OPETH‘s illustrious career has spanned decades, filled with groundbreaking albums and genre-defining tracks that have solidified their status as progressive metal legends.
However, even the most celebrated bands have moments they’d rather leave behind. In a new interview with Revolver, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt has opened up about what he considers to be OPETH‘s worst song.
“Probably a song called ‘By the Pain I See in Others‘, which is an obscure song on the Deliverance (2002) record. I didn’t have a single song when we went in to record that album, so everything was written in the studio.
“Basically, I was writing music at night, and we would record it during the day,” he continued. “By the end, of course I was f**ked. I was so tired. I got sick after the recording, just completely burnt out. My s**t turned gray. I had to go to the doctor and get blood tests. I think that might’ve been the last song I put together for that record, and you can tell.
“It’s such a tired song. It’s not good,” Mikael concluded. “We played it live a couple of times, and it was surprisingly fun to play live. But it’s not fun to listen to, I think.”
Åkerfeldt also addressed OPETH‘s most overrated album, identifying 2011’s Heritage as such.
“I don’t know how our albums are rated in the grand scheme of things, but I still probably think Heritage is underrated,” Mikael said. “We got so much flak for it, so I figure it’s hated. I know a lot of people now love that record, but it wasn’t popular at the time.
“To me, it’s special because I don’t think we could write another record even remotely similar to it if we tried. I remember talking to Erik [Danielsson] from WATAIN — he doesn’t like OPETH, but he likes that album. A lot of black-metal people like that record for some reason. But many of our fans didn’t understand it or just thought it sucked. So, I think it’s underrated. But many of our records are a bit overrated.”
Reeder, the visionary behind Metal Addicts, has transformed his lifelong passion for metal into a thriving online community for metal aficionados. As a fervent devotee of black metal, Reeder is captivated by its dark, atmospheric, and often unorthodox soundscapes.