The newly released Netflix crime/comedy series ‘Clark‘ has a certain metal pedigree going for it. Directed by metal musician turned director Jonas Åkerlund, the Swedish-language series finds Bill Skarsgård (‘It‘, ‘Castle Rock‘) in the titular role of Clark Olofsson, a Swedish criminal who became a so-called ‘celebrity gangster’ for his various run-ins with the law and lengthy incarcerations.
Among his exploits was the infamous Norrmalmstorg robbery, which led to the coining of ‘Stockholm syndrome,’ in which hostages develop an emotional bond with their captors.
Opeth vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt composed the soundtrack for the film, which also finds him lending his own vocals to four of the 34 tracks. Åkerfeldt commented of his involvement:
“Writing the music for ‘Clark‘ is probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve done musically. It was so fun. Challenging but fun. I wanted to do a good job, of course, and provide music that would fit with the rather bizarre tale of Clark Olofsson. I had to conjure up a sound for him. His sound. It’s all in my head, I guess, but it felt like I was on to something after having finished the first track. The immediate feedback from Jonas Åkerlund was almost overly positive. So I just took it from there.
During the pandemic, I wrote so much music for this project, but I like to think I didn’t stray too much from the ‘original sound of Clark.’ The finished soundtrack record is a downright wish-mash of musical styles. Some sounds I’m familiar with. Other sounds were brand new to me. Or old, depending on how you see it. Brand ‘old’?
The album doesn’t really make musical sense at all, and that’s pretty much the purpose. Writing music to portray the multi-faceted story of a man like Clark Olofsson was bound to generate some type of musical insanity. It (the music) is just all over the place. Oddly enough, so is my own personal taste in music.
Even if many would deem Clark ‘a man insane,’ it really helped me in my work. No boundaries (let’s cross them). No rules (let’s break them). Anything goes…”
That soundtrack was digitally released through Milan Records today, May 05th and can be heard here. It will receive a physical release on July 22nd through InsideOut Music (pre-order here.)
In addition to his work on the soundtrack, Åkerfeldt also landed a small part as a grumpy inmate. Tobias Forge, the mastermind behind the ever-theatrical Swedish metal outfit Ghost, also appears in the series as a violinist. Myrkur (aka Amalie Bruun) landed small role as well.
You can see Forge‘s cameo below, along with the official trailer for the series:
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