OPETH Frontman Says He Was ‘Very Selfish’ And Took No Bandmate Contributions On New Album

Mikael Akerfeldt 2019

In a new interview with Premier Guitar, OPETH mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt discussed the band’s new album In Cauda Venenum, saying that he took the entire creative process into his own hands.

“This time, I was very selfish and I’m only thinking about myself and what I wanted to present,” he said. “There were no other contributions from the other guys in the band. I wanted it to be as close to my personal taste as possible. This is how I want to present OPETH in 2019 and 2020. My goal, I guess, is to become more selfish. [Laughs] And I think I achieved the goal.

“As I was writing, and as the songs were shaping up, my other goal with this record became to make the most emotional record of them all,” Mikael continued. “I wanted to make a record that was tugging on the heartstrings more than the previous ones.”

OPETH released In Cauda Venenum on September 27th via Moderbolaget / Nuclear Blast Entertainment.

Recorded last year at Stockholm’s Park Studios, In Cauda Venenum was released in two versions, in both Swedish and English languages.