Who's stoked on the new Opeth album? It's crazy to think they're on their twelfth album and how much their style has changed since the blackened folksy death metal on Orchid. To find out a little more about Sorceress, we spoke to current guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, who has been with the band since 2007 and featured on previous records Watershed, Heritage, and Pale Communion.
Åkesson discusses some details regarding the new LP before remembering the first time he heard Opeth and his early prog influences. The full interview is below.
Sorceress is your fourth studio album with Opeth and the group's twelfth album overall. How was the writing and recording process for it?
It went pretty fast, I believe. A couple tracks, Mikael wrote towards the end of last year, but he basically wrote the rest from January to May. We co-wrote one song together called “Strange Brew.” The tracks “Sorceress” and “Era” came towards the end. I do remember when I heard “Sorceress” for the first time, I got goosebumps on my arms.
In recent interviews, Mikael has stated the material is a step forward from past records and that the songs are really diverse. How would you personally describe the material in comparison to the past couple albums?
I would say this one is in a way more direct. It’s still quite an intricate album and has a lot of freaked out parts, but some of the songs are more easy to get into. There’s definitely some strong melodies. But when comparing to the last two albums, this one is the heaviest for me. And I like heavy, so I don’t mind at all.
One of the bonus tracks on the album is titled "Spring MCMLXXIV." Is that referring to the birth of Mikael?
Yeah, I believe so. In 1974, so that makes sense. I haven’t actually thought about that and he never even mentioned it, but now that you bring it up, it must be.
A good amount of Opeth albums seem to have a somewhat central theme or concept. Would you say Sorceress does as well?
With the lyrics, that’s mostly Mikael’s personal contribution. I wouldn’t say it’s a concept record though. I know that he has mentioned the lyrics could be misanthropic to an extent. We’ve always enjoyed the idea that the listener creates their own meaning from the lyrics.
Let’s go back to before you joined Opeth. Can you remember the first Opeth song you heard or any experience you had of the band?
The very first time I heard about the band was when I was at a community rehearsal space in Stockholm. The janitor there was a bass player and made instructional videos. He played me the first album, Orchid. I thought it was different, but didn’t really get into it. Later on, a friend of mine showed me Still Life and Blackwater Park and that’s when I got hooked on it and became a big fan.
There has been a lot of early progressive rock influence in your Opeth recordings. What bands initially got you interested in prog rock?
For me, progressive rock is a big category. I think some of Black Sabbath is progressive in a way. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath has a lot of experimental progressive rock elements. And speaking of Sabbath, their keyboardist Adam Wakeman has a band called Headspace. They have a new record [All That You Fear is Gone] that I want to check out. Another band I listened to when I was young was Rush. They were probably my biggest prog influence.
What can we expect from the future of Opeth releases?
Well, it does feel too early to say. It really depends on what mood Mikeal is in since he writes most of the material. Before we started this most recent record, Sorceress, we were talking a lot about the more doom-y type of stuff. There are some sections on the album that are definitely doom. But there’s always been some chunks of doom in past Opeth albums, so yeah, why not try more of that sound.
What’s next for the band?
Right now we’re looking at the US and Europe tour for the album. We’re excited to play at the opera house in Sydney next year as well. We’re trying to play some bigger venues on this tour and are also more involved in the production side of the show. We have a new designer that has all these 3D lamps that can rotate 360 degrees. I think it should put a lot more energy into the shows.
