OPETH Mainman Discusses Forthcoming Album

Patrick Douglas of the Great Falls Tribune recently conducted an interview with OPETH mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

On the recently released double live album, "The Roundhouse Tapes", which spans OPETH's entire catalog:

"We wanted to make sure that we concentrated on playing stuff from as many albums as we possibly could. There are songs from all of the albums, apart from 'Deliverance'. It was a pretty good setlist."

"We wanted to play lots of the early stuff because we couldn't have any early songs on the last DVD because of re-recording restrictions. I'm really happy about some of the versions, especially some of the older songs. I think they sound better on this album than they do on the original record."

"I wasn't aware of this venue [The Roundhouse, where the live album was recorded] until they mentioned it to me, so I checked it out and it turns out it was used by many of my favorite bands in the '60s and '70s. It was a very good venue. Being in London, we had a good crowd there. I think it sounds awesome."

On OPETH's live show:

"The core of the show is the songs. We just wanna play the songs well and have a good time playing them and maybe some interaction with the crowd. It's nothing spectacular. It's not like going to see MÖTLEY CRÜE. If you're a deaf guy, you can go see MÖTLEY CRÜE and you'd think it rocks (because) you can't hear anything."

"We've been talking about having a screen because we're not that animated on stage," he continued. "It's like we have lead boots on. It's like we stand in one place and headbang ... walk a few steps to the right and headbang there for awhile."

On the forthcoming OPETH album:

"I just listened to Fredrik's [Åkesson, ex-ARCH ENEMY/TALISMAN and current OPETH guitarist] guitar solos. We've done four guitar solos for this album so far. Just 10 minutes before you called, I listened to the finished versions (and) I almost started crying. He's just amazing. In comparison to him, I'm just a nobody. I'm just blown away by him. I love his style."

"From my point of view, I think it's the best album we have ever done. At the time I recorded ('Ghost Reveries') I felt the same as I do now about this album. The people I've played the demos to are like 'wow, this is really something special.' (But),it's not up to me to say."

On OPETH's mass appeal — or lack thereof:

"I think our music is a bit too complex to appeal to a wider crowd. That's the way we like it and that's the way we're gonna continue. I wouldn't mind ... if everybody in the world loved it. But, the bigger crowds seem to enjoy elevator music. Music that you don't have to listen to."