MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT On OPETH's Next Studio Album: 'We've Been Working On Stuff'

In a new interview with Greece's metal TV show "TV War", OPETH leader Mikael Åkerfeldt was asked if he is "allowed" to speak about the band's rumored follow-up to 2019's "In Cauda Venenum" album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm allowed, but I won't. What I can say is that we haven't made like an official announcement of a release date or anything like that. But I can say over the year and a half that we've been off the road, we haven't been doing nothing; we've been working on stuff. Actually a lot of work has happened over the years. But we will still keep the cards close to our chest for a little while longer. But, I mean, yeah, there will be stuff coming at some point."

Åkerfeldt also talked about his songwriting process, explaining: "When I write music, most of the time, in the best scenario for me, I have an idea of what I want to do. But usually it's hard for me to stick to that idea, because I write music, it's very stream of consciousness in a way. I just write… So I write fast. And I decide fast what's good, what's shit, what to keep and what to throw away and that kind of stuff. And in the end, it's, like, 'Hmm, [I have] no memory writing that song.' So I don't really know how it works. But usually I'm set off by an idea that I want to try out… I try everything and I try to, so to speak, polish turds, if you know what I mean. I might have an idea, like I hear something that's good, but it's really sounding bad to me. I still continue working with it for a little while and then, three weeks later, I [am], like, 'It's still shit. I'm gonna throw it away.' But I have to exhaust every idea."

After "TV War" asked Åkerfeldt about the fact that JETHRO TULL founder Ian Anderson recently revealed that he will make a guest appearance on OPETH's next album, Mikael said: "No comment. I love Ian. Of course, he knows. He talked a little bit about it. It's better that he spilled the beans than we. We're still gonna wait for a little while. But, yeah, Ian is involved. There has been some e-mails going back and forth between Ian [and us].

Asked if he has met Ian in person, Mikael said: "Yeah, I met him in person. But I didn't meet him in the studio… I did reach out to him 15 years ago or so for the 'Heritage' [2011] record. There was like a flute thing on that record and he didn't reply then. So we got another flutist, a Swedish guy, which, it was a happy accident, actually, that Ian didn't reply. We got this Swedish guy, a got guy called Björn J:son Lindh. He worked closely with ABBA. He was an arranger, a great pianist and a great flute player. And he has since passed, passed away. So our recording, 'Heritage', was his last recording. So I'm happy that we got to work with him. He was some type of genius, a proper idol for me. So I'm really happy Ian didn't reply, actually, then."

Asked if he has ever experienced the so-called "writer's block", Mikael said: "Pretty much all the time. But you persevere and you continue writing. For me, a great idea doesn't have to be a complex idea or an elaborate idea. I like to have what I call stupid riffs next to a very elaborate, experimental piece. I like both aspects of music. For some reason, I like the really complicated shit, but not only."

On the topic of using artificial intelligence (A.I.) during the songwriting process, Mikael said: "I don't like it. Of course, I would say that. I haven't tried [it]. I haven't even sent one question to ChatGPT or whatever it's called, or used A.I. for anything. I don't really know how it works, to be honest. But I heard A.I.-constructed music. My girlfriend, she was working as a journalist and she was interviewing Swedish folk musicians who were playing A.I.-generated folk songs. And I was, like, 'Oh my god. It sounds good. Sounds great.' But for me, I don't want to know about it, because that's one of my favorite aspects of being in this band, is to write music. So a writer's block, I welcome writer's blocks. You go through those hard times, you come out at the end and you have something. It's very rewarding. Besides, A.I., I mean, no matter how you fucking turn it, it's cheating. It's shit. It's not music. It's just someone picking, like a computer picking sounds. So a real musician would not be interested in A.I. Only if you're interested in making money, and if you're a complete idiot."

Anderson, who will turn 77 in August, revealed his contribution to the upcoming OPETH LP in February while talking to Italy's "Mystery Tour" radio show. Asked about his non-JETHRO TULL musical activities, Ian said: "Well, from time to time I play on other people's records, if they're interesting to me. I just did — last week I played on three or four tracks from a prog metal band called [OPETH]. [They're] Swedish."

"In Cauda Venenum" was released in September 2019 via Moderbolaget / Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Recorded in 2018 at Stockholm's Park Studios, the effort was made available in two versions, in both Swedish and English languages.

In May 2022, OPETH issued "In Cauda Venenum (Extended Edition)" via Atomic Fire Records. This release, available on digipak, contained the English and Swedish versions of "In Cauda Venenum", with new illustrations by internationally renowned Travis Smith in the booklet. In addition, there was also a third CD including three previously unreleased bonus tracks, both in English and Swedish: "The Mob" / "Pöbeln", "Width Of A Circle" / "Cirkelns Riktning" and "Freedom & Tyranny" / "Frihet & Tyranni".

OPETH played its first concert with new drummer Waltteri Väyrynen (PARADISE LOST, BLOODBATH, BODOM AFTER MIDNIGHT) in September 2022 at Helitehas in Tallinn, Estonia. Väyrynen replaced stand-in drummer Sami Karppinen who had been the temporary replacement for Martin "Axe" Axenrot since the fall of 2021.

Axenrot officially joined OPETH more than a decade and a half ago as the replacement for Martin Lopez, who left the band in May 2006 after being plagued by illness and anxiety attacks, which forced him to miss several of OPETH's tours.

Photo by Scott Robinson