It’s definitely great news coming from the people behind Europe’s one of the most loved festivals, Roadburn. They have just announced that Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt will be curating the next edition of the festival. Read below for the full update.

We’re elated to announce that Mikael Åkerfeldt has agreed to curate Roadburn Festival 2014 on Friday, April 11th at the013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands. As curator, Mikael will personally select the bands for his special event, and play a headline show with Opeth, too!

Musically, Mikael has consistently pushed the boundaries. Over the last two decades, he guided Opeth‘s evolution, drawing the band out from under the doom-laden shade of occult-infused Scandinavian death metal and into a place in the sun as revered progressive rock / metal innovators, never once sacrificing the authentic spirit of previous artistic endeavours.

Mikael‘s steadfast devotion to aesthetic progression and perfection has proven ground-breaking and highly influential for an entire new generation of musicians practicing the art of progressive rock and psychedelica. At the same time, he has steadfastly honoured the mystical pioneers of late 1960s and early 1970s psychedelic folk, rock and prog — some of Opeth‘s albums are named after obscure psychedelic prog outfits or song titles — all of which is in perfect sync withRoadburn Festival.

Opeth‘s body of work is highly respected by Roadburn audiences, which makes Mikael the ideal choice to carry on the tradition that began in 2008 with David Tibet / Current 93, and continued with Neurosis, Tom G Warrior, Sunn 0))), Voivod and Jus Oborn / Electric Wizard.

“It’s with great honour that I accepted the invitation to be the curator for the 2014 Roadburn festival”, says Mikael Åkerfeldt,“I’m pretty damn far from being a professional booker / promotor, and I’ve never been part in choosing bands for an event apart from bands that Opeth has toured with. So this is a first for me, but I have to say I’m very excited.”

“I’ve reached out to a handful of my favourite bands from the past and present. As of now it looks like it will be an amazing musical event. Still brainstorming about possible bands for this glorious festival but I already know that I’m going to be like a kid at Christmas. It will be amazing! Plain and simple. Obviously Opeth will perform as well, but to be quite honest with you, our own performance doesn’t get me nearly as excited as the thought of experiencing the bands that have shown interest. It will be remarkable and memorable. A celebration, bitches!”

We are so excited and proud to be working with Mikael and to have Opeth headline his curated Roadburn 2014 event. It will truly be a celebration of progressive rock, psychedelic folk, the heavy 70s and beyond. We look forward to this collaboration and cannot wait to see how he will expand Roadburn Festival‘s musical horizons as well as explore more familiar territory from new angles. We will definitely be in for some artistic surprises.

Roadburn Festival 2014 will run for four days from Thursday, April 10th to Sunday, April 13th, 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.