-standing collaborator Travis Smith. He and Åkerfeldt even borrowed some ideas from another well-known album cover.
“In the past we’d nicked things from Deep Purple because they’re one of our favourite bands so I thought, ‘Let’s do a Deep Purple In Rock tribute!’” laughs the musician.
Meanwhile, Opeth are currently working on the follow-up to their 2016 album Sorceress which they hope to start recording in Sweden at the end of this year.
“I was going to take a sabbatical of some sort, but it only lasted about two weeks!” Åkerfeldt says with a laugh. “I opened a floodgate and started working really hard so right now, we have enough new material for an album and a half. We’re in a luxurious position of being able to cherry-pick songs and I’m now sitting with the lyrics.”
Describing the early demos as “more cinematic than previous albums”, the musician admits he’s been listening to a lot of Queen and wants the new material to have a largerthan-life sound.
“There’s one song where the main inspiration is Dave Brubeck’s Take Five because I like that beat, but it turned into more of a crooner with lots of strings. There’s probably a jazz influence on that song but other than that, I would say it’s more of a hard rock album but with intricate time signatures. I don’t want to say too much at this stage but they’re what
I like to think of as really good songs.”
Opeth are aiming to release their as yet untitled album next year and will play a handful of festival shows over the summer months. NRS
“We have enough new material for an album and a half.”