OPETH Interview

Posted by Dylan Du Toit 01 July 2011

Audio Interviews

VOICE OF ROCK RADIO had the pleasure to meet up with OPETH drummer Martin Axenrot for an interview at this year’s Hellfest in France.

Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Their style is firmly rooted in Scandinavian death metal and has consistently incorporated progressive, folk, blues, classical and jazz influences into their usually lengthy compositions. Many songs include acoustic guitar passages and strong dynamic shifts, as well as both death growls and clean vocals.

Opeth has released nine studio albums, and released its debut album Orchid in 1995. Although their eighth studio album, Ghost Reveries, was quite popular in the United States, Opeth did not experience major American commercial success until the 2008 release of their ninth studio album, Watershed, which peaked at number twenty-three on the Billboard 200, and topped the Finnish albums chart in its first week of release.

The band's tenth studio album Heritage is scheduled for release on 16 September 2011 by Roadrunner Records and will be the first studio album since Watershed in 2008, marking the longest gap between studio albums in their history.

Erik Martin "Axe" Axenrot is the drummer for the bands Bloodbath, Satanic Slaughter, Witchery, and most recently, Opeth. Axenrot played with Opeth on their last five tours, filling in for then drummer Martin Lopez. In 2006, he officially joined the band as Lopez left permanently.