OPETH Frontman Checks In From PROGRESSIVE NATION Tour

September 30, 2009

Guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH has issued the following update:

"We're holed up in a sterile 'dressing room' somewhere in Poland. Five shows into the Progressive Nation 2009 tour with DREAM THEATER, us, BIGELF and UNEXPECT.

"Things are going well; we've played well, I think, pretty much every night. The first days of chaos has settled down and now everyone is in the regular touring mode.

"The band's rejuvinated, after some rough times. We're more on fire than in quite some time, I think. We've pulled out a bunch of songs we've never played and/or haven't played in a long time. 'Harlequin Forest' is going down well, as is 'Hex Omega'. Tonight we'll pull out 'April Ethereal' for the first time in years. Do I remember the lyrics? Yes! Why? How is it possible?

"[Mikael's daughters] Melinda, Mirjam and my wife came out to the Stockholm show together with my mum and my sister with her kids. Was lovely to see them, and they liked the show, although Mirjam passed out in the middle of our set. She'd gone insane trying to rush the stage and she also tried to pull a few cords on stage.

"There's really not that much for us to do on this tour apart from the show. We've spent the days watching films and having a few beers.

"Yesterday we saw the amazing Klaus Kinski documentary 'My Best Fiend' that Werner Herzog made about him. Warmly recommended. Makes 'rock star' behaviour look like fuzzy bunny behaviour. What a psycho genius he was. Afterwards, I went to bed, but Axe [OPETH drummer Martin Axenrot] and Per [Wiberg, OPETH keyboardist] sat up drinking a few. Axe fell asleep in the bus toilet with his feet in the sink. I didn't think it was possible....

"The DREAM THEATER guys are cool as always. [John] Myung [DREAM THEATER bassist] came up and said that he thinks [OPETH's] 'Watershed' is a 'masterpiece' and that he listens to it pretty much every day! Nice chap. [Mike] Portnoy [DREAM THEATER drummer], as always, is running around being the perfect host. The other guys are practicing most of the time, but they're all ace peeps! BIGELF too, great nice, down-to-earth people and a fantastic band. I've loved them ever since the 'Closer To Doom' CD and they do not disappoint. Damon Fox looks a bit like Paul McCartney around 'Let It Be' but with longer hair. The UNEXPECT people seem nice too although I haven't talked much to them yet."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).