Opeth. There is not a lot that can be said for Opeth that has not already been said, they don't care for the limelight, in fact Mikael himself said that he is not good with interviews at all. Quite a statement from a band sweeping all before them; grammy nominations, top placings in many metal magazines, they are the toast of many a town in fact. I have a little chat to Mikael about rap/hip-hop, how much metal in 2001 disappointed him, the new double CD and heaps of other crap. It is quite an interesting read. Dear readers, please do read on.

Jack 'Odel'


Hello and thank you Mikael for taking the time out from your busy schedule to answer these few questions for me. Firstly, are you happy with how things turned out for "Blackwater Park", nearly one year after its release in 2001? In terms of fan and media feedback?

You could probably say I'm happy with how the album's been received. We got #1 of year or top placings in most metal magazines, we got nominated for a Swedish Grammy, we sold almost the double amount compared to "Still Life" and stuff like that. In the eye of most regular people this is what success is. For me, I don't care at all about "flashy" things. I've got a good life right now, that's what counts, "Blackwater Park" is a fantastic record and it has done us a lot of good. It has put us in a different spot than before, so yeah, I'm pretty happy!

"Blackwater Park" was certainly a venture into a more progressive field, than what Opeth and certainly death metal has been previously associated with. More so than "My Arms, Your Hearse" and "Still Life"; "Blackwater Park" was less 'hard' and perhaps more melodic from an Opeth viewpoint, are forthcoming albums likely to stay in that frame of mind, or will we see another musical shift from Opeth? Into perhaps rap or hip-hop, for example?

As I'm writing for 2 separate albums right now I can say that next release(s) will definitely be the most melodic + most disharmonic we've ever recorded. It's gonna take the listener through singer-songwriter stuff, through psychedelic stuff, to rock and hard rock and through to extreme metal. Rap? Hip-hop? Are you insane?? No, those elements have nothing to do with Opeth! We have a pretty wide range to our music already and we don't really need anything else than we already have. We will continue with our style, which is a style in itself but also a very kaleidoscopic one. Rap/Hip hop?? That'll be the day...

Speaking of new and forthcoming albums; you guys are scheduled down to a record a newbie sometime this year, including a double CD package with a serene half and brutal half. Why the split? I always felt one of the cool aspects of Opeth was that many songs were spliced with hardness and softness.

It will be 2 separate CD's, not a double CD. We take everything into consideration with a release like this. It has to look great, exclusive as we don't want the fans to think that we're trying to milk 'em for money. It's all about our artistic taste. We want two separate albums whose artwork runs in similar themes, like a black and a white CD. Our goals with these CD's cannot be reached by putting out a double CD disc. However, people will never understand what we want anyways, so fuck it! I don't really care if they can afford to buy 2 or whatever...this is for us, if the albums don't sell, fuck it, I don't care! It has always been a case of us recording for ourselves...we got signed doing that, we didn't need to put on masks or suits to be more "accessible". Let's make one thing clear right now. I hate the industry and I don't care for anyone else's opinion than my own and the other guys in the band when it comes to take this band to where we belong. That includes the fans, their opinions wouldn't get us changing a original "plan". Don't get us wrong, we love the fans we have, but they are fans of us because of our integrity and the fact that we're deliberately taking distance from the scene and from what everybody else is doing. This 2CD thing is a dream of ours, and we're gonna make it happen, that's where our job is done. It's up to the label to sell it, and it's up to the listener if they're into it and if they wanna buy it.

In regards to the new, yet untitled album, are there going to be strict guidelines when recording songs, i.e. "This song is pretty hard, lets chuck her on the first CD. No wait a second, it's a bit too mellow, definitely belongs on the second CD"? That sort of mentality?

I guess when I come up with a part or section it pretty much makes it's way to it's "home" by itself. The heavy CD will be pretty "normal" for being an Opeth CD, maybe a bit harsher and sicker. It will still have mellow parts. It's the other CD that's the real experiment as we will drift off into psychedelic domains with that one... it will not only consist of mellow songs such as 'Harvest' or 'Face of Melinda', but also dark calm music and space rock elements.

Any tentative titles yet for the 2 CD new album? Is each CD going to be titled separately to reflect on the mood of each album or is Opeth going to stick with one overall title for both CDs?

Nothing as of yet. I haven't made up my mind whether I will write concepts again or what the fuck I should do. What I know is that the CD's are going to be between 50-60 minutes each. There will probably be two different titles, but titles connecting them with each other. I haven't started with the lyrics yet, I'm a "last second" kinda writer anyways.

"Blackwater Park" was beautifully illustrated by Travis Smith (also known for doing cover art for Iced Earth and the new Winds album), will we being seeing a repeat performance from him for the new record[s]?

We've talked and he wants to do it. I love Travis work, especially the new King Diamond album is great! We hope to work with him again, and I think he's pretty psyched about doing artwork for these two CD's.

Steve Wilson did some great vocal work on 'Bleak', was this a one off for Opeth or are you looking to perhaps have some more guest vocals in the future for new tracks? Or was it the fact that Steve Wilson worked with you guys mixing that enabled him to do some guest vocal work?

We are avid fans of his, I've been into Porcupine Tree since 1995 and just to work with him was great. I think we connected in a great way musically. Me and Steven plan to do some recordings together in the future too. Well, as I said we, or mostly me and Peter are huge fans of Porcupine Tree... we had a wish for him to sing some lines on the album, but we didn't dare asking. Luckily we didn't need to... there was this part that was too high for my voice, so Steve did it instead! It turned out great I think! We won't bring in any other guests I guess. Steve's one of the very very few fellow musicians we actually admire, so he's the only one we'd be interested in incorporating. I saw somewhere that Dave Vincent is singing on the Satyricon album. That's pretty fucking cool! I've never been into Satyricon really, but this I gotta hear! He's the fucking best when it comes to screams + I've been wondering what the hell he's doing these days.

With all the great CDs that passed through my hands this year from the metal scenes around the world, it was extremely hard to pick favourites. What caught your attention this year, metal release wise?

Man I'm sorry; I think it's all shit! Katatonia's new disc is awesome, but it's obvious I'd say that right? I am not impressed with metal bands anymore in general. I guess I was a bit excited about all these reunions of old bands, but it turned out to be predictable bollocks music (Iron Maiden). I have problems with new bands...it's so shallow and predictable... Porcupine Tree did a B-side compilation and wiped the entire musical scene clean... with a B-side!! That's only my taste, and I guess I haven't heard it all. No, I'm not excited about anything put out in 2001 really.

Is Opeth ever going to release a keyboard driven album? Personally I think it would be pretty interesting...

We are going to use some piano and maybe some vintage keys for the next albums. But we won't have the big choirs or cheesy string sounds, hell no! I like the stripped down sound of a grand piano, I like mellotrons, especially if they're a bit out of tune, I like Rhoads and Wurlitzers, I've grown very tired of Moogs since all the so called progressive metal bands use it all the time. I like Hammonds too... we did one rehearsal with a keyboard back in 1992, and it did truly sound like shit! Lately we've learned a bit more on how to use instruments properly and perhaps our taste have improved with the years too...so I'm rather excited about giving it another try.

Opeth has been a band that from "Orchid" has constantly blown fan and media away time and time again. Do you have any idea why that is? The fact that people don't get bored through 20 minutes of 'Black Rose Immortal', the fact you have brutal death one second, and harmonious music another. People should be raising eyebrows, and saying 'How in God's name does that music work?' but they don't and they love Opeth. Why?

I don't know, my taste is always gonna differ, even from my own fans opinions...they say "Morningrise" I say "My Arms Your Hearse"... it's never gonna change. Since the first record we have done music for ourselves, we were a mature band even back in 1993, so our CD's sounded "real". I compare to whatever other bands there is out there I think most bands really have that urge to become something...like rock stars. I had those dreams when I was a kid, and since I let go of that ideal, I have understood that it don't make no difference in the end. We are a proud band, we've had some success lately and that is strictly due to the fact that we don't really give a shit about anything.

Does Opeth (or any one of the individual members) ever get sick of composing metal tracks?

Since that's not all we do, no. I do most if not all the writing in this band, so I wouldn't say I've ever gotten tired of it. For me it's a great challenge to do something that will impress me, I'm the best judge for my own music, past and present. I've had side projects, I have some now, I don't really need 'em since Opeth basically don't care what musical style a riff or part is as long as it sounds good. I play with other people as I like to challenge myself and maybe learn something new. Right now I'm doing a thing with the keyboardist from Spiritual Beggars. He's a very experienced musician, he's been playing in bands since the early to mid 80´s, so it's a joy playing with someone who immediately understands what you want or who can get you into playing something you've never played before. This "project" sounds almost like a krautrock band playing soundtracks...

What are your fave Opeth track from each of the five albums?

Tough... 'Face of Melinda' & 'The Drapery Falls' are good...

Are you ever going to write happy lyrics with Opeth? It tends to be depressing a little, but I guess that is Opeth to a point. I thought "Still Life", lyrically, was extremely sad. You guys need to have some more happy moments.

[laughs], yes maybe we do. I can't write about happy stuff, basically I don't know how... "The sun is shining today, I'm having a stroll in the park, feeding the doves with crumbs of bread"...is that it? I get more satisfaction out of writing in a darker manner...but hey, everybody else is doing it within the metal scene. I understand we don't deviate from the pack because of my lyrics, but that's just my taste.

Any big and upcoming tours for Opeth or are you solely working on the new album and then promoting it afterwards?

It's basically only work from now on until the summer. We have a string of festivals booked this summer, but no tours. We will probably record in the summer too...

Well Mikael, I would like to take the opportunity to thank you again for answering these questions and wish you the best of luck with Opeth and whatever other ventures you are currently involved with! Any final words to the many fans that you have acquired over the past years?

Well, all I can say is thanks for the interview + thanks you to any fans reading this. I'm not good with stuff like this...feels like I'm holding a speech or something.

Behold the new masters of darkness! SEPTICFLESH kindly invite you to join "The Great Mass". The Greeks' seventh full length is a new symphonic masterpiece that constitutes a quantum leap in the art of amalgamating orchestral music with Heavy Metal. These songs are audible evidence of guitarist Christos Antoniou finishing his studies of classical composition with academic honours and distinction. On April 18th of 2011 (US release April 19th) "The Great Mass" will be unleashed onto an expecting world. With the aid of the instrumentalist and choir of the Filmharmonic Orchestra of Prague as well as the massive sound created by renowned Swedish producer Peter Tägtgren (IMMORTAL, HYPOCRISY), SEPTICFLESH are about to achieve immortality with their highly original and very cinematic dark musical matter at the edge of Black, Death and Gothic Metal. Join their cult in the rite of "The Great Mass"! Guitarist/Vocalist Sotiris and Compositionist Christos were kind enough to sit and answer some questions for me about their latest album!

Kate


Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with us. How are you doing?

Christos Antoniou: I am fine but working nonstop with the promotion of the album and various other projects outside my Septicflesh world in music fortunately. But no complaints I am really pleased about it.

Can you give our readers an idea of how you guys got together and Septicflesh came to be?

Sotiris Anunnaki V: I wanted to form a Death Metal band and I was searching for other members. So I had an appointment to test a drummer that wanted to join me. As he was a friend of Chris and Seth, they allowed him to use the drums of their rehearsing place, in order to show me his skills. I tried to play a couple of songs with him, but I wasn't impressed at the end. On the other hand, Seth that was watching this rehearsal liked my style and told me about his band Septicflesh. So instead of finding a drummer, I ended up joining Septicflesh. Soon after we started working on our first demo?

The new album comes out on April 19th, what are you expecting people's reactions to be like?

Sotiris Anunnaki V: Just before last Christmas, we released a single called The Vampire from Nazareth to give a glimpse of the music of The Great Mass to the audience. The feedback was fantastic and there is a lot of enthusiasm right now about the forthcoming release. So probably the reaction will be good. We shall witness very soon the reaction to The Great Mass.

How would you compare this to previous albums?

Christos Antoniou: We wanted to focus more on the extreme element of our music and try some radical ideas. The songs turned out to be more brutal and dark than in the past, especially in comparison with Revolution DNA. We experimented also, more with the choir, adding a mystical touch to the sound. So, indeed we opened quite a few fields for experimentation. When we came back from the dead, we decided to step more boldly to this direction, to explore deeper this "new found world" and expand our horizon. And vital role that orchestra plays in our albums especially from >b>Communion and more with The Great Mass. The Orchestra is the foundation of our ideas and is where we have built our music. Its unconventional use also emphasizes how important tool is in our disposal.

There is so much involved on this album, I love it, it's symphonic, it's dark, it's theatrical. There are so many aspects to it; you have to listen to it several times just to get a a slight concept of what went into it.

Sotiris Anunnaki V: Indeed. There are a lot of musical layers on the compositions of The Great Mass. It is an outburst of ideas and intense emotions. We decided to experiment more on the development our symphonic element and our orchestrations in general, approaching an almost cinematic result. It is music that can create a lot of bizarre images for the mind's eye. And the more one listens to the album, the more he can penetrate its shadowy world. We want to give to the audience a good reason to return and listen to the album again and again.

Did you use the same orchestra as you did with Communion? What about Natalie Rassoulis? Did you use her again for the female vocals?

Christos Antoniou: Yes is the same Orchestra. We are really pleased from their professionalism, interpretation in our music and fill all our demands. There is no reason to end a successful cooperation. Nearly 150 people involved for this project. Imagine I was listening and supervising the recordings from my studio in Athens. They have a big perfectionist team in order the session to run smoothly otherwise you could end losing thousand of euros if everything is not perfect. Although it is early to say that it is in our plans to continue with them and after The Great Mass. Natalie's decision was to be apart from metal or Chaostar (the band we had together) due her personal reasons. We respect that, Androniki (Chaostar) and Iliana (Meden Agan) are the female singers in the album.

Can you give us an idea of the thinking behind this album? Your influences, etcetera. Your sound and this album is so dynamic that I want to give our readers an idea of how you bring the thought of something like this into reality and how much work goes into it.

Sotiris Anunnaki V: As you can guess, we worked very hard to bring The Great Mass to life. Actually more that 150 of musicians were used as besides the FILMharmonic Orchestra and Choir of Prague, we used a boy soprano, two different female vocalists and some strange ethnic instruments. We have reached to a point that besides the ordinary guitar oriented way of starting a song idea, we can also start a composition by using symphonic parts as its backbone. This opens a wider range of possibilities for the rhythm section, the vocals and the guitar work. We are definitely an extreme band and besides the atmosphere it is important for us to tear your flesh to shreds, with heavy and sharp riffing. I must also point out, that all four members of the band are contributing songs. So there was a big pool of ideas to begin with. Fortunately, after all those years together, we have learned how to collaborate more efficiently, in order to create something dynamic but also solid.

What were some of your favorite moments on this album?

Christos Antoniou: On Oceans of Grey the part that builds towards refrain is one of my favourite. With this part we were "shocked" from the result with the orchestra and the operatic vocals. It was really difficult for me to orchestrate this part as it has this ostinato (repetitive) melody accompanied by 2 only chords. I made many orchestrations for that and I ended in a solution to add and other melodies from the song and it worked really well. The colors of the orchestra and the dramatic voice of Iliana (coloratoura soprano) stand probably as the best moment of The Great Mass. The end of Vampire is also unique for me. The blend of Sotiris vox the ethnic instrument (yahli tambur) and the interpretation of Androniki are also in my favourites. The great mass refrain and the middle percussive part on 5 pointed Star is in my daily listening.

Musically, who have been your influences over the years?

Sotiris Anunnaki V: Our influences come from a lot of different musical styles, as we are listening to all kinds of Metal, to gothic rock and also to classical and soundtrack music. There is a big diversity between my favorite bands as I enjoy listening for example, from Iron Maiden to Dead Can Dance.

Just for those who don?t know the history of Septicflesh, what led your break-up in 2003 and also your reuniting in 2007?

Christos Antoniou: It was a difficult decision that we had to take. I had to go and work in England as a composer for a game, Seth also was really busy with his artworks. Also the bad financial situation of our label Hammerheart played a vital role and all of these made us to split up the band. There was no other way. We respect our art we respect our fans and all our albums I believe have something to say, to express to make the listener feel strong emotions and experiencing our dreams and nightmares. This is the aim of our creation.

What do you think have been some of your greatest musical achievements over the years?

Sotiris Anunnaki V: We are proud about our artistic course. With each album we managed to push our boundaries, while keeping alive the essence of our musical identity. I believe that The Great Mass is our biggest achievement so far.

After the release of this album, what is on the agenda for Septicflesh?

Christos Antoniou: We will play as much as we can. Till now we have 2 festivals in France one we will be headliners and the other will play along with Epica and Dagoba. On May is our headline tour in France for 11 shows and June we have the Hellfest again in France. End of june and for a month we will tour in US/Canada with big package but I can?t say anything more for that. From September we will tour again in Europe and of course we will start our Greek shows. We have many offers and we have to plan a carefully what is best for the band.

Any words for your fans out there?

Christos Antoniou: I would like to thank them for all their loyal support all these years. I am sure they we will be excited about The Great Mass.