Formed: 1990
From:
Sörskogen / Stockolm,
Sweden
Last Known Status: Active
Opeth Interviews and Features
Below are our features and interviews with Opeth.
Feature
2020 Copenhell Preview
Copenhell is the biggest metal festival in Denmark. 2020 will be Copenhell's 11th consecutive year and third year as a four-day festival. For the first four years Copenhell was a two-day festival (2010-2013), followed by four years (2014-2017) as a three-day festival. Regular, four-day tickets for 2020 sold out in January 2020, but four-day VIP (RIP) tickets remain, and some single-day tickets remain for Wednesday and Friday. The 2020 dates are June 17-20.
This year's bigger names include Judas Priest, Kiss, Korn, Mastodon, Opeth, Disturbed, Emperor, Iron Maiden, Meshuggah, Devin Townsend, Gojira, and Mercyful Fate. Iron Maiden and Mercyful Fate are both playing on Saturday so, not surprisingly, that day sold out quickly. Other notable acts include The Hu, Destruction, Death To All, Bad Religion, and Jinjer. In addition to Mercyful Fate, Danish bands include Denial of God, Orm, Xenoblight, D-A-D, and Bersærk. About 20 more bands will be announced in the next couple months.
Copenhell has had three stages for several years so a band is nearly always playing, and frequently there are two bands going at once. On Wednesday only one stage has been open. In 2019 there were five bands on Wednesday and 13 - 17 bands on the other days. In 2020 Copenhell is adding a fourth stage, and two stages will be open on Wednesday. Along with the extra stage, Copenhell is selling 3,000 more tickets than last year. Hopefully the fourth stage, even with the additional tickets, will give things a less-crowded feel.
As anyone who has been to a metal festival knows, there is much more to the experience than just music. At Copenhell there are sideshow acts (Twisted Sisters pictured above), Copenhello (band meet and greets), Smadreland (Smash Land), art galleries, and cool places to relax and enjoy a cold one. Compared to festivals in Germany and the Czech Republic, the beer is expensive. However, the selection of alcohol is excellent--especially compared to festivals in other parts of Scandinavia where the beer is not only expensive and weak (4% or so) but also limited in how many you can buy at a time. Copenhell encourages large purchases by offering a discount when six are bought at once.
Single-day tickets are about US$80-$150 (depending on the day). Four-day RIP tickets can still be purchased for about US$425. RIP tickets include access to a rest area, private bars, and a better chance of running into band members (who sometimes hang out in the RIP area). To purchase tickets and for more details go here.
Interview
Opeth’s Martin Axenrot Weighs in on “Heritage”
Opeth has tamed its savage beast on its latest album “Heritage.” The placidity of said album has rubbed off on the band’s live performance, which is currently on display throughout America on their “Heritage Hunter” tour. Although subdued for the moment, Axenrot believes this ferocity will be released once again. However, he is fine with the prospect of never again playing death metal with the Opeth camp.
Opeth’s progressive brand of metal keeps Axenrot from becoming bored. Even without growls and drilling kick drums, Opeth still conveys a massive amount of heaviness and darkness. Although he’s content with playing in a band bereft of these characteristics, Axenrot still LOVES to play death metal. Having played in many of Sweden’s most renowned extreme metal acts since 1995, he has literally made a career out of producing fast and barbaric drum beats.
Before the modern masters of progressive metal took the stage in San Antonio,Texas, Metalunderground.com boarded Opeth’s bus for an interview with the band’s rhythmic backbone. We discussed Opeth’s current direction, where they are headed and how the fans perceive Opeth in the year 2012. We also dove deep into Axenrot’s time before Opeth and his inception into the band. Read on further to learn more about one of Sweden’s most prolific metal drummers. More...
Interview
Interview With Mikael Akerfeldt Of Opeth
Swedish melodic death metal band Opeth just finished playing with Arch Enemy in the UK on the Metal Defenders of the Faith Tour and are currently touring the US alongside Dream Theater for the Progressive Nation Tour. Opeth has recently gone through several major line-up changes, switching out their drummer, adding on a full time keyboard player, and losing sixteen year member Peter Lindgren. Their upcoming album "Watershed" will be released in the US in early June. I sat down with front man Mikael Akerfeldt in their swanky tour bus on the Seattle stop of the Progressive Nation Tour and we talked about how he started in music and what’s currently going on with Opeth. More...
