Opeth recently released their new live album Garden of the Titans: Live at Red Rocks Amphitheatre as an awesome holdover between 2016's Sorceress and their coming studio album.

While Opeth is remaining as mysterious as ever about the new album and its process, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt tells Metal Hammer he's got about "an hour and a half's worth of material" and that he "was definitely in the studio before New Year's."

"I have, actually. I told myself I'd be taking a break, maybe even a sabbatical or something, after the last tour but I think I lasted until after Xmas. I was definitely in the studio before New Year's.

"I started writing in December last year and I’ve got a lot of music – I think I've got about an hour and a half's worth of material, but I'm going to take it easy. I'm going to be very methodical and listen to a lot of stuff I've done and just make sure there's no gaps of any kind on the next album. That feels important to me."