{"id":787784,"date":"2026-09-30T20:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787784\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T20:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T20:22:15","slug":"opeth-explored-love-as-a-mental-disease-on-sorceress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/787784\/","title":{"rendered":"Opeth explored love as a \u201cmental disease” on Sorceress"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2016 Opeth<\/a> continued their move away from metal and towards prog with their 12th album, Sorceress. Ahead of the launch, band leader Mikael Akerfeldt<\/a> and guitarist Fredrik Akesson<\/a> told Prog what made the record different from previous outings.<\/p>\n

If you cut through Opeth they\u2019d bleed Mellotrons. Or flutes. Or any classic tool of the prog trade. Since veering away from their metallic roots after 2008\u2019s Watershed<\/a>, the enigmatic Swedes \u2013 who first won over scores of fans with boundary-crushing death metal \u2013 have dived further and further into the swirly depths of progressive music.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Frontman Mikael \u00c5kerfeldt has spent most of his adulthood cultivating an obscenely extensive vinyl collection<\/a>, much of it proggy and\/or pre-dating 1976. Now, five years after their \u2018prog debut\u2019 Heritage<\/a>, he\u2019s capitalising on the influence of all that fantastic plastic with more gusto than ever. Oh yes, Opeth have gone to the prog side, no question.<\/p>\n

Their new album Sorceress<\/a> \u2013 recorded at Rockfield Studios, Wales, with Royal Blood producer Tom Dalgety \u2013 continues this thread. Two songs were initially called \u2018Jethro One\u2019 and \u2018Jethro Two\u2019. One piece, The Wilde Flowers, was named after the 60s Canterbury band, who never released anything but did end up spawning Caravan<\/a> and Soft Machine<\/a>, which pretty much started the whole Canterbury scene; another, The Seventh Sojourn, shares its name with a Moody Blues album. Give them some whimsical outfits and songs about dragons and these former metal men would be proggier than Yes<\/a> at a wizard convention in Hastings \u2013 in capes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteven Wilson<\/a> played me a Jethro Tull <\/a>record, Stormwatch, that I didn\u2019t have,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt tells us in a velvety Swedish accent. \u201cHe was like, \u2018Have you heard this record? There\u2019s a song you have to hear \u2013 it\u2019s called Dun Ringill.\u2019 It\u2019s late-70s Jethro Tull. I generally have a limit around 75, 76, because production went downhill after that. But that record made me want to write a song with a capo, up high on the fretboard, because it brings a nice ringy sound to the guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n

You may like<\/p>\n

Offstage, \u00c5kerfeldt \u2013 the band\u2019s singer, guitarist and songwriting mastermind \u2013 is easy, very likeable company, but not without an element of reserve. He swears relatively rarely, but when he does, it\u2019s with relish. He\u2019s tall and slim, with a big moustache that he calls his \u201c70s porn director\u201d look. And he\u2019s infinitely happier talking about music than he is about anything personal. The merits of Tull, therefore, is an area he\u2019s pleased to get stuck into \u2013 as is his bandmate who joins him here today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe listened to Stormwatch quite a lot when we had beer sessions over the last couple of years,\u201d nods guitarist Fredrik \u00c5kesson, a thoughtful man with a gentle voice, regal goatee and a giant crop of springy curls. \u201cI\u2019ve been obsessed by the song Orion on that record.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cAnd Minstrel In The Gallery,\u201d adds \u00c5kerfeldt, \u201cwe played that a lot. I love that album. So I\u2019ve been rediscovering some of these records that I\u2019ve been listening to for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

This conversion to the prog side hasn\u2019t sat well with all of their fans. 2011\u2019s Heritage, their first record with no screamed vocals, prompted outrage from a very vocal contingent of metal purists, and they\u2019ve never been totally silenced. Not that it\u2019s done them serious harm. Their last album, 2014\u2019s Pale Communion<\/a>, hit the Top 20 in both the UK and the US. New waves of non-metal listeners have joined their fan base. And this year they\u2019re headlining London\u2019s Wembley Arena \u2013 no small feat for any \u2018non-mainstream\u2019 band, and especially not for one as unbothered about what sells as Opeth.<\/p>\n

Indeed, their huge success (which has also seen them fill the Royal Albert Hall<\/a>) is almost inexplicable in an age where things like social media optimising and crowd-pandering are supposed to be crucial for widespread outreach.<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, the only thing that\u2019s important is to keep the music fun and interesting,\u201d says \u00c5kerfeldt, \u201cand to develop and experiment. That\u2019s what I think music should be. It should be fun. The idea of stagnating, of writing a record simply to feed a career, that\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now at least, they\u2019re showing no signs of stagnating, as they demonstrate on album number 12, Sorceress \u2013 a beautiful hybrid of classic prog, folk touches and hooky hard rock riffs<\/a>. There\u2019s no concept, and most of the songs hover around the five-minute mark, but to our ears, it sounds the most cohesive of their prog albums. The songwriting seems sharper; catchier even.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a bit more catchy, I think,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt says. \u201cBut I haven\u2019t even listened to the final version yet. We did so many mixes \u2013 I listened to each and every one of them \u2013 so I needed some time to step back. But I think it\u2019s a really good record. I\u2019m really happy with the songs. I think it\u2019s a very diverse record. I made a point of having each song as different as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alongside his own collection of classics and obscurities, \u00c5kerfeldt has been ingesting his girlfriend\u2019s jazz records \u2013 not a direct influence on the new record, but certainly a background factor in the creative process. \u201cShe\u2019s a huge John Coltrane fan. And I had a nice little Miles Davis<\/a> collection, so I\u2019d been going through his musicians that play on those records, guys like John McLaughlin<\/a> and Herbie Hancock<\/a>,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think it rubbed off on my writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

OPETH – Sorceress (Official Live Video) – YouTube
\n\"OPETH<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Instead, it\u2019s bands like Mahavishnu Orchestra <\/a>and Tull that you\u2019ll hear on the record. The flute-tastic likes of A Fleeting Glance reflect their folky side, while Seventh Sojourn captures an alluring Eastern quality. With the title track, \u00c5kerfeldt wanted to trick the metalheads who\u2019ve hated his prog adventures but remain interested in Opeth nonetheless. Accordingly, it starts with a classic fusion-esque melee of Fender Rhodes keys and proggy timings. It has no place in 2016 whatsoever.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted the haters to go, \u2018Oh, not that shit again!\u2019 and turn it off,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt grins, \u201cuntil some of their friends say, \u2018Why did you stop listening? It gets really heavy after a while!\u2019 So it\u2019s a bit of a trick. But we haven\u2019t really played it yet. We rehearsed it once. It\u2019s one of those live tracks \u2013 big, stupid rock, basically.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeanderthal rock!\u201d \u00c5kesson beams. \u201cAfter Watershed, this is probably the heaviest record we\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

I used to start by writing mock lyrics about\u2026 beer! And then I\u2019d translate them into something more meaningful, or something that looked good<\/p>\n

Mikael \u00c5kerfeldt<\/p>\n

The fact that \u00c5kerfeldt paid a lot of attention to the drums for Sorceress goes some way to explaining this, after drummer Martin \u2018Axe\u2019 Axenrot, a deft all-rounder, revealed a particular penchant for classic rock. \u201cWe did a soundcheck at a show and he was fooling around, playing this meat\u2019n\u2019potatoes rock, this Judas Priest<\/a> 1978 type of drumming,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt explains. \u201cAnd he\u2019s so good at that stuff. So I was thinking a lot about the drums for this record, about what he loves to play. Because, like everyone, when something\u2019s fun, you\u2019re good at it. You play better. He can play anything, but he\u2019s exceptional when he\u2019s doing that kind of stuff. When I see him laugh, that\u2019s when he\u2019s at his best.\u201d<\/p>\n

This style is an important dietary staple for both \u00c5kerfeldt and \u00c5kesson. \u00c5kerfeldt has long professed his admiration for Ritchie Blackmore<\/a> and Black Sabbath<\/a>, and he began his lifelong vinyl obsession by collecting Iron Maiden<\/a> records. Before joining Opeth in 2007, \u00c5kesson \u2013 a violinist, initially, before he discovered the guitar at the age of 12 \u2013 played with Europe<\/a> guitarist John Norum and melodic hard rockers Talisman, as well as the metallic likes of Arch Enemy<\/a> and Krux. \u201cI think it helped me a lot to have done all these different styles previously with other bands,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

OPETH – The Wilde Flowers (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO) – YouTube
\n\"OPETH<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

We wonder how much they listen to this kind of heavy rock fodder, which seems to add melodic beef and familiarity to their proggy cocktail. \u201cQuite a lot, actually,\u201d says \u00c5kerfeldt. \u201cMore than we listen to\u2026 I want to say Yes, but I do listen to Yes quite a lot. We are first and foremost hard rock guys, metal guys. That\u2019s what shaped us in the beginning. So those records are immortal to us, the AC\/DC<\/a>s and the Michael Schenkers<\/a>, Judas Priests\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00c5kesson: \u201cIron Maiden, Scorpions<\/a>, Accept<\/a>\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd many of those guys, in the early days, were really quite progressive,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt says. \u201cLike Priest, Sabbath, Deep Purple<\/a>. They were labelled progressive rock, or progressive pop, on the back of the records.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thematically, \u00c5kerfeldt says the new record largely deals with love. Unhindered by the potentially squishy, sickly connotations the word carries, this chief idea splits into individual song vignettes, ranging from anger to melancholy.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s mainly personal,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve had a turbulent life in the last five or six years or so, though I didn\u2019t deliberately, specifically write about that. Back in the day I used to start by writing mock lyrics about\u2026 beer! And then I\u2019d translate them into something more meaningful, or something that looked good. But this time I started writing, and in the middle of the process I found many of these lyrics dealt with love \u2013 mostly the negative emotions you can get with a positive feeling like love: paranoia, insecurity, anger, jealousy, hate even. I didn\u2019t set out to write these types of lyrics \u2013 it was only afterwards that I kinda knew what they dealt with.\u201d<\/p>\n

OPETH – Will O The Wisp (OFFICIAL LYRIC VIDEO) – YouTube
\n\"OPETH<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

Just like his friend and collaborator Steven Wilson<\/a>, \u00c5kerfeldt isn\u2019t forthcoming about his personal life. He\u2019s divorced from his wife Anna, the mother of his two daughters, but doesn\u2019t talk about it. Now happily settled with his girlfriend, he\u2019s reluctant to say whether any particular incidents ended up influencing what he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, again, it\u2019s my recent life,\u201d he says slightly awkwardly. \u201cI\u2019m not saying those lyrics are biographical or anything like that. But I\u2019ve been troubled, and when you have these kind of weird thoughts, catastrophic thoughts, which I had\u2026 So what I wrote down is not necessarily something I experienced myself. I didn\u2019t think too much when I wrote. I wrote each line down and thought, \u2018Okay, that\u2019ll work with the rhythm, with the vocal, that sounds nice.\u2019 And then I finished it and became more and more angry every now and then, which I found interesting.<\/p>\n

You do get a bit of an \u2018evil eye\u2019 when you\u2019re drunk\u2026 he used to jump on people and wrestle them<\/p>\n

Fredrik Akesson<\/p>\n

\u201cI just know that when you\u2019re in the middle of a chaotic relationship, or when you feel that you\u2019re being mistreated or something like that, you get weird thoughts. Not necessarily about\u2026 [laughs] stabbing somebody in the fucking face, but you start acting weird. Love is like a mental disease, which everybody kind of wants to catch. It\u2019s crazy when you think about it. I love \u2018love\u2019, but I\u2019m also interested in how it can affect you; how this positive emotion that musicians have been talking about for years \u2013 \u2018All you need is love\u2019 \u2013 can feel so damaging when you\u2019re in the middle of it. So that\u2019s the basis for those lyrics. But they aren\u2019t about anyone in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, simple glances at the news proved to be incredibly fruitful sources of inspiration too. \u201cThe other day I heard about a guy who killed his pregnant wife with a machete in Sweden,\u201d he tells us. \u201cI assume that somewhere before this event took place, he loved her. So it\u2019s an interesting emotion, and it\u2019s interesting to see what it can bring out of seemingly normal people.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a wider sense, Opeth have never been publicity seekers for anything other than their music. Their recent 25th-anniversary book, the Book Of Opeth<\/a>, chronicled their evolution without delving into personal issues or potential controversy. Nevertheless, after over two decades in the business and a rotating cast of band members (\u00c5kerfeldt is the only remaining founder member), they must have had a diva rock star phase at some point. Right?<\/p>\n

\n

\"A\n<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently in the middle of it,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt laughs. \u201cBut no, there\u2019s a lot about this band that we kept under wraps, but we decided to\u2026 I mean, we did the Opeth book recently, and deliberately kept that down. But there\u2019s been a lot\u2026 of that. A lot of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can you elaborate at all? \u201cWell, if I was going to, I would have done so in the book, wouldn\u2019t I?\u201d he says, only slightly defensively. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot of things happening in this band. I mean, we\u2019re good people, everyone who\u2019s been in the band has been good people, but there\u2019s been massive trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all he\u2019ll say on the matter, though he\u2019s gleefully candid when we ask what the most \u2018metal\u2019 thing he\u2019s ever done is. \u201cI threw chairs out of a balcony once \u2013 25 floors,\u201d he enthuses. \u201cI think it was in Adelaide, maybe around the time of Deliverance in 2002. It was me and Per [Wiberg], our then-keyboard player, [Mart\u00edn] M\u00e9ndez and [former drummer Martin] Lopez were sharing a room and they were passed out, and me and Per were drinking on their balcony, so we decided to throw out the chairs. I thought we were closer to the ground. I was really drunk. The next day the hotel manager stopped us when we were checking out and said, \u2018Didn\u2019t you like the chairs on the balcony?\u2019 We had to pay for them, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then there was the time he poured vodka all over a major label exec in the US. \u201cI\u2019d been drinking heavily and smoking mushrooms mixed with hash or something,\u201d he recalls with some pride. \u201cI don\u2019t usually do drugs but I thought this seemed like a good idea. I got really crazy, and it was at an after-party in a hotel room in the US. I didn\u2019t know anybody there. And the label manager for Century Media in America was there, and I grabbed him by his hair and poured a bottle of vodka in his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do get a bit of an \u2018evil eye\u2019 when you\u2019re drunk\u2026\u201d \u00c5kesson says thoughtfully, stroking his beard. \u201cWhen I started in the band, he used to jump on people and wrestle them.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an oddly endearing, childlike image \u2013 the tall, suave \u00c5kerfeldt taking a running leap at some unsuspecting roadie or bandmate. \u201cBut I\u2019m very anti-violence,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt hastily adds. \u201cI\u2019m not trying to hurt them. It\u2019s childish playing, and I was drinking a lot then. I haven\u2019t done it since I stopped drinking hard liquor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hidden darknesses aside, Opeth haven\u2019t had a great need for violence \u2013 certainly not as far as creative control is concerned. Slightly amazingly, they\u2019ve never been seriously pushed around by label execs and the like, which has allowed them to remain in a progressive niche and build a substantial fan base entirely on their own terms. The only real opposition they\u2019ve faced has been from fans, when they largely abandoned metal in favour of prog with Heritage. This year, onstage at the Be Prog! My Friend festival in Spain, \u00c5kerfeldt commented on how much hate the album has received, and how he equally hated the people that hated it. Tongue-in-cheek, but it points to truth\u2026<\/p>\n

Prog fans are not necessarily so keen on hating. Maybe they\u2019re like me \u2013 if they don\u2019t like something, they just back off<\/p>\n

Mikael \u00c5kerfeldt<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t hate people who hate that record,\u201d he says measuredly. \u201cThe people I do hate are the ones who try to tell me what to do. So it\u2019s more that I have a problem with authority to begin with. And I hate a lot of records, y\u2019know. I\u2019m not very vocal about it. I\u2019m not going to assume that my personal wish will change what the organisation or band or whoever, what they\u2019re doing. My opinion means fuck all to them, I know\u2026 And I would never go up to bands I look up to and tell them that what they\u2019re doing is bad. But I\u2019m a different generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has that less flattering side of the metal world made the prog community seem a bit more welcoming by contrast? \u201cI assume that the prog fans are generally a bit older,\u201d says \u00c5kerfeldt slowly, \u201cand maybe more mature. They\u2019re not necessarily so keen on hating; making it known that they hate this and that band. Maybe they\u2019re like me \u2013 if they don\u2019t like something, they just back off. They\u2019re not actively repulsed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to think about the live shows we do and the reception we get to those,\u201d muses \u00c5kesson. \u201cAt Be Prog! My Friend, I saw a lot of young kids, metalheads, but they were totally into the proggier stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"Opeth\"\n<\/p>\n

They hope to see a lot of said kids in November, when they headline Wembley Arena in London. Today they\u2019re relatively tight-lipped about their plans, but they do tell us that there may be a special set specifically for the Wembley show. Unlike previous gigs, they\u2019re looking to be more involved with the whole staging process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working on a new stage set for this upcoming tour for the new album,\u201d \u00c5kesson says, \u201cwhich includes this new lamp design. It hasn\u2019t been used much. You can do a lot of spaced-out stuff with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For such a classic, prog-loving band, Opeth\u2019s stage shows have hitherto remained rather minimal. As they continue to embrace the musical daring of their prog forefathers, we wonder if there\u2019ll ever be a visual side to match. As it stands, they\u2019re not exactly talking [earlier Opeth album] \u2018Blackwater Park<\/a>: ON ICE\u2019 \u00e0 la Rick Wakeman.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the Achilles\u2019 heel, the visual thing \u2013 everyone\u2019s a bit uncomfortable with it.\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt gestures to his demure all-black attire \u2013 not a gimmick in sight. \u201cI\u2019m in my stage clothes now. I don\u2019t mind bands with a strong image, and I wouldn\u2019t mind if we had a strong image if it was something we were comfortable with, but we haven\u2019t found anything like that yet. We\u2019re trying to get the guys onstage to move a bit and have some sort of \u2018look\u2019, so no shorts, no free tour T-shirts from the support band\u2026 that\u2019s as far as we\u2019ve got.\u201d<\/p>\n

So no capes then? Or a giant peacock, like the one seen on the Sorceress album cover? You could get an inflatable one and have it float around the arena?<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, that could be done, of course,\u201d \u00c5kerfeldt nods, in a voice that says \u2018but probably not\u2019. \u201cMendez is an artist and painter, so he\u2019s more into that type of thing. Whenever the guys in the crew start talking about the show and how it\u2019s going to look, he\u2019s the one who gets most involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

It turns out that \u00c5kerfeldt has more important things than stage design to worry about. For such a long\u2011serving frontman, as adept at voice\u2011of-Satan metal growls as melodious straight vocals, he admits that his confidence is \u201cpretty shit\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur first show after we did the record was our first show in nine months, supporting Iron Maiden \u2013 in front of about 65,000 people,\u201d he says. \u201cI was nervous. I was doing some newspaper thing outside, and I felt calm but my legs were shaking. So yeah, I do get nervous.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not like I need a wig or a disguise. But yes, people do come up to me<\/p>\n

Mikael \u00c5kerfeldt<\/p>\n

How do you combat that? \u201cI go onstage,\u201d he replies, simply. \u201cI go out there and do my best, but I don\u2019t get pumped up or anything \u2013 no \u2018Yeah!\u2019 or fist-pumping. I\u2019m not really rock star material in that sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a handshake before we go on,\u201d \u00c5kesson nods.<\/p>\n

Off tour, it\u2019s a little easier to relax. Both \u00c5kerfeldt and \u00c5kesson, who is also a father, currently live in the suburbs of Stockholm. Return trips home are spent with their children, barbecuing, cycling and jumping in the nearby archipelago, largely free of the demands of being in a world-famous band.<\/p>\n

How often do you get recognised back there? \u201cQuite often actually,\u201d says \u00c5kerfeldt, \u201cbut it\u2019s not like I need a wig or a disguise. But yes, people do come up to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not like Beyonc\u00e9,\u201d \u00c5kesson adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d agrees \u00c5kerfeldt, \u201cnot like Beyonc\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n

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