Opeth frontman and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has never been one to be boxed in by genre labels. In a recent interview with “American Musical Supply,” the musician shared his thoughts on the current state of progressive rock and metal, explaining why true progression is about blending styles rather than focusing on technical showmanship.
Drawing a comparison to one of rock’s most legendary acts, Åkerfeldt pointed to The Beatles as a prime example of what progressive music should embody.
“Well, I like to think that we’re a progressive band, maybe even belong to that genre. But I make a difference between the genre and actual progressive music. It doesn’t have to be widdly guitar solos… I mean, to me, for my taste, progressive music of today has become very technical, as opposed to mixing musical styles, which is kind of what I think it was in the beginning. And going back to Beatles, I think [they were] a progressive band. If you listen to the White Album or something like that, you can’t say the White Album is this genre, because they have avant garde music on there, they have blues, they have singer-songwriter folk rock, almost hard rock. And, yeah, all sorts of things going on there. So, I wouldn’t say that I compare us to The Beatles, but I think that we are one of those old-school bands that blend styles and we like to think that we don’t have any limitations when it comes to composing music that’s ‘too far off’, so to speak. And we don’t spend too much time on time signatures and [subdivisions]. I don’t even know that what that is, to be honest,” he explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
These comments align with sentiments Åkerfeldt expressed last December in a conversation with Japan’s “Prog Project.” When asked if evolving creatively with Opeth has become a challenge, he admitted that the “progressive” label has lost much of its original meaning for him.
“Yeah, good question. I’m not sure if it’s so important for me to feel that we are progressive, because I don’t really know what it means anymore. Back in the day, I think that it was easier to define a progressive band because they were mixing styles and stuff like that, but now progressive means fast guitar solos, and it’s become a sound and maybe not so progressive. I think progressive music, especially in rock and metal, has become a bit regressive. And it’s also, I don’t know if I can decide if we are progressive or not. I think it’s up to the audience to decide, but for me, it’s become less and less important to be labeled progressive because I don’t know what it means anymore. But when I write music, it’s easy to, I think, make progress for our own music, because I have so many different kind of influences and I’m very passionate about my music and stuff like that. So I try, but at the end of the day, I just wanna write emotional music.”
He also made it clear that he refuses to cater to expectations or recycle past material just to appease certain factions of the fanbase.
“No. I don’t wanna repeat myself. Many of our fans want us to maybe repeat what we did in the early 2000s, but I’m not really interested in that. I like for us to progress, but not necessarily just so we fit into the progressive rock/metal genre.”
Interestingly, despite being a pioneer in modern metal, Åkerfeldt readily admits he is completely detached from the contemporary music scene, preferring the classics instead.
“I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t really listen. I don’t search for new bands. I don’t know what’s going on in the music scene. I don’t know what’s popular or what’s happening or original or progressive, to be honest. I’m stuck with my old records. And I still have so much music to listen to. So I have no idea what’s happening.”
Opeth‘s boundary-pushing philosophy is fully realized on their fourteenth studio album, The Last Will And Testament, released in November 2024 via Reigning Phoenix Music/Moderbolaget.
Co-produced by Åkerfeldt and Stefan Boman (Ghost, The Hellacopters), the record features an impressive roster of contributors:
- Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) provides signature flute work on “§4” and “§7”, and narrations on “§1”, “§2”, “§4”, and “§7”.
- Joey Tempest (Europe) delivers backing vocals on “§2”.
- Mirjam Åkerfeldt (his youngest daughter) provides vocals on “§1”.
- Lyrics were conferred with Klara Rönnqvist Fors (The Heard, ex-Crucified Barbara).
- String arrangements were handled by returning collaborator Dave Stewart (Egg, Khan).
The album also marks the studio debut of drummer Waltteri Väyrynen, who joined the established lineup of Mikael Åkerfeldt, guitarist Fredrik Åkesson, bassist Martin Mendez, and keyboardist Joakim Svalberg.
