Roadrunner Records has issued that Mikael Åkerfeldt of OPETH was interviewed backstage at the FortarockXL festival in Nijmegen, Holland recently; in the clip below, he discusses the end of the touring cycle for their last album, 2011’s Heritage; when stage banter goes wrong; early albums he loved; trying to come up with a substitute for the “metal horns”; and more. Watch now!

According to Roadrunner Records OPETH‘s Mikael Åkerfeldt likes record shopping. A lot. So naturally, when he last hit the East Coast, Decibel magazine took him on a jaunt to New Jersey’s own Vintage Vinyl, one of the finest independent record stores in America. In the video below, he discusses his collecting habits, trading a Predator movie poster for a Sodom album, and more!

Source: Blabbermouth.net

Metal Mark of SkullsNBones.com conducted an interview with guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt of Swedish progressive metallers OPETH prior to the band’s April 27 at Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. You can now watch the chat below.

OPETH has returned to North America in support of their most recent studio album, “Heritage”. Released September 20, 2011, it garnered rave reviews from everyone from Rolling Stone, who called the album “a career record that reimagines prog as actual rock ‘n’ roll,” to Pitchfork saying “a pretty, well-thought-out collection” to NPR who called it “equally vast, thoughtful and heavy.” The tour kicked off on April 18 in Buffalo and is taking the band throughout North America over the course of more than 30 dates.

OPETH‘s April 28 show in Clifton Park, New York will see PORCUPINE TREE‘s Steven Wilson, the STORM CORROSION collaborator and friend of OPETH‘s mainman, Mikael Åkerfeldt, join OPETH for a special evening that is not to be missed. There will also be two rare and intimate evenings with OPETH planned for Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on April 29 and The Roxy in West Hollywood on May 24. These shows will allow fans the unique opportunity to experience OPETH like never before.

Source: Bravewords.com

OPETH frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt recently spoke with Australia-based Andrew Haug for his live online radio show, found at AndrewHaug.com. Åkerfeldt shares his open and honest opinions about the extreme music scene today:

Opeth’s North American Heritage Tour 2013, featuring direct support from KATATONIA will kick off on April 18th in Buffalo, NY.

The tour will make two special stops, the first in Worcester, Mass. on April 20th where Katatonia returns to play the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, then in Clifton Park, NY on April 28th where acclaimed PORCUPINE TREE frontman STEVEN WILSON will join for the night.

A full list of confirmed dates can be seen below.

April
18 – Buffalo, NY – The Town Ballroom
20 – Worcester, MA – New England Metal & Hardcore Fest
21 – Quebec City, QC – Capitole
23 – Halifax, NS – Halifax Forum
24 – Moncton, NB – Casino New Brunswick
26 – Guelph, ON – Guelph Concert Theatre
27 – Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock
28 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall (with Steven Wilson)
29 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
30 – Norfolk, VA – NorVa Theatre

May
2 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
3 – St. Petersburg, FL – State Theatre
4 – Athens, GA – Georgia Theatre
5 – Raleigh, NC – Lincoln Theatre
6 – Asheville, NC – The Orange Peel
8 – Lexington, KY – Buster’s Billiards & Backroom
9 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue
10 – Flint, MI – The Machine Shop
11 – Joliet, IL – Mojoe’s
12 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
14 – Fargo, ND – The Venue
15 – Des Moines, IA – Wooly’s
16 – Sauget, IL – Pop’s
17 – Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre
18 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
20 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
21 – Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre
23 – Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre
24 – Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy
25 – Agoura Hills, CA – The Canyon Club
26 – Santa Cruz, CA – The Catalyst

Roadrunner have asked a bunch of their artists to fill out a brief survey telling us the highlights (and lowlights) of their year. Here’s what Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt had to say:

Best show you played: Damn, we did our 156th show for the Heritage tour yesterday [November 27], so I can’t remember. Last good “heavy” show was in Brussels, Belgium, and last good “mellow” show was in Bochum, Germany.
Best show you saw: I’ll be honest with you and say a tiny fucking show featuring Lee Kerslake from Uriah Heep in Stockholm. He played with our keyboardist, Joakim Svalberg, and some other good musicians. Maybe I was drunk or happy or something, but it was just real fucking good, I thought. I get bored at shows but this one was fun.
Favorite thing you ate/drank: Probably some BBQ in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Favorite song of 2012: Maybe one of my own, but that sounds arrogant, right?
Most interesting interview question you were asked this year: Not the above one anyways. Maybe “Tell me about your band” or something completely shit like that.
Place you visited for the first time: Quite a few actually. Some Eastern Bloc countries, the Maldives, China, South Korea, Taiwan. Might have been last year, actually. I can’t remember.
Biggest celebrity you met: Probably Orianthi. We had dinner with the PRS endorsees. I think she said hi back to me, but that was definitely it.
Moment you wish you could “do over”: A bunch of show fuck-ups, but I don’t care for those. I can get caught in downward spirals, so there are countless.
Personal highlight of the year: The year has been pretty shit for me personally, ha ha, but some good moments. Being with my kids. Traveling. Playing some nice shows.