Something very special happened on the night of Tuesday October 18th: I, Bröötalisk, earned my Metal Stripes (the secret ingredient is the blood of my enemies) by interviewing the legendary Mikael Akerfeldt. If you are somehow unaware of this man, please proceed to jump out of your window (after reading this of course). Akerfeldt is the front man of Opeth, taking on the duties of vocalist and guitarist. Not only is he the last founding member, but he also writes almost, if not all, of their songs for every instrument. Yes, you should be impressed. The band itself has been around for quite some time: they formed in 1990, debuted an album in 1995, and just recently released their newest album Heritage. Despite its old age, Opeth is showing no signs of slowing down. They’re currently finishing up their U.S. tour supporting Heritage, of which they will continue afterwards in Europe and Australia. Fortunately (for me at least), the interview is so long that I cannot fit it all here on text. However, using my great mysterious metal prowess, I have linked the interview here: AkerfeldtInterview (mp3 format). Also, if you’d rather have a text version, I have a word file available here: OpethInterview (pdf format). Below is an excerpt from the interview, detailing Akerfeldt’s new project with Steven Wilson, Storm Corrosion. Oh, and here’s a picture of them. Enjoy!
METAAAAAAAAAAAAL
Bröötalisk - I’m a huge fan of both you and Steven Wilson, which makes me very excited over the news about Storm Corrosion. Care to shed light on this mysterious project? Perhaps an album date, what we can expect, etc?
Åkerfeldt – It’s one of those projects where you have to head it to understand what it is. You can talk about certain things and say what it’s like musically and stuff like that but it really doesn’t give much of a clear picture of what it is. We’ve been thinking about working together for such a long time and this is the result finally happening. We recorded 6 songs I think and they’re different from anything I’ve ever been involved in. Some of those songs are some of the most beautiful type of music that I’ve ever been involved in. And it’s a big relief. I’m happy it happened. It’s great. *laughs* What can I say? I love it. But if you’re a diehard metal fan, you might have problems with it. That is, if you’re not open minded. If you just listen to metal music then it’s not for you.
About the author
Loud Rock Director - Punk dude with Metal and Hardcore undertones. Constantly stage diving and high fiving!
BROOTAL.
Also, I love the thumbnail photo. And him and Steven Wilson. They are both superior human beings.