They may look like hell, but Swedish death metal merchants Opeth refused to be classified. A bit of jazz, a helping of prog rock, even a smidgen of singer-songwriter - if it sounds good it goes in, lead vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt tells Tony Clayton-Lea
THE continued success of metal shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to anyone. As the hair of yesterday's rebel thins out in direct proportion to the conformist responsibilities of home, children, mortgage payments and evenings in front of the wall-screen telly watching Prison Break, so a younger, probably healthier breed of metal fan takes their place. Outsider status, it seems, remains casually important only to those who decide not to totally immerse themselves in the lifestyle.
It's not the case, however, for the musicians, who perpetuate the lifestyle through the way they look, behave, create. Which is why, in the tomb-like environs of Opeth's backstage haven, Mikael Akerfeldt, the Swedish death metal band's lead vocalist, looks like the kind of guy you'd rather your daughter left at the front gate. And yet, as we are only too well aware, looks can be deceiving: Akerfeldt is articulate and polite, speaking meticulously pronounced English (his "quite franklys" and "actuallys" are scarily reminiscent of Jeremy Irons's doleful Charles Ryder tones) as he rolls his own cigarettes.
Opeth guitarist Peter Lindgren, meanwhile, is conked out on the Green Room sofa, the buzzing sound leaking from his iPod earphones all but drowned out by his snores. Opeth are resting prior to taking to the stage; this is the calm before the death metal storm.
"I don't see the point of playing in a band and going just one way when you can do everything," says Akerfeldt on how Opeth's experimentalist approaches are regarded. "It would be impossible for us to play just death metal; that is our roots, but we are now a mishmash of everything, and not purists to any form of music. It's impossible for us to do that, and quite frankly I would think of it as boring to be in a band that plays just metal music. We're not afraid to experiment, or to be caught with our pants down, so to speak. That's what keeps us going."
Opeth have long since left their death metal roots behind, but Akerfeldt claims that the obsession with experimentation has been with the band since they started back in the early 1990s.
"It's not that I woke up one morning and had a brainwave to do a jazz riff and throw it into the mix. One critic of our most recent album was up in arms. He said we sounded like Elton John and Boyz II Men. So what? I'm cool with that, it's great. I don't feel we have any limits. We don't want to be different for the sake of being different; if I come up with something that sounds good then it stays in, regardless of whether some people think it sounds bad."
Does Mikael see the possibilities for experimentation as being endless, or are such outings contained within certain parameters? Cue some backtracking.
"When I say we don't have any limits it's not entirely true, because there are certain kinds of music I still don't like - namely hip-hop, ska, dance. So we wouldn't be experimenting with those types of music because we don't like them. There won't be any rapping on our albums anytime too soon, that's for sure.
"I had much more purist tastes when I was younger. If someone said we should do funk I'd have said no. We wanted to be heavy and extreme, which was our form of rebellion, as it is with kids and heavy metal. It still has an outsider element, and that's what we like. As the years passed, we got to play our instruments better and gained more musical influences. I wasn't afraid to say that this Elton John or that Stevie Wonder song was good. But we still cling to our metal roots because we love them."
Opeth's latest album, Ghost Reveries, has been acclaimed in non-metal circles as one of the most adventurous of its kind. Veering more towards prog rock atmospherics and - steady on! - singer-songwriter melancholy than strict death metal rifferama, it's the kind of record that gives metal (and the perception of it) a radical makeover.
"Metal is falsely perceived as a form of music that's supposed to be heavy," contends Akerfeldt. "But all the best metal bands had quiet moments. Black Sabbath had instrumentals such as Laguna Sunrise and songs such as Planet Caravan and Changes. For me, having a ballad track is part of heavy metal."
Akerfeldt hastily rolls a fag, takes a drag and quickly blows out the smoke. He's annoyed now. "When you reach a certain level of success, people like to talk cliched bullshit about you. We get accused of being soft, but these people don't know what they're saying."
The other cliched perception about metal and its various subgenres is that it's all nihilistic, nefarious and negative. Akerfeldt just shrugs.
"I like darker forms of music and lyrics, but that's just a personal taste - it doesn't necessarily make me a negative person. A lot of people would agree that from negative music you can draw positive emotions. Leonard Cohen is a good example of life-affirming feelings coming from listening to his songs. I like uplifting moments in music, too, but happy-dancey music makes me cringe to a certain extent. Some people don't believe me when I say this, but I actually like the negative vibe. Most of the metal lifestyle is quite dark, and that's just how it is. I've been hugely influenced by that, but as I say, I still like uplifting music."
Is it difficult, then, for Opeth to overcome the cliched perceptions of metal - or do they bother?
"We don't bother; the thing is, we like being a band like us, we like the way we look. We get discriminated against, but that's from normal people. Within the rock music community we are appreciated; we also get the feeling from the majority of people we meet that there are no cliches about Opeth. If some people call us cliched I'm not sure if I know what they're talking about."
What about accusations of pretentiousness, then? It isn't every day that a death metal band comes over all atmospheric prog-rock-like and chatty about blending Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Nick Drake. Have Opeth been accused of pitching ideas above their station?
"All the time. I like it," beams Akerfeldt. "We are pretentious, because for me that is a good word. It means to me that we're working towards something, although I know it has a negative ring to it. It's indicative of stepping beyond your boundaries, but why shouldn't we? It's more wrong to stick to a certain style when deep down you want to try something else."
And the difference between Opeth and certain other metal bands? "Many metal bands have well-established careers and still play a sound that was established many years ago. And a lot of metal bands have been influenced by these older bands. For instance, I love Metallica. They are one of the best bands on the planet, in my opinion, but I wouldn't be interested in listening to any band that sounded like them.
"Opeth are different, and I don't think any other band sounds like us. But it's not something we strive for. It's just the way we naturally are."
Ghost Reveries Special Edition CD/DVD is on release from October 30th. Opeth play Dublin's Vicar St on November 13th
