The band features Steven Wilson and Mikael Akerfeldt and are now on the Roadrunner label. Their self-titled, debut album will be released on April 23.

Says Akerfeldt of the collaboration: “Some of the music on this record I think is the most beautiful music I have participated on ever. There’s some magical sections on there. Musically I think we’ve created something earthy, a bit frightening, exhausting, profound and rather intense. All at the same time. I can safely say I don’t know any other band or artist that sounds anything like Storm Corrosion. I guess that was also one of our goals, so to speak”.

Find out more here.

To be called Storm Corrosion, the pair have now finished work on their debut album. This will be released in April, although no label has yet been confirmed.

The rest of the line-up is Gavin Harrison (drums),  Ben Castle (woodwind) and Dave Stewart (string arrangements). At one point, drummer Mike Portnoy was due to be involved. But that’s no longer the case.

Find out more at www.facebook.com/corrosedstorm

This is titled Heritage and was produced by Mikael Akerfeldt, with Steven Wilson mixing it.

The full track listing is:

1. Heritage
   0. The Devil’s Orchard
   3. I Feel The Dark
   4. Slither
   5. Nepenthe
   6. Haxprocess
   7. Famine
   8. The Lines In My Hand
   9. Folklore
   10. Marrow Of The Earth

Says Akerfeldt of the album’s style: “I’ve realized my influences for this album are so diverse that I can’t really say what it sounds like. “If I can compare it to any other band, it would have to be Opeth, but it’s different from the stuff we’ve done before. I’ve listened a lot to Alice Cooper for the last year, yet I can’t say it sounds like No More Mr. Nice Guy”.

The Swedes play the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth Park on July 10.

Find out more at http://www.opeth.com/

Comments band frontman Mikael Akerfeldt:

“Well, it’s been somewhat of a revolving door of members during the last couple of years, and now Per is no longer a member. (Martin) Mendez (bass), Axe (Martin Axenrot, drums), Fredrik (Åkesson, guitar) and I came to the decision that we should find a replacement for Per right after the recordings of the new album, and this came as no surprise to Per.

“He had, in turn, been thinking about leaving, so you could say it was a mutual decision. There’s no bad blood, just a relationship that came to an end, and that’s that. We wish Per the best, and he did a splendid job recording keyboards for the last record, which stands as his final recording with Opeth.”

The Swedes will release a new album through Roadrunner in the autumn, and are already rehearsing with an as-yet unnamed keyboard player for their upcoming live commitments.

Find out more at http://www.opeth.com/

Right here, right now, you can see the Swedes performing Dirge For November during the gig at the Royal Albert Hall in April. Just click here.

In the meantime, Opeth mainman Mikael Akerfeldt has exclusively told Classic Rock that his long-mooted project with Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree is now well under way.

“I got together recently with Steven at his house, and we wrote a new tune straight away,” says Akerfeldt. “Of course, with the two of us involved it was 10 minutes long. And it came out so well that we started working on a second one as well.”

However, it now appears that Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy will not be involved, as was expected.

“To be honest, there’s just no room for drums on what we’ve done so far. I called Mike up, and he was cool about it. He’s got so much going on anyway, and I’m sure we will work together in the future.”

It’s still early days for the as yet unnamed project, but expect an album next year. And that’s also the plan for Opeth.

“Right now we’re on a break. But I’m writing new songs, and we hope to have an album out in 2011.”

Find out more at www.opeth.com

It’s been reported by Blabbermouth that Wilson has said of the current state of the unnamed collaboration:

“We wrote about 15 minutes of music last month in my studio near London and we’re very excited about it. I think people are going to be very surprised by the direction… It’s very arty, very ambitious; it’s going to be epic, very dark, very twisted, very experimental.”

The track is called The Throat Of Winter.

Says frontman Mikael Akerfeldt: “The song is very odd, it’s good I think, or for my taste it is, but even I can understand it’s very… odd!”

The EP will be available next month, with the game God Of War III Ultimate Edition

For further info, go to www.opeth.com

With its usual lavish wallet featuring Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson in classic pose, the issue looks at the relationship between prog rock and folk music, with brand new interviews with Ian Anderson, Renaissance, Roy Harper, Pentangle, Comus and Mostly Autumn. There’s a look at the life and times of John Martyn too.

Elsewhere there’s an exclusive round-table Progressive Nation interview with Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy, Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt and Bigelf’s Damon Fox discussing the state of prog music today, and interviews with Oceansize, Within Temptation, Katatonia, 3, The Devil’s Blood and a seasonal look at Xmas prog tunes.

All this, plus a free 12-track CD featuring the likes of Transatlantic, Nosound, 3, Within Temptation, Big Big Train, Mostly Autumn and many more.

You’ll find all your progressive desires catered for in Classic Rock Presents Prog issue 5, on sale from tomorrow.

Ian Anderson (plus codpiece) on the wallet.

Prog Nation protagonists on the cover inside.