With their new album expected this year, guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive band Opeth spoke to Decibel magazine about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's follow-up to 2011's Heritage. Åkerfeldt revealed that he plans to enhance at least a few of the new Opeth tracks with strings.

"I have about six songs done and another two or three just started," he said, "plus a million ideas that I haven't processed yet. Some songs are simple and stripped-down, while others are epic in the true sense of the word. Business as usual, hopefully with unusual music."

He adds: "Some of these things could easily be done with synthetic sounds or effects, but recording the Storm Corrosion LP with Steven Wilson made me realize what a massive difference it can mean to incorporate the real shit. I'm semi-pretentious in my songwriting and sometimes I go all in. I think it's time for 'all in' with strings and the full monty. Hopefully it won't be a mess."

About a new song described as a 'Goblin ripoff': "It's a jam I came up with during the Mastodon/Ghost B.C. tour, that we ended up soundchecking. After a few days, you'd hear people in the corridors humming it. It's a fucking hit! But basically it's a not-so-subtle headbanging-type nod in Goblin's direction. And to avoid confusion, the song is even called 'Goblin'. My rip-off deteriorates mid-song and becomes fusion-esque darkened prog rock like Mahavishnu or ELP (yikes!). But it swings! It really does."

Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Expressen last year, and asked if the forthcoming effort would be heavier or softer than Heritage, Mikael said: "Maybe a little bit heavier. Not death metal heavy, but hard rock/heavy metal heavy. There's also lots of progressive elements and acoustic guitars, but also more sinister-sounding riffs."

Source:	ultimate-guitar.com
Band profile:	Opeth