Mikael Åkerfeldt Says He Became Vocalist for Opeth Because ‘Nobody Else Wanted to Do It’
Metal vocalists might not show up very often on The Voice, but that’s not to say that metal vocalists can’t have singing voices on par with the best blues, R&B, or soul singers. Sure, there are metal bands that we love despite their singers being technically awful (coughcoughDaveMustainecoughcough), but for every one of them, there’s someone like metal legend Ronnie James Dio who had a vocal range of over four octaves. Maybe it is time they had a metal coach on The Voice. Is Sebastian Bach busy with anything? Probably not. But, while Opeth may be considered one of the greatest progressive metal bands of all time, vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt says he doesn’t think of himself as much of a singer.
In a recent interview with Finnish outlet Chaoszine (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Åkerfeldt talked about his role as a singer and explained that he doesn’t think much of his own vocal abilities, and that he became the vocalist almost by default:
“I don’t really see myself as a singer — or a guitar player for that matter. I see myself as a — I am a musician. I like to come to write music. I think that’s fun. The singer thing, it’s, like, nobody else wanted to do it [in the early days of OPETH]. I guess it has to be me. And I don’t compare myself to my peers or my idols, especially my idols. I don’t go, like, ‘Hey, Ronnie Dio, what’s your trick? Mine’s this and that. I’m gonna teach you something.’ Those guys up there. I’m just like a bum who got lucky, if you know what I mean.”
I thought that punk bands were formed that way, not metal bands. When you put together a punk band, don’t you just get a really good drummer and then draw straws for who plays all the other instruments, whether they have any idea how to play? Strangely enough, even though Åkerfeldt doesn’t think he’s a great singer, the band has gained legendary status in spite of that.
If you’d like to see Opeth in spite of Åkerfeldt’s singing ability, here’s the list of their upcoming tour dates:
OPETH North American Tour Dates (w/ TRIBULATION):
10/11: Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave / Eagles Club
10/12: Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater & Ballroom
10/14: Toronto, ON @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre
10/15: Montréal, QC @ L’Olympia
10/16: Worcester, MA @ Palladium
10/18: Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
10/19: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
10/20: Washington, DC @ Warner Theatre
10/22: Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
10/23: New Orleans, LA @ Fillmore New Orleans
10/24: Austin, TX @ Emo’s Austin
10/25: Dallas, TX @ Majestic Theatre
10/27: Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom
10/29: Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren
10/30: Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theater
10/31: San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
OPETH European Tour Dates 2025:
02/09: Helsinki (FI) @ Ice Hall
02/11: Stockholm (SE) @ Cirkus
02/12: Oslo (NO) @ Sentrum Scene
02/14: Copenhagen (DK) @ DR Koncerthuset
02/15: Hamburg (DE) @ Docks
02/17: Cologne (DE) @ Palladium
02/18: Berlin (DE) @ Tempodrom
02/19: Munich (DE) @ Muffathalle
02/21: Paris (DR) @ L’Olympia
02/22: Amsterdam (NL) @ AFAS Live
02/23: Brussels (BE) @ Ancienne Belgique
