"Lemmy", the long-awaited documentary examining the life and career of MOTÖRHEAD frontman and rock icon Lemmy Kilmister, will receive its U.K. premiere at the London Film Festival in the headline 9:00 p.m. slot at NFT1 on October 23, followed by a theatrical run in selected cinemas throughout the U.K. from December 3rd 2010.

"Lemmy" will be released on DVD by Entertainment One on January 24, 2011. The film premiered in the U.S. in March 2010 during the South by Southwest at the historic Paramount Theatre in Austin.

Former METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted and Mikko "Linde" Lindström, guitarist for the Finnish "love metal" band HIM, have recorded guest appearances on the track "Out Of My Mind" from the all-star charity project WHOCARES — featuring BLACK SABBATH guitarist Tony Iommi and DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan alongside keyboardist Jon Lord (DEEP PURPLE, WHITESNAKE) and drummer Nicko McBrain (IRON MAIDEN).

Finnish metallers SAATTUE have parted ways with drummer Mikael "Miku" Ahlstén and have replaced him with Sameli Köykkä, formerly of the Finnish funeral doom metal band COLOSSEUM. According to SAATTUE, "Ahlstén decided to leave the group after being a member of SAATTUE for five years and being responsible for recording drums for both of the band's albums, 'Jäähyvästi' (2006) and 'Vuoroveri' (2009)."

On November 29, ten years after the recordings of the band's debut album, "Saviour", ANTIMATTER will release "Alternative Matter", a retrospective of another kind. This is not a standard best-of album, but a compilation of exclusively unreleased recordings and alternative versions from the archives of the band, compiled by ANTIMATTER mastermind Mick Moss with care and passion. "Alternative Matter" features demo and acoustic versions of well-known ANTIMATTER songs, live recordings, remixes, and also new recordings which have been conceived especially for this compilation. And in their entirety all these songs tell a yet unknown ANTIMATTER story.

U.D.O., the German metal band led by former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider, has issued the following update:

"The release of the new [U.D.O.] album, 'Rev-Raptor', which was initially planned for January 14, 2011 [via AFM Records] was unfortunately postponed to March 18, 2011! The reason therefor is the sadly reappearance of Stefan's [Kaufmann, guitar] strong back suffering which forced him to quit playing drums in ACCEPT back in the days. This setback hit Stefan in the middle of the recording session for the new album and forced everybody to make a longer pause now. Stefan is under medical treatment at a specialist and we all hope that he will recover soon. The show on November 6, 2010 in Augsburg where U.D.O. will be headliner in front of 9,000 expected fans at the Masters of Rock Antenne festival in the Schwabenhalle is not compromised."

As spreviously reported, 17 new songs were written for "Rev-Raptor", with 11 of them set to appear on the final product.

Norwegian vocalist Jorn Lande, who sings for power metallers MASTERPLAN and recently released a tribute album to Ronnie James Dio, has issued the following update:

"The last few months have been filled with work and new impressions, and I'm slowly getting back on track with future plans .

"The HEAVEN & HELL - Ronnie James Dio tribute concert, in Victoria Park London, was a sad experience as well as a great thing to do, and I will forever be honored and grateful for being a part of it.

"I wish to thank Tony [Iommi, guitar], Geezer [Butler, bass], Vinny [Appice, drums], Scott [Warren, keyboards], Glenn [Hughes, vocals] and everyone involved for making me feel so welcome and included. I also wish to thank all the people that were there to see the show, who embraced it for what it was, a sole tribute to the man and legend Ronnie James Dio.

"Life goes on and the wheel is turning. The next step for me this year will be to go through the Jorn live material, recorded at Sweden Rock Festival earlier this summer. We are aiming for a full-lenght live CD and DVD release in 2011, but we still have to check the footage from the show thoroughly, to find out if everything is intact and quality-wise usable for a full-length DVD production. We will know soon, and let you all know."

"There Is A Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let's Keep It A Secret", the third album from Sheffield, U.K. metallers BRING ME THE HORIZON, sold 20,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 17 on The Billboard 200 chart. As previously reported, the CD entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 13.

"Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards", the 14th studio album from Joe Satriani, sold 10,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 45 on The Billboard 200 chart. This marks the highest opening chart position ever for the Grammy-nominated guitarist.

"Axioma Ethica Odini", the eleventh studio album from progressive/psychedelic Norwegian black metallers ENSLAVED, sold around 1,400 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 16 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Static Impulse", the new solo album from DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie, sold around 1,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 14 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"Halford IV - Made Of Metal", the new album from HALFORD — the band led by JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford — sold around 3,100 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 160 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD landed at position No. 5 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

OPETH's "In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall" DVD sold 3,200 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 2 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart.

"In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall" has registered the following Top Music Videos and Music DVD chart positions so far:

USA: #2
Germany: #2
Canada: #3
UK: #3
Netherlands: #6

"A Public Disservice Announcement", the brand new album from MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee's METHODS OF MAYHEM project, sold 2,900 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 153 on The Billboard 200 chart.

SLIPKNOT's "(sic)nesses" DVD sold 9,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 1 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart. The disc features footage of the band's headlining appearance at the annual Download festival in the U.K., where they performed in front of 80,000 of their rabid fans.

A new video interview with bassist/vocalist Geddy Lee of the Canadian rock trio RUSH conducted by Brazil's TV UOL can be viewed below. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow.

On the next RUSH studio album:

Geddy: "The new album is still in production. We've recorded two songs so far, one of them called 'Caravan' and the other one called 'Brought Up To Believe' ['BU2B']. That's the beginning two songs of a whole kind of a concept album called 'Clockwork Angels'. We have about four other songs... five songs written, but not recorded yet. And we still have a couple of more songs that we want to write and then put the whole thing together. So I don't think the album will be ready for about a year."

On whether there will be a new DVD/CD documenting the current tour:

Geddy: "We record every night. We don't film every night but we have lots of cameras around. So invariably by the time this [tour] is finished we'll put together some sort of live representation of it. But what form that will take I'm not sure yet."

On the recent award-winning film "Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage":

Geddy: "It's a weird experience to watch that for me. First of all, I don't like to watch myself talking about myself; it's strange [and] not normal. But I was very complimented to hear the nice things that the other musicians had to say. And I was very relieved that the people that made the film had a good sense of humor, and that the sense of humor that we have in the band came through in that film. So that made me happy. And so although it's not my favorite thing to do — to watch a movie about us — I'm glad that so many people seem to enjoy it."

On November 16, Eagle Rock will unveil HEAVEN & HELL "Neon Nights". This DVD and CD release captures the historic four-man army performing at the Wacken Open Air festival on July 30, 2009. [MSRP $14.98 for DVD, $13.98 for CD, Pre-book Order Date: October 22]

On this hot summer night, vocalist Ronnie James Dio, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler, and drummer Vinny Appice commanded the stage, transcending the mere concept of a heavy metal concert. The strength and veracity of Dio's delivery, which has inspired three generations of metal vocalists, wrapped itself around each and every audience member. Butler's declarative bass lines, Iommi's legendary riffing, and Appice's unrelenting fills provide the forceful heartbeat behind anthems "Mob Rules", "Die Young", "Neon Knights", and namesake tune "Heaven And Hell".

The DVD also boasts 30th anniversary interviews with all four band members as a bonus feature. Personal one-on-ones are conducted with Ronnie, Tony, Geezer, and Vinny as they reflect on the making of their "Heaven And Hell" album. Additionally, the "Neon Nights" DVD has newly recorded personal tributes from Iommi, Appice, and Butler in memory of Dio.

"Neon Nights" track listing:

DVD:

01. E5150
02. The Mob Rules
03. Children Of The Sea
04. I
05. Bible Black
06. Time Machine
07. Fear
08. Falling Off The Edge of the World
09. Follow The Tears
10. Die Young
11. Heaven And Hell
12. Country Girl
13. Neon Knights

CD:

01. The Mob Rules
02. Children Of The Sea
03. I
04. Bible Black
05. Time Machine
06. Fear
07. Falling Off The Edge Of The World
08. Follow The Tears
09. Die Young
10. Heaven And Hell
11. Neon Knights

Swedish progressive metal band DARKWATER have issued the following update:

"We are truly sorry to say that we will not be able to play Progpower Russia. We've had some trouble getting the visas needed for us to go to Russia, and since it all has taken longer than we expected we will not recieve the visas in time. Playing Progpower Russia was something we were really looking forward to, so this feels very sad for us all. We really hope that we'll get a chance soon again to play in Russia and meeting you all!

According to New Zealand's 3 News, METALLICA performed with the instrumental track "Orion" in full for the first time since 2007 earlier tonight (Thursday, October 14) during the band's concert at the Vector Arena in Auckland.

"We were certainly treated to something special in having 'Orion' performed in its entirety — a fantastic tribute to [late METALLICA bassist] Cliff [Burton, who co-penned the track] and the Auckland crowds," The Rock FM's Riccardo Ball said.

Fan-filmed video footage of the "Orion" performance can be viewed below.

The band's setlist was as follows:

01. That Was Just Your Life
02. Cyanide
03. Ride The Lightning
04. Fuel
05. Fade To Black
06. Of Wolf and Man
07. All Nightmare Long
08. Sad But True
09. The Unforgiven
10. Orion
11. One
12. Master Of Puppets
13. Fight Fire With Fire
14. Nothing Else Matters
15. Enter Sandman
- - - - - - - -
16. Am I Evil?
17. Phantom Lord
18. Seek and Destroy

W.A.S.P. kicked off its European tour this past Wednesday night (October 13) at Kvarteret in Bergen, Norway. According to Roy Hilmar Svendsen of NRK.no, "The intimate show (capacity: 400) was stopped only seconds after the band took the stage, because of a fire alarm. The whole building was evacuated, but everyone was let in again after only a few minutes. W.A.S.P. came back on and started playing without their usual smoke-filled intro, which probably set off the fire alarm."

The band's setlist was as follows

01. On Your Knees
02. The Real Me
03. L.O.V.E. Machine
04. Crazy
05. Live To Die Another Day
06. Wild Child
07. The Hellion
08. I Don't Need No Doctor
09. Scream Until You Like It
10. Babylon's Burning
11. The Idol
12. I Wanna Be Somebody
--------
13. Chainsaw Charlie (Murders In The New Morgue)
14. Heaven's Hung In Black
15. Blind In Texas

Joey Tempest, best known as the lead singer for Sweden's biggest multi-million album selling hard rock band EUROPE, will host his ownradio show on U.K.'s leading classic rock radio station Planet Rock.

Joey will be joining Planet Rock's star-studded line up of DEF LEPPARD's Joe Elliott, Alice Cooper and Rick Wakeman, who all have shows on the station.

Joey Tempest commented: "Rock music has been a major part of my life, whether I am recording, touring or just listening to it. This time I'm heading into a different kind of studio and get to play the music that I love and that has influenced me over the years."

The series will run on Planet Rock on Sunday evenings from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. starting Sunday, November 7.

CONTROL DENIED's legendary first album, "The Fragile Art of Existence", will get the deluxe reissue treatment through Relapse Records this fall.

"The Fragile Art of Existence", originally released in 1999 to critical acclaim, has been remastered, repackaged and features liner notes from CONTROL DENIED drummer Richard Christy, never-before-seen photographs, as well as over an hour of previously unreleased demo and rehearsal tracks.

Two versions of the "The Fragile Art of Existence" reissue will be available starting October 26. The worldwide version is a two-CD set including the original album plus a bonus CD of early demo material. The second version will be limited to 1,000 copies and is a three-disc set including an extra bonus disc of demo tracks, many of which have CONTROL DENIED mainman — and DEATH mastermind — Chuck Schuldiner on vocals. The three-disc set will be available at Relapse.com exclusively. Pre-order options and additional release information can be found here.

"The Fragile Art Of Existence" deluxe 3-disc reissue track listing:

Disc 1:

01. Consumed
02. Breaking The Broken
03. Expect The Unexpected
04. What If...?
05. When The Link Becomes Missing
06. Believe
07. Cut Down
08. The Fragile Art Of Existence

Disc 2:

01. Consumed (1999 Demos)
02. When The Link Becomes Missing (1999 Demo)
03. The Fragile Art Of Existence (1999 Demo)
04. Breaking The Broken (1999 Demo)
05. Breaking The Broken (1999 Demo) (w/ Chuck Schuldiner on vocals)
06. Believe (1997 Demo)
07. What If…? (1997 Demo)
08. Cut Down (1997 Demo)
09. Tune Of Evil (Comedy Demo)

Disc 3:

01. What If...? (1996 Demo)
02. Cut Down (1996 Demo)
03. Expect The Unexpected (1996 Demo)
04. Believe (1996 Demo)
05. The Fragile Art Of Existence (1996 Demo)
06. What If...? (1996 Demo)
07. Expect The Unexpected (1996 Demos) (w/ Chuck Schuldiner on vocals)
08. What If...? (1996 Demos) (w/ Chuck Schuldiner on vocals)
09. Cut Down (1996 Demos) (w/ Chuck Schuldiner on vocals)

Swedish metallers ASTRAL DOORS will release a new collection, "Testament Of Rock - The Best Of Astral Doors", on November 19 via Metalville, the band and label pool launched by the Cologne, Germany-based company Flying Dolphin Entertainment Group UG. The compilation will contain 14 classics picked by the band. A very special bonus will come in the shape of the English-language version a song previously only released as a Swedish-language single in Sweden, "Victory".

"Testament Of Rock - The Best Of Astral Doors" track listing:

01. Cloudbreaker
02. Time To Rock
03. Of The Son And The Father
04. Black Rain (remixed and remastered)
05. Power And The Glory
06. Bride Of Christ
07. New Revelation
08. Slay The Dragon
09. London Caves (remixed and remastered)
10. Evil Is Forever
11. Lionheart
12. Quisling
13. Testament of Rock
14. Victory (previously unreleased)

Finnish singer Ari Koivunen (AMORAL) took part in a charity concert called Millstones 2010 on October 13 in Helsinki. The event's goal was to raise awareness and funds for treatment for persons suffering from intoxicant addiction.

Fan-filmed video footage of Ari performing cover versions of DIO's "Don't Talk To Streangers" and DEEP PURPLE's "Smoke On The Water" (with Koivunen on drums and vocals!) can be viewed below.

Koivunen is best known as the winner of the 2007 Finnish national TV talent competition "Idols". He has released two solo albums thus far — 2007's "Fuel For The Fire" and 2008's "Becoming".

Ari's first album with AMORAL, "Show Your Colors", was released in the U.S. on June 9, 2009 through Spinefarm Records via Fontana distribution. Available in Finland since May 6, 2009, the CD was recorded at Sound Supreme Studios in Hämeenlinna, Finland.

Legendary British power metal mercenaries TANK — featuring Mick Tucker and Cliff Evans on guitar alongside three new recruits, ex-RAINBOW/YNGWIE MALMSTEEN frontman Doogie White, ex-BRUCE DICKINSON bassist Chris Dale and ex-ZODIAC MINDWARP drummer Dave "Grav" Cavill — will release their new album, "War Machine", on October 25 in Europe via Metal Mind Productions (December 7 in the U.S. through MVD). The production was handled by Pedro Ferreira (THE DARKNESS, THERAPY?, MEAT LOAF) and the bulk of the recording was done at Pedrock Studios in London. Drums were laid down by Tony Newton at Steve Harris' (IRON MAIDEN) Barnyard Studios.

"War Machine" will be released in four different versions: as a jewel case CD, a limited-edition digipak CD including two bonus tracks and LP with one bonus track. The Japanese edition of the album will include two exclusive bonus tracks which won't be available elsewhere.

The track listing for the standard CD edition is as follows:

01. Judgement Day
02. Feast Of The Devil
03. Phoenix Rising
04. War Machine
05. Great Expectations
06. After All
07. The Last Laugh
08. World Without Pity
09. My Insanity

CKY returns to the music scene with the release of a new single, "The Afterworld". The song, which builds upon the band's signature sound, is used during the closing credits of Paramount Pictures/MTV Films' "Jackass 3D", opening nationwide on October 15. The track will also be featured on the "Jackass 3D" soundtrack, which will be released on October 26 via Epitaph Records. The single is currently available digitally via iTunes.

After playing at Sonisphere and touring across Australia and New Zealand, CKY has an intensive tour lined up for their North American fans. The band will hit the road on October 29, starting off in New Jersey and wrapping up on November 13 in Maryland.

The origins of CKY can be traced all the way back to 1992 when Jess and Deron met in high school and decided to begin writing music together. The band has gone through various names and lineups before settling on the current version, with one clear mission statement. According to the band "CKY's goal is clear: To force change within the music industry and bring rock back to an acceptable state."

CKY's fourth album, "Carver City", sold 11,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 46 on The Billboard 200 chart. The CD was released in May 2009 via Roadrunner Records.

A public memorial for GOTTHARD singer Steve Lee, who was killed in a motorcycle accident last week, will be held in Switzerland on October 17 at the Gotthard Pass Hospice at 10:00. A eulogy will be given by two Capucine monks at about 13:00.

The surviving members of GOTTHARD have released the following statement regarding their singer's death:

"On the afternoon of October 5th 2010 our group, consisting of 22 male and female bikers on 12 Harley-Davidsons, was on its way from Las Vegas to St. George, Utah, in bright weather.

"About 15 miles from Mesquite, a severe thunderstorm began. One of the bikes started to have some technical problems with its ignition, so we stopped on the breakdown lane and switched on our warning lights. The last guy in the group was reminding us to be very careful with the traffic passing by, so we paid attention. At the same time it started to rain more heavily, so the group decided to put on rain gear.

"A truck was speeding towards the group. For some inexplicable reason, the very heavy truck crashed into several of our bikes. The impact was so severe that one of the bikes was thrown into the air, hit Steve and crushed him to the ground. The group immediately secured the accident area and started to give him first aid.

"At the same time we dialed the emergency number 911 and after a few minutes the first police car arrived. The patrolman had brought a defibrillator and, with our help, he immediately started to apply it. In the meantime, in the pouring rain, we all started working together to try to save Steve's life. A couple of minutes later, a second police car arrived and brought a complete set of first aid equipment. A helicopter also arrived. During all that time resuscitation attempts were maintained. After long minutes of trying, the doctor had to confirm that Steve was dead.

"Miraculously, no other person in the group was injured. We are all aware that it could have been any one of us — and it could have even been the whole group.

"Together with the local police, our tour guides organized the transport for us all to a nearby hotel in Mesquite. The hotel offered us a quiet room in which we could mourn, talk to each other and cry together.

"We all agree that the tour guides prepared and handled our trip very professionally. Our group still trusts the guides 100%.

"Steve's loss is an incredible tragedy for all of us. Together we are trying to get over all the grieving and the pain and to be there for each other. It is a very hard time for all of us.

"Steve Lee's lifelong dream to drive just once through the USA, on a Harley, should have come true during these two weeks. After we started our trip in Los Angeles, we passed Death Valley and Las Vegas. Our next stop would have been St. George in Utah, from where we had planned to head for Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon and Monument Valley. This was to have been the place where Steve planned to surprise [his longtime girlfriend] Brigitte [Voss-Balzarini] with some very special Indian jewellery. To show her Las Vegas and to enjoy together the special atmosphere there was one of his greatest wishes for the trip."

Lee, who had a British father and Swiss mother, was 47 years old.

Formed in 1990, GOTTHARD's last 11 albums all charted at No. 1 in Switzerland. The band's latest CD, "Need To Believe", was certified platinum in the group's home country for sales in excess of 30,000 copies.

GOTTHARD was presented with the platinum-award plaques on January 9, 2010 at the "Swiss Awards 2009", which also included the TV premiere of the band's radio single, "Don't Let Me Down".

"Need To Believe" was released on September 4, 2009 via Nuclear Blast Records.

SLIPKNOT percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan recently spoke to Sirius XM satellite radio (see video below) about the band's future following the passing of the band's bassist, Paul Gray.

"Starting the band with Paul, I have a heavy responsibility every day to honestly think about what he would have liked for what we started together," he said.

"What we started together isn't what it is without all nine — it's not just Paul and I in this band, let's make that clear — but we started something together and it's very hard to wake up every day and do this without having to take one second to think what he would have liked out of it. And what I know he wants out of it is... He's already bigger than... [chuckles] He's so big right now, so now it's time for the rest of us to get what we've always needed to get, and that's all the big bands need to get the fuck out of my face and all the industry needs to get the fuck out of my face and everybody needs to get out of our way 'cause we're gonna spread the seed. And I mean that. And it's gonna be a minute. But this is a threat, you know what I mean?! Today is a threat. Today is a new beginning. And that's how I want it to live. That's how I want it to be.

"I understand more of what we are now by losing one of my best friends, and it's horrible, but at the same time he speaks in volumes. He's motivating so much, and it feels good what's being motivated. I don't feel like I'm going crazy. I feel like... As bad as this sounds, everything happens for a reason. And I'm gonna miss him every day of my life and there's not gonna be a day that I'm not gonna mention Paul Gray's name, but at the same time, I just had a birthday a couple of days ago, and I bring it up because I'm many years older than Paul was, so every day I wake up is a blessing. And I wanna remember that, and I want everybody in the world to remember that, 'cause when you say the world is an angrier place... It's on its way out, and we will be the band that will play the music for its way out."

SLIPKNOT's "(sic)nesses" DVD sold 9,300 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 1 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart. The disc features footage of the band's headlining appearance at the annual Download festival in the U.K., where they performed in front of 80,000 of their rabid fans.

"'(sic)nesses' was one of the single hardest pieces of art for us to complete, given the circumstances," Crahan told ARTISTdirect. "It's a testament to our evolution and proof of accomplishing exactly what we set out to do over 10 years ago. We will never be the same. You will never be the same. Here's to the future and our continuing evolution."

Gray's body was found on May 24 in a hotel room in a Des Moines, Iowa suburb. A coroner ruled that the 38-year-old musician died of an accidental overdose of morphine.

German metal queen Doro Pesch has completed work on her biggest project to date — the 2DVD/CD set "25 Years In Rock", featuring the entire 25-year anniversary concert, including guest performances in front of about 10,000 enthusiastic fans in Düsseldorf, Germany as well as a China special, outtakes from Doro's 2500th concert and a whole lot more. The DVD will be released in Europe via Nuclear Blast on November 26, 2010 and in the rest of the world sometime in 2011.

Video footage of Doro performing the SCORPIONS classic "Rock You Like A Hurricane" with SCORPIONS members Klaus Meine (vocals) and Rudolf Schenker (guitar) — taken from the "25 Years In Rock" DVD — can be viewed at this location.

Rob Laing of U.K.'s Guitarist magazine recently conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH. A acouple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Guitarist: Difficult question but 20 years in, what are your proudest achievements so far?

Åkerfeldt: That is a difficult question. I don't ever feel particularly proud in the sense of, "Look at me. I did this and that." I'm happy with every new album.

Guitarist: And it's all without compromise…

Åkerfeldt: Yes, definitely. Musically, I don't compromise for anyone. If you ask me to do it a certain way, you can just fuck off, if you know what I mean. Once the music and the lyrics are done, I can be a bit of a whore. If that's what the label wants me to do — I'll do their interviews, I'll do whatever they tell me to do in order to promote the record and work. But when it comes to the music, it's sacred to me. I can be like the Antichrist when it comes to people interfering with the music. Not the band — that's not a problem at all — but if a record label executive came up to me and said, "That riff is not good," I would probably headbutt him. "Shut the fuck up and sell the record."

Guitarist: You've mentioned recently that there's a possibility of you making a solo acoustic album – is this still on your mind?

Åkerfeldt: Yes, it is. I'm actually working on a song for it now. I'm working on one OPETH song and a solo song. But I did a vocal line and it was horrible! I'll have to do something better. The thing with this so-called solo album is it might not be released but it's something I want to do for me — to produce an album from scratch in my home studio without any help."

Guitarist: OPETH are getting bigger all the time. Are the pressures of the business greater on you now personally?

Åkerfeldt: Yes, there's a lot of pressure. Once the album is done, it's relentless. I immediately go into four weeks of press trips and another two weeks of "phoners." Then the tour and interviews every day on the tour. And a lot of people want to speak to me because I write most of the music and I write the lyrics; I'm the frontman. So I understand, but it's fucking tedious. So, for me personally, there's massive pressure on me at all times. But I'm trying to get the other guys involved — especially in the interviews part, helping me out and I think it's important for them because I tend to be such a control freak about the music and it's important for them to have an opinion. I want them to do more interviews. They don't necessarily want to, but I want to do less! When OPETH is in the magazine, I don't just want it to be me on the cover, I want it to be the band.