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Opeth

Швеция

Progressive Rock
Death Metal
Progressive Metal
Acoustic

http://www.opeth.com
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/opeth
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opeth

13 дек 2025 :	OPETH Drummer WALTTERI VÄYRYNEN Shares 2022 Audition Video Which Got Him The Gig
30 ноя 2025 :	OPETH Celebrates First Anniversary Of 'The Last Will And Testament' With Animated Music Video For 'Paragraph Three'
4 авг 2025 :	Watch: OPETH Covers BLACK SABBATH's 'Solitude' In Honor Of OZZY OSBOURNE
23 июн 2025 :
8 июн 2025 :
5 июн 2025 :	OPETH Shares Performance Video For 'Paragraph One' From 'The Last Will And Testament' Album
20 апр 2025 :	MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT On OPETH's Musical Evolution: 'I Don't Believe In Staying True To The Roots'
15 апр 2025 :	OPETH Guitarist FREDRIK ÅKESSON On His Debut Solo Album: 'I'll Do My Best To Finish It As Quickly As Possible'
29 мар 2025 :	OPETH Wins Swedish GRAMMIS Award For 'The Last Will And Testament'
24 мар 2025 :	OPETH Guitarist FREDRIK ÅKESSON's Debut Solo Album To Include Guest Appearance By SAXON's BIFF BYFORD
14 фев 2025 :
22 янв 2025 :	OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON: 'As A Unit, We're Stronger Than Ever'
10 янв 2025 :	OPETH's MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT Pays Tribute To HEAVY LOAD's RAGNE WAHLQUIST
9 янв 2025 :	OPETH's MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT Pays Tribute To PAUL DI'ANNO: 'His Influence On Metal Music Cannot Be Understated'
24 дек 2024 :	OPETH Unleashes "The Drapery Falls" Live At Bloodstock 2024; Official Pro-Shot Video Posted
17 дек 2024 :	OPETH Performs "Deliverance" At Bloodstock 2024; Watch Official Pro-Shot Video
12 дек 2024 :	OPETH Performs "Ghost Of Perdition" At Bloodstock 2024; Watch Official Pro-Shot Video
1 дек 2024 :	OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON On 'The Last Will And Testament': 'This Album Is Special To Me'
29 ноя 2024 :	Watch OPETH's Epic Headline Set At Bloodstock 2024; Official Video
26 ноя 2024 :	Watch: OPETH's MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT Takes You Through Entire 'The Last Will And Testament' Album
23 ноя 2024 :	OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON Says 'The Last Will And Testament' Album Is Another 'Step Forward'
10 ноя 2024 :	OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON Explains How Drummer WALTTERI VÄYRYNEN Landed Gig As Replacement For MARTIN 'AXE' AXENROT
8 ноя 2024 :	OPETH Share "§1" Bass Playthrough Video
3 ноя 2024 :	See OPETH Perform In Los Angeles During Fall 2024 North American Tour
31 окт 2024 :	See OPETH Perform In Denver During Fall 2024 North American Tour
17 окт 2024 :	MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT On IAN ANDERSON's Guest Appearance On New OPETH Album: 'It's Amazing That He's On Our Record'

29 сен 2016

OPETH FRONTMAN MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT TALKS 'SORCERESS,' SILLINESS & PRETENTION

In their 26 years together, the only thing as steady as Opeth's quality has been their growth. 2011's Heritage signaled the most tectonic shift, with Sweden's premier progressive death metal act suddenly vaporizing the bear-roar vocals and leaning all the way into their prog side. 2014's Pale Communion continued the adventure masterfully, and this Friday's Sorceress, Opeth's 12th studio album, is—spoiler alert—equally stellar.

Fuse spoke with 42-year-old vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt about why he's never written lyrics in Swedish, seriousness vs. fun in metal, and exactly how unamused his daughters are with his stardom.

Fuse: Congratulations on Sorceress. Have you felt the need to beckon fans along as your sound has changed, or are you not really fussed with it, just leave them to pick up the trail or leave it?

Mikael Åkerfeldt: I'm not really bothered. I mean, I love our fans, what can I say? We've been around for 26 years and I'm not sure how many fans have been there since the beginning. Overall we have respect for them, but it kind of ends when it comes to what we're gonna do on the creative side. We just do what we want to do, basically. It's been the same since the beginning, and I figure that's our style. We don't necessarily use this band to try to gain popularity or to be successful. That's nice, of course—it's easy for me to say that now that I'm fairly successful, but we've never done music for that reason. I don't really care what fans think, but I love it if they like it.

There a big divide in metal between being serious and being fun. Your albums have always been pretty straight-faced, but at your shows you seem to be having a great time, you're chatty, there's a lighter atmosphere in the room. Is that dichotomy something you've looked at over the years?

I've been exposed to that quite a few times. I've been forced in photo sessions to look serious—and equally I've been forced to look like, "Give us a funny face." And I don't like either. When we're playing live, I want it to be fun, because I get tense. I'm a bit nervous when I walk up onstage, and that type of talk works as a means for me to calm down. And somehow everybody calms down. It feels like if I say something stupid onstage, it kinda brings it from those types of superstar, hero type figures that some people think we are, to just being a couple guys onstage, which makes me much more comfortable.

Besides, if we get rid of that type of rock-star thing, they will forgive us for fucking up onstage too [laughs]. But for sure, to answer your question, yes, I've seen that type of distance between the serious metal people who would never smile because it's not cool enough, and the other side.

Do you see Opeth on one side or the other?

We're somewhere in between, I guess. We don't really think too much about it. The music is always gonna be serious. There's some humor on the records, I guess, musically and in the artwork, at least on the later records. The music is very serious for us. I don't make fun, ha-ha type music. I've never been interested in that type of stuff. But you mix it up a little bit.

Do you ever write lyrics in Swedish and translate them?

I don't think I've written a lyric in Swedish ever, to be honest. I might have tried back in the day at some point, to write something that I fully understood in Swedish, and then translate it into English, but it didn't come out right. My lyrics overall, I guess they're quite pretentious at times, but I don't feel so pretentious when I write in English. If I write in my native tongue, it's like, "Oh my god, who the fuck do I think I am?" So it's very difficult for me. And I might write equally stupid and cringe-worthy lyrics in English, but at least I'm not completely aware of it, because it's not my first language.

But I think most Opeth fans would agree that in this band music comes first and lyrics second. Of course, part of the music is what I'm singing—if I'm having a vocal line, it's helpful if the lyric I'm singing is good. I think our fans who have English as their native tongue are quite forgiving. I might have like grammatical errors or write something superbly pretentious and stupid, and they're like, "Aww, it's fine, he's Swedish, they don't know better."

The Gothenburg bands, you guys and Meshuggah sucked me into metal as a kid. I always wondered how and why you were all writing songs in English in the early '90s.

Swedish...I mean, our language is... you know, the fucking Muppets made fun of Swedish forever, the Swedish Chef and all that stuff. These bands you mentioned, we're all pretty much the same age, born in the '70s and grew up with metal and fell in love with metal. And every single band we listened to, it didn't matter if they came out of Germany or from Switzerland or Sweden, everybody was singing in English. So I don't think anybody really even discussed whether we're gonna sing in Swedish or in English. It was a set decision before anybody even talked about it: The lyrics are gonna be in English. And Swedish people are generally quite known for speaking English quite well. When I went to school, ages ago now, I started learning English in second or third grade—third, I think—and same for everybody from my year. So everybody's quite advanced.

So this one's called Sorceress. Do you have an iconic sorceress in your head?

Not an iconic one. In the U.S., touring back in the day, I used to pick up '60s [and] '70s horror films from Amoeba Records, especially, in L.A., pick these DVDs up for fairly cheap. So I used to watch those, but it was the whole imagery of that, and that word resonated with me for some reason once I wrote it in a lyric. I figured that's a good title, actually. But I wouldn't say I have a particular sorceress in mind, it's more of a collective word for...I don't want to say evil women, but I'll say evil women anyway.

You're playing Radio City Music Hall in New York this weekend, the day after the album drops. That's a prestigious place.

It is. I mean, we're doing some of those prestigious places, and we've done some in the past, too. I think it's cool. That's actually a decision from the management—they want to book us into these venues as a promotional tool to a certain extent, but also what happened as we played Royal Albert Hall and stuff like that, it kind of opens the gate for bands like us, if you know what I mean. We have, if I may say so myself, pioneered some of these venues when it comes to more heavy music, and after us there's a shitload of bands coming in. I'm pretty sure we're gonna see that more and more. Not just Radio City Music Hall, but especially Sydney Opera House, which was difficult for us to get. We asked them before and they said no, like, "Bands of your kind don't play the Opera House." But now they've somehow said yes.

Do you have a different feeling when you're backstage there or when the show's getting close? Do you feel out of place at all, is it just another show?

I always feel out of place. But that's a paradox, because those posh, nice venues, they usually have shit dressing rooms. Like, tiny fucking shit dressing rooms you can barely get in with the whole band. And once you step out onstage it's all beautiful, but backstage it's usually quite miserable.

Do you mean you only feel out of place at these fussier venues, or in general?

No, all venues. But I feel out of place on the subway. I'm perhaps not normal that way. But, yeah—I don't feel I belong anywhere, really.

What are some situations people might be surprised to know you find uncomfortable?

Well, the stage is one. Oh, there's one place I feel actually comfortable, in my home, of course. Or in my girlfriend's home, and in the studio. I love being in the studio. But onstage, not comfortable really. Backstage, on the tour bus where there's lots of people, especially if you're on tour and there's lots of people who know who I am, I get uncomfortable. But I also get uncomfortable where there's lots of people who don't know who I am, so I guess...[laughs]. I think I might I have to go to some therapy.

What do your daughters think of your music?

They're indifferent. They don't necessarily like my music—I think my youngest daughter said it bluntly, like, "I don't like your music." Ah, I love you too.

My older daughter I think is secretly proud. She usually checks out which song is the most popular on Spotify, the song that has the most plays, or whatever. But none of them are interested in our music, really. I brought them out to shows, festivals, and I can be onstage and I have them get a seat on the side of the stage so they can watch. And then I start playing, and I feel like, "Okay, we're doing well, it's sounding good, Daddy's cool." And I look over to them and they're just looking down into their cell phones. They don't think I'm cool at all. And they think my music sucks. But I make good pancakes.

Did you ever think about being a parent and a musician at the same time, what it would be like?

No, it was a scary thought. When I was younger and I was a musician, I felt like a kid, or I felt childish, because I didn't have much education to fall back on, I didn't have a good job, I didn't make any money. So I felt like a child for longer than the people in my school. Having kids felt a bit like on the same level as going to Mars, pretty much. But then my best friend had a child, which is my godson, actually, and that set off, as it usually does, it kind of set off a trend. I saw that he was fucking more miserable than I was, and I figured, if he can do it, I can have kids. And lo and behold.

+12

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29 сен 2016

Whiterey

Про дочерей улыбнуло)

29 сен 2016

Arttefucker

Дочкам 9 и 12 лет. Может ещё втянутся, папка станет крутым.

29 сен 2016

Боженька

Он-интроверт,таким людям комфортнее всего самим с собой.Общество изматывает,иногда порой и в близком кругу,а про незнакомых личностей вообще можно и не говорить.))

29 сен 2016

YNWA

Боженька как боженька смолвил

29 сен 2016

Hellg

Боженька:
Странно, почему Акерфельдт в юности стремился стать музыкантом и быть в центре внимания, а в зрелом возрасте, достигнув этого, вдруг стал испытывать дискомфорт? Получается, это в зрелом возрасте он замкнулся в себе?

29 сен 2016

Visionaire

Hellg, есть несколько вариантов на выбор: Окерфельт стал музыкантом не для того, чтобы быть в центре внимания; Окерфельт лукавит; Окерфельт со временем устал от внимания.

29 сен 2016

Hellg

Спасибо. Но мне и правда интересно. Я всегда считал, что на сцену стремятся как правило нарцистические типы личности. А психотип складывается в основном в детском и подростковом возрасте и редко претерпевает изменения в течении жизни. Короче, люди не меняются. А тут обратное

29 сен 2016

Human

Зато я пеку хорошие блины»

Сразу видно, что у человека все в порядке и в голове и в жизни)

29 сен 2016

Pandem Light

Ну, не все становятся музыкантами ради славы и сцены. Когда-то мой друг, достаточно талантливый музыкант, долго готовился к своему первому выступлению с одной группой, и в итоге не вышел на сцену. Он тоже интроверт, и для таких людей это правда сложно. Но когда у тебя есть талант или тебе нравится исполнять музыкальные произведения, свои или чужие, то приходится искать компромиссы. Опять же, мой друг, когда играл в другой группе и таки его заставили выступать, он всегда стоял в пол-оборота к залу, а при возможности вообще лицом к барабанщику. Так что не я считаю, что Миша лукавит.

29 сен 2016

Боженька

Да щас процентов 70 общества-интроверты) не вижу в этом ничего зазорного.Просто такие люди больше погружены в себя,в свои проблемы.)()

Hellg а кто в юности не стремился к показушности?

29 сен 2016

Hellg

Да, ты прав, наверное многие. Но есть те, кого воспитывают быть сдержанным и скромным, проявление эмоциональности возбраняется в семье, а натура требует проявления эмоций.
Ну да ладно! Я тут просто мечу в диванные психологи и вырвав из контекста обрывок теории, пытаюсь примерять её ко всему)))

29 сен 2016

sergej3105

Pandem Light-- Сказал в точку ! 100%. Я когда по молодости в группе играл, тоже старался подальше от центра сцены стоять. В пол оборота. И да, я тоже интроверт.

29 сен 2016

Arttefucker

Hellg, в недавнем интервью он рассказывал, что всегда испытывал дискомфорт на сцене (Opeth первые десять лет почти не выступали в живую). Переборол благодаря Таунсенду из Strapping Young Lad, когда увидел как тот общается с публикой. Так что шутки про сиськи со сцены, уроки гроулинга и прочее — способ расслабиться.

http://thequietus.com/articles/20946-opeth-mikael-akerfeldt-interview

30 сен 2016

Hellg

Arttefucker, спасибо. Жаль, что не владею английским, чтобы прочесть его в оригинале

1 окт 2016

BananaSmashedFace

А может, он хотел в молодости прославиться, но просто ещё не представлял, что это такое, а когда достиг этого, ему это не понравилось) Просто в силу того, что он был молодым, он думал, то это круто, но для него всё оказалось наоборот