lthough initially formed in the late '80s and despite releasing a series of highly-revered albums in the '90s, it's only been since 2001's Blackwater Park that Sweden's Opeth has garnered wide and richly-deserved acclaim from audiences in the United States. But what acclaim it's been. In 2003 the band not only managed to release two much-loved albums (Deliverance, a metallic but melodic opus, and Damnation, a melancholic, acoustic-flavored outing) but also toured our continent extensively.
Currently on an outing in support of the DVD Lamentations (available, like the other releases mentioned, on Koch/Music For Nations), the band will play the Bottleneck in Lawrence on Feb. 2, followed by the Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City on Feb. 4 with Portugal's Moonspell (and special guests Devildriver). Don't miss out on it. Opeth is going to be huge.
Main songwriter and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt rang from Vancouver late last week to talk about the tour, DVD and more.
Jedd Beaudoin: It feels like the United States is just about to fully embrace Opeth. Do you have a sense of that?
Mikael Åkerfeldt: Definitely. We did three North American tours last year in support of the last two albums, and every time we come over, there are more people at the shows and more exposure and more of everything.
JB: Is it hard to get into an emotional frame of mind before you go on stage?
MÅ: I think it's hard to get into that frame of mind beforehand. The first song, you're always a little bit nervous. But those songs [from Damnation] require a different kind of emotion, so once you start playing them, it's different than playing the heavier stuff. Some shows, you never find that feeling and other shows you have it right from the first song.
JB: What did you think of the DVD the first time you saw it all the way through?
MÅ: I was nervous. I thought it was going to be shit. But I was happily surprised. I was surprised about the way it looked and just the way I looked. I didn't look like a fat blob as I expected. I think it's a very good DVD, especially compared to some low-budget DVDs by extreme metal bands such as ourselves. I think it fully represents us.
JB: The documentary about the making of Deliverance and Damnation is very detailed. Were you nervous about that as well?
MÅ: Not so much. It's a friend of mine who did that documentary. I've known him since I was a kid and talking with him was ... we're such good friends that there was nothing weird about talking about intimate details. He was there, he knew all about all the stuff that went on. It was pretty easy and I like the fact that we exposed ourselves in a deeper way than many other bands.
JB: One thing that always impresses me about Opeth albums is the way in which the covers always manage to perfectly represent the music inside. Were you a fan of those kinds of albums when you were growing up?
MÅ: That's the first thing you see. I buy loads of albums based on whether I like the cover or not. I want the packaging to look like it [fits with] the lyrical content of the album. We like those kind of pictures and I think that that's very suitable for Opeth.
Currently on an outing in support of the DVD Lamentations (available, like the other releases mentioned, on Koch/Music For Nations), the band will play the Bottleneck in Lawrence on Feb. 2, followed by the Diamond Ballroom in Oklahoma City on Feb. 4 with Portugal's Moonspell (and special guests Devildriver). Don't miss out on it. Opeth is going to be huge.
Main songwriter and guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt rang from Vancouver late last week to talk about the tour, DVD and more.
Jedd Beaudoin: It feels like the United States is just about to fully embrace Opeth. Do you have a sense of that?
Mikael Åkerfeldt: Definitely. We did three North American tours last year in support of the last two albums, and every time we come over, there are more people at the shows and more exposure and more of everything.
JB: Is it hard to get into an emotional frame of mind before you go on stage?
MÅ: I think it's hard to get into that frame of mind beforehand. The first song, you're always a little bit nervous. But those songs [from Damnation] require a different kind of emotion, so once you start playing them, it's different than playing the heavier stuff. Some shows, you never find that feeling and other shows you have it right from the first song.
JB: What did you think of the DVD the first time you saw it all the way through?
MÅ: I was nervous. I thought it was going to be shit. But I was happily surprised. I was surprised about the way it looked and just the way I looked. I didn't look like a fat blob as I expected. I think it's a very good DVD, especially compared to some low-budget DVDs by extreme metal bands such as ourselves. I think it fully represents us.
JB: The documentary about the making of Deliverance and Damnation is very detailed. Were you nervous about that as well?
MÅ: Not so much. It's a friend of mine who did that documentary. I've known him since I was a kid and talking with him was ... we're such good friends that there was nothing weird about talking about intimate details. He was there, he knew all about all the stuff that went on. It was pretty easy and I like the fact that we exposed ourselves in a deeper way than many other bands.
JB: One thing that always impresses me about Opeth albums is the way in which the covers always manage to perfectly represent the music inside. Were you a fan of those kinds of albums when you were growing up?
MÅ: That's the first thing you see. I buy loads of albums based on whether I like the cover or not. I want the packaging to look like it [fits with] the lyrical content of the album. We like those kind of pictures and I think that that's very suitable for Opeth.
