OPETH's FREDRIK ÅKESSON: People On BLABBERMOUTH.NET 'Complain About Everything'

In a recent interview with Davide Sciaky of TrueMetal.it, OPETH guitarist Fredrik Åkesson was asked if he thinks the band's fans are over the fact that OPETH no longer incorporates growling vocals into its music. "I don't read everything on the Internet," he responded. "On certain forums, you will always have that complaint — especially on Blabbermouth. [Chuckles] But they complain about everything. It's kind of fun, actually. But we still play that era of OPETH live, and we still enjoy playing it. And I think Mikael's [Åkerfeldt, OPETH guitarist/vocalist] growls are even more guttural than ever, really. We love it, but Mikael is the main songwriter and he is very artistic, and he doesn't like to repeat his sound, and neither do we. So we've kind of stayed on this path. But I'm not sure it's ruled out forever — it might come back, in a different way.

"I can understand some fans [being disappointed by the lack of growling vocals in the new music], but it seems like there's still a lot of old-school fans that appreciate both types of sounds," he continued. "And when it comes to the live gigs, I think it's quite interesting to have the blend between these two. It creates a good dynamic in a live setting… But then again, the older OPETH stuff with the growl always had some more calm stuff in those songs. It's always been a bit like yin-and-yang kind of thing, and in a way, I still think that [we've kept] that, but in a different way."

Asked if he thinks it's possible that growling vocals will ever come back to OPETH's music, Fredrik said: "If it would come back, I think it has to be… I know Mikael well, and if I was starting to question about it, it's probably less chance that it will happen. He likes to do the opposite, So, if it happens, it has to be him that comes up with it naturally, and feels like he wants to do it. There's been a little bit of talk about bringing it back on some… On the 'Pale Communion' album, he had an idea to bring back [the growls] for one song, without us asking about it. So it's been almost happening."

OPETH's latest album, "In Cauda Venenum", landed at No. 13 on the U.K. chart and No. 5 on the German chart. The band's previous LP, 2016's "Sorceress", peaked at No. 11 on the U.K. chart, while 2014's "Pale Communion" entered the list at No. 14 and 2011's "Heritage" landed at No. 22.

"In Cauda Venenum" was released on September 27 via Moderbolaget / Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Recorded last year at Stockholm's Park Studios, the effort was made available in two versions, in both Swedish and English languages.