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Mikael Åkerfeldt & Fredrik Åkesson of Opeth "Silence is Music" | AMS Interview

American Musical Supply

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We had the pleasure to sit down with Swedish Prog legends, Mikael Åkerfeldt and Fredrik Åkesson of the band Opeth, to talk about PRS Guitars, the longevity of their career, and of course, what’s the difference between metal and prog.

Be like Opeth and Check out PRS Guitars at AMS:
PRS SE Custom 24 Semi-Hollow Piezo: https://ter.li/AmericanMusical-PRS-SE...
PRS NF 53 Electric Guitar: https://ter.li/AmericanMusical-PRS-NF...

And go stream Opeth’s music here:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0ybFZ...

Make sure to catch Opeth on tour here:
https://www.opeth.com/tour-dates

And for all your gear needs head on over to AmericanMusical.com

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Chapter Markers:
00:00 – Intro
00:49 – Not Using a Click Track Live
02:39 – Ian Anderson Collaboration
03:42 – Replicating the Studio Experience Live
05:24 – The Easier the Part, the Harder It Is to Play
07:35 – Being Your Own Harshest Critic
09:45 – PRS Guitars
16:17 – No Rules
18:40 – What Makes Music Progressive
20:46 – Surströmming Story
22:16 – Outro

20 Comments

@mada_2 7 months ago

The more interviews I watch of Opeth members, the more I love them. Down to Earth, real guys, who are also extremely good musicians.

@honigdachs. 7 months ago (edited)

I've seen these guys several times. If there's one thing I can say about them, then it's that they're a damn GOOD band. That's actually quite rare. They sound a lot better live than most rock bands. Very mature, very tight band, everything sounds top notch, very elegant, secure, but dynamic, natural. You can tell that they hold themselves to very high standards and work for that uncompromisingly. Same goes for their crew. I watched them set up a fairy complex, expensive and pretty specialized rig in such an expertly, clean and amazingly effective and quick manner - on a festival stage at that - and it just shows you that this band absolutely does not skimp on quality and professionalism in any way.

@jmcsquared18 7 months ago

Mikael is the greatest musical genius to ever live. It is nice to know how human and honest he is.

@wolfgangmerx 7 months ago

The Masters!

@ChrisLT 7 months ago

Cool interview, always love hearing these dudes talk.

@tonycarel1785 7 months ago

Thank you AMS and opeth what a great interview very informative. Very talented band been a fan for years now.

@ralphmuller6040 7 months ago (edited)

Artist endorsement works! I play PRS directly due to Opeth. Now I have five (5).

@smccozzo 6 months ago

Saw these guys on the recent tour in Glasgow Scotland, probably the best sound I’ve heard from a live band absolutely phenomenal

@Sprnklrmn 1 month ago

I’ve been a fan since 1999 and they continue to impress me every year. Mikael’s vision of Opeth is masterful.

@metalmike1976 4 months ago

OPETH PAINT CORNERS IN ROUND ROOMS. GOD, I fucking LOVE this band!!!

@colortheoryclub 7 months ago

Can you imagine working at that venue where they poured the fish juice into the fan, where several years later it's STILL stinky 😵‍💫

@jacobking6966 6 months ago (edited)

Only band I’ve ever seen come from pure chaos into quiet beauty. They are so great at transitioning from heavy to quiet. The song title track Blackwater Park is my main example. Fredrik said it right, “guy on shoulder don’t fuck up the next note.”

@crazycajun868 6 months ago

They came to New Orleans in Oct 2024. Before album came out. They played P1 and P3. P3 live sounded twice as heavy than an album vs live. It really blew me away

@davidamarat 7 months ago

Fredrik in particular as a guitarist with many bands and other musicians knows very well that simple things are hard and very demanding, for example with Tiamat. When me and my brother saw them live we realized how hard was to keep rythms with slow clean arpeggios and little ornaments.

@Jerry_29 7 months ago

Smell of Death 😀Good name for a death metal band 😀

@tiago.8977 7 months ago

To this day I still think that the best Fredrik Åkesson work is on Talisman - Humanimal. Those riffs and solos are KILLER.

@gnaarkill 2 months ago (edited)

Mikael Akerfeldt is my nomination for ambassador to the aliens

@mperstl13 5 months ago

what a nice, gentle interview. everyone was very polite, truly interested in the subject matters and the conversation was breathing nicely, not being stuffed with words or interruptions. well done guys.

@drewnibrow 7 months ago

Good interview questions 👍

@MichaelBell-u7e 7 months ago

I saw them in Boston on the early end of the tour, they were absolutely phenomenal! The sound was great in the Orpheum Theatre, and I shouldn't forget to mention that Katatonia were awesome too!