Mikael Åkerfeldt has just asked me to take him to the Dokken section. We're at Amoeba Records in Hollywood, California, and I've just explained to him that a bunch of Dokken test presses have recently appeared in the racks. He ends up buying two test presses each of Dokken's platinum 1984 album Tooth and Nail and their "Into The Fire" 12-inch. "I'm keeping two for myself and giving the other two to Fredrik [Åkesson], our other guitar player, because he loves Dokken," the Opeth frontman enthuses. "He can't stop playing Dokken, and he can't stop talking about [former Dokken guitarist] George Lynch. That's his idol. So he'll be happy."
By now, most Opeth fans know that Åkerfeldt is a major vinyl junkie. Today, he drops a few hundred bucks at Amoeba, on a haul that includes a particularly rare pressing of Metallica's Ride the Lightning, Yngwie Malmsteen promo records, obscure Seventies prog rockers Bloody Mary, and an original pressing of Miles Davis' Porgy And Bess. Some of these records he already owns. "My girlfriend gets upset with me because she thinks I'm robbing other people of the chance of finding it," says the revered 45-year old Swedish musician. "But I either trade it, sell it, or give it to someone who I think will love it."
We proceed to spend the next few hours drinking beer at a restaurant across the street. Over several pints of cloudy IPA, Åkerfeldt holds forth on Opeth's celebrity fans, their departure from their death-metal roots and the band's latest album, In Cauda Venenum. "I treat every Opeth record as my last," he says. "Which is hopefully to some people the unwanted surprise at the end — that if we stop after this record, I hope there will be a void, so to speak. But it also keeps me on my toes when I'm writing, because I have the mentality that this might be it."
BACK AT AMOEBA, YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU MET DON DOKKEN ONCE. CAN YOU TELL THAT STORY?
MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT It was in Sweden, I would say maybe four years ago. We were going up to the Sweden Rock festival to play, and he came up to us in the airport. He looked like a cowboy outlaw with a long leather coat — and it was summer. I think he had a cowboy hat. Definitely shades and a beard. He was super cool. I never figured that Don Dokken would be the coolest motherfucker I ever met, but he was.
He said he loves Opeth, and I was like, "What?!" But I think he has been talking to George Lynch, because Lynch comes to our shows. He likes the band. He even sent me songs that he wanted me to sing on, but I didn't know what do with them. They were modern, with a lot of guitars of course and a kind of electronic beat. So it was a bit beyond me. But some of those cock rockers — if I may say — they like Opeth.
WHO ELSE?
[Billy Idol guitarist] Steve Stevens came up to us once and said, "I love your band!" Sebastian Bach ... I'm waiting for [former Whitesnake/Thin Lizzy guitarist] John Sykes. He's a great guitar player. K.K. Downing came knocking on our dressing room door one time saying he likes us. I couldn't believe it. But I don't need that kind of confirmation, because I don't expect people like that to know that we exist. But that they're fans, on top of that, is amazing to me.
THAT MAKES SENSE TO ME, BECAUSE YOU GUYS HAVE A KIND OF RUSH THING GOING ON: YOU'RE VERY MUCH A MUSICIANS' BAND.
I hope we have a Rush thing going on! [Laughs]
DO YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? I FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE FANS WHO MIGHT NOT EVEN LISTEN TO METAL, REALLY, BUT THEY'RE DRAWN TO THE MUSICIANSHIP OF OPETH.
Yeah, I guess so. I mean, we don't fool around. We are just very regular guys who like music, and I hope that shines through. When it comes to your peers or especially your idols, I rarely come up to them. I don't dare to. They probably think I'm a cunt, basically, that I don't go up and say hi — but it's because I get so nervous. I even turned down an offer to meet the Scorpions because I don't dare to be in the same room with them.
THE SCORPIONS WANTED TO MEET YOU AND YOU SAID NO?
We had a helper from the Swedish leg of the record label that was working for the Scorpions who said, "The Scorpions would like to say hi." And I said, "I'm busy — busy drinking." [Laughs]
REALLY?
Yeah, but it's not because I didn't want to say hi. If they had waited a few beers, I would've run in. But that's the other thing: If I'm drunk and I see someone, then I'm a pest.
YOU BECOME A PUNISHER.
Yes, exactly. [Laughs] I love that term.
SHOULD WE TALK ABOUT YOUR NEW RECORD A LITTLE BIT?
Do we have to?
I FEEL LIKE REVOLVER PROBABLY WANTS US TO.
You're the boss.
YOU WROTE THIS NEW RECORD IN SECRET. WHY?
Well, sort of. We had toured and I was meant to go on a break. I was tired of touring, tired of being the band guy. I said to the management and everybody, "I need a sabbatical." So I was going to go away for some time and just be with my children and my girlfriend. But they, of course, went off to school or work, and I'm sat there on my own. And if I'm not doing anything, I feel useless. I can wash the car or clean the house, do the dishes and cook and grocery shop, but when that's all done, I feel useless. So I had to get going.
I went down to my own little studio just to make sure everything still worked and to see if I could remember what buttons to push. Then I wrote a riff, and off I went. So my sabbatical started in November or December of 2017, and by January of 2018, I was in the studio working.
BUT AT SOME POINT DURING THAT PROCESS, YOU MADE A DECISION TO NOT TELL ANYONE YOU WERE WORKING ON MUSIC UNTIL IT WAS DONE ...
Right. I was kind of halfway through and I thought about texting the manager. But then I thought, "Should I send it?" Because the moment I do, he starts making plans — for tours, for press trips like I'm on now [laughs] — he's starting to plan for time away from my children. He's like the enemy in that case, if you know what I mean. [Laughs] So I didn't want that, really. I just wanted to enjoy it. And that I did. I had more fun than I can remember.
HAS WRITING NOT BEEN FUN IN THE PAST?
No, it is fun — but I tend to forget, because writing and recording is such a short segment compared to how much you tour and talk about the record. It's just a piss in the ocean, you know? I love being onstage with the guys and I love hanging out with them after the show — it's like family away from home — but it's so fragile, that little bubble we have. It just takes a punisher to walk in, and I just wanna leave. But that time we have when we're alone and when we play? I love that. But I tend to forget all that and get all negative and talk about the band like I don't love being in it. But I do. And I especially like the writing.
YOU MUST GET PUNISHERS CONSTANTLY, THOUGH.
Well, I've certainly had my share. But we made an effort quite some time ago to shut people out — no people in the dressing room, no people on the bus unless they're family. That rule has been broken every now and then. It just takes a friend of a friend of one of the guys to make it fall apart. So we've now decided there will be a VIP room if that's a possibility, and they can all go in there.
Most people are nice, but there are others who really take advantage of you. They drink your beer and it feels like you're supposed to be there for them. And I just don't feel obliged to do that. There's been times where the bus has been so packed, with people running in the bunk area, like, "Who is that?" And people being really rude to us so we have to get the tour manager to throw them off.
I like fans, but there's a difference between a fan and a punisher. Most of them don't even say, like, "Great show." They're just like, "Where's the fuckin' beer?"
AND THE GUYS WHO WANNA CORNER YOU TO TALK ABOUT YOUR GUITAR PEDALS FOR FOUR HOURS.
Yeah. But I've become better at dealing with those people. I can take care of that.
WHAT'S YOUR PROCEDURE?
I wanna say that line that I saw in a Jim Carrey film. When somebody starts yapping about something and he says, "Listen — pretend I'm still here. And tell me all about it." And then he leaves. I wanna say that to someone. [Laughs] That's a great line. But instead I usually talk to them for a little while and say, "I'm sorry. I'm going to bed." Which in most cases, I usually do.
Read part two of our in-depth interview with Mikael Åkerfeldt.
