Album artwork for In Cauda Venenum by Opeth

Sweden’s Opeth are preparing to release their most important record to date with “In Cauda Venenum”. Certainly, fans and critics will have their opinion, but few records in the Swedes’ oeuvre are as engaging, delicate, panoramic, intense, and musical as Opeth’s lucky thirteenth. Sporting a clever Travis Smith cover—replete with inside jokes and a nod to King Diamond—a masterful Park Studios (The Hellacopters, Graveyard) production, Opeth’s usual five-star musicianship, and lyrics entirely in Swedish, “In Cauda Venenum” raises the bar markedly. While a record in Swedish is a first—there’s also an English version—for frontman and founding member Mikael Åkerfeldt, the 10 songs on offer feel and sound completely natural. As if years of listening to and being a fan of Swedish rock and hard rock has paid off. In a way, Opeth have come home. But the Swedish lyrics of the primary edition of “In Cauda Venenum” shouldn’t distract from the quality presented in Opeth’s new songs, the lot of which sneak up and take control after repeated listens. “In Cauda Venenum” is like that, tricky in its complicated simplicity, resourceful in its ability to charm with delightful if wistful melodies. Really, it’s just Opeth being Opeth.

An unstoppable force for uniqueness amid a sea of generic swill, Opeth have been setting the rulebook ablaze and ploughing a uniquely progressive and exploratory furrow for nearly 25 years now. Formed in Stockholm in 1990, the band led by singer, guitarist and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt began life as maverick and honorary members of the then flourishing Swedish death metal scene, but from their earliest recordings onwards this band have neither conformed nor exhibited any desire to be restricted to a single genre.

Tracklist:
Side A:
1. Livets Trädgård
2. Svekets Prins
3. Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör

Side B:
1. De Närmast Sörjande
2. Minnets Yta

Side C:
1. Charlatan
2. Ingen Sanning Är Allas
3. Banemannen

Side D:
1. Kontinuerlig Drift
2. Allting Tar Slut

Opeth

In Cauda Venenum

Nuclear Blast
Album artwork for In Cauda Venenum by Opeth
CDx2

$15.99

Swedish / English Versions

Released 09/27/2019Catalog Number

CD 10206 N

Learn more
Album artwork for In Cauda Venenum by Opeth
LPx2

$34.99

Swedish Version

Released 11/29/2019Catalog Number

A 10268

Learn more
Opeth

In Cauda Venenum

Nuclear Blast
Album artwork for In Cauda Venenum by Opeth
CDx2

$15.99

Swedish / English Versions

Released 09/27/2019Catalog Number

CD 10206 N

Learn more
Album artwork for In Cauda Venenum by Opeth
LPx2

$34.99

Swedish Version

Released 11/29/2019Catalog Number

A 10268

Learn more

Sweden’s Opeth are preparing to release their most important record to date with “In Cauda Venenum”. Certainly, fans and critics will have their opinion, but few records in the Swedes’ oeuvre are as engaging, delicate, panoramic, intense, and musical as Opeth’s lucky thirteenth. Sporting a clever Travis Smith cover—replete with inside jokes and a nod to King Diamond—a masterful Park Studios (The Hellacopters, Graveyard) production, Opeth’s usual five-star musicianship, and lyrics entirely in Swedish, “In Cauda Venenum” raises the bar markedly. While a record in Swedish is a first—there’s also an English version—for frontman and founding member Mikael Åkerfeldt, the 10 songs on offer feel and sound completely natural. As if years of listening to and being a fan of Swedish rock and hard rock has paid off. In a way, Opeth have come home. But the Swedish lyrics of the primary edition of “In Cauda Venenum” shouldn’t distract from the quality presented in Opeth’s new songs, the lot of which sneak up and take control after repeated listens. “In Cauda Venenum” is like that, tricky in its complicated simplicity, resourceful in its ability to charm with delightful if wistful melodies. Really, it’s just Opeth being Opeth.

An unstoppable force for uniqueness amid a sea of generic swill, Opeth have been setting the rulebook ablaze and ploughing a uniquely progressive and exploratory furrow for nearly 25 years now. Formed in Stockholm in 1990, the band led by singer, guitarist and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt began life as maverick and honorary members of the then flourishing Swedish death metal scene, but from their earliest recordings onwards this band have neither conformed nor exhibited any desire to be restricted to a single genre.

Tracklist:
Side A:
1. Livets Trädgård
2. Svekets Prins
3. Hjärtat Vet Vad Handen Gör

Side B:
1. De Närmast Sörjande
2. Minnets Yta

Side C:
1. Charlatan
2. Ingen Sanning Är Allas
3. Banemannen

Side D:
1. Kontinuerlig Drift
2. Allting Tar Slut