Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by Decadent (28 Dec 2004)

HM: G`day Mikael, how have things been for you lately?

Mikael: Good, I`ve been taking it easy but also working a little bit with some new material. Playing badminton with our keyboard player + hanging out with my wife and cats. Playing some Playstation with my best buddy, Jonas. Regular stuff for a 30 year old man.

HM: Recently your label "Music for Nations" closed down, leaving Opeth stranded. How has the search for a new label been, and any ideas who are the most likely contenders to sign with?

Mikael: We`ve gotten a wide array of offers, everything from big labels to labels who want us to pay $200 to appear on some obscure compilation tape. To be honest, I don`t care who we sign to as long as they can do the job right. I concentrate on the music while our management is taking care of the business. Right now I think we`ve gotten 12 serious offers that we`re looking through.

HM: Last year Damnation was released, an obvious change of style from more aggressive metal to pure melodious rock. I`m aware that this is something of a one-off, and that is wasn`t an overall change of style for the band. With this in mind, what did you expect to achieve from this album, and how has the response been?

Mikael: It`s been good overall. I think most metal dudes accepted this album as they knew we`re into 60´s and 70´s psychedelia and so on. I love the album. I think it`s one of our best however different it might be. "Damnation" has outsold the previous record and I think the reason being that we`ve reached out to people who are into rock and psychedelia, like Pink Floyd or whatever. Many people say to me that they`ve never been into metal, but they love "Damnation" and got into Opeth through that album. We`re bringing some new people into the metal scene!

HM: The live DVD "Lamentations: Live at Shepherd`s Bush Empire" was released this year with a live show including both a non-metal set, and a regular metal set. Why did you choose to play the Damnation album in its entirety live?

Mikael: We wanted and needed to promote that record as much as we could as it was so different to the others. It was also our most recent album, we`re touring for it anyways. And finally, we could clearly display the two sides of this band live. Some were quite shocked about the fact that we could pull this off.

HM: The DVD also includes a lengthy documentary on the recordings of your last two albums, Deliverance and Damnation. It seems that your producer Steven Wilson played a strong part in those recording sessions, in both creation and production. Will he be contributing as strongly in the next album, or will his role be downplayed?

Mikael: I don`t know. I`ve asked him to help us out again and he said yes. He`s going to produce the next album but we`re not sure how it`s gonna work. His contribution is very "heat of the moment" as is the entire recording process for us. If he comes up with an idea, we`ll try it. That`s basically as far as it goes.

HM: As was seen in the documentary, you entered the studio before a lot of the material was written. This seemed to cause quite a bit of frustration as you had to somewhat cram the writing process into a smaller timeframe. For the recording of the next album, will you be booking the studio before all the entire album is written, or will you finalise everything beforehand?

Mikael: In a dream world I`d book the studio once everything is written. But I also work well under a certain amount of pressure. The last 2 records was obviously a little bit too much for me, and I`ve learned a lot from that experience. We`ll be more prepared next time round, definitely, but I also want some kind of pressure on me and the band…we like to be on the edge ya know!

HM: During your Damnation and Lamentation tours, you hired keyboardist Per Wiberg of Spiritual Beggars to play live keys. I`m quite eager to know; will he become a full time member of Opeth, or just remain a live contributor?

Mikael: I hope so! I love the guy and he`s a phenomenal player + he can sing backing vocals. We`ve given him the offer to join, but he hasn`t said yes yet.

HM: I`ve heard you`ve been having a few ideas for the next album. An epic, occultist, darker concept album was on your mind last I heard. There was also some mention of Celtic Frost influence, as well as Gregorian Chanting. Have any of these ideas solidified in your song writing yet? How much has been written so far, and in what direction?

Mikael: Haha, yes, that was said after I`ve written this certain part that sounded a bit like Celtic frost, after it came a mellow part with Gregorian chant style vocals. I`ll say these things for the people to have something to talk about. People probably think that that`s what the next album will be like as a whole.Obviously that`s not true, and I don`t really know myself yet. I`m working on maybe 4 different songs right now and all I know is that it`s gonna be great!

HM: Will any of the other members of Opeth be contributing to the material on the new album, or will you be writing all the songs yourself? Have you been rehearsing any new songs with the rest of the band?

Mikael: No rehearsals yet, we will though. I can`t say if the other guys will be writing some songs. I`ve been writing pretty much everything since "My Arms Your Hearse", so I`d be surprised, although happy if they presented a cool track to me.

HM: Opeth`s earlier albums contained a lot of dual melodies and acoustic folk parts; something which seems to have been left out on more recent albums. Will these be making a comeback in the next album, or will progression leave this style behind?

Mikael: Hard to say. I liked folk music in the early days of the band. Today I can barely listen to it. I loved Wishbone ash which I still love. Iron maiden, Thin Lizzy, At the gates, My dying bride etc…those bands got me into the whole harmony guitar thing. It got out of hand in the mid 90´s. Every band was doing that thing. I got tired of it and we changed a little bit. You gotta bear in mind though that what I might think sounds "folky" somebody else think sounds like "hippie shit". I don`t believe in regression, or "back to roots"…it always ends up like crap. If people only like our first 2 albums, sorry…that was it. We will never do an album like that again, but if we would, I`m sure it`d be hated by the same people craving it.

HM: Your website`s news section says "Keep your eyes open for Michail Korge". Who is Mchail Korge?

Mikael: That`s classified information I`m afraid!

HM: Will Opeth be doing another world tour in support of the next album? Will you be returning to Australia?

Mikael: Most definitely! We`ll tour there for the next album I`m sure!

HM: The Ultimate Metal hosted Opeth message hosts a barrage of Opeth fans from all over the world. I`ve notice you post there a few times so it`s apparent that you enjoy visiting the place yourself. There are a few members of the board who had a few questions for you, if you don`t mind: Moonlapse would like to know: How exactly do you `write` music? Do you normally just sit there with the guitar playing random things until an idea comes about... do you focus on writing a chord progression first... a melody that`s been in your head perhaps. I`d like to know how the average Opeth riff and melody come about.

Mikael: Either I play guitar til something comes up, or I get a riff or arrangement in my head. It also happened that I program the drum machine with some cool beat and just make up a riff to the beat. It all depends on what kind of song I`m writing, really.

HM: AWMM would like to know: In an interview before the release of Still Life, there was mention of a song being written titled "The Willow Tree". Was this song scrapped, or renamed? If it was renamed, which song did it become known as?

Mikael: I can`t remember now, it was probably renamed. I think it might be "The moor". I know I used to namedrop a few titles just to gain some interest. I usually had some real titles and some working titles. Like "To bid you farewell" was called "Autumn" and "Twilight is my robe" was "Oath" and so on….

HM: AWMM would like to know: Will there be any further happenings with Sorskogen? Will the track "Mordet i Grottan ever wind up as a bonus track on any upcoming releases?

Mikael: No, I might do some more songs. I took the chorus from that song and put it into "To rid the disease" from the last album. The song is very tongue in cheek. Even though I love it, it was so "embodiment of prog rock" with the moogs, mellotrons etc…more like a demonstration than a real idea.

HM: Longinus would like to know: What is your favorite Opeth song, lyrically?

MA: I can`t remember all of them now. I`m more a fan of certain lines than entire lyrics. Overall I was happy with "Face of Melinda" as it was my first rhyming lyric.

HM: Rejvk would like to know: What have you been listening to lately?

Mikael: I`m listening to Def Leppard "Pyromania" right now, haha! I listened to Roy Harper earlier today + I`ve also been listening to Heart a lot, believe it or not.

HM: Thanks very much for your time Mikael, I hope to see you with Opeth down under some time in 2005. I hope all goes well for you and the band in future.

Mikael Åkerfeldt - French interview by heavymusic.free.fr (14 Jul 2004)

Opeth est certainement un des groupes les plus interressant de la scène metal depuis quelques années deja , en pleine composition de son prochain album , Mike Akerfeldt a repondu à mes questions , et c'est avec une grande fierté que je vous les propose!

Opeth a joué sur la scène principale en plein jour à midi au Download Festival devant une foule imposante, comment était-ce ? Car ces conditions ne sont pas très favorables à un show d’Opeth qui s’apprécie nettement mieux dans une salle sombre!

Je pense que ça s’est bien passé, nous avons joué dans tellement de festivals en plein jour avant celui la que ça n’avait rien de nouveaux. Par contre nous étions un peu nerveux car cela faisait longtemps que nous n’avions pas joué et nous avions peur d’être « rouillé » ! Pour être honnête d’ailleurs nous n’avons pas si bien joué que ça je pense, mais les gens ont apprécié notre prestation ce qui est bien le principal!

As-tu eu le temps de regarder des groupes jouer pendant le festival?

Oui, j’ai vu Metallica sans Lars , Slayer,Arch Enemy,The Hives,Danko Jones,Slipknot,Dillinger Escape Plan et quelques autres je pense .Nous sommes restés le jour suivant notre prestation , nous avons donc passé un bon moment , fais des bonnes fiesta arrosées…

Le live « Lamentation » devait être réalisé également en format CD, est-ce toujours prévu?

Rien n’est sur, mais je pense que c’est une bonne idée de le proposer en format CD pour ceux qui n’ont pas de lecteur DVD

Avez-vous terminé la composition pour le prochain album?

Je suis en train de travailler dessus en ce moment même, mais cela va prendre un petit peu de temps car ces chansons se doivent d’être les meilleures que j’ai composé, je vais donc faire très attention et être très pointilleux

L’album va-t-il être produit par Steven Wilson?

Va-t-il être produit par Steven Wilson? Oui, très probablement!

Steven Wilson a plusieurs « side-project », quand est ce qu’un projet va vous réunir?

Peut être dans le futur, nous en parlons souvent. La première chose que nous allons faire, c’est d’enregistrer une reprise d’une chanson de Linda Perhacs.

Est-ce que le claviériste présent avec le groupe pendant la tournée « Damnation » est devenu un membre permanant de Opeth?

Nous verrons…Il devrait avoir plus de travail avec Opeth.

Qu’écoutes tu ces derniers jours?

Beaucoup de choses vraiment, surtout des choses des années 60, j’achète des piles et des piles de vinyles. Les choses récentes que j’écoute ? Paatos , Euroboys , Suffocation , le nouveau Bloodbath …

Quels sont les titres que tu préfères interpréter sur scène avec le groupe?

Je ne sais pas vraiment. Un de ceux que je préfères ces derniers temps est la reprise de Deep Purple(Soldier Of Fortune) que nous avons joué pendant la tournée « Damnation ».Sinon j’aime bien jouer toutes nos chansons , en ce moment The Moor est peut être la plus cool à jouer , ça dépend de l’état d’esprit du moment!

Pour finir, tu aimes évidemment le rock progressif, peux tu noter de 0à10 les groupes suivants et me donner un petit commentaire sur chacun?

Genesis : 7/10, de très bon trucs, un peu prétentieux par moment, je n’écoute que la période 69-77)

King Crimson : 7/10, j’adore les choses les plus sombres qu’ils ont fait, particulièrement la période 69-74

Camel : 9/10, un de mes groupes favoris bien que je n’aime que les 4 premiers albums!

Pink Floyd : 10/10, j’adore tout ce qu’ils ont fait!

Dream Theater : 7/10, J’étais à fond dedans quand « Images and Words » est sorti , un bon groupe!

Yes : 7/10, ils ont sortis des albums qui sont des classiques, mais aujourd’hui ? Vraiment pas!

Marillon : 2/10 , pas pour moi , trop pretentieux!

Porcupine Tree : 10/10 , comme pour Pink Floyd , j’adore tout ce qu’ils ont fait!

Un grand merci à Mike pour sa disponibilité!

Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by FPE (14 Mar 2004)

Sweden’s Opeth are best known as a heavy-weight Death Metal band. Their music is intense, punishing, and heavy. Their latest release Damnation takes a turn in quite the opposite direction. Damnation’s music is quiet, acoustic and introspective, full of melody and dynamics not often associated with a death metal act. FPE sat down with Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt to discuss the new CD and his thoughts on all things guitar. Enjoy!

What inspired you to record Damnation? It is quite a departure from previous Opeth recordings?

Mikael Åkerfeldt: “Damnation was part of this idea I had about doing 2 albums at the same time. Since we had the idea of doing a very extreme and heavy album (Deliverance) on one side it allowed us to make Damnation our most delicate and beautiful record. I concentrated more on strong melodies than I've ever done before. It was also a way for me to get closer to my influences from the 60´s and 70´s.”

How have Opeth fans reacted to Damnation?

M: “Most people seem to really like it, although some didn't obviously. It's fine, even though I think it's absolutely amazing I'm not surprised that some people, especially die-hard metal fans, might not dig the album. Commercially we've pretty much only received praise for the album. You can't deny the fact that it's pretty odd or diverse for a death metal band to do an album like this, or rather, to be able to do an album like Damnation and get away with it. Damnation introduced Opeth to a lot of non metal fans who've since then moved into metal I believe.”

Did you formally study guitar or are you self-taught?

M: “Completely self taught. I don't know shit when it comes to scales or chords...I make up my own chords and I wouldn't know what they're called. I just try to write stuff that I think sounds good, same with solos. I'm happy with my tone, but my technique isn't good at all I believe. I got the tone and the sense of rhythm so that's basically what I rely on most. I wouldn't mind taking a few lessons to get to the next level, but it's hard when you're lazy!”

Do you construct your guitar solos or improvise them?

M: “I more or less construct them, but that obviously comes from improvising a solo 10 times and then picking it your favorite parts. I come up with decent solos pretty fast, it's never been a big problem for me, then again, I don't do stuff that's that hard...I just want it to raise the intensity of the music during that specific part really.”

What kind of strings are you using?

M: “For electrics I only use D’Addario 010-046, although I'm thinking about trying out sets that has thicker strings in the rhythms since I'm working on open drop D tunings for the next Opeth albums. I kind of like that falling note when you hit the string too hard as well, like Morbid Angel you know. It can be a great effect, not many use that as most bands think it's ugly, but Trey Azagthoth of Morbid angel has developed that into a style, which I would like to adapt to an extent. For acoustic strings I play Thomastik 011 strings which are fantastic. For classical I use D’Addario J45 or 46 which are great too. I like high tension in classical strings. I used to work for 3 years in a guitar store that only sold acoustic guitars, so I've tried pretty much every brand of acoustic strings there is.”

Who are your musical influences?

M: “Everything from Morbid angel via Whitesnake to Joni Mitchell and Nick Drake to Miles Davis. I've got a wide taste in music and will listen to anything good. There are genres I don't like at all like techno, hip hop, nu metal, power metal, emo metal etc...there's a lot of crap out there, so nowadays it's not often that I find a new band that I really like. Recently I've gotten into Today is the Day, Mastodon and Gorguts which are all great. Gorguts been around forever but I've never heard any of their albums til recently. They're not going anymore as I heard the singer or somebody from the band died. I'm an avid collector of obscure vinyl from the 60´s and 70´s as well as metal vinyl originals. I've got about 3 maybe 4000 vinyl, and a lot of stuff from my collection is absolutely fantastic. Bands that no one knows about...mainly progressive rock, krautrock and psychadelia. I like tripped out stuff you know.”

Do you have a daily practice routine?

M: “Not at all. I don't play guitar every day when we're in-between tours. I play a lot while I'm writing and obviously touring is good for your playing. I think I've improved a lot from touring so much as we have. I can reach my emotions more easily nowadays and really play with the heart. Before I was always too nervous to really hit it the way I want to. I don't practice whatsoever...I just play, and the intention with that is to come up with some cool music.”

How do you warm up before a show?

M: “Don't warm up either...sorry, I'm very unprofessional when it comes to stuff like that. I don't warm up my voice or my fingers. I basically have a smoke, a coffee and a shot of Grants scotch. That's it!”

If you could jam with one artist who would that be?

M: “I'm not a good jam guitarist unless I play with people I know. Like the guys in Opeth. I'm totally in awe with guys who can just jam with everyone and make it sound good. There was this guy, Rudy, who was the soundman for Devil Driver on our most recent tour. He could play...I mean, really play the fucking guitar. And sing too. He played with Hank Williams the 3rd and he's fucking phenomenal when it came to jamming. I heard him once and he's ace! Blues player you know. I mean, I can play guitar, but I don’t have what it takes to be a jam player like that. I'm too shy in many ways. I like it and love the idea of Opeth jamming on stage etc...but I don't know....it's not for me I guess.”

What effects pedals do you use?

M: “I miss the days of the stomp boxes....I used to have a HM1 from boss which was what EVERYBODY used in Sweden in the late 80´s/early 90´s...the pedal was called "Heavy metal"!
I had that plus a tube screamer to make it sound more clear and fatter. Nowadays I only play Boss/Roland multi effects. I got one GT6 which is my main pedal + a GT3 which is great too although some crew guy spilled beer in it so it's a bit fucked up now. Still works but is not 100% reliable.

What was the last book you enjoyed reading?

M: “Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis. Don't read much but that one really got my attention!”

Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by Ty Brookman (09 Mar 2004)

For the record I am not an Opeth fanboy, god knows they have enough already. But what I will easily admit to is an absolute admiration for their music, musicianship and overall frenetic take on modern day metal. Opeth’s music is so emotionally driven in a live setting that they quickly command your attention and harness every ounce until the last note is played. Not many bands can hold me prisoner these days for a straight 1:45 and something has to be said for that. Also the fact that sitting and chatting with Mikael Åkerfeldt was as comfortable as sitting around with your good friends, ads for good measure as well. His demeanor is so relaxed and absolutely stricken of any signs of ego you just can’t help but like the guy. Thousands upon thousands of words have already been written on Opeth’s behalf, mostly good but of course the locus will swarm and quickly scoff the mighty Opeth. However to this day I have yet to read an actual well written burn that contains any semblance of validity. Face it fucks, put your money where your mouth is and pick up a guitar and prove this fucking band wrong! I personally wish Opeth all the success in the world because at the end of the day, their career within metal has and will influence the next generation of metal music.

Ty Brookman: By my count this marks Opeth’s fourth visit to the states in support of Damnation and Deliverance. What differences have you seen from the first tour to this tour, which I am assuming is the last for the US?

Mikael Åkerfeldt: Yeah, it’s gonna be the last for a while. The main difference, I guess, is more people coming along with some bigger and better venues. I guess just everything went up a notch on this tour. But all the tours have been very good I think, the four tours for these 2 albums. One was very different because we did the Damnation thing with all the calm songs but people seem to enjoy that too. So it’s pretty cool.

TB: A bit of controversy sprouted with Kataklysm losing out to Devildriver for this tour. Your thoughts on Devildriver?

MÅ: I like them, I’ve never heard them before, but like everybody I kind of had my mind made up about them before, but they were nothing like that. They’re more of, I would say, a death metal band, and all the shit they’re getting I think is pretty much uncalled for. People just slag them off because of Dez Fafara’s past in Coal Chamber, and it’s a shame and it’s hard for them. At some gigs people are like “Fuck Off” and “You Guys Suck”, and regardless if you don’t like a band you just don’t do that stuff at shows. I think they’re great people and a tight, brutal band. Kataklysm, that thing I never got the offer for them to tour with us so I didn’t know. All of sudden there are fights and stuff but I didn’t know they were supposed to tour with us.

TB: Just more fucking drama. All right, from a performing state of mind how do you feel about the early show such as this one as opposed to playing much later in the evening?

MÅ: Doesn’t matter, it’s kind of nice in a way to get done early especially if you want to go out drinking. But I’m sick, so now for me it doesn’t really matter when we play. So we just do the gig, we’ve done so many early shows in the past so it’s nothing new. They’ve got a really weird law here, when you’re 16 years old you can’t be outside after 10pm or something.

TB: Is it 10pm? That’s just ridiculous, whatever the hell it is. I’ve gotta haul ass down here at 5pm, I don’t have the luxury of just hanging around in the middle of the week doing nothing waiting for shows to start. It’s alright though I’m usually buzzed up around 9pm and ready to go home.

[From someone on the bus] You guys probably have to get up and go to work around here in the morning.

TB: Yeah, unfortunately I just don’t have the luxury. Speaking of that, is the band paying for itself now?

MÅ: Yeah, we’re paying for our own tours. On the early tours we took tour support from the labels but now we try to do it ourselves, which is good.

TB: When out on tour for just the Damnation material with Porcupine Tree, were there ever any shows where the urge to rip into some heavy ass shit occurred?

MÅ: Yeah, every show. Because every show people were screaming, “Play some heavy shit!” We tried to promote those shows as well as we could, that they’d be mellow shows. They know about our abilities to kick off a death metal tune, and on that particular tour Porcupine Tree was actually heavier than us. We could have played a heavy tune but that tour was in support of Damnation. So that’s why we tried not to listen to too much of the screams in between the songs.

TB: I think it was pretty obvious, you guys made it pretty clear that the tour was gonna be just for Damnation. Fickle fucking metal fans.

MÅ: Well, I can understand why they wanna hear the heavy stuff, especially if it was their first gig with us. I can understand that if it was their first time at an Opeth gig they’d wanna hear some of the heavy stuff but we’re back.

TB: How are you working the set tonight? How much Damnation material?

MÅ: Two songs

TB: Two songs? That’s perfect.

MÅ: The rest of the songs will be the heavier songs, we’ll pull out a few songs we’ve never played live before. And playing some of the faster songs we’ve got, I’d say it’s a pretty brutal set.

TB: I’m looking forward to it. So speaking of PT, when is the full on collaboration with Steven Wilson and yourself going to occur?

MÅ: I don’t know. We’ve been talking about it for quite a long time now, and I’m really looking forward to doing something with him, it’s just a matter of time. Both Porcupine Tree and us have been touring a lot and we really haven’t had the time. And the time I get after this tour I have to start writing for the new Opeth album. I’m not sure when that’s gonna happen, but I’m pretty sure it’s gonna happen.

TB: A lot of people want it to happen.

MÅ: Yeah, it’s gonna be cool. I don’t know what it should be like. I think he’ll want to do some death metal thing.

TB: Oh he wants to go all heavy? [laughter]

MÅ: I don’t wanna go soft really, but I wanna do something that doesn’t sound like PT or Opeth. So I’m not sure exactly what it will be.

TB: Should be interesting to hear regardless. What can you tell me about the performance you did for the upcoming Ayreon album?

MÅ: I don’t know so much, I only heard the parts I sang on. I did vocals for 6 or 7 tracks or something like that. But I don’t sing the whole songs, he usually has about 3 singers on every song and you do like trade-offs with other singers. But what I’ve heard was great, and I think it’s gonna be good. I even did some death screams.

TB: Yeah, the little trailer I saw looks like it’s gonna be amazing with so many guest appearances. Lets talk a little about your upcoming Lamentations DVD, I am curious if there is any truth to the rumor that Music for Nations forbid any of your previously released material with Candlelight and Peaceville to be recorded on this DVD?

MÅ: Yes, they didn’t forbid it but it was like we had to pay rights and whatnot and I don’t really know about how that kind of stuff works. But obviously those songs are on different publishing and Candlelight had the rights to those songs. We played "Demon of the Fall" anyway, but that didn’t make it on the DVD, but if we put out a live album that will be on there too. It’s unfortunate, but it came out very well. I think the whole idea of the night was for Deliverance and Damnation, so we did the entire Damnation album plus "Harvest" from Blackwater Park. Then 5 or 6 heavy songs so it turned out well anyway.

TB: Oh absolutely, but of course there’s the old-school Opeth fans who will complain.

MÅ: I can understand that and we’d like to play songs from every album but we’d still have a problem because we just don’t have the time. On this set we rehearsed songs from every album, I think we have 5 songs from My Arms, Your Hearse and onward that we’ve never played in the U.S. before. We only have 1 hour 30 minutes or so, and there are some songs we have to play like "Demon of the Fall", "Drapery Falls" and "Deliverance". Those songs we have to play, and we’re also playing like "April Ethereal", "Blackwater Park", "The Moor"; stuff like that.

TB: "Fair Judgment" tonight?

MÅ: No, apart from these 3 songs we changed the whole set lists completely.

TB: Yeah, I caught a couple people ragging that your set list was the same from show to show on tour.

MÅ: Yes it is, people have been bugging us but if you look at what we’ve done from every tour we’ve had a new set always. Like Damnation, all those songs were never played live. We’ve played just about every song we’ve ever recorded live, with exception of a few, so I think that’s uncalled for.

TB: Face it man, you can never make them all happy.

MÅ: It’s impossible.

TB: What’s your opinion on the whole DVD packaging and bands doing it now? Do you see it as being pretty essential that a band put out a DVD now?

MÅ: Yeah, that’s why we did. The label’s like [mockingly] “you’re gonna sell loads, you’re gonna make loads of money”. And we’re like yeah, yeah...whatever. I was never into the whole idea of DVD’s until I saw it and I think it’s really good especially the documentary and that’s what I’ve been missing on other DVD’s I’ve seen from other bands on the same level as us. It’s some gig from 10 years ago and some shaky cameras. But I think our documentary is a real good inside on how the band works on a personal level, which is what I wanna see. One good documentary is Metallica’s A Year and a Half in the Life, it’s really good.

TB: Studio footage man, I’d have to think that’s what a lot of people want to see.

MÅ: I think it came out very well and very representative of the band that we didn’t portray ourselves as some cool guys. We’re just geeks who are into music and I think that’s what it shows.

TB: What kind of feedback have you received from the "Windowpane" video and also will we see an Opeth video for your heavy material?

MÅ: I would like to but there’s always the problem with the length of the songs and I won’t cut them up. I’d like to do it, but there’s always the budget, it’s expensive. "Windowpane" had zero budget because it was the same guy who did the documentary. But hopefully for the next album we’ll do something. But I think if we do an album with 6 or 7 heavy tracks and 2 mellow ones the label will call one of them the single because they’re shorter and catchier, so to speak. It would be cool for us to do a soundtrack/short film for one of the long and heavy songs. We’ll have to see.

TB: I am not quite sure if you want to comment on it or not but could you shed a little light on the situation with Martin Lopez concerning his anxiety attacks?

MÅ: Yeah, we had to cancel a few shows and we feel very bad about that so we decided we were going to be very open with it. He basically suffered panic attacks and anxiety attacks and severe depression from working too hard and touring so much. It got to the point where he called me up the day before the first scheduled Jordan gig saying that he couldn’t go and he was just a wreck. So we took some rest before this gig and then the same thing happened when we went to Frankfurt where we had a connecting flight to Canada and he said he couldn’t go, he had to go home and we had to support him with that. He went back home, we missed 3 gigs. Well he missed them, we did the gigs anyway with our drum tech and Gene Hoglan. He went to a psychologist and they did tests on him and it’s actually some stuff in his blood that makes his heart beat faster and that’s the reason why he’s been depressed. Now he’s getting medication and I think the biggest breakthrough for him was knowing what it was because he was literally going insane. And he was seriously thinking that maybe he’d have to leave the band and he was scared that we would fire him. But from Seattle, which was the first gig on this tour, he was back and I think he’s happier now because he knows we’ve been doing this for such a long time and it’s like a rejuvenation for him in a way to be back.

TB: That’s good to hear. How was the show with Gene though?

MÅ: It was cool. We called him up the day before the gig and asked him if he could play the "Drapery Falls" and he said he hadn’t heard it but Devon had it on disc. Then we played it at sound check and he nailed it the first time. And as the support bands were on he was listening to "Demon of the Fall" on headphones and then nailed it during the gig. He’s amazing and a really great, great guy. I don’t know him really, but I met him a couple of times and we got to spend some time with him and he’s definitely a friend.

TB: Anybody get that on film?

MÅ: Yeah, I think some of the guys from Devildriver filmed it. I haven’t seen it though. He actually fucked up during Damnation, it was like he was doing some fusion stuff but we got it back together. It was an honor though, because Gene Hoglan is like Martin’s idol, so we called him up and told him that Gene was stepping in.

TB: Speaking of Martin, he recently mentioned an interest in playing on a track on the upcoming Death tribute disc that James Murphy is campaigning. Has Chuck Schuldiner’s music had any significant influence on Opeth?

MÅ: Oh definitely, Leprosy was like the first death metal album I bought when it came out and I heard Scream Bloody Gore and I heard loads of death metal bands but I never really bought any albums because I never had any cash. I was a major Death fan in particular his vocals and then later on Spiritual Healing when it became a bit more technical. Martin’s gonna participate on that album which is a great honor for him I think. He’s maybe even a bigger Death fan than I am, but all of us were into that.

TB: You have been touring relentlessly for Damnation and Deliverance, is the end anywhere near in sight?

MÅ: Yeah, we have another 7 or 8 gigs on this tour, then we head home for another 10 gigs and then finish off in Australia. I’m gonna spend my honeymoon there, then we’ll be back home on the 11th of April, that’s basically the date when we have time off without any real prospects. We’ve got one summer festival but that’s a festival I go to anyway, The Sweden Rock Festival.

TB: Now without question you pour your life’s blood into the songs you write. I am curious when you come across fucked up statements by people who say your music is contrived and utterly over hyped, which in my opinion is very much driven by the fact that you have actually seen success as metal musicians. At this point throughout the many mediums it almost seems trendy for these fuckers to rip on your music?

MÅ: Yeah, but that’s the way it is. It kind of irritates me in a way but I really don’t give a fuck. We know what we’ve been doing, we’ve been doing this for 14 years and we’ve never sold out. We’ve never done anything of the likes, not even for our fans, to please them musically. I think Opeth is a one of a kind band, I don’t think there are any other bands that sound like us, so we’re pretty sure about what we’ve got going. If people wanna slag us off, then go ahead. I never slag off bands really, even though sometimes I want to, but I have respect for every band that’s doing whatever the fuck they want to do.

TB: Well, yeah I think some bands might deserve some slack but like I said it seems like it’s almost trendy thing to do when it comes to Opeth.

MÅ: Everybody’s got an opinion and now especially with the Internet everybody can get their opinion heard. You know, like I heard this guy on this message board say this and that and on and on. It’s easier for you to see what people think which is both good and bad so you get all this slagging which comes from nowhere. That’s the ironic thing, there was this certain band that had been slagging us off, then one of the members was on our bus drinking our beer then the next day he slags us off, and it’s like you two-faced bitch. So to be honest I don’t care because we know what we’ve got.

TB: Speaking of message boards, what do you think of your own message board? It’s pretty fucking chaotic.

MÅ: Yeah, we’ve got the freaks. But I think it's fun. It’s cool, people like to talk music and criticize music and fight music. And I like to read it because some people are so fucked up its funny and I actually look for the threads where they’re slagging you off and in some sick way I like to read it. Sometimes though I think it gets a bit out of hand when they are discussing my weight, my mustache and that kind of stuff. But it’s all good, I think it's fun, if I were a kid I would be there all the time.

TB: Well even though you recently wrote and recorded two albums for the masses soon it will be time to think about new material, have you had any discussions yet for the next album as in what direction it will take?

MÅ: Well, I’ve been working on one song but we’ve been away for so long and it’s hard to write on the road. The little time I have between tours I wanna hang out with my wife. So I haven’t been writing that much but that’s what this upcoming break is for. I’m gonna take some time off, and then start writing. Basically the song I’m working on is turning out really interesting, I’ve been using an open tuning and it’s gonna bring out both heavy and mellow which is our style. It’s hard to say if it’s going to be more heavy or more melodic or a little of both. I want it to be extreme as a motherfucker at times but then beautiful at times as well, still incorporating influences from Damnation.

Martin Lopez - Interview by Brian Davis (07 Mar 2004)

Perhaps it’s me, but it seems that regardless of the genre, certain members of any given band tend to be overlooked when it comes to interviews, publicity, etc. 9 times out of 10, the primary focus is on the person that stands in front of the mic, or the one who writes all the music. Hell, I’m certainly guilty -- It’s kinda hard not to acknowledge those things. But it stands to reason that no single person makes a band, and perhaps we tend to overlook just how much influence some of these other vital members actually have on the band’s sound. Such is certainly the case with Martin Lopez. Quiet and soft spoken, always to the back of the stage and obscured by a menacingly lethal drum kit, most people don’t know much about the man who indisputably reigns as one of the most elite drummers in the music industry.
There are countless reasons that the unique sound and song structure of Opeth permeates the Death Metal scene, and a number of those reasons are due in no small part to the unique influences of Martin Lopez. Integrating some of the world’s best Death Metal-styled drumming with an abundance of diverse cultural influences, Martin does more than his share to ensure that Opeth remains a constantly improving and evolving machine, helping drive them to the ever- increasing level of standards that the band has established and its fans have come to expect. And enshrouding it all is an uncommon level of humility on Martin’s part, exuding at all times the simple yet utterly fulfilling contentment and satisfaction that he receives from merely being able to build his life around that which is most important -- MUSIC.

KNAC.COM: Where are you guys right now?

LOPEZ: Uh, we are in Atlanta. We’re playing Atlanta tonight.

KNAC.COM: How many shows do you have left on the tour?

LOPEZ: I don’t know… like 15 more, maybe? Maybe a few more than that.

KNAC.COM: How has the tour been going?

LOPEZ: Yeah, it’s been going good. I mean we had some problems in the first shows so we had to… not cancel, but the guys had to play an acoustic set on the songs because I had to stay at home and I couldn’t travel with them. I had some problems with hospitals and stuff so I had to stay there, you know, but it was just the first two dates. After that, I’ve been good -- every show has been great.

KNAC.COM: Well, that’s good. Alright -- let’s get a little history. You were actually born in Sweden?

LOPEZ: Yeah, I was born in Sweden.

KNAC.COM: And how did you meet [Opeth bassist] Martin Mendez?

LOPEZ: I moved to Uraguay when I was young -- maybe 5 or something, and I met Martin when we were around 13 or something. We became friends and started playing in the same band.

KNAC.COM: When did you guys move back to Sweden?

LOPEZ: When I was 16.

KNAC.COM: And then you played on Once Sent From The Golden Hall with Amon Amarth, right?

LOPEZ: Exactly. That was my first record -- I think I recorded that when I was maybe 17, 18.

KNAC.COM: Wow, impressive! And you did just that one album with them then went to Opeth?

LOPEZ: Yeah, I did the one album and started rehearsals for the next one to come, but then I had the opportunity to join Opeth WITH Martin. We’ve been there since then -- about ’97, I think.

KNAC.COM: Do you do other side work besides Opeth? Session work, etc?

LOPEZ: Actually, yeah -- I mean, I try to play as much as I can in different bands or music styles. I even give lessons at home, but lately we have been touring so much I haven’t had time. But we have a big break coming up, so I’ll be putting some other stuff out from a side project we’ve got-- me and Martin Mendez.

KNAC.COM: Anything specific that you can talk about now that we can look forward to?

LOPEZ: One of the projects is pretty… I don’t know, it’s like the one we’ve been working with for the most time when we have time off… some Tool-ish, Katatonia, Opeth kind of stuff with a touch of ethnic music. But yeah, we’ve recorded a couple pieces for the songs, but we haven’t had the time to put everything together for an album. And that’s what we’re going to do when we have this break.

KNAC.COM: So, is Opeth going to basically take the rest of the year off? You guys have been touring pretty heavy.

LOPEZ: Yeah, we have done so many shows -- it has been a little bit too hard. So, we finish this tour, then we have a day off, and then we do some other… I don’t know, say 15 shows in Europe and Australia. And then yeah, then we’re finally taking that break that means so much, and we can write new material and play something else. [Laughs]

KNAC.COM: I was going to ask about that -- on the ‘Damnation’ tour, Mikael was talking about an idea he had for the next album about doing just two exceptionally long songs -- is that still the plan?

LOPEZ: Yeah, we have many balls in the air. We have that idea, we have the idea of doing 6 “double” songs, kind of mixing Damnation and Deliverance -- I don’t know, we have many ideas so far, so we don’t know how it will turn out.

KNAC.COM: So no real set direction yet?

LOPEZ: No. The music will be Opeth -- I mean it’s not going to be a Damnation album again. It’s going to be normal -- a normal Opeth album, anyway -- and the best we’ve done. That’s what we really -- that’s what’s important for us, that’s why we’re taking a year off for the first time and this will be the first time we’ve ever rehearsed before an album. So we want to really, really try to do it the best we can. And so far we haven’t [rehearsed before recordings], because before we recorded Deliverance and Damnation we only rehearsed once -- one time, for only 3 hours. Same thing happening with all the other albums we recorded together. So this time we’re going to try to rehearse and do the BEST we can, so it should be fun.

KNAC.COM: I just reviewed the DVD also, and you guys were talking about everything that you encountered trying to record Deliverance and Damnation, all the troubles you had at the first studio, and you were saying how you wanted to get everything laid out. People can watch the DVD and there’s a lot of details in the Biography section of your website [http://www.opeth.com] about the problems with recording, but was there anything specifically for you that made it so terrible?

LOPEZ: Yeah, one of the things was the studio was like a cave. I mean literally having no windows at all. And it was the hottest summer in Sweden since 1940-something, and just being in there for -- you know, in Sweden you don’t see much sun, it’s all about the winter the whole time and dark -- so to be the whole summer inside, I mean we never got out, we just ordered food. So that was, you know, pretty harsh. It was actually -- I mean that recording was nasty; we had some bad times. I had the chance to leave for a little while after I recorded the drums, so it was heavier on [vcalist] Mike [Åkerfeldt], who stayed there the whole time.

KNAC.COM: So in retrospect, now that you guys -- I’d say Deliverance and Damnation have been a pretty major success; this is what -- your third tour in the US now in support of this, and you just came out with the DVD. In retrospect do you think everything you guys went through was worth it? Are you pleased with the finished product and the way its been received?

LOPEZ: Actually, yeah! I mean, we do this because we think this is the best job you can have. Of course it’s still a job, so sometimes it gets -- sometimes it’s not fun, some days you don’t feel up to playing, but you gotta do it. Perhaps you get sick, or whatever. But I mean, we meet the fans -- we always think our fans are different from other bands’ fans, I don’t know… I talk to some fans and they tell me how much our music means to them and it’s like, you know, you really appreciate it because that’s what make you -- just that moment is worth everything, having those fans tell you this album made me so happy when it came out. You know, it’s just that connection with the fans is worth all the touring and the bad times we have.

KNAC.COM: So what’s been your overall impression as far as fans here in the US? Are you seeing a swell in the fanbase here?

LOPEZ: Yeah, yeah, we are, actually. You know, we get pretty shocked every tour when it comes to ticket sales, because we are still growing, so it’s fun to know that people – [Laughs] You know the thing with doing Damnation is that everyone said it would be a commercial suicide, like we weren’t going to have any fans after that. Of course we don’t really care, we’re going to do what we want to -- when you’re a player you have to play what you want to play -- so we did it anyway. And to tell you the truth, after Damnation came out the fanbase was just growing and growing.

KNAC.COM: I agree. Actually when I heard Deliverance was the first time I’d heard you guys, and of course I’ve gotten heavily into the band since then, but just in visiting your forum and what not, since Damnation came out almost everybody has been raving about it; it’s been a real boost for the band’s popularity and getting some acknowledgement from people that maybe wouldn’t have heard you guys otherwise.

LOPEZ: Yeah, exactly. Touring that much makes you bigger by showing yourselves, its good promotion. That’s why we’ve done it so much -- besides the thought that we love to play live. We hate waiting and we hate traveling and all that, but we love doing a gig and sharing our music with the crowds. You know, the bigger the crowd the better the gig because more people get connected with us.

KNAC.COM: Alright, I’ve got a question here -- don’t know if you’ll want to answer it -- but when I saw Opeth with Lacuna Coil on the Deliverance tour, you had a band called Yakuza -- I thought they were HORRIBLE. Is that something where you guys have full control over who is on the bill?

LOPEZ: No, no. I actually think they were pretty good in the thing that they did, you know, Death Metal with saxophones.

KNAC.COM: Yeah, it was very different.

LOPEZ: So for me that gives them all respect, just doing something that hasn’t been done. But we don’t -- we’d never heard of that group before we went on tour with them, I never heard Devildriver before we went on tour with them. It’s not about us; that’s the guys with the suits and the briefcases.

KNAC.COM: And they just tell you, “this is who you’re gonna tour with”?

LOPEZ: Exactly. Sometimes we get to choose; sometimes we are like, “Okay. We don’t care -- we wanna tour with Porcupine Tree or Katatonia” and we’ve done it.

KNAC.COM: Alright. You’re relatively young, aren’t you -- 26, is that right?

LOPEZ: 25.

KNAC.COM: 25, okay. Where do you see yourself in 10 years or so?

LOPEZ: Playing, playing, playing! Hopefully not touring that much [Laughs] but I’ve been playing music since I was 4 and it’s the only thing I’ve ever done in my whole life; it’s the only thing I know how to do, and its the only thing I like doing everyday… besides a couple fun things [Laughs]. So of course in ten years hopefully we’re still together. At this time we are all about ourselves playing music, that’s for sure, and hopefully we can have this band and keep this band; the thing is that the day we feel we can’t do a better record than we did before is the day that there is no point in playing anymore.

KNAC.COM: I just read something on Blabbermouth.net just the other day about you having talked to James Murphy when you were in Tampa about possibly participating on the upcoming Death Tribute CD that he’s been working on. Is that true?

LOPEZ: Yeah, actually he asked me something about -- he told me they were doing that and he asked me if I was interested, and you know I am a Death fan -- HUGE -- Death is one of my top 3 favorite bands. So of course you get flattered. I mean, James Murphy was an idol for me when I was a kid and he made a lot of great, important albums -- for me, anyway. So yeah, I was flattered, and I’m gonna try to get the time worked out to record those.

KNAC.COM: That’s great, because not only are you giving a lot of attention to such an influential band like Death and the work that Chuck Schuldiner did, but also this goes to James Murphy and the cancer that he’s fighting, so that’s another excellent reason why this is such a special project.

LOPEZ: And the other thing is just playing with him for me is a great thing.

KNAC.COM: Playing with a hero.

LOPEZ: Yeah, with fucking James Murphy! [Laughs]

KNAC.COM: Are there any specific songs that you hope to be able to play on?

LOPEZ: He told me to just to pick a song, and I got so many favorites I don’t know if I wanna do something from Individual [Thought Patterns] or Symbolic or to go for one of the old albums you know, it’s like, “Aaah!” I don’t know which one to pick. [Laughs]

KNAC.COM: Haha! At least you get to choose yourself though, that’s good.

LOPEZ: Yeah.

KNAC.COM: Okay, what would your favorite Opeth album be if you had to pick one?

LOPEZ: Uhh… Okay, I don’t wanna count Damnation in this because it’s a different kind of Opeth, but musically -- I know when it comes to musical, the best album is Deliverance, because I think we evolved the whole time. But for me, emotionally -- or how you can call it -- Still Life was actually the album that -- when we recorded it, I sat home and said, “Fuck! This is good!” [Laughs] That’s when I first thought that we were really good.

KNAC.COM: Yes, that is definitely a good answer; that would be my answer -- Still Life is by far my favorite. Everything about it is just awesome.

LOPEZ: Cool. It’s hard to get in the States -- I know there are a lot of fans who haven’t heard it.

KNAC.COM: Yeah, and that’s a shame, too.

LOPEZ: Yeah, it is because, I don’t know -- I loved it. We play some songs from that album live now.

KNAC.COM: Right. You played “Face Of Melinda” on the ‘Damnation’ tour, and that was just phenomenal.

LOPEZ: And we do “The Moor,” the first track. I love it.

KNAC.COM: Now, on the website under your personal section you have a playlist, and you mention both Tool -- Lateralus and APC -- Mer De Noms. That’s not a very typical answer in the Death Metal scene -- what is it about those bands that you like so much?

LOPEZ: First of all -- nobody does what they do. Tool is just unique; like nobody else. Then you have the musicianship -- those guys are genius at what they do. You’ve got the best singer in the world, you’ve got Danny Carey on drums and you’ve got the composition of the music they write. Its really -- you know, it really touched me. So that’s one of my favorite bands. Of course I listen to a lot of Death Metal stuff -- the thing is being on tour the whole time and playing with Death Metal bands makes you change your music tastes when you’re at home listening to something. When you put something on, you try to listen to something different than what you’re hearing every night.

KNAC.COM: Alright just a couple more here real quick. What gear do you play? What’s your set up?

LOPEZ: I’m playing Premia -- I’m sponsored by Premia and Sabian. Right now I’m doing that. I got some offers from some other places, so I may be changing sponsors. Not Sabian, though. The guys are using PRS and Martin is using Fender.

KNAC.COM: Is Sweden your favorite place to play? Is that where you seem to have the biggest fan reaction, being from there?

LOPEZ: Actually, our favorite place to play -- for me, anyway, and I think all of us would say -- Italy. Italy is very good, and then Mexico was a great experience. And playing in the States -- I mean we can do 50 gigs here and have a lot of crowds, when in Italy you have only 5 maybe. The USA is more a continent than a country.

KNAC.COM: You’re commonly regarded as one of the best drummers in the business today.

LOPEZ: Thanks! [Laughs] That’s cool.

KNAC.COM: Who do you look up to? You’ve become this major legend to everybody else, but who is it that inspired you to start playing?

LOPEZ: Gene Hoglan [of Strapping Young Lad, ex-Death]. I mean I love [Dave] Lombardo [Slayer] and so on, but when I heard Individual Thought Patterns with Death, I heard Gene Hoglan for the first time and it was like, “Damn! This guy is the best drummer in the world!” I actually couldn’t play those gigs that I told you at the beginning [of the interview] because I had to stay home for personal reasons, and he played two songs with Opeth, and I was really, really flattered. Having him as a backup, its like… Okay!!

KNAC.COM: [Laughs] Yeah, you’ve obviously made it if you’ve got him filling in for you. Alright -- who’s your favorite band to tour with?

LOPEZ: To tour with? Uh, maybe… Katatonia. I mean they’re our friends, so we toured with them in Europe and we had a great time.

KNAC.COM: What do you think would be the odds of… personally Tool and Opeth are my favorite bands, and I think that would be the ultimate tour.

LOPEZ: That’s our dream -- I mean everyone in the band -- that’s like the best band that we’d like to tour with the most. You know, to open for Tool would be a HUGE step in our career.

KNAC.COM: Do you think that will ever be a possibility?

LOPEZ: I don’t know, I mean the possibility is always there. We really would like to do that.

KNAC.COM: It just seems that with the direction of music now, with metal going back to the old roots of technicality and skill it just seems that now more than ever you could get a unique Death Metal band like Opeth on the stage with Tool and have the ultimate show that we possibly wouldn’t have been able to see before.

LOPEZ: Yeah, I think we would really fit to play with Tool, because their music and our music is completely different, but at the same time it’s the same in that we do something that nobody else does. And just that thing of being unique and having hard parts as well as soft parts would make that tour good. I think a lot of Tool fans that haven’t heard us could get hooked when they see us live. So it would be really good for us doing that. And more than that, just seeing Tool play for 30 gigs or something -- that’s more than enough for me, you know? I love that band!

KNAC.COM: I completely agree -- we’ll all cross our fingers. Well, I guess we can wrap it up there…

LOPEZ: Uh, we’ve got some more interviews coming up, but I can take a few last questions if you have something.

KNAC.COM: Great, ok -- I have a quote here -- My friend Krista helped me with some of these questions, and she had given me a quote from Ruthless Reviews, and in reviewing Deliverance it says, “The real story behind Deliverance is the emergence of Martin Lopez as the biggest ass kicking motherfucker to sit behind the trap set since the mighty Hellhammer himself….”

LOPEZ: Alright!!

KNAC.COM: Yeah, that’s quite the compliment! It goes on that in a lot of parts, “...instead of doing straight beats with [your] hands, [you’re] playing chops totally counter to what [your] feet are doing.” And so that led Krista to wonder -- are you trying to work towards a polyrhythmic style with your approach?

LOPEZ: Yeah, but I don’t-- it’s not something that I plan. It’s not like I sit down and say, “I’ll put a polyrhythm here because that’s what I want” -- usually I hear the riffs and I just try to make it groove. I’d say playing in a lot of South American bands, and even African bands, Arabic bands and so on, gives you a lot of different ways to express yourself through the music. So I believe that my drumming is no different than other Death Metal drummers, but it’s just because we see music from a different view. Death Metal for me is more than music; it’s an aggression that you want to get out from your body. But drumming itself is about making a groove, and I think Latin Jazz or Arabic music has a lot more groove than Death Metal, so I try to put those things together. If I think that it would fit then I think that I’m going to try that.

KNAC.COM: And Mike mentions on the DVD that you and Martin have all these extra influences that he wouldn’t normally think of -- like you said, the different ethnic sounds and stuff that you’ve incorporated to broaden the band’s range.

LOPEZ: Yeah, we come from two completely different cultures. [Guitarist] Peter [Lindgren] and Mike -- they’re Swedish guys who have always been into Death, and Mendez and I come from a completely different continent with a different language and everything is different. So putting that together -- it took awhile…

KNAC.COM: But it’s starting to click now.

LOPEZ: Yeah, so of course it makes the band sound differently.

KNAC.COM: Well, it’s definitely working. So when do you plan on starting the actual rehearsal for the new CD?

LOPEZ: I think we’re gonna finish the tour, take a week off, and then we’re going to start rehearsing. We really want to do the album well.

KNAC.COM: Ok, well -- thanks a lot! I appreciate.

LOPEZ: Thank you!

KNAC.COM: Good luck with the rest of the tour.

LOPEZ: Alright. Take care, thanks for the interview. Bye.

Peter Lindgren - Interview by Kev Truong (06 Mar 2004)

The mere mention of the word Opeth is often enough to attract the attention of most heavy music listeners. Those two syllables command a level of respect, and regard. Despite what you may think of them, it’s undeniable that, right now, the Swedish ensemble are right at the top of the metal heap. You go to a show and you’re guaranteed to find a sizeable slice of the audience wearing their Opeth shirts with pride, that big elaborate ‘O’ worn like a badge of honour.
So, now with the ambitious and luscious Damnation album out in the world, Opeth have found themselves in an enviable position. They’re arguably the first band from an extreme metal background to start breaking into some serious big time sales-figures territory – but don’t go thinking it’s all champagne and cocaine just yet. They still do what they gotta do, and so it’s with a dutiful sense of responsibility and obligation that guitarist Peter Lindgren picks up the phone and dials from his home in Stockholm, Sweden.

“Actually, we have two days of interviews, and me and Mike [Akerfeldt, Opeth frontman] split them up," says the affable axe-man, a touch of weariness from yakking on the phone all day faintly noticeable in his voice. “He did his day yesterday, so it could be worse!” he laughs.

Even with Damnation appearing last year, the band are doing a fresh round of interviews for their upcoming tour of Australia. Originally slated for December last year, the dates were pushed back to this March, and anticipation, naturally, skyrocketed as a result.

“The set now is gonna be different to the one we did last year," says Lindgren, referring to last April’s Deliverance tour. “If we do tours in the same country twice, or more than twice, we change the set. Like if we go to Sydney twice, for example, and there’s a year in between, like now for example, then we change the set, because there’s a lot of people who are gonna go to both shows, and we want to give them something else."

“There’re a few songs that people always request though, and we need to do them live. [One is] ‘Demon Of The Fall’, which is the song that we always close the set with, and ‘The Drapery Falls’ is one that we always do live as well, from Blackwater Park.”

Opeth have also just released their first live DVD as well, an impressive collection that features two separate sets by the band. One contains only their softer works, while the other is the heavier Opeth we all know and love. Fans expecting to see this sort of performance though will be a little disappointed.

“We actually haven’t done that many double sets [live]. We did tours for Deliverance first, and then we did a tour in the United States and one in Europe for Damnation… We only did [the double set] for the DVD and we rehearsed it twice in Sweden, so we only did three. In general though, from now on, it’s a long set that we’re gonna do in Australia, about two hours or something. It’s going to be a bit more than an hour of heavy stuff, and a little less than an hour of mellow stuff.”

Even though the quartet made their name by being so versatile across both very different styles, it’s unsurprising that the singularly mellow Damnation has been opening some previously unknowing eyes to the band. So much so that the album actually pushed its way onto the musical wasteland that is the US Billboard charts.

“Well, we’ve been in this band for such a long time now that major record sales figures, while of course it’s great, we’re not striving for it. It’s way too late for that. We’ve done seven albums. If we wanted to sell more albums, then ten years ago we should’ve done shorter songs!” Lindgren replies with glee. “We did Damnation because we wanted to, because we like that kind of music. We didn’t do it because we wanted to sell a lot of new records."

“Now for us it’s all about integrity. We just want to do whatever we like… But I wouldn’t mind of course selling one million albums!” he says with a hearty laugh.

While healthy sales figures will always put a little light in a musician’s heart, there’s a saying that for every good, there’s a bad. In Opeth’s case, the bad came at the end of last year when they were suddenly thrown against an almost insurmountable brick wall. Their drummer, Martin Lopez, was struck down by an unexpected anxiety attack just as they were about to leave for an overseas show, and he just couldn’t bring himself to leave home. He pulled out of the tour and the band had to either cancel shows or wing it with a stand in. Even though there was one memorable night in Vancouver with the legendary Gene Hoglan sitting behind the drumkit, such a blow is hard for any band to deal with.

“He actually had a new problem before this US tour,” Lindgren says with a note of concern. “The problem is that we’ve been touring too much; he’s just had enough of flying out, airports and all. I know that the problem starts when he’s leaving home and he’s going to the airport. As soon as he’s on tour, it’s fine you know."

“[What happened was] We were flying to Canada, but we were going to Dortmund in Germany first, then Calgary and then Edmonton, and the flight never even reached Dortmund because there was ice on the landing lane or something. So we ended up in another city in Germany. Basically a lot of problems, we had to take a bus, missed a connection flight, had to stay over in a hotel. So when he woke up the day after, he had this attack again. An anxiety attack. So he went back home to see his doctor and got some medication for it, and then he flew out on his own two or three days later. But since then, he did the whole tour and he’s fine."

“It’s not mental,” the guitarist’s sure to add. “He’s got something with his blood. When he’s in a stressful situation… I don’t know what happens, but the blood creates something that makes him panic. I don’t exactly know what it is but he’s got medication for that now.”

The constant pressures of touring and always being away from home were recently exacerbated by some frictions sparking up between the band and their management. “[They’ve] been giving us late information about flights, we turn up at the airport and we realize it’s a fucking shitty grouping, you know. So what we’re gonna do is go to the management, and say we need the plans to be clear and we need proper flights, basically, so we don’t have to have a layover in Hungary for four hours or something, just to save a hundred bucks or whatever.”

With such frustrations putting serious cramps in their style, Opeth still don’t have to look very far though to find something that’ll cheer them up. The overseas show they were heading to when Lopez first came down with his panic attacks was actually in Jordan, a country hardly known for its love of rock ‘n’ roll. In fact, if the show had gone ahead, Opeth would have been the first metal band to ever grace their shores.

There was the sticky requirement though that the band could only perform mellow songs. “There were religious reasons for that. But that’s fine with me. We are a metal band, even though we’re doing mellow songs. The only bands that play there are big names, like Sting or fucking Michael Bolton! And they sold 6000 tickets for the first show that we were going to do. We’ve never played in front of that big a crowd before,” Lindgren enthuses with some regret.

Along with Jordan, the guitarist and his troupe have also been given offers to play in such locations as “Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Dubai to be exact. We’ve been close to going there a few times. And also Israel, which is in the same region, but it needs to be a bit safer before we actually go.”

So despite any problems they might be having, both of the internal and external variety, it’s still a very rosy time for the Opeth boys. Once again, it’s all about taking the good with the bad.

There was however a bit of an occasion of icing-on-the-cake just recently. They were nominated for the Rock/Metal category of this year’s Swedish Grammy Awards, this marking their third consecutive nomination and their first after winning it last year for Deliverance. Lindgren is in two minds about this affair.

“First of all, it’s a bullshit prize,” he’s unafraid to admit. “You can only get nominated if you’re backed up by a record label. We got nominated the first time when Zomba was doing our publishing in Sweden, and I think the albums before that are equally good, it’s just that now we had the big record label nominating us. And it’s not the best band that wins; it’s the band that’s the most hyped."

“But I also think that, for a band like us, we’re not doing so well in Sweden and all of a sudden people know who we are, which is the good side of it. We can do better shows now in Scandinavia because we won the Grammy. So that’s the good thing.”

Finally, there’s one extra upside to winning an award like the Grammy, and it’s all about impressing that toughest of all the tough judges.

“For people who aren’t into music, who don’t know what it means to be on tour, my mum for example, I could tell her, ‘We’ve been on tour for 15 months, we sold out shows in New York’, she’s like, ‘Great’. But now I say ‘We’ve won the Grammy’, and she’s like, ‘That’s fantastic!!’” he says, bursting out with laughter. “She knows what it means. People can grasp it, how well it’s going for us if we say we won the Grammy.”

Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by Roberto Martinelli (03 Mar 2004)

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.

Mikael Åkerfeldt - Interview by Sam Warren (28 Feb 2004)

This live interview with front man Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth was done by Sam Warren on February 28th, 2004, at their show at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, together with Moonspell and Devildriver.

All right, so we’re here with Opeth, and Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Yep…

So how’s the tour been so far?

It’s been very good, we’ve done 6 or 7 weeks on this tour I think, and most of the gigs have been packed with people that seem to appreciate our stuff.

Are you getting accustomed to the crazy reaction you get in the states? I know initially you were surprised by it.

Yeah, yeah well you’re always surprised when you play in a country that you’ve never played before. If you’ve got a reaction at all, or if people are coming, that kind of stuff. But now it’s just… we’ve been here so many times the last couple of years it’s not surprising anymore. Where we play, regardless of whether they’re 200 people in there, or 2,000 people, it’s always good.

Yeah, I heard you talking in an interview about how it’s a lot more violent in the crowds here (US) sometimes?

Oh especially here in Worcester. The mosh pit here is the most insane thing I’ve ever seen. Maybe not for us, but you know, when we played the hardcore metal fest, it was insane.

What are your feelings about Moonspell and Devil Driver?

I really like them you know, but I’ve never been a big fan of either of them. I mean, I’ve never really heard of them before the tour. Like Moonspell, I’d only heard a couple of albums or something. But they’re great people and we’ve had a fucking blast touring with them.

Have you noticed any difference in the crowd since the release of Damnation? It’s obvious that the majority of your fans really enjoyed it, but do you think that maybe you gathered a notable large crowd of unexpected listeners?

Yeah, you know, we have a considerably wider age difference in the crowd. We’ve got people from ten year olds up to sixty or so. So yeah, definitely all sorts of people are coming to the shows now.

How important do you consider live shows to be for the band?

Well that’s how we make our living pretty much. We don’t sell enough… we sell, for a metal band we sell a decent amount of CD’s, but that’s not enough for all of us to make a living. We can’t only put out records, so by touring and selling merch and stuff like that is really how we make our living. So it’s obviously the life and death of the band. But you know, that’s cool, because we knew that was coming. We knew what we had to do, so it’s never been a problem to work this hard in order to make a living, because you’re doing what you want to after all.

Which do you think is a more accurate portrayal of Opeth, a live show or a recorded album?

I don’t know, it’s hard to say. You know, obviously we want people to think that we’re a good live band. That has more to do with… you know, when we play songs its got more to do with what kind of reactions we’ve got from the crowds and just the whole atmosphere of the gig itself. The recording is obviously a much more creative process. That’s when you’re on edge all the time. You’re thinking about the music but when we play live, it’s just, we play the songs. We don’t think about it, we just want to have a good show. So, it’s totally different, but you know, I would be… well… I’m happy when people say “you sound better live then on record.” But I would be like “huh?” if they say like “you sound better on record then live.”

Speaking of recording albums, you’ve been touring extensively since Damnation’s release, so do you have any plans in the near future for a new album?

Well, we started this tour in December 2002. So we’ve been out a long time in support of these two last albums, and before that we were touring for Blackwater Park all the time. So I haven’t had so much time to write music. But we only have… tonight is the last gig of this tour, and then we have another nine gigs, and then I think we’re off. I think we’ll take some time off and then start writing. Probably record maybe… early next year.

I’m sure you’ve been asked these questions a million times about side projects, but do you have any plans to do anything on them right now? I was really impressed with Bloodbath, is there any chance of another album?

Not from my side. We did it to have fun, you know? They want to do another album because there’s some… a little bit of cash involved, obviously from Century Media, which I wouldn’t say no to. But I don’t have time, and I don’t think it would be a fun project. It just becomes a “project” after you do another one.

So it’ll become something you have to commit to.

Exactly, and I don’t want to be involved, which was the case for Resurrection through Carnage. I mean, I didn’t actually write anything you know? I just did my vocals. And I don’t like, being not involved in any whatever-project. I want to be a part of the songwriting or whatever. And I just don’t have time.

Just for the sake of asking, any chance at all of something with Steel or Sörskogen?

Haha (laughing at my pronunciation of the latter) umm… no. Steel was also a lot of fun, it was never meant to be released. And Sörskogen is just something I did on a… well for fun basically.

Just one more question on that note, I heard that you were going to do vocals on the new Ayreon album?

Yeah, I’ve done it.

Can you tell us anything about that?

I don’t know so much but uhh… it’s all sorts of like… great vocalists on that album and they’re all very good you know? They’re vocal singers, I’m not really in that league, but it was good for me because he really pushed me to really do well. It came out… well, I’ve only heard that parts that I’ve done, and those parts sound great. But I don’t have a clue what the whole album will be like.

I know that you draw your inspiration from quite an eclectic mix of bands, is there any band in specific, aside from Porcupine Tree, that you feel specifically influences you?

Well you know, all the bands that I grew up listening to still influence me I guess. Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Judas Priest, all those… And also, Morbid Angel, I mean every time I hear them its just like “woah.” Otherwise, it’s hard to say when you’re influenced by something, you only know when you write it. And it could be also stuff that I don’t listen to on a regular regular basis. One part I stole from… well… not stole… but got influenced from by Mary J. Blige, which I don’t listen at all. I just heard the song somewhere.

How’s most of the song writing done? I know for a while that you were writing everything, is that still the way it’s done?

Yeah, for the last five albums that’s been the case. It’s just more convenient for me to write songs when there aren’t other people around. So it’s really just more convenient.

Can you elaborate a little on the troubles you had recording the last two albums? You even had to switch studios in the middle of it right?

Yeah. Well it was mostly technical problems. We were there on our own and we didn’t have our engineer to help us. The guy who owned the studio told us he would help us but he was a drunk, and he ended up just… all the stuff he had, all the equipment was like… not taken care of. You know, it was either not working, or working bad. And the tape recorder fucked up many times… I mean, in a way, you expect a certain level of technical problems in the studio but this was beyond our reach. This was the worst we had ever seen, and on top of that, this guy just couldn’t help us out. He would just smack the stuff around like *smack* the tape recorder like this and “well its working now.” So we had to change studios by the time Steve Wilson was coming down. Because he’s getting paid quite a lot, so we don’t want to be somewhere he can’t work, so we definitely had to switch to Fredmund. You know, we’d been there once before and he’s just more aware of the stuff he had. So that’s really why we switched studios, because we were going insane. We were thinking “there won’t even be an album.” So we had to do that.

I first heard about this on the new DVD, can you tell us what it was like making your first DVD?

Well, for us it was not really a thing, you know? The documentary was done before the DVD idea was really there. That was a friend of mine who’s studying to become a director. So he’s been doing these things, you know, same thing with Blackwater Park. And he planned to film it from way before the DVD idea.

So you guys didn’t have to do much of anything?

No, I mean, he was there filming us and we had to do the interviews obviously, but he was gonna do that anyways, whether we were to put out the DVD or not. Once the label and the management started talking about this DVD we said, ok, we’ll put the documentary on it. It was great you know? And I definitely think its one of the best bonus features I’ve seen on a metal DVD. I don’t like that shaky-hand camera like “we are drunk.”

(laughs) Yeah that’s what it always is. Behind the scenes, look I’m drunk and falling over.

Exactly, but this was actually a high-class documentary I think. It gave insights on how we work and how we are personally.

I’m sure you’ve been asked this before as well, but what was the first idea you had to mix the death metal with the more mellow material?

It started actually from the get-go. Even before I got into symphonic rock and prog we had some (sings for a second) singing kind of parts, you know? I don’t really know where we got that from really, but…

Just a random idea?

Yeah, I’ve always been able to sing somewhat you know, and I think it really started when I came up with the acoustic part for a song on the first album called “The Twilight is my Robe.” And there was a part there and I tried to sing a little bit in the rehearsal room, I think this was ninety… one, yeah 91. And uh… yeah it worked, so from then on we started doing that stuff you know?

Well, that’s about it. Is there anything you want to add?

No, I’m fine thanks.

Ok cool, thanks for your time, see you at the show.

Thank you.

Peter Lindgren - Interview by Chad Bowar (24 Feb 2004)

Sweden's Opeth is a band that's always coming up with something new. They garnered much critical praise for 2003's Damnation, a mellow, almost progressive album that was the polar opposite of their previous album, Deliverance, which was recorded at the same time.
Opeth has just released the first DVD, Lamentations - Live At Shepherd's Bush Empire 2003. In addition to the live show, which is really two separate shows, including the entire Damnation album and a harder set, there is also a documentary. The 65 minute film covers the recording process for the two albums, which is a very interesting behind the scenes look.
Opeth is currently on tour, and I recently spoke with guitarist Peter Lindgren.

Chad Bowar: How is the tour going so far?

Peter Lindgren: We had a few problems at the beginning, but now we sorted it out and it's going smoothly. Moonspell and DevilDriver are on the bill. We are headlining and they swap opening for us. There have been a few sold out shows, which is great. The Fillmore was the highlight. It's a classic venue in San Francisco and it was sold out. Most of the shows have been really good.

What is the setlist like?

We've rehearsed songs from all albums, but we miscalculated the time. We play for an hour and 45, but the set we rehearsed happened to be 2 hours and 15, which was too long. So we had to take out songs, so now we cover all albums except for the first two.

Are you starting to feel at home when you're in America?

Yes, this is our second home. We're here more than we're in Sweden.

Where haven't you toured that you'd like to go?

We were very close to going to South America, but the Chilean promoter fucked everything up for us with the flights and everything. So we were in Mexico on our way to Chile but we had to cancel because it wasn't even physically possible to fly out with all the equipment. Japan is the other place that we've never been. Swedish bands are huge in Japan, and they should like us because we've got a lot of guitar stuff going on.

How did you get a gig in Amman, Jordan?

There's a metal audience in Jordan, but we're not allowed to do the death metal screams. We can have distorted guitars and mellow stuff. There's been a few bands that have gone there and played, but no metal bands. It's going to be a very different show I think. We cancelled that show in December, so we're going to do it now. The last guy to play there was Sting.

What is on the new DVD?

It's a set that we did in England last year. It was a mellow set of an hour, then we rebuilt the stage and did a heavy set. It's both sides of us. Last year we did tours for both Damnation and Deliverance. It's like a mix of those two shows. Then there's a documentary with interviews and the studio recording of the albums. There's three hours of material, and the live footage is really good.

I know you guys weren't that excited about doing a DVD.

DVDs aren't such a big thing in Europe. You don't buy music DVDs there. But it's huge over here. When we were asked to do the DVD, we were like, "What's the point?" We didn't know it was such a huge thing in the U.S. We realized it would be a good idea to record a DVD.

Damnation was a huge departure musically for Opeth. How did your fans respond to it?

They reacted well. Everybody seemed to like it. I was a bit surprised because I was expecting a range of reviews from really bad to excellent. All of the journalists liked it and our fans love it. They sing along to all the songs. I thought it would be trickier to promote the album, because even though we have a lot of ballads on the past albums, we're still a metal band and our fans are metal fans. They've learned that we can do strange things on our albums, and I think they appreciate everything that we do and this was the ultimate test. People seemed to like it a lot.

It's amazing it turned out so well seeing the problems you had in the studio.

It was hell. There was a time we thought we'd never make it. We worked so hard in the studio for so many weeks. It almost killed all the enthusiasm for the music itself, but we barely made it. Now looking back I don't regret at all that we did it, but we're never going to do it again.

You had to switch studios in the middle of recording the albums, right?

Yeah, because the first studio was shit. We loved the atmosphere. It was an old Prague studio from the 70s and it had this feeling, but the equipment wasn't up to date at all. It didn't even have computers. We had to change to make it happen.

You didn't have a lot of material prepared before you went into the studio.

That is basically because we always have a lack of time. The ideal situation is to have all the material written and rehearsed, but there's always a lack of time. This time when we record we're going to be fully prepared. If Mike (vocalist/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt) writes the material in the evening that we're going to record it, there's no way to personalize it with the rest of the band members. You also have only one chance to record something. If it's pretty good then we take it, where as if you rehearse the songs maybe you can have better ideas, can rethink things.

What is your timetable for recording the next album?

We don't have one yet. Australia is the last tour that we're doing, then we need a break. We've been on tour for 15 months, and with the recording and mixing we've basically been gone from home for two years. So we're going to have a break and then start writing and rehearsing. I don't know when we're going to record, but it's going to take some time, at least half a year.

Will Steven Wilson be involved in producing the next album?

Definitely, if he's available. We're going to offer him the job and we're going to try to match our schedule to his. We just hope he's available. He's a very busy guy with his band and producing.

From the way you guys have done things in the past, I'm guessing the next album will sound a lot different from the last two.

All the albums that we put out will have all the Opeth ingredients, everything that you think is Opeth is going to be there. We're never going to do the same album twice, so it's going to be a different album. All I can say it's going to be a single album, and it's going to have an Opeth feeling to it.

How did you get started in music?

I was 14 or 15 when I started playing the guitar, so I started pretty late. I instantly formed a band. Before I joined Opeth I had a couple of thrash bands. I was into Metallica when I started playing the guitar.

What are you currently listening to on the tour bus?

There's always a few party CDs. I brought the whole Van Halen remastered collection, the first six albums. Me and the keyboard player sat up a few nights, drinking whiskey and listening to old Van Halen. We try to buy as many albums as we can when we're on tour so we can have something new.