Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson on his role on the new Ghost album: “There are a lot of Brian May-style parts”

Tobias Forge and Fredrik Akesson
(Image credit: Matthew Baker/Getty Images; Future)

Fredrik Åkesson was initially hired to perform a handful of lead parts on Ghost’s Impera, but the Opeth guitarist quickly ended up tracking all of the guitars on the album, as well as being left in charge of the re-amping. 

He describes the experience as the most intensely layered production he’s ever worked on – likening Tobias Forge and producer Klas Åhlund to one of the greatest producers of them all, Mutt Lange, who famously orchestrated the multi-million selling classic Hysteria with Def Leppard one piece at a time.

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Amit Sharma

Amit has been writing for titles like Total GuitarMusicRadar and Guitar World for over a decade and counts Richie Kotzen, Guthrie Govan and Jeff Beck among his primary influences as a guitar player. He's worked for magazines like Kerrang!Metal HammerClassic RockProgRecord CollectorPlanet RockRhythm and Bass Player, as well as newspapers like Metro and The Independent, interviewing everyone from Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy to Slash and Jimmy Page, and once even traded solos with a member of Slayer on a track released internationally. As a session guitarist, he's played alongside members of Judas Priest and Uriah Heep in London ensemble Metalworks, as well as handled lead guitars for legends like Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols, The Faces) and Stu Hamm (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, G3).