Swedish progressive metallers Opeth are one unique entity. Having transcended the metal genre, the band draws from a variety of musical inspirations and as a result, now boasts a fan base that covers pockets of almost the entire spectrum of popular music. Following the release of last year's Watershed, the band return to Australia yet again this month for a select series of shows. PyroMusic caught up with guitarist Fredrik Akesson (also known for his stints in Arch Enemy from 2005-2007 and Krux) to discuss the band's incredible success, progressive rock and frontman Mikael Akerfeldt's sense of humour.
Spiritech: Hey Fredrik, how are you doing?
Frederik Akesson: Pretty good. I woke up half an hour ago, enjoying some coffee (laughs).
Spiritech: I understand the band just came off a pretty hefty European tour.
Frederik Akesson: Yeah, we did the tour with Dream Theater, the Progressive Nation tour and then a few days back we played a headline show in Tel Aviv.
Spiritech: Wow - how was the Tel Aviv show?
Frederik Akesson: That was really good actually. There was about 1700 people and that was fun. We basically just flew in and out of the country. The show went fine I think. It actually seemed to be very calm there, but still, we have a lot of crew people and I guess there was more people about people wanting to get home to their families, because we're always touring and you want to spend as much of those off days back home as possible.
Spiritech: You've been touring on Watershed for more than a year now. Are those songs still fresh and exciting to play live?
Frederik Akesson: Yeah, they are actually. And now we've recently started playing some songs that we haven't played before. So we try to change things and mix it up all the time, because then it becomes more fun, you know? And more challenging as well.
Spiritech: What have been some of the highlights of the Watershed tour thus far?
Frederik Akesson: Definitely Australia last time was really, really good. And also the South American tour we did, when we played in Chile, Santiago and those places, that was great, having something like 4500 people on a headlining show, which is the biggest headline show I think Opeth has ever done. They were singing along with the guitar melodies like it was an Iron Maiden show and stuff like that! That was really cool. There's been a lot of fun shows actually. One in Germany when we played, it was really bad weather, just mud everywhere and thunderstorms, but the crowd just went crazy and took their shirts off and jumped around and threw mud at each other. It was pretty far out.
Spiritech: Impressive. Was Swedish progressive-metal ever supposed to become this huge?
Frederik Akesson: I don't know! (laughs) I guess you just do the best you can. But it's really cool, a lot of younger people and also older people like it, instead of what's popular in the charts.
Spiritech: Indeed. Now, Watershed was your first studio album with Opeth. How much songwriting input did you have on this record?
Frederik Akesson: I mean, Mikael Akerfeldt writes most of the stuff, as he's always done. But one song, 'Porcelain Heart', the first video track, that was a track that we co-wrote. I came up with this heavy intro riff and a bit of the verse parts and we kind of collaborated on that for a while and then Mikael arranged the song and came up with the other parts. So that was really cool to at least be on one track. But otherwise, I did the guitar solos and small stuff here and there. And of course I played rhythm guitar on the album.
Spiritech: Do you think you'll have more songwriting input on the next album then?
Frederik Akesson: It entirely depends on how good the songs are. I've already recorded some stuff... it's more of a democratic decision I guess and we're going to listen to everything. In the end a lot of it (is) Mikael calling the shots, but we'll see what happens. It's a bit too early to know yet, but I will definitely try. (I don't have) any lyrics or anything, I don't do that, I will leave that to Mikael. But there are some parts are there, they're not complete songs, but some song sections. We'll see what happens.
Spiritech: Mike is obviously a huge progressive rock fan, especially from the 70s era. Are you of a similar musical mindset?
Frederik Akesson: Yeah, absolutely, but I don't have the same knowledge as him about it. So he got me into some bands. I was a big fan of Rush and listened to King Crimson, you know, Deep Purple and all that stuff, but that's maybe not really progressive rock. And I always liked Cactus. But he got me into Camel for instance and Nick Drake and stuff like that, stuff that I now listen to. He has a great knowledge of music.
Spiritech: Does it happen often that he stumbles on to some rare 70s prog album and then brings it along and introduces it to the rest of the band?
Frederik Akesson: Yeah, we definitely sit around on the tour bus listening to shuffled iPods. Many times he'll be like, "yeah, you've gotta listen to this". Everybody in the band are big music freaks and buy a lot of music. Mikael always collects vinyl on tour, he's a huge vinyl record collector.
Spiritech: You mention being on the tour bus with Mike and on-stage, he presents a very dry sense of humour. Is he like that off-stage as well, such as in the studio?
Frederik Akesson: Absolutely, off-stage too! (laughs) He's very disciplined in a way though and very focused when we work. But I think everybody's very focused when we work, it's not an issue. Still, when we're recording he comes up with some funny thing and Mike can be very, very dry (laughs).
Spiritech: How does he go about telling you something like, "that take wasn't as good as it could have been" or "I didn't like that riff?"
Frederik Akesson: Actually, when I did the guitars for Watershed, Mikael wasn't in the studio at that time. It was very, very smooth and that was cool for me, because I guess he had a lot of confidence that I would pull if off, so to speak, and that everybody knew their parts. At rehearsals and stuff he can be... it's pretty hard stuff, but it's fun, he gets it all back! (laughs)
Spiritech: Great stuff. While Opeth aren't renowned for covers there's a great version of Alice In Chains' 'Would' on the special edition of Watershed. It's a great song but perhaps not one many would expect Opeth to choose over someone like say, King Crimson or Pink Floyd. Why did you go with this track and can we expect more covers in the near future?
Frederik Akesson: I think Mikael thought we should take songs that weren't progressive, like a song from King Crimson or something, (something) that was different from Opeth stuff. So I guess that was one of the reasons and also everybody liked that song. The decisions were made in the studio, right at the end of the recording we rehearsed the songs in the studio. But I remember I wanted to do 'Diary Of A Madman' by Ozzy Osbourne, but that's more of a progressive song. We don't have any other cover versions yet though.
Spiritech: Interesting. What was it like for yourself making the transition from one successful Swedish band in Arch Enemy to another successful act in Opeth?
Frederik Akesson: In a way, it was a bit of a similar situation, but in a way it was not a very similar situation. 'Cause in Opeth I joined for the writing process of Watershed and I was at Mikael's house laying down the guitars and jamming and stuff all the time. But in Arch Enemy I only did touring, I never played on any album. But in this case, I got to play on the album and then do the touring. And therefore you feel like much more a part of it. Also, difference wise it was the music; to learn the style of Mikael's guitar playing and also work on like my acoustic playing and stuff like that. That was a challenge and that was really fun as well.
Spiritech: Since you've moved on from Arch Enemy have you kept in any kind of regular contact with them?
Frederik Akesson: Yeah, absolutely, we have contact. It was kind of funny actually, because the first tour we did on Watershed was the Defenders of the Faith tour, which 'Metal Hammer' did in the UK. That was us and Arch Enemy. We talk sometimes.
Spiritech: Good to hear! Changing topics, the band are making yet another trek to Australia this month. What is it about Australia that just seems to "get" Opeth?
Frederik Akesson: I don't know, but the thing is we're really happy about that. I've played in Australia twice with Arch Enemy also and it's always been the best crowds, the craziest crowds I think. With Opeth, it's amazing that we play bigger and bigger places each time. Opeth music is a bit hard to digest maybe I thought, but it's really cool that people are into it.
Spiritech: That's the incredible thing about Opeth - your music is very melodic, but not easily digestible. Yet you're signed to a huge label and play to huge crowds worldwide and being a metal band that has transcended genres and has fans of all different types of music. What is it about Opeth that has enabled this to happen?
Frederik Akesson: Well, I used to be a big fan of Opeth before I was in the band. I always appreciated it and thought the sound was very original and that the songs were very original. Maybe it has to do with the calm parts versus the aggressive parts I suppose. It's difficult to do long songs that still have... that still connect in a good way, not like it could be many songs glued together, they're not just meant as separate sections. It's difficult to do long songs with a flow within the song. It's hard to explain to this, but maybe you know what I mean (laughs). Maybe it's the variations within the song; that you never really know what's going to happen within the song when you listen to it for the first time.
Spiritech: With such lengthy and complex songs and a reputation for often varying the set list within a tour, is it pretty challenging for you even after a few years in the band to replicate all of them as accurately as possible, especially with such an extensive catalogue to choose from?
Frederik Akesson: Well, we go through the songs before we play a couple of times. I practice the songs a lot so you feel comfortable playing them live. But sometimes it's been like, I have to learn the song like within the day or something, so it can be a bit stressful. But it's just a matter of practicing the songs I think. Plus it's also fun to change the songs around, it's more interesting.
Spiritech: What can Australian fans expect set list wise on the upcoming tour?
Frederik Akesson: A few songs that we never played in Australia before; a very different set list from the last time we were there. We're playing some songs from Ghost Reveries we've never played like 'Harlequin Forest'. Also I think we're playing 'April Ethereal' from the My Arms, Your Hearse record and some good old stuff too as well as some songs from Watershed that we haven't played.
Spiritech: You mentioned that you'd been a long-time fan before joining Opeth. What's your favourite Opeth album and why?
Frederik Akesson: (Laughs) That's a difficult one, but lately I've been listening a lot to Still Life. It's probably the one I had the hardest time to get into from the beginning, but now I listen to it quite a lot. That's probably my favourite right now, but it varies. Ghost Reveries was my favourite for a while; I can't say Watershed because I played on it I guess! (laughs) But in the beginning when I got into Opeth, it was Blackwater Park. That was the first time when I heard Opeth and then I listened to the others.
Spiritech: Nice choice there. Final question - do you have any last words for PyroMusic.net readers?
Frederik Akesson: We are real excited to come over to Australia to play again and it's going to be really cool.
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