OPETH // Quality Hang Preview: Ascending to Rock Royalty?

Sep 22, 2016 / WORDS Tom Valcanis / Interview with guitarist Fredrik Åkesson

Opeth is all about provenance these days. Whether you hate them for turning their back on metal or love every tripped out thing these Swedish scene staples do, Opeth has words like ‘legacy’ and ‘history’ on their lips.

Performing three exclusive shows in London, New York and Sydney next year, all in iconic locations (Wembley Arena, Radio City Music Hall and the Sydney Opera House, natch) is the first pour cementing themselves in rock ‘n’ roll greatness. That could be down to frontman and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt’s resolution to never repeat himself. Fellow guitarist Fredrik Åkesson agrees.

“I think it’s cool because he always tries to do something different,” he says in a heavy Norse accent. “That’s a bit what Opeth is about. To try to reach new dimensions with every album. Although I think we still keep the core of the sound, in a way. It’s changed a lot in the past. You never really know what’s gonna happen. He’s always been into different kinds of music, I would say. But he finds out about new different bands that you’ve never heard about before, and some of it can be ‘what the hell is this?’ But it’s a lot of great stuff there too.

“I’m saying when we party and stuff like that, on the tour bus or with a couple of beers, we usually listen a lot to the classic and old rock metal stuff as well. Still, everybody likes that stuff. It’s interesting. Sometimes he recommends different bands. Like seventies hard rock progressive stuff. It’s really interesting to hang out at his house and …

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We’re still in the vein of hard rock metal … It’s a bit more progressive in the jazz area, folk and everything. But I think we’re metalheads still.
[ Fredrik Åkesson ]