Opeth screams across America

Swedish death-metal outfit Opeth will return to North America in May for another round of dates to support its latest album, "Watershed."

The 23-city club/theater outing, featuring support from Norwegian black-metal band Enslaved, is set to launch May 1 in Sayerville, NJ, and criss-cross the US through the month's end. Major markets on the itinerary include Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Detroit and New York City. Shows are also booked in the Canadian cities of Montreal and Toronto. Details are listed below.

Opeth fan-club members will have access to presale tickets starting today (1/29), and the general-public onsale begins the first weekend of February. Fan-club information is available at the band's website.

"Watershed," Opeth's ninth album, debuted at No. 23 on The Billboard 200 last summer and earned a Swedish Grammy nomination in the Best Hard Rock category. Though the set offers up the group's signature blunt-force death-metal sound, it enters new territory with '60s and psychedelic music influences.

"This record doesn't sound like a tired band grasping to the last straw," vocalist/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt said in Opeth's bio. "It sounds like a band that is eager to experiment, and that still finds writing music interesting. We're not just putting out a record to put out a record. This is very much an artistic statement."

The album's sound is also affected by a couple of membership changes. Drummer Martin Axenrot joined Opeth's lineup in recording "Watershed," along with new guitarist Fredrick Akesson, formerly of Arch Enemy. Akerfeldt said he is rejuvenated rather than stressed about the changes.

"I want the band to be bigger than its lineup," the frontman explained. "I used to be devastated with lineup changes. But people change and that just happens, and I refuse to let Opeth be a victim of lineup changes."

"Watershed" follows Opeth's 2005 Roadrunner Records debut, "Ghost Reveries." Last month, the rockers also put out the "Burden" digital EP, which features an unreleased cover of Alice in Chains' "Would?" and the rare track "Mellotron Heart."