martin lopez quits opeth

[finalresistance]

Martin Lopez has permanently decided to leave the group. After being plagued by illness and anxiety attacks Lopez decided he wanted to concentrate fully on his own project, currently unnamed. His replacement will be Martin "Axe" Axenrot who's been filling in for the last 5 tours and who also recorded with the band during the recent BBC sessions.


Mikael Åkerfeldt: " However sad I and the rest of the band feel in light of Lopez departure I want to thank him for his incredible work with Opeth and immense dedication to the band. We recorded some classic stuff together and he obviously had an enormous impact on our sound. I now feel very excited to hear the material of his own band. In the meantime Opeth fans can rest assured that we'll continue jamming it out with Axe and we all have high expectations about our coming musical ventures "
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as sad as it is that martin lopez is quiting, i am just as enthusiastic about Axe's contribution to opeth,

 

[Tumn]

Axenrot is the man to fill in, but if this causes Bloodbath to suffer, I will be very upset!

 

[Flal]

The last Opeth gig to come through toronto was sold out, so i wasn;t able to see Axe in action, but i heard that he is phenomenal......i mean, Dan himself thinks he's within the top 5 best death metal drummers out there......its like getting praise from Caesar

 

[Aaskereia]

I saw Axenrot at Summer Breeze 2005 on the drums from Opeth... he was awesome... a very good drummer.

 

[bass_lover1]

Alot of hardcore Opeth fans are upset at this decision, although everyone knew it was coming.

They're crying like little girls on the Opeth boards saying Axe can't fill the shoes of Lopez and has nothing more to offer than his basic DM style drumming.

I've seen Opeth twice, both with Axe, and I think he does amazingly well at playing someone elses drum parts. I'm excited to see what he can bring to the table and how it will affect Opeth's sound.

Maybe now with Axe as a full-time member of Opeth, Mike will do vox for Bloodbath again ...wishful thinking, but ya never know.

 

[Khayman666]

It may be a dumbass question since I know very little about "the biz" ... but will Axe becoming a full-time member of Opeth effect Bloodbath at all? I mean, will Axenrot become Roadrunner's bitch too, or is it just Mikael and/or any primary songwriters?

 

[Tumn]

I'm a hardcore Opeth fan and by no means am I upset over Axenrot as being the replacement, he is fucking fantastic. Beat the shit out of the drums last tour at the Chicago Chronology show which was by far the best performance ever of Opeth!

 

[finalresistance]

I dont think anyone is more worthy of filling in for martin lopez than axe
I saw him live a few months ago with opeth and i must agree
he is the man

 

[Alteredmindeath]

Dude Axe convinced me when I saw him live a few months ago, I was thinking fuck yeah this dude is damn good, and would be a worthy addition to the lineup. Sure enough my mental powers of forseeing the future did not fail me once again.

 

[winters epilogue]

Axenrot is the man to fill in, but if this causes Bloodbath to suffer, I will be very upset!

I really don't think it will make Bloodbath suffer anymore than Blakkheim and Jonas being in Katatonia or Swano being Swano. It's just about working around one more schedule.

But then again, we won't really know until they find a new vocalist...or Mike changes his mind

 

[Danny]

It's a great job for him and i saw him twice last year, BUT!

like Åkerfeldt who hasn't enough time for Bloodbath i hope it won't be
the same for Axenrot when he's full into Opeth

 

[affinityband]

I feel axe is a bit too much of a standard metal drummer for opeths music. For bloodbath its fine, ya know blastin away. But he didnt display the dynamics for Opeth the last couple of times i seen them. He is very tight though.

 

[BastardSonOfGod]

I think that "Martin Lopez fans" underestimate axe's skills, as simple as that.

 

[Feicht]

i'm a huge fan of both bands, but i'm still kind of weary of this development. it's not that axe is bad by any means, he's obviously amazing. but he IS a completely different kind of drummer than lopez.

 

[the mourner13]

Not completely different actually...He could fill in easily IMO...

 

[Heliotropic_Rose]

i think axe is great too, saw him with Opeth twice, but can he really bring the shit to the table when it comes to do antother album, and yeah., what about bloodbath, i mean obviously the guys haven't found the vocalsist they want yet, but when they do is this gonna be a problem?

 

[sorceron]

i saw axe play with opeth a couple months back and he kicked ass. i think hes a very versatile drummer IMO.

 

[T-Rat]

hiya

i'll miss the lopez style, but i though that axe was doing very well indeed with the opeth material and had really made it all his own. plus, he's fucking cute! that long blonde hair and shirtless at the set... i'm ok with that ;-)

 

[MadTinus]

They're crying like little girls on the Opeth boards saying Axe can't fill the shoes of Lopez and has nothing more to offer than his basic DM style drumming.

Yes, and for the most part that is true.

Axe is not bad but he's indeed much more a basic DM drummer, where Lopez had much more finesse and subtlety, which is what Opeth's music requires. So as far as I'm concerned Axe does well being a live replacement, but I don't think his style will suit Opeth on record.

 

[affinityband]

I dont think Lopez is that amazing. Give me Neil pert or Danny carey any day. Lopez was technically fantastic though and put great feel into it. Axe is most definatley a good drummer. But a metal drummer.