Progressive heavy metal has found its new poster boys. Tipped as the next big thing by Porcupine Tree’s Steve Wilson, Opeth had its beginnings in some classic Scandinavian death metal. Guitarist and vocalist, and the only member who’s been with the band since its inception, Mikael Åkerfeldt, though felt the label didn’t quite fit. Opeth moved away from its death metal sound and wrought a new path for itself. Crushing, distorted riffing now gave way into gentle, haunting guitar interludes; Åkerfeldt’s screaming, growling vocals segued seamlessly into ballad-esque clean vocals and critics were hard put to find a slot for their music. Starting with Orchid in 1995 and moving to Still Life in 1999, Opeth were steadily building themselves a fan base and with the release of Blackwater Park in 2001 produced by Steve Wilson, what many would say is their most groundbreaking album to date, they’d firmly established themselves as a force to be reckoned with. In 2003-2004, Opeth undertook their most ambitious project yet, a two-CD compilation of their heaviest and most mellow writings which was eventually released as two separate albums - the brutal Deliverance, and the entirely mellow Damnation. At this point, even the fans were beginning to worry about what direction Opeth’s music was going to take next.
Behind the scenes, all wasn’t quite well with the band either. Members came and went and the biggest blow to Opeth was the departure of drummer Martin Lopez and more recently guitarist and long-time friend Peter Lindgren. At this point a lot of older Opeth fans were seemingly discontent with the band’s constant lineup changes and the next album, Watershed, was seemingly the make-or-break album for the band. But with the release of Watershed in June 2008, Opeth has managed to silence most of its retractors. The album is a blitzkrieg of some of the heaviest parts every written by the band interspersed with some incredibly soulful melodies and even funk and jazz elements that would seem impossible for one band to fit into the same album but as Mikael Åkerfeldt says, “Opeth is a band that takes the impossible and puts it together in such a way that you can’t imagine it being anything else.” Opeth are now touring extensively to promote Watershed and ROLLING STONE India caught up with the band on their Australian tour at Metro City in Perth. Excerpts from the interview:
The first thing that struck me when I heard your latest album, Watershed, was that Opeth seems to have had a lot of fun with this. It seems more experimental, more mischievous almost, compared to the sombre, solemn sound of your earlier albums. Was this a conscious shift to a more energetic sound?
Well, that was the state of mind when we went into the album. We’d been having some problems with lineup changes; we had people leaving. But it was just a fresh start with this album, I guess. I mean, it’s not like we had a meeting before recording the album and said, “This has got to be fun guys, we’re gonna have a good time,” but we had a good time recording it. We had a fresh start with two new guys; we were also quite disciplined and worked on a strict schedule. We had to get things done in a certain amount of time and for some reason that made us feel secure, I think, and we were more calm and relaxed. All the songs were done early this time - usually nothing is done before we go to the studio - but this time it was and so there wasn’t much thinking happening during the actual recording.
How do you guys go about the whole songwriting process?
Well, generally, I write most of the songs. I have a small home studio where I record demos, and that’s basically all there is to it. [Guitarist] Fredrik Åkesson came over and we had a few riffs we collaborated on and we put this and that together and [keyboardist] Per [Wiberg] and I wrote a song called ‘Derelict Herds’ which is one of the bonus tracks. We do jam sometimes, but very rarely does it have any satisfactory result, because we usually end up jamming on some Judas Priest or some blues or something like that. We never, as far as I can remember, really jammed to get a song done. Maybe like an embryo song, but not for this album. But, regardless of the fact that I write most of the stuff, I like to see it as a very democratic process. I don’t just give the rest of the band the demos and say, “These are the songs.” I want them to like it; if they don’t like it, they tell me. Well, they didn’t say that they didn’t like anything this time but I want everyone to be happy and want them to feel like a part of the band and part of the process of making a record and our music. And everybody was doing their parts on their own, anyway.
So there are never any ego clashes…
I guess everyone has an ego to some extent, I know I certainly do but it’s not like I’m a dictator; it doesn’t present a problem.
Watershed seems almost like a journey in time. You have ‘Lotus Eater’ with some Sixties psychedelic influences, ‘Burden’ seems to be a throwback to the rock ballads of the Seventies and the keyboards add this whole Eighties synth vibe to it. Was this planned or is it just your influences showing?
Well, for the last couple of years I’ve been listening to a lot of psychedelic music, to a lot of those bands from the Sixties and I guess that just made an impact on the album. I’ve always like to progress more towards the well-played, jazz-fusion kind of rock and I always felt that some of that Sixties music was big on jazz and I didn’t really understand it then. Obviously, I always liked the Beatles’ songs and then I stumbled upon a few other bands at the same time that were basically psychedelic pop bands and that got me really interested. Soon enough, I was only listening to psychedelic music and I don’t do drugs or anything; it was just sheer musical interest and I guess it rubbed off on the album. ‘Burden,’ however, was obviously calculated. We said, “Let’s do a song that sounds like a late Seventies ballad.” And it does. And it’s not a very original song but it’s good.
Every time there’s a change in the lineup, do you find yourself starting from scratch or do you just pick up from where you left off?
In a way you do start from scratch, especially if you change members like we did. We had Peter [Lindgren, former guitarist] in the band from the beginning, pretty much. And obviously, when he left that was a big blow to me personally, but not so much on a musical level. That didn’t require us to stop and rethink and say, “What the fuck do we do now? How can we replace him?” It was just a matter of Fredrik learning the songs and that was never a problem. Musically, a member leaving never set us back - on a creative level - to be honest. And I don’t want to put anyone down, but, it’s been like, we always got that guy replaced with a guy who fits the band better.
But does it happen that someone’s quit the band and you’re thinking, “I don’t know where the music will go from here?”
Yeah, I never know. We’re in a situation now where literally no one in the band can leave; no one is allowed to leave [laughs]. If they were to come and tell me, “Look I’m leaving,” I’d be like “No, no you can’t.” But member changes happen for a reason. At least that’s been the case with our band. It’s not like one day they wake up and leave. It’s been a long time coming for Peter and [Martin] Lopez [former drummer]. But that doesn’t set me back really, because I’m a musician regardless. I can’t halt my own interest in music because some guy I’m playing with, all of a sudden doesn’t want to play together with us anymore. If that affects my whole view of what I want to do with my life, my perception of music and our music and stuff then I’m just like, “you’re on your own now.” I’m sorry, I don’t like lineup changes; I hate them to be honest, because it requires adjustments, there’s a lot of questions from fans, all of a sudden we suck because that guy is not in the band and I’m like, “What can I do?” But it’s not like it’s not the same band anymore. The band is the same, the music remains intact, it’s just who’s playing it that’s changed. I just want people to listen to the music and stop thinking about who the fuck is playing it. I like to think Opeth as being, in a way, bigger than its members, because we’ve had so many members [come and go]. As far as I’m concerned all the lineup changes have only affected the band positively and never in a negative sense. But I also understand the fans’ point of view because with my favourite bands, someone leaves and I’m like, “I don’t like that new guy, they suck now.” And it’s all like in the eyes of the beholder, you know.
A lot of the older fans complain that the brutality has all but gone out of Opeth. Does Mikael now give his all to Bloodbath [side project]? Has the brutality moved to Bloodbath? Is Opeth just going to be more and more progressive?
[Laughs] Well, I’m pretty sure we’re going to remain somewhat of a progressive band but Bloodbath, I don’t waste much energy on that because I don’t write for them. I just sing. With Opeth, I don’t want to push it. I always have - because I’m a metalhead at heart - and I always want to come out with heavy, brutal albums because it’s cool, if you know what I mean. But I’m also a musician and I’ve come to realise that I can’t push myself or force myself into one musical direction because it simply doesn’t work. It’s going to come out half-assed, you know, if I just made a heavy record for the sake of having a new brutal record because we’re a metal band. But I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t make anyone happy. It has to be honest and once it’s time for a really really heavy record again, then we’ll have a record. But with that said, I think there’re parts of this album that’s heavier than anything else I’ve written. ‘Heir Apparent,’ some parts of ‘Lotus Eater,’ and parts of ‘Hessain Peel’ is as heavy as Deliverance.
There are also all these heavy metal fans who say Opeth is not really all that heavy because they mix growling vocals with clean ones and that’s just not as brutal as a lot of other bands…
Well, for me, some of the most brutal music I know is not heavy metal. Musically, it’s like an attack on your senses. In most cases, I find the bands on the contemporary metal scene are all either brutal or just really fast and it’s all so bloodless. There’s no real purpose behind it and for me, I’ve been listening to heavy metal all my life and I don’t get impressed by heaviness anymore. I listen to stuff and think, “Wow, that’s heavy,” and two minutes later, “wow, it’s still heavy,” but is it something else? I guess what I’m trying to say, without sounding like an asshole, is that we go for a slightly more profound sound than just being heavy. I think we could probably do a record like that but like I said, it has to be a natural thing, otherwise it’d just suck.
Opeth has a fairly large fan base in India. Any India plans on the horizon?
I’m pretty sure there’s a strong scene everywhere in the world. We would love to come. I can’t confirm that we’ll be coming for sure, but we are definitely talking about it. And actually, we could have confirmed a gig but that would have been on Dec 23, so we couldn’t do it. But it has been pushed forward but we’re talking about it now. So I guess you can expect to see us there in the near future.
So when you get on stage in front of all these screaming fans, what exactly is going through your head as you go into a song?
Hopefully, nothing. If I start thinking I will fuck up. Sometimes I do think, “Okay, this is the next change,” but I have to get those thoughts out of my mind because, it’s going to really put you off. You can’t think like “What the fuck is the next lyric, I can’t remember it now, what is it?” I will forget it, but if I just play with an empty head and just have a good time, I think better. And sing better. And I remember the lyrics and it looks cool too [smiles]. Sometimes you’re thinking of something that happens in the crowd. We’ve had things thrown at us and I get really really angry and I can’t stop thinking about the coward who did it. Well I won’t beat around the bush if that happens, I’d just walk off. If they’re throwing stuff at me I’m not going play anymore. Fuck that. I want to beat that guy to death [evil laugh].
You toured extensively for your previous album, Ghost Reveries. Will you be touring for Watershed as extensively?
We’re gigging all of this year and the next year so I guess we’re going to end around Christmas-time, 2009. That’s more than a year and a half on the road.
Your family doesn’t mind?
Yeah, they mind, but I work for my freedom. We work and when we’re done we have a year, a year and a half off with no work so I can be with my kids all that time.
Do you find your priorities have changed, now that you’re a parent?
Not really, not so much. My priorities changed, oddly enough, when I had my kids, and I wanted to be at home more, but, on the contrary, I’m away more because I’m the supporter of my family. I’m working for my family. I love playing shows, I really love it, but I wouldn’t do it if I couldn’t support my family doing that. Not as much anyway. Because now that’s my main priority - I want my kids to have a good life. I’d want to be a musician regardless, but if it didn’t support my family I couldn’t do it.
So do your daughters, Melinda and Mirjam, have an opinion on your music?
Well they do actually. Melinda is four and Mirjam will be one in October so she’s too young for it but Melinda likes Opeth, Kiss, Twisted Sister and Pippi Longstocking, those are her idols. Oh and she likes a band called The Poodles that were in the Eurovision song contest and she said that The Poodles are better than Opeth.
You play the most gigs in the US. What do you think of the contemporary music scene there?
The music scene in the US is very strong and it’s a very important market for us, when it comes to selling records. It’s important for us economically, I guess. We love playing there, we have a great fan base there, which is why everyone wants us to play there all the time; there is a big demand for us. But the music scene there right now, I won’t say I’m a big fan of the metal scene. I don’t like - I don’t know what you call it but we do it too - I mean with screams and clean vocals but it seems so ‘poppy’ and everybody has such nice haircuts and it’s like they all go down to the tattoo parlour and get their sleeves, work out a little, get nice haircuts and then when it comes to the songs they’re like whatever, you know, whatever. It’s very image-based it seems, but of course, with many many exceptions. But what I see when I put on MTV, on your average show, is like, I can’t tell one band apart from another. What I’m seeing is a lot of attitude and very little thought, it seems. But obviously there’re bands like Morbid Angel that just crushes everything else. So I suppose I both absolutely love the American metal scene and absolutely hate it, but that goes for the general metal scene in the world.
Do you think the record companies have anything to do with that? The whole plastic image?
I don’t know. I’ve played with some of these bands that I don’t really like at all but hanging out with them, they’re always great people with a great interest in music and some of them have - what I would say, for me - a really good taste in music. But a lot of these bands are quite young and they haven’t been around very long and they maybe don’t have the same kind of musical upbringing that I’ve had. I grew up with heavy metal so I’m very quick to dismiss stuff like, “Oh that sounds like Blizzard of Oz and that sounds like something else” so I’m very anal, I’m very critical when it comes to heavy metal bands. Especially metal bands because it all just seems a bit shallow and I want to change the whole perception of heavy metal music just being heavy and aggressive - which is fine, which is cool, that’s something I love about it too - but I don’t want it to be only that. I want it to be perceived as any form of music. I don’t want it to be perceived as a bunch of drunk guys who want to fuck some groupies and play some heavy shit. It’s an art form.
How has the shift to Roadrunner been working for Opeth so far?
Good, they’re the best label for us. Well they do have their demands we do stuff but when it comes to the creative side of things they’ve never interfered with the songs saying, “We don’t like the song, we don’t like the lyrics, we don’t like the production…” We were already pretty established by the time they signed us, so they wouldn’t sign us just to change us around. They have what they call their baby bands and those are the new bands like Trivium and stuff like that who are very successful, but I guess those bands are more - I wouldn’t say that is the case with Trivium - but some of the younger bands are more openminded when it comes to the opinion of their record label. Like if their record label says, “If you do a single song, we will present it to Metallica, maybe you can tour with them; you’ll be playing on this radio,” whatever. Well if somebody would say anything like that to us, I mean we have singles too, I’d also be a little bit like “OK,” that kinda stuff but never, when the album is that solid that you can’t break into it from outside, it’s impossible, I would kill them if they asked us to do that [laughs]. But it’s how they want to promote the album where they’re pushing us to do things that we might think are stupid, but whatever. They wanted us to do birthday greetings to fans and stuff like that. I remember once, a certain label - this was before Roadrunner - it wasn’t me luckily because I would’ve refused but they wanted Peter [Lindgren] to call up one of the bosses’ answering machines and say happy birthday. And I was like, “That’s just stupid.” But as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with the music I’m like a zombie, you know, they push me around into TV stations or answering machines and I’d do everything for them pretty much but musically I won’t let them touch me. But I also want to promote the album and they know better than me. I don’t know shit about anything else; I don’t know how you promote records. I don’t want to be in one of those situations where you feel the record label is the enemy and the bad guy and stuff. We have a good relationship with them but I would never trust them with music. I would trust them with basically what we feel like we employed them to do. You have to remember that once you sign with a record label - at least in our case - they came after us and not the other way round so it’s not like we owe them or anything. They want to push the music and promote the music so that’s what I feel we employed them to do and we take care of the music.
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