The day before their Bangalore gig headlining Summer Storm 2012, Opeth have a sit down and chat at a press conference hosted at Hard Rock Cafe in the city. We were there and we took notes.
- If we had a paisa for every time we had to ‘press charges’, phew, we’d have a lot of them moneys. As predicted, a journo asks about which girl the album Heritage is about. Ummm, it had nothing to do with a girl. Oh and priceless, someone asked what the band has to say about the idea that metalheads “wear black t-shirts, blue jeans and are drug peddlers.” Oh those naughty boys.
- NH7 asked lead vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt about his side project with Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree), on Storm Corrosion. He said to expect nothing like Porcupine Tree or Opeth and that the album will release soon. Akerfeldt also mentioned that he had a great time singing a track for progressive metal band OSI on their album Blood. It was very different from other music he’s worked on and he was given a lot of freedom to do the song his way.
- Akerfeldt had said he wasn’t really concerned about record sales, however, now he does feel that touring is a necessity, which (sadly) eats into time that could’ve been spent writing new music. #sadface.
- Akerfeldt declared that he was a Mastadon fan and likes what they are currently doing with their music. He is happy to join them and co-headline the Heritage Hunter tour across the US and Canada. Yum, a Mastodon-Opeth sandwich.
- Having taken a new direction with the band on Heritage, Akerfeldt said he is slightly detached from death metal vocals these days. He is still happy to perform heavier songs but he is in a more melodic place. So more Sound of Music than sound of death growl?
Summer Stormers get ready for an Opeth set of tunes (according to them) mainly from their old albums, as well as a sprinkling from some of their more recent music, this evening at Palace Grounds, Bangalore. Brace yourselves for a squash, slam-moshing, circle pits and maybe even a wall of death. \m/
PS. If you get lost, follow the black t-shirts.
Here are some pics from the press con. More deets about the gig here.
Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth @ Hard Rock Cafe
Martin Axenrot of Opeth @ Hard Rock Cafe
Joakim Svalberg of Opeth @ Hard Rock Cafe
Fredrik Åkesson of Opeth @ Hard Rock Cafe
Martin Mendez of Opeth @ Hard Rock Cafe
Photos by Abhimanyu Ghoshal
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