Saturday, November 23, 2013

OPETH'S MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT, "FOR A WHILE, I THOUGHT METAL WAS A MORE OPEN-MINDED THING BUT I WAS WRONG"

The legends at Metal Hammer recently spoke with Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt and Anathema's Daniel Cavanagh about a number of topics relating to music and metal. The conversation turned to musical evolution and angry metal elitism when Åkerfeldt offered the following insight.
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"Every band I’ve loved has moved forward. All the world-class songwriters, whether it be Black Sabbath or Pink Floyd, have evolved. Maybe not AC/DC because they’re perfect as they are! Bands like Porcupine Tree have continued that tradition. It’s a mark of intelligence in music and genuine creativity.

In metal, evolution doesn’t seem to be that important. I think most metal fans just want their Happy Meals served to them. They don’t really want to know about what they’re getting. For a while, I thought metal was a more open-minded thing but I was wrong. Maybe it’s different from country-to-country. Don’t get me wrong, I love metal, but I’m also open-minded. I admire some bands that do the same record over and over again – I wonder how they don’t get bored! For us, and Anathema, it seems impossible for us to stay still."
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Interesting to say the least. Not all of metal sees things in the "happy meal" light, but I know for a fact some individuals do. Kudos to Mr. Åkerfeldt for calling this out.




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