Opeth mastermind Mikael Åkerfeldt is broadly celebrated not just for his musical prowes, but in addition for his richly expressive and sometimes enigmatic lyrics. Recognized for weaving uncommon and evocative language into his songwriting, Åkerfeldt approaches lyrics as an artwork type in itself.
In a latest interview with Sinusoidal Music, Åkerfeldt opened up about his enduring love of phrases and his drive to make Opeth‘s titles and lyrics as visually and sonically hanging because the music itself.
“Nicely, I type of stopped that course of now with the final album as a result of [they’re all named paragraph numbers]. I imply, to me, it is similar to… the aesthetics while you take a look at a tune title, they’ve all the time been necessary to me. I’ve all the time been drawn to these perhaps not-so-common phrases. I am like a little bit of an Anglophile in that sense.
“I bought a lot inspiration from movie, albums, and different bands. Simply choose up an Iron Maiden file, for example. Or simply the title ‘Iron Maiden‘ — like, what’s that? That is superior. Little did I do know it is a torture system. I simply type of checked out stunning phrases and checked out the which means.”
Åkerfeldt additionally mirrored on a lyrical misfire in Opeth‘s “The Evening And The Silent Water Lyrics” that reads “Lonely cesspools / Relics of the moon-dogged lake / Whisper, ‘All of your phrases are misgiven.” saying it isn’t fairly what he meant.
“Over time, I’ve made a number of errors the place I believed a phrase meant one thing, and it meant one thing fully completely different. I bear in mind I wrote some lyric that was alleged to be stunning lyric — I am unable to bear in mind which tune—however the lyric was like: ‘lonely cesspools.’
“And the label on the time was like, ‘Lonely? Like, lonely cess… like, lonely holes of shit?’ I used to be like, ‘No, is that what—?’ You understand, it was type of… I do not know. It was simply not what I needed to write down, so to talk.
“However yeah, I similar to to experiment with language. And there aren’t any guidelines. Not even grammar. I do not actually listen. Like, I need it to be appropriate, however I permit myself to fuck with the grammar — to make it look or sound bizarre. You understand, freedom. Creative freedom.”
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