Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth feels that most rock bands fail after their first album.
The guitarist told Classic Rock that garnering new fans and making 14 albums required “perseverance and stupidity and not bailing out when it gets tough.” However, I don’t sit and wonder where time went. I get depressed looking at other bands’ discographies.”
He said, “Most of my favorite bands’ fourteenth, thirteenth, and twelfth albums were sht. Maybe just the first three were good. I wonder, ‘Have we been creating sht albums for years?’ But you don’t mean that?”
Opeth released ‘The Last Will and Testament’ on October 11, 2024. The concept album is about a wealthy, conservative man whose will uncovers devastating family secrets after World War I. The band recorded with Ian Anderson.
Åkerfeldt stated in a conversation with Kerrang that he invited Anderson to play the flute years ago on the ‘Heritage’ record.
I never heard back from an email I sent to Ian regarding him being on that record. We used a Swedish guy who passed away that record,” the musician said.
“Somewhere along the line I did an interview, talking about records. I stated Ian didn’t reply and exclaimed, ‘That motherf*cker!’ as one was a Jethro Tull record. After that, the Jethro Tull management emailed me, saying Ian would love to play with you. Please inform us.”
“This time, though, I wasn’t really searching for his flute playing, because I’ve been looking at Ian Anderson interviews, and his speaking voice is just so f*cking good,” Mikael said. I requested him to narrate, which he did. It’s insane. He asked, “Do you need some flute as well?”
Opeth will tour Europe in February 2025 to promote their new album. The tour begins February 9 in Helsinki.