Is the music first written in Swedish
or English? Who translates from
one language to another?
The demo was done in Swedish
and Mike did the translation in the
actual studio recording. All song
ideas started without lyrics and I
know Mikael thought it was more
difficult to come up with Swedish
lyrics. But I also think that inspired
and triggered him to work harder
and remain even more focused.
What led Opeth to sample
a 1970s children's puppet
show for "Heart in Hand"?
That is from an author called Jan
Lööf who also still writes children’s
books. He makes great illustrations
and the books are still entertaining
for me as an adult to read to my kid.
We grew up with the puppet show so
it’s for nostalgic reasons I believe.
Do you have any pet peeves about
the prog scene as it stands today?
No, not really. We just try to
focus on what we are doing.
Akerfeldt said that going on tour
is "agony". Do you agree?
No I like it and I think Mike does to
a certain extent. It has its downsides
with all the travelling, lack of sleep
and of course being away from
your family. But performing the
gig is a great feeling and the desire
to play better and better gigs is
something we always aim for.
What do you do before, after
and between shows when
you have time to spare?
I usually play the guitar a couple
of hours before the gig. It’s like
a ritual for me and it makes me
de-stressed and relaxed before
the show. Usually we don’t have
time to do much between shows
because of the tight schedule.
But it’s usually interesting to see
some historical places and record
stores, visit restaurants, etc.
When an Opeth album is created,
are the songs extensions of a
singular, overarching idea? Or
are they expressions of separate
ideas/instincts/memories, etc.?
It could be a bit of everything
really. It often starts with a guitar
riff or a drum beat or a melody.
Musical ideas are most of the
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time the starting seed for a song.
Lyrics usually come after.
Tell us about where In Cauda
Venenum comes from. And,
what is the story being told?
Since there is the Swedish and
English version of the album it
made sense to use a Latin version.
Black Metal bands used Latin titles
of songs and we haven’t done that
before so maybe that inspired the
name a bit. With the two-language
release it made sense to bring in
a third language. Also the line
didn’t come from one of the great
philosophers and we liked that.
There is a sense of the new album
being carrying more grandiose
sensibility than before. Would you
say that is a good assessment of it? If
so, what is the purpose behind this?
I would indeed, The purpose was to
make the most ppic album possible.
I think we really went the extra mile
on In Cauda. We rehearsed before
the recording so everyone had
their parts in their muscle memory
so we could focus on A/B testing
different instruments and gear etc.
What, in your opinion, is most
poisonous to a musician's craft?
The strive to get better and better..
it’s a never ending quest and there
will always be something you can
get better at. But that’s also the fun
part and it’s a rewarding feeling
when you finally reach a goal here
and there. But as a musician l rarely
stop thinking about guitar licks and
songs so that can be very difficult
to put aside as a “regular job “.
Perhaps that would be poisonous.
Tell us a bit about your last
experience in India. What are
you expecting this time?
I remember that the audience was
great. We had our own bodyguards
which never happened before. We
also had the luxury to have an off
day so we took the opportunity
to visit a temple and I really
liked that experience. We are
all really big fans of the Indian
cuisine so fortunately enough
we got to try some fantastic food.
I’m a fan of the spicier food and
one vegetarian dish I had was
really powerful haha. Looking
forward to visit India again!