''Sorceress'' is the twelfth studio album by Swedish

progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...

band

Opeth Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. The band incorporates folk music, folk, blues, classical music, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from deat ...

. The album was released on 30 September 2016 via record label

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

and the band's own imprint Moderbolaget.

Background

The album was produced and mixed by

Tom Dalgety Tom Dalgety is an English record producer and audio engineer. He is most noted for his work with Pixies, Ghost, and Royal Blood. He was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2019 for his production work on the Ghost album ''Prequelle'' ( Best Rock Alb ...

and recorded at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

in Wales. Following the album's release, the band embarked on a world tour with bands

the Sword The Sword is an American heavy metal band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 2003, the band is composed of vocalist and guitarist John D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Santiago "Jimmy" Vela III for most of its ten ...

Sahg Sahg is a three-piece Norway, Norwegian hard rock/doom metal band formed in Bergen in the summer of 2004, by key figures in the metal scene of their country: Tom Cato Visnes (King ov Hell), Einar Selvik (Kvitrafn), Olav Iversen and Thomas Toftha ...

, and

Myrkur Myrkur is a solo black metal project by Danish singer Amalie Bruun. Initially, the real-life identity of the person behind the project was kept unknown. Her identity has since been made public. Myrkur has released four full-length studio albums ...

as supporting acts. Thematically, the album draws inspiration from Åkerfeldt's personal life, as he divorced in 2016. The album was streamed via

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

on 29 September.

Track listing

Personnel

Opeth

Mikael Åkerfeldt Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (; born 17 April 1974)Mikael Åkerfeldt
, Op ...

– vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, production *

Fredrik Åkesson Karl Fredrik Henrik Åkesson is a Swedish heavy metal guitarist. He is a current member of Opeth and is also active in Krux, Monsters of Metal, and Talisman. He also recorded three studio albums with Ghost. Biography Åkesson has been playin ...

– electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals *Joakim Svalberg –

Hammond C3 The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created from rotat ...

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

88,

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

grand piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Minimoog The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popul ...

, percussion, backing vocals *

Martín Méndez Martín Méndez (born 6 April 1978) is a Uruguayan Swedish musician. He migrated to Sweden when he was 17 years old. He is the bassist of the progressive metal band Opeth and the second-longest-serving member of the band, behind frontman Mikael ...

– bass guitars *

Martin Axenrot Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot (born 5 March 1979 in Linköping, Linköping, Sweden) is a Swedish death metal drummer, best known as the former drummer for progressive metal band Opeth (2005-2021). Since 2004, he is the drummer for Bloodbath. Know ...

– drums, percussion

Additional personnel

*Pascale Marie Vickery – spoken words on "Persephone" and "Persephone (Slight Return)" *

Wil Malone Wil Malone (born Peter Wilson, 29 July 1942, Hornsey, North London) is a British music producer and arranger, who has worked with artists including The Who, Rick Wakeman, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Todd Rundgren, The Verve, Massive Attack, Dep ...

– string arrangements *

– engineering, mixing, production *John Davis – mastering * Travis Smith –

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2016 albums Opeth albums Nuclear Blast albums Albums produced by Tom Dalgety Albums recorded at Rockfield Studios