After 35 years of career and 14 studio albums, Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt looks back on the strong and weak points of their discography in a recent interview with Revolver. The opportunity for him to talk about the songs and albums that left their mark on him, for good and for bad.
The best song according to Åkerfeldt
Asked about the best song he has written, Mikael Åkerfeldt chose Faith In Otherstaken from Pale Communion (2014) : “I don’t consider any of the songs I’ve written to be truly ‘great.’ But if I had to choose one that I’m particularly proud of, it would be Faith In Others. It’s a ballad that I find magnificent. It’s not heavy in the Metal sense, but it’s heavy in another way.”
Åkerfeldt admits, however, that this album is not one of Opeth’s most popular: “Steven Wilson, who mixed the record, is probably one of the only people who really likes this song.”
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Worst song according to Åkerfeldt
On the flop side, Åkerfeldt doesn’t mince his words about By The Pain I See In Othersa 14-minute piece from Deliverance (2002) : “I didn’t have any songs ready when we went into the studio to record this album, so everything was written on the spot. I wrote at night and we recorded during the day. By the end, I was exhausted. I even ended up getting sick after recording.”
He adds: “It’s a tired song. We played it live once or twice, and it was surprisingly fun. But to listen to it, it’s not great.”
-Most Underrated Album: Heritage
For Mikael, the album Heritage (2011), turning towards a resolutely Prog Rock sound without growls, remains the most unfairly criticized: “We got so much criticism for this album that I think it’s hated. Still, it’s special to me, because I don’t think we could ever write a record like it, even if we tried. It’s a unique album.”
He continues: “A lot of Black Metal fans seem to like this album, but a lot of our audience didn’t understand it or thought it was rubbish. For me, he is underrated. But conversely, some of our albums are perhaps overrated.”
An evolving vision of Opeth’s music
Åkerfeldt also shared his enthusiasm for their recent work, citing a track from their latest album (§2) as one of his favorites: “This song has a futuristic side while being nostalgic. There’s Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull on narration and Joey Tempest from Europe on vocals. I think it will be one of my favorite songs for a long time.”
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