Latest about Mikael Åkerfeldt
Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt on playing Kurt Cobain's “haunted” Martin D-18
Åkerfeldt was decidedly more moved when handed a 19th century Martin, a guitar so pristine he was scared to play it
![Opeth's Fredrik Åkesson [left] and Mikael Åkerfeldt sit on an old sofa with their PRS electric guitars. Åkesson looks off into the distance while Åkerfeldt stares into the camera.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mBjBAxu9jXG82RYpeGpuUX-840-80.jpg.webp)
Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt and Fredrik Åkesson on their love of “stupid riffs,” and “recapturing that old death metal magic”
Opeth may have returned in a way to their sonic roots on their new album, The Last Will and Testament, but – with appearances from a Neal Schon signature model and a “not very metal” trick picked up from Eddie Van Halen – there are still plenty of quirks to go 'round
Mikael Åkerfeldt explains why a Fender Telecaster was the only guitar he used on Opeth’s new album
Åkerfeldt had secretly used a Tele when he recorded the soundtrack to Netflix's 2022 miniseries Clark, but never wielded one with Opeth before recording The Last Will and Testament
“People think his playing is all about the big riffs, but I always loved his jazzy playing – listen to Planet Caravan. You can hear a lot of passing tones”: Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt says there’s way more to Tony Iommi’s guitar style than riffs alone
The Swedish progressive metal icon pays homage to the dark lord of rock
“It suddenly made me feel so mature. I remember getting the shivers! It was not death metal”: How Jimmy Page, Stevie Wonder, Grand Theft Auto III and Steven Wilson helped Opeth become modern-day prog icons
20 years on, Mikael Åkerfeldt looks back at Opeth’s evolution from death metal heavyweights to prog mainstays on landmark 2003 album Damnation
Opeth drop expansive new single, Width of a Circle, announce extended edition of In Cauda Venenum
The new edition of the progressive Swedes' latest album arrives May 13, and will feature three additional tracks
Mikael Akerfeldt on 20 years of Opeth's Blackwater Park: "I was bitter and beaten down – I didn’t have much hope for us. All I knew was I liked the music I’d written"
The Swedish prog vet reflects on the gear picks, hybrid techniques and creative vision that led to the band's boundary-smashing landmark album
Opeth announce 20th anniversary deluxe reissue of seminal progressive death metal effort Blackwater Park
The landmark album “was the stepping stone into professionalism for us,” says Opeth leader Mikael Åkerfeldt
![Opeth’s Fredrik Åkesson [left] and Mikael Åkerfeldt with their PRS axes](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/GNc8XHy7aLrpLDh3ABJB5G-840-80.jpg.webp)
