Opeth mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt has revealed why Steven Wilson stopped producing their albums.
Talking exclusively in the new issue of Metal Hammer, the singer/guitarist, who’s been their de facto leader and chief songwriter since the early 90s, looks back on the Swedish progressive death metal band’s 2005 album Ghost Reveries.
The album was Opeth’s first since 1999 to not feature Wilson. The Porcupine Tree frontman co-produced their 2001 breakthrough effort Blackwater Park and its double-disc follow-up Deliverance (2002) and Damnation (2003), but Jens Bogren ended up manning the dials instead.
Though Åkerfeldt admits that Opeth “probably asked Steven” to be involved with Ghost Reveries, he adds that by that point he knew Wilson’s method so well that it wasn’t entirely necessary.
“I’d learned many of his tricks along the way,” Åkerfeldt explains. “I could hear some ideas in my head that I like to think he would have brought up. I was becoming a producer more and more, and by the time we did Ghost Reveries, I could just tell, ‘Yeah, I want this thing to happen, I want this effect or whatever.’”
Bogren – now known for his work with such metal legends as Kreator, Sepultura and Paradise Lost – was an unseasoned prospect at the time, but Åkerfeldt says the two of them effectively steered the Ghost Reveries sessions, due to tensions with then-members Martin Lopez (drums) and Peter Lindgren (guitars).
“It was just chaotic,” Åkerfeldt says of Ghost Reveries’ recording. “I felt completely alone and I felt weight on my shoulders, like, ‘If I don’t make this happen, it’s just going to fall to pieces and there won’t be anything coming out.’ Jens saw the shitty dynamic that the band had in many ways and kind of sided with me.”
Though Wilson hasn’t produced any of Opeth’s material since 2003, Åkerfeldt still considers the artist to be a “friend” and “mentor”, and they’ve enjoyed other collaborations. The two musicians helmed the project Storm Corrosion in 2012 and Wilson mixed Opeth’s 2014 album, Pale Communion.
Opeth released their latest album, The Last Will And Testament, to critical acclaim in November. Wilson’s new solo album The Overview dropped this year to similar goodwill.
As well as the interview with Åkerfeldt, the new issue of Hammer features Babymetal on the cover and goes in-depth into new album Metal Forth. There are also interviews with Volbeat, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and The Yagas (featuring The Conjuring star Vera Farmiga). Order your copy now and have it delivered directly to your door.
