Opeth has issued the following update;says mainman Mikael Akerfeldt:

"'The Roundhouse tapes' is coming along nicely, both the CD version and the DVD. We're working on the artwork right now and as usual it takes time. I think the CD is supposed to be out in October sometime and the DVD early next year as far as I know. I hope it's going to be worth the wait.

Writing is coming along nicely. I have around 5 tracks ready, or semi ready. I think it sounds darker than ever before (not saying this to "sell" the record, I think it really is darker) and more versatile. I have a new Pro Tools rig that I use to record my demos and it really helped. Everything's faster whereas before it was literally impossible for me to demo entire songs. I have loads of material that I have yet to demo and I've also gotten stuff from Per, Mendez and Fredrik.

At this point I know that it's going to be a very good record, at least for my taste. There's a sense of confidence in me that I've never really felt before, and I have no idea where it's coming from. I might confuse "confidence" with "inspiration" but basically everytime I sit down and play, I come up with something.

The plan for us at this point is to start rehearsing in October and record in Novemeber. We haven't talked about producers yet, I'm not sure what I want to do. I've talked with Steven Wilson but we'll see. We might do it on our own as we did the last time. We are going back into Fascination street, that's for sure...great studio! Everyone in the band is pretty psyched about this. We feel a little bit like "underdogs" with everything that's happened, yet I hope the quality of the music will clear all doubts. We still mean business....

OK, that's it, not much groundbreaking info yet, but I just wanted to say "Hey" and let you know what's up.

Take care peeps!
Mike"