Mikael on new Ayreon record!

[Kalabalik]

From www.ayreon.com :

12-11-2003 - Mikael Åkerfeldt Confirmed!


As many of you already guessed, Swedish singer/grunter Mikael Åkerfeldt is vocalist number 8 to be confirmed to appear on Ayreon: The Human Equation.

Fans and journalists alike kept telling Arjen to check out Mikael as a possible choice for a singer on an Ayreon album. Arjen became more and more curious to hear him and decided to pick up a copy of Damnation. After a few spins he became an absolute fan of Mikael's voice and music.

When Arjen contacted Mikael to ask whether he would be interested to participate, Mikael replied within an hour that he knew about Ayreon and even had some albums... and that he would love to be part of a new Ayreon project.

Mikael recorded his vocals at the Electric Castle the first week of November and if you want to know if Mikael also grunts on the album, be sure to check the full studio report including pictures to be posted next week!

For more information on Mikael or his band, check out: www.opeth.com

-------------------------

Awesome news! :hotjump:

 

[Post_Scriptum]

Arjen became more and more curious to hear him and decided to pick up a copy of Damnation

hmm... what style are they playing?

 

[Kalabalik]

hmm... what style are they playing?

Ayreon or Arjen Anthony Lucassen is just one person who always works with guest musicians. He makes prog rock on the edge of metal.

He is also the man behind Star One.

 

[Post_Scriptum]

i guess i should check him out

 

[Kalabalik]

i guess i should check him out

Yes, you really should!

 

[KielbasaSausage]

ambeon is awesome too.

 

[Schism]

Wow, I am really excited about this!!

I love Lucassens work, he's got some great vocalists on this project.

 

[Colonial Boy]

Its prog cheese really. If Arjen Anthony Lucassen had listened to MAYH instead of Damnation I wonder whether he would have contacted Mikael :Smug:

 

[Kalabalik]

Its prog cheese really. If Arjen Anthony Lucassen had listened to MAYH instead of Damnation I wonder whether he would have contacted Mikael :Smug:

Maybe not, but that doesn't matter, because Mikael IS on the record and he doesn't only use his clean voice, he also does some screams! Check the news on www.opeth.com :

Mikael will be featured as a guest vocalist on the new album by Ayreon entitled "The human equation". Mike has already recorded vocals and screams (indeed) on 8 tracks. Recordings took place last week (6/11) at mastermind Arjen Lucassen's home studio in Holland. Check out www.ayreon.com for futher information.

And I like prog cheese

 

[ShaayKaynau]

Its prog cheese really. If Arjen Anthony Lucassen had listened to MAYH instead of Damnation I wonder whether he would have contacted Mikael :Smug:

He did listen to other Opeth cds before contacting him, of course.

 

[wankerness]

Hooray, now Mikael can proudly join the ranks of such fuxes as Neal Morse and Russell Allen. XD

I actually like Ambeon and the softer half of the universal migrator set, but gawd the guest vocalists are almost always awful.

 

[AbsentFriend]

Its prog cheese really. If Arjen Anthony Lucassen had listened to MAYH instead of Damnation I wonder whether he would have contacted Mikael :Smug:[/QUOT


he's also screaming!!!

 

[keeper of the flame]

Arjen Lucassen is no fool of course. He knows exactly which singers are going to boost up sales and draw attention. This time there will be 12 singers on the new album. a.o. James Labrie, Mikael Akerfeldt. It is even rumoured Devin Townsend will be on it. On his last album there were Russel Alan and Dan Swano. Anyway, lots of fans from all these other bands will show interest of course and join the Ayreon following.

 

[ShaayKaynau]

Arjen Lucassen is no fool of course. He knows exactly which singers are going to boost up sales and draw attention. This time there will be 12 singers on the new album. a.o. James Labrie, Mikael Akerfeldt. It is even rumoured Devin Townsend will be on it. On his last album there were Russel Alan and Dan Swano. Anyway, lots of fans from all these other bands will show interest of course and join the Ayreon following.

Arjen is no fool in that he selects singers that he loves and that he can envision characters for to sing. He doesn't think about sales (that is my job)- he thinks about the music and what it needs. Of course some singers will draw attention to his work who's fans have not yet been exposed to Ayreon. As you can tell from the line-up so far, this Ayreon is not a funny-tongue-in-cheek kind of album. It's quite dark...

There were quite a few 'big names' who asked Arjen to please consider them for the album. Personally- from sales point of view- I wished they were on the album- but Arjen turned them down flat because they didn't fit the vision he had- or he knew he couldn't work with them for whatever other reason. Arjen has to be a fan of the people he works with, otherwise it is a no-go.

Every singer that ends up on Ayreon completely shares Arjen's vision and most importantly loves his music, otherwise Arjen wouldn't see the point of working with them. And he can afford that kind of attitude financially. Complete artistic freedom. There are too many projects out there already who only use the 'names' to sell albums and could care less about whether it actually works.

 

[Hopkins-WitchfinderGeneral]

From www.ayreon.com :

Fans and journalists alike kept telling Arjen to check out Mikael as a possible choice for a singer on an Ayreon album. Arjen became more and more curious to hear him and decided to pick up a copy of Damnation. After a few spins he became an absolute fan of Mikael's voice and music.

Like DUH, does Arjen live in a cave or something?!

He's even friends with Swano and he's never heard opeth before?!

Jesus thats lame.

Ayreon are ok tho... cheesy but ok