We had to go through a lot to get this Opeth interview done. We (me and three other zines) were at the 013 venue at 18.00 to do our interviews, and everyone seemed to know we were coming. Everyone… but Opeth. Great start. After some tea and coffee guitar player Peter Lindgren was willing to see us all at the same time. Goodbye for 75% of my questions.
How’s the tour going so far?
Well, pretty fine actually. It’s just a very short tour. This was on short notice as well. As a band, we already knew we wanted to do a ‘Damnation’ Tour, but the management wanted us to do the US for the third time, but they realised that was not a very good idea, and it was late, so that’s why it’s so short. So far it’s been good and so far this is the last.
What was your reaction to the murder of Anna Lindh?
You always get upset, of course. We didn’t expect it to happen back in 1986 (Prime Minister Olof Palme, ed.), but he was a hot shot politician at the time. Not many people regarded Anna Lindh as, you know, an international politician, even though she was probably more famous than Palme was. They have got the guy now, at least that’s what they think. He was alone, saw her at the store and knifed her to death, apparently. It’s just so stupid and unnecessary. Like I was saying, this doesn’t happen in Sweden. At least, that’s what we always thought, but maybe we have to rethink that. There was a lot of talk going on, why she didn’t have any bodyguards etc. I don’t think politicians will be using bodyguards now, which I can understand. You can’t blame her, even though having bodyguards might have helped.
And what does it mean for Sweden?
Well, hard to tell. I mean, all of a sudden a lot of people seem to have known her, which is a bit ridiculous. Media is blowing it out to this proportion. There is always going to be a discussion about how the famous should act and protect themselves. I don’t think anything will change, however.
How are the reactions to the seated shows?
We haven’t done that many actually. Our plan was to do only seated shows, but there are few venues that are big enough to enable us to do so. I think when you do a mellow set you might as well sit down. When you have a seated audience, people are more polite and modest in between the songs. In Stockholm we had a seated show which had both a mellow and a heavy set. That was a bit awkward. It wasn’t supposed to happen really, they were only rehearsals for the DVD we recorded last week in London. For the heavy set we’d prefer people standing up, doing what they want to do.
To some, ‘Damnation’ came like a surprise.
We thought it would be boring to just release yet another Opeth album. We wanted to put out a super heavy album, but Mike said he had a lot of mellow songs, so we wanted to do something with those as well. Then, I think it was Jonas from Katatonia who came up with the idea to put out two albums, one heavy, one mellow. From that point on it was crystal clear to us what we wanted to do. This kind of music has been there almost from the start, we developed that from the first day. This is the first album with only that side of us.
And the next album?
We’re going to start writing the next album early next year, maybe. And then record it and release it, so that would probably be late next year. We might release the DVD recording as a live CD, for the fans who don’t buy DVDs.
You spent as much time in the studio for ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Damnation’ combined as you would normally spend on one album. Was it a hard job?
Yes, it was, actually. The reason was that whereas we thought we had this great idea of releasing two albums, the record company didn’t agree, and we had to offer them the both of them as one album, which meant we had the same budget. We had 8 weeks in stead of 7, like we spent on Blackwater Park. However, we wanted it to still have the same Opeth quality, so it meant we had to work harder. So it was tough.
In Biebob, Mikael told us his favourite ballad is Deep Purple’s “Soldier of Fortune”. I would like to know which is your favourite ballad of all time and your favourite Opeth ballad.
Well, before this tour it was “To Rid the Disease”. No we’re playing it so much, but now we’re playing it so much, I’m not sure… I would have to say that song, however, to do myself justice. Of all time… It’s probably a Red House Painter song. I listened to a song called “Dragon Fly”… I can’t say, really. At the moment, that‘s the one however.
What do you feel when you are performing? People usually think you guys are a bit static on stage.
It’s two experiences actually. The ‘Damnation’ set is very intense when we play it. You have to concentrate on playing a lot, since you don’t have distortion to cover your mistakes up. There’s nothing much to do… I mean, you can’t head bang to a ballad, right? When you play a heavy set, however, the feeling is all about the power, which is completely different. I can imagine it’s harder to spot during a mellow set, which doesn’t mean it isn’t there. It’s just harder to spot. We close our eyes, are very into the music. The mellow set is very intense and intimate. There’s also more interaction with the audience. In Sweden I could hear myself swallow in between songs. They just didn’t know how to react…
What were your influences for ‘Damnation’?
Well, Porcupine Tree of course, but also many 70s rock bands like Camel. It’s sort of like a tribute to all of our influences. We wanted it to sound like such an album too, you know. We even rebuilt the drum kit to a jazz kit.
Why didn’t you use real mellotrons on the tour?
They are very expensive, and there’s only one guy in the world who still builds them. We now use a Korg, which has the sounds in it. We would love to have one, but then the flights would all be terribly expensive.
‘My Arms Your Hearse’ and ‘Still Life’ had a lyrical concept. Why not Deliverance and Damnation?
Yes, in a way this means the lyrics mean more than they should. But they shouldn’t be overshadowing the music, you know. Without a concept, the lyrics can be much more personal as well. We spent seven and a half weeks on music, and Mike wrote the lyrics in between breaks. A lot of people think he writes great lyrics, and I agree, but… It’s like this: Bad lyrics can ruin a good song, and good lyrics can lift up a bad song, but most lyrics around are not extremely good and not very bad.
Is it then an option to write an instrumental album?
Well, Mike’s voice is like an instrument really, that would be strange, unfair to us as a band, too. It would be the same as leaving out the drums or the guitars.
Why isn’t Porcupine Tree here?
This was just on such a short notice, and Steven is writing material for a new album, so even though that would have been more fun, it was impossible. When we play with Porcupine Tree we want to do a balanced set, since they also cover the entire scale as well.
How do you guys respond to the current Opeth hype?
Is there a hype?
Yes, there is. You’re even selling your merchandise at Metallica prices, now.
Are we? Wow… Ok, we usually don’t know these things. Hmm, well, we have always had good reviews, but finally the fans are hyping us too. We can finally sort of live as musicians now, but at the start of this year, I looked at the audience during a show in the US, and I thought: “My God, I must be the poorest guy in here.” But then I looked at Mikael and the Martins, and I thought “Oh no, we are the poorest guys here.” The hype will bring new fans, but I think our true base had already been set. Even though ‘Damnation’ is a non-metal record, they will continue following us.
The Martins are also an influence on the Opeth-sound, right?
Certainly. They listen to completely different music at home. For “Bleak”, for instance, we sort of stole everything from a Syrian guy called George Wasif. We paid for that song though.
Finally, you guys are music freaks, so you must love vinyl?
We do, or rather… Mike is a vinyl junkie. Really, he is, he buys stuff on e-bay etc. He even buys stuff he doesn’t know, just because it’s rare. Our label isn’t that enthusiastic, however, since vinyl usually costs money. When we release our albums on vinyl, we want them to look as good as they sound. We will probably release ‘Deliverance’ ourselves, with a nice folding LP.
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