https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDW0AjQnzMg
Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth being iconic as he always is#opeth

https://www.reddit.com/r/Opeth/comments/51440w/a_list_of_mikaels_influences_taken_from_his/
A list of Mikael's influences, taken from his MySpace page in 2007. Proof that he hasn't primarily been into metal for a long, long time. ... I doubt Mikael Åkerfeldt would've evolved as a songwriter if he'd been listening to nothing but the same metal artists for the last 25 years.

https://www.loudersound.com/features/i-ended-up-with-what-i-think-is-a-beautiful-record-how-opeth-made-in-cauda-venenum
Nearly three decades and 12 studio albums into Opeth's career, Mikael Åkerfeldt alighted at the end of the Sorceress tour cycle in the autumn of 2018 feeling more than ready for a lengthy break and some much needed rest and recuperation in the company of his family. With no urgent need to write new music, it was time to put his moccasins up and enjoy some downtime.

https://www.loudersound.com/features/love-loss-and-learning-to-move-on-the-story-behind-opeths-sorceress
At Opeth's Union Chapel show in London, in November 2012, Mikael Åkerfeldt was painfully thin and visibly exhausted. The night itself was a triumph, a recital of the finest songs from Heritage alongside classics, but he was plainly at a low ebb, unusually nervous before the performance and noticeably reticent during it. He now admits he was suffering from some form of depression at the time

https://www.guitarworld.com/features/opeth-mikael-akerfeldt-blackwater-park
Opeth, circa 2000: (L-R) Martín Méndez, Martín López, Peter Lindgren, Mikael Åkerfeldt (Image credit: Press). Not that there was much of it. A lot of the tracks came together at Studio Fredman almost haphazardly, with many parts being written and rewritten only moments before being recorded. Åkerfeldt's logic was that the snippets of music he'd already come up with were a good enough

https://www.loudersound.com/features/mikael-akefeldt-10-albums-changed-my-life
In school, we had an hour on Fridays where pupils could decide what we'd do, and one week my friend chose the music so he recorded a full 60-minute cassette of that song on loop.". Tarja Turunen: 10 Records That Changed My Life. The 10 records that changed my life: Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo. Steve Howe: The 10 Records That Changed My Life.

http://www.ocartblog.com/2012/05/a-lasting-heritage-an-interview-with-opeths-mikael-akerfeldt/
Opeth's set began with the first three songs from Heritage: " The Devil's Orchard ," "I Feel the Dark," and "Slither." Åkerfeldt's vocals were at their warmest and bluesy-est in songs like "I Feel the Dark.". The sound design of the set was extremely well-balanced between all the instruments- the two guitars, bass

https://thequietus.com/interviews/opeth-mikael-akerfeldt-interview/
Dan Franklin Published 9:40am 21 September 2016. Band portrait by Stuart Wood. When I call Mikael Åkerfeldt to discuss Sorceress, the twelfth studio album by his band, Opeth, I don't realise yet that I'm speaking to a dead man. A dead man doing housework: "I'm vacuuming up banana fly!"

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/sv-interview-mikael-%C3%A5kerfeldt-opeth
Many people are calling this album The Mikael Åkerfeldt Solo Album, but it's never been like that, and not for this album either. We are a band, and I'm very open-minded to what everyone thinks. Luckily, with the music I've been writing for the last couple of years, it's something that the rest of the guys are able to feel as well, and

https://www.npr.org/2016/09/30/495804597/songs-we-love-opeth-strange-brew
Opeth's new album, Sorceress, comes out Sept. 30. The smartest thing Mikael Åkerfeldt ever did was to stop writing extreme metal and focus on his biggest musical obsession: progressive rock. As

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/general_music_news/akerfeldt_remembers_opeth_opening_for_morbid_angel_we_thought_they_were_old_fucks_that_wed_crush_em_they_blasted_us_now_im_ashamed.html
Akerfeldt Remembers Opeth Opening for Morbid Angel: We Thought They Were Old Fucks, That We'd Crush 'Em. They Blasted Us. Now I'm Ashamed "How could we think we were any kind of competition for

https://rollingstoneindia.com/opeth-mikael-akerfeldt-sorceress-interview/
Mikael Akerfeldt, in his endearing Swedish accent, is often blunt and often funny. And even if he's talking to you over the phone from Stockholm, you can just picture the frontman of Swedish prog band Opeth smile when he says something like "As far as I'm concerned, there should be two genres-good music and shit music.". He's predictably blunt even when he talks about Opeth

https://www.loudersound.com/features/opeths-mikael-akerfeldt-my-life-in-10-songs
Features. Metal Hammer. Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt: My Life In 10 Songs. By Rich Hobson. ( Metal Hammer ) published 10 June 2021. From Opeth and Storm Corrosion to Bloodbath, Mikael Åkerfeldt reveals the stories behind 10 classic songs. (Image credit: Press) When Mikael Åkerfeldt joined Opeth in 1990, he was just a death metal -loving kid

https://blabbermouth.net/news/opeths-mikael-akerfeldt-my-idea-of-heaviness-has-changed-over-the-years
Prior to OPETH's October 29 performance in London, guitarist/vocalist Mikael Åkerfeldt spoke with The Metal Tris. The full conversation can be seen below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by

https://www.reddit.com/r/Opeth/comments/z88htl/about_meeting_mikael_%C3%A5kerfeldt/
About meeting Mikael Åkerfeldt... I'm still in trance for meeting Mikael Åkerfeldt. As most of you, I'm a die hard Opeth/Mikael fan. Since I was 15 I've been listening to an artist that completely shaped my way of seeing the world. Imagine, you are 15 years old and you have certain problems derived from the reality you live in and naturally

https://www.musicradar.com/news/opeths-mikael-akerfeldt-the-10-guitarists-that-blew-my-mind
7. Europe (Kee Marcello/John Norum) 8. Gary Moore. 9. Jerry Donahue. 10. Bert Jansch. There's an inherent evil lurking deep inside Opeth's 13th studio album, In Cauda Venenum - which translates from Latin as 'Poison In The Tail' and more than lives up to its promise.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/opeth-interview-heritage
Change is a funny thing, and in heavy metal it can be a dichotomy. On one hand, you have a music genre that thrives on being different. On the other, you have an army of black-clad fans that will verbally crucify their favourite band for doing anything different. Mikael Åkerfeldt knows that better than most.

https://www.musicradar.com/news/opeths-mikael-akerfeldt-theres-some-newer-players-that-i-think-are-really-good-but-many-sound-the-same-to-me
"I discovered Tommy Emmanuel maybe 10 years ago," continued Åkerfeldt. "He's fucking fantastic. When you hear him play, it's, like, 'Wow, I wish I could play like that.' I also love Bert Jansch and Nick Drake. Joni Mitchell is very underrated. "Then there's rhythm players like James Hetfield, Malcolm Young, Dave Mustaine, and those guys. "And I still love Yngwie!

https://www.loudersound.com/features/opeth-mikael-akerfeldt-prog-roots
Mikael Åkerfeldt performing with Bloodbath at ... Åkerfeldt remains reluctant to be pigeon-holed. He's happy being in a band that's adored by both the metal and prog communities and he has no intention of trading on past glories. ... to Åkerfeldt himself. This is a man who admits to having bought over 500 new records to listen to during

https://www.songwritingmagazine.co.uk/interviews/opeth-mikael-a%CC%8Akerfeldt
Having formed Opeth in 1989, Åkerfeldt has released 12 albums with the band (the most recent being Sorceress, which was released in September 2016) and has been the driving force behind the group's combination of death/black metal and prog/classic rock. We caught up with Mikael during the tail end of Opeth's 2017 European tour and

https://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=44670
"So it has more fusion moments, I think. The heavy parts are faster, and I made sure to phrase the lyrics in a way I never have before â€" it's really tight and fast, the screams. They're rapid-fire. I don't cover 10 seconds with one long big scream, I really concentrated on the lyrics this time."

https://www.loudersound.com/features/is-opeths-mikael-akerfeldt-the-future-of-prog
Mikael Åkerfeldt can't remember precisely where he was when a disgruntled crowd member challenged him to a duel, but it was - inevitably - somewhere in America. Åkerfeldt's band Opeth were on a US club tour in support of their 2011 album Heritage, a record that jettisoned the last vestiges of their guttural extreme metal sound in favour of music that was pastoral, contemplative and

https://metalwani.com/2019/08/opeths-mikael-akerfeldt-on-yngwie-malmsteen-his-records-have-been-pretty-fckin-sht-for-a-long-time.html
OPETH's Mikael Akerfeldt On YNGWIE MALMSTEEN: "His Records Have Been Pretty F*ckin' Sh*t For A Long Time" C; August 20, 2019; 1 minute read