You know a band makes a huge mark upon a scene when you start noticing clones of said band popping up with increased frequency. Opeth worship has been going on for 10 years strong now, culminating in the brilliant DVD, Lamentations, released in 2003. Aside from a superbly played and recorded live set, the DVD details an insider’s look at the making of Opeth’s twin album effort, Deliverance and Damnation, as well as even more proof that in Opeth’s case, success is proportional to humility. I spoke to band leader Micheal Åkerfeldt on the phone during Opeth’s 2004 US tour.
Maelstrom: Thanks a lot for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us. I know with touring it’s “hurry up and wait around,” and I suppose you’re now at the hurry up point.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, exactly.
Maelstrom: Congratulations on being part of this amazing DVD. It turned out so well – especially the documentary. I really enjoyed that very much.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, it’s pretty good.
Maelstrom: You’re only a year older than I am, and it’s really fun to see how much of a little kid you are...
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah...(laugh)
Maelstrom: ...in the studio. It’s priceless. I know I’d be the same way, too.
Michael Åkerfeldt: That’s the way we wanted it to be. We didn’t want to show ourselves as cool people; we wanted to seem like the fucking music geeks that we are, and also get a real good insight on how we work.
Maelstrom: I was also very fortunate to have seen you this past time when you came to The Fillmore, in San Francisco. I had read that one of your own favorite shows was your previous performance at The Fillmore. What was special about that show?
Michael Åkerfeldt: It’s partly because of that venue: it’s legendary. It was a [then] good tour with Porcupine Tree. But the [last] show with Devil Driver was a great show, too. We just love that venue. You just look at the walls and see [the posters] of everyone that has played there before you... It felt very good to sell that place out. We always have a great crowd in San Francisco, but playing The Fillmore is a bit bigger than playing The Pound.
Maelstrom: I have to say that, as a fan, my favorite records are the first two. But I didn’t hear any songs from those records in your set.
Michael Åkerfeldt: No. We have them in the set; we’ve got “The Twilight is My Robe” and “Nectar.” But we didn’t get as much stage time as we thought we would. We only have an hour and 30 minutes, to an hour and 45, tops. Including songs from the first two albums would have made it over two hours. So, unfortunately, if we have to cut songs, we’re going to cut them from those albums because they’re the ones that are not as known as the other ones.
Maelstrom: I have a feeling this problem will get worse as you make more records.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Definitely. We’re seven albums in, and it’s always a big problem. Whenever we play live, it’s for the fans, so we choose songs that we want to play and that what we think people want to hear. But it’s never our intention to alienate the people who like the first two albums; we still love those albums.
Maelstrom: I was very pleased to read that one of your favorite Opeth songs is still “Under the Weeping Moon.”
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, it is.
Maelstrom: What is it about that song?
Michael Åkerfeldt: I was 19 when we did that song. It was our first time in the studio. The song goes from proper black metal to psychedelic, ambient sounds, which I think is fucking cool. I listen to it and can’t believe we came up with that stuff. It’s more evil sounding than other stuff on that album.
Maelstrom: It made an impression when, on the documentary, you say you can’t listen to certain parts on <Morningrise> because it’s embarrassing.
Michael Åkerfeldt: I still love that album, but the sound production , and some of the riffs are not “me” anymore.
Maelstrom: I can certainly see that. I see Opeth as having two major chapters: the De Farfalla and Frieden (Opeth’s old bassist and drummer) chapter, and the Martins (the current drum and bass player, both named Martin) chapter.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Exactly. I didn’t like the mindset on <Morningrise>... we were a bit pretentious. I even brought a lute to the studio! But it is indeed a ground breaking album for us. At the time, there was nothing like it.
Maelstrom: I have to say I really miss the bass sound from those first two records.
Michael Åkerfeldt: That’s unfortunate, because I never liked that bass. He played good, but he wanted to be more in the forefront of the sound, and we lost the heaviness. The bass became more of a solo instrument. That was his personality coming through in his playing. He was a great bass player, but he was never a big part of the band, in the sense that he always wanted to be in the forefront, instead of being a rhythm musician, which is what the bass really is.
Maelstrom: The reason why I like that bass sound, Michael, is, coming from listening to a lot of metal records where the bass guitar is so forgotten, and it was cool for once to really be able to hear the bass and what it’s playing.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah. It was cool at the time.
Maelstrom: I want to ask you about your upcoming show in Amman, Jordan. Is that still going to go off?
Michael Åkerfeldt: We’re going to do that on the 12th of March. Everything is sorted now.
Maelstrom: What was that thing on the Opeth site, the thing about one of the Martins calling you up and saying, “I can’t go! I’m freaked out!”
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, he had panic attacks and depression. That happened for this current tour, too. He missed the first three shows and had to go back home and see his psychologist. They checked him out and found that it was something that runs in his family, apparently. It’s something with his blood – it makes his heart beat faster. He was really worried that he was going insane. But now everything is back to normal. He knows what’s going on and so isn’t as stressed out about it anymore. He’s not totally recovered yet, though.
Maelstrom: Sounds like it makes for really great metal theater.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah. (Laugh)
Maelstrom: I believe you’re the first metal band to go play in Jordan. How did this gig come about? I read on your site that you won’t be playing certain songs...
Michael Åkerfeldt: We got the offer as we get any offer for gigs: they contacted our manager. But being the first metal band in Jordan, they will not let us play death metal songs. So we can only play the <Damnation> set, which is fine for us. Maybe we can open a few doors, and if we come back, maybe next time we can play some more heavy stuff. We have to compromise for now, but we can still play songs with heavy endings, like “To Bid You Farewell” or “Face of Melinda.”
Maelstrom: You’ve sold 6,000 tickets. That’s fantastic.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, but we don’t have 6,000 fans there. I think fans from the nearby countries will come over.
Maelstrom: I’d like to ask you to showcase some of the bands that you pay so much tribute to. Can you tell us about Camel?
Michael Åkerfeldt: They’re an English band who are based in the US now. They formed in the early 70s. It’s basically Andy Latimer’s band. He’s the guitar player and the vocalist. In the early days they had a keyboard player called Peter Bardens, who is famous for having played for Van Morrison and Peter Green. Camel is a little bit of a super group – influenced by fusion, jazz, blues and rock. It really shows in their playing. It’s very delicate and tasteful music. I heard them once and I was blown away.
Maelstrom: That’s one thing I respect very much about you and your band: that you like and appreciate Morbid Angel, but can also appreciate something like you just described. I don’t see why there isn’t more of that appreciation, not only in metal, but outside of metal, too.
Michael Åkerfeldt: That’s how we work. We’re just interested in music; we don’t care about what style it is. If it’s wrong being a metal band and saying you like Stevie Wonder, we don’t really care about that. We listen to everything and are influenced by anything that we think sounds good.
Maelstrom: Can you tell us about Paatos?
Michael Åkerfeldt: It’s one of the best bands out of Sweden. It was formed by a bass player who owns the record store where I work sometimes, called Mellotronen, and his guitar player. It’s basically modern, beautiful progressive rock. There are hints of Indian music. They’ve done one album, and I think they’re going to sign to Inside Out Music.
Maelstrom: They’ll sell more records thanks to you.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Maybe. I hope so.
Maelstrom: I find it absolutely astounding that a band like yours, despite being a professional band, can go to the studio with the kind of music that you write, having only practiced *once*? (laugh) Isn’t that rather cavalier?
Michael Åkerfeldt: Well, we’ve done that since <Still Life>. That was also one rehearsal.
Maelstrom: Well, obviously you can do it. But isn’t that an immense amount of stress that could be avoided? You said in the video you work better under stress, but...
Michael Åkerfeldt: Last time was such a bad experience that I think we’re going to try and rehearse a little bit more for the next record.
Maelstrom: So you’re not like a regular band that meets twice a week for practice.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Oh, no. Hell, no. We only rehearse when we have to, like for an upcoming tour. We always think, “well, we can rehearse in the studio. Fuck it.”
Maelstrom: Wow. Sounds expensive.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Heh. Yeah, it is. It is. It’s a waste of money.
Maelstrom: What are your continuing impressions of touring in the United States?
Michael Åkerfeldt: It’s one of our main markets, and perhaps the biggest market for Opeth. That’s why we’ve been here so many times. Lots of people come and they’re very appreciative. We’ll definitely keep coming back.
Maelstrom: What’s the best part of being Swedish?
Michael Åkerfeldt: Sweden is a neutral country. It’s mellow. Things are simple. No wars! I dunno... everything’s there that I need... like record stores!
Maelstrom: How’s the fight against nicotine going?
Michael Åkerfeldt: Ehhh... not so good. I’m going to try and quit eventually, but on tour, it’s... hard. You spend so much time waiting, that you end up smoking for the sake of having something to do.
Maelstrom: Have you got Gameboy?
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yes! But I only brought one game with me.
Maelstrom: Oh, no!
Michael Åkerfeldt: There are some Playstation games that I bought on tour that I want to play when I get some time off.
Maelstrom: What’s your top one, there?
Michael Åkerfeldt: Well, I’ve got Resident Evil, which is the new one, I guess; two war games... Socom or whatever it’s called; and Castle Wolfenstein. I got it for $29. Games in Sweden cost a hundred bucks.
Maelstrom: Oh, my god. Have you heard about chipping your machine?
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, I’ve done that. I can play games from all over the world.
Maelstrom: No, I mean, like, getting pirated copies.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, I can do that.
Maelstrom: Ok. Just lookin’ out for ya, there.
Michael Åkerfeldt: (laugh) Of course! I’m way ahead of you.
Maelstrom: So there aren’t going to be any more soft records like <Damnation>?
Michael Åkerfeldt: I don’t know! Maybe... But certainly not next time; it’ll be more mixed.
Maelstrom: On the DVD, you talked about how it might be a (whispers) black metal record.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, well, you know... I’m always talking. I’m only working on one song, and even though it’s not a black metal song, maybe others will have a more black metal feel. Maybe others will be more in the vein of Damnation, or something we’ve never done before.
Maelstrom: I thought it was very cute and personable at the Fillmore show what you said, before the last song, about how, “before each show we sit around in a circle and meditate to our master..... Satan.”
Michael Åkerfeldt: Hehehe. People are shocked because they love to label us. They think we’re either Christians or Satanists. I said that to confuse them a little bit.
Maelstrom: The way you said it, and indeed your whole persona on stage, is very sweet. And for you to make that statement, it was humourous.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Hehe. A lot of people don’t get it, though. We’re not religious in any way, really. We like to keep a serious face saying that kind of stuff. To be honest, if it would come down to us having to choose a religion, we would definitely be Satanists, all of us.
Maelstrom: Very good. Very good. That’s the right thing to say for your audience.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Exactly.
Maelstrom: Thanks also for taking the time to write all the notes on the Opeth site. It’s very personable and it makes one feel closer to the band.
Michael Åkerfeldt: We want people to get as close to us as possible.
Maelstrom: Thanks so much for your time. I’d like to leave you with my most lasting memory from the Fillmore show: some person in the front row was trying, screaming to get you to take their demo. And you took it. It was very gracious of you. You could tell you totally made that person’s month.
Michael Åkerfeldt: (chuckle of excitement)
Maelstrom: And immediately, three more CDRs came flying onto the stage.
Michael Åkerfeldt: (laugh) Yeah, it was raining CDs on stage.
Maelstrom: You picked one up and said, “here’s the band’s second demo.” Thanks for the interview, Michael.
Michael Åkerfeldt: Hehe. Thanks, man. Take it easy.
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