Ian Anderson, the founder of JETHRO TULL, is set to appear as a guest on the upcoming album by the Swedish progressive metal band OPETH.
The veteran flutist, singer, songwriter, and guitarist, who will celebrate his 77th birthday in August, disclosed his involvement in the OPETH record during an interview with Italy’s “Mystery Tour” radio show.
When asked about his musical endeavors outside of JETHRO TULL, Ian responded: “Well, from time to time I play on other people’s records, if they’re interesting to me. I just did — last week I played on three or four tracks from a prog metal band called [OPETH]. [They’re] Swedish.”
In 2021, OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt told Prog magazine that he initially reached out to the leader of JETHRO TULL regarding playing the flute on the band’s 2011 album Heritage. “I did e-mail Ian Anderson but I never heard back from him,” he said. “Funnily enough, when I went down to Steven‘s [Wilson] place to mix the album, we’re sitting on his couch and he says, ‘Oh, I just got an e-mail from Ian Anderson,’ and I was, like, ‘What?!’ And he just said, ‘He just wants me to look into mixing [JETHRO TULL‘s 1971 album] Aqualung. I’m really happy in retrospect that we have Björn [J:son Lindh playing on Heritage instead] because it fits with the vibe of the record.”
In Cauda Venenum, OPETH‘s most recent album, debuted in September 2019 under the labels Moderbolaget / Nuclear Blast Entertainment. Recorded at Stockholm’s Park Studios in 2018, the album was released in two editions, featuring both Swedish and English language versions.
