OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON: 'Not Many Bands Can Experiment As Much As We Do'

On November 15, Abed Loutfi of Guided By Metal conducted an interview with guitarist Fredrik Åkesson of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH in Stockholm, Sweden. You can now watch the chat below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether he foresaw a change in OPETH's musical direction away from death metal when he first joined the band:

Fredrik: "No, because I joined in the writing process of [2008's] 'Watershed', and that still had the screaming vocals and a lot of pretty extreme stuff. Even though it was a different album from [2005's] 'Ghost Reveries', for example, but in a way I also think those two albums are a bit connected, like [2011's] 'Heritage' and [2014's] 'Pale Communion' as well. So I got to do the death metal thing before the change. But when we took that decision to change it up a bit on 'Heritage', it took me a while to get used to that, but I think it was a cool thing that we did that, because it's kind of bold. Not many bands can experiment as much as we do, and we're a bit fortunate in that way."

On some people's perception that OPETH is no longer interested in playing extreme metal:

Fredrik: "Maybe some people think that we've turned our backs to the more extreme metal, but we haven't, because if you go see us live, it's a big part of the OPETH sound. There's still nine albums with those elements in it. So the setlist we [are playing now] is quite brutal. And Mikael's [Åkerfeldt] 'death' voice is even more evil now. So we like to play it. It's not about that. It's just about… on the creative side, especially Mikael, who is the main writer, wants to do something different; he hates the idea of repeating himself. And I think he kind of took the extreme metal thing to what he thought [was] a peak for a while and then he needed to do something different."

OPETH will celebrate its landmark 25th anniversary as a band next year with a very special event at the legendary London Palladium on October 18, 2015. After being the heaviest band to play the Royal Albert Hall in 2010, they will no doubt be the heaviest band to also play the Palladium. The unique show, dubbed "An Evening With OPETH", will feature two sets from the progressive Swedes, including 2005's much-lauded "Ghost Reveries" album in its entirety (which in turn is celebrating its 10th anniversary),plus a second set of classics from their 25-year career.

OPETH's eleventh studio album, "Pale Communion", sold around 13,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 19 on The Billboard 200 chart.

"Pale Communion" was released on August 26 via Roadrunner Records. The cover artwork was once again created by Travis Smith — with art direction by Mikael Åkerfeldt. The CD was produced by Åkerfeldt and mixed by longtime collaborator and PORCUPINE TREE frontman/guitarist Steven Wilson.