Keyboardist Per Wiberg has been relieved of his duties as a member of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH as part of a mutual decision with the band. Keyboard duties on upcoming tours will be handled by a musician who is already rehearsing with the band. Said musician’s identity will be released at a later date.

OPETH vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt released the following statement on the matter: “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] and 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.”

OPETH entered Atlantis studios (formerly Metronome studios) in Stockholm on January 31 to begin recording its tenth album for a fall 2011 release via Roadrunner Records. Jens Bogren (SOILWORK, KATATONIA, PARADISE LOST, BLOODBATH) engineered the effort while mixing duties ere handled by Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE). The new material has been described by the band as “good.”