Sorceress (LP)

Since forming in the tiny Stockholm suburb of Bandhagen in 1990, the Swedes have eclipsed convention, defiantly crushed the odds, and, most importantly, crafted 12 stunningly beautiful, intrinsically intense albums to become one of the best bands on the planet; whether that be live or on record. Ask any OPETH fan. Enquire with any band that's shared the proverbial pine with the Swedes. Or, get a label representative to talk OPETH. They'll all tell you the same thing: OPETH are peerless. And they're only getting better.

OPETH's new album, »Sorceress«, their first for Nuclear Blast via the band's imprint label Moderbolaget Records, is proof chief architect Mikael Åkerfeldt has a near-endless well of greatness inside. From the album's opener 'Persephone' to 'The Wilde Flowers' and 'Strange Brew' to the album's counterpart title tracks 'Sorceress' and 'Sorceress 2', OPETH's twelfth full-length is an unparalleled adventure, where visions cleverly and secretly change, colours mute as if weathered by time, and sounds challenge profoundly. »Sorceress« is, by definition, moored in Åkerfeldt's im­pressive record collection-his one true vice-but, as always, there's more invention than appropriation at play.

"This time around I didn't think about what I wanted to do," Åkerfeldt reveals. "I was forced to write. But once I started, it was easy. This record, like the last record, didn't take long to write. Like five or six months. The thoughts behind this record developed as I was writing. The only thing I was thinking about with this record was to write that songs didn't musically connect. I made sure if I had a song that was new sounding for this record, I'd make the next song completely different. I think the songs are very different from one another. It's very diverse."