Swedish death metal/prog metal veterans Opeth have enjoyed a lengthy career that has already spanned over three decades. Throughout it all, vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt has been a key component. Across fourteen albums, Opeth have made some bold sonic choices, some of which haven’t always landed as well as they had hoped.
In a recently published interview with Revolver, Åkerfeldt was asked which song of his he felt was the “greatest” he’s ever written. His choice was somewhat contemporary: “Faith In Others” from 2014’s “Pale Communion“. He explained:
“I don’t consider any of the songs I’ve written to be particularly great. But if I have to say one that I’m really happy about it, it’s a song that it seems nobody really likes, apart from Steven Wilson, because he mixed the record. On Pale Communion, which is not a super popular record of ours, the last song is a ballad called ‘Faith in Others,’ and I think it’s quite beautiful. It’s not heavy in terms of metal, but it’s heavy in a different way.”
As for the “worst” song he’s ever written, he bestowed that dubious honor upon “By The Pain I See In Others“, the nearly 14-minute closing track of Opeth‘s 2002 album “Deliverance“. As he put it:
“Probably a song called ‘By The Pain I See In Others‘, which is an obscure song on the ‘Deliverance‘ record. I didn’t have a single song when we went in to record that album, so everything was written in the studio.
Basically, I was writing music at night, and we would record it during the day. By the end, of course I was fucked. I was so tired. I got sick after the recording, just completely burnt out. My shit turned gray. I had to go to the doctor and get blood tests. I think that might’ve been the last song I put together for that record, and you can tell.
It’s such a tired song. It’s not good. We played it live a couple of times, and it was surprisingly fun to play live. But it’s not fun to listen to, I think.”
Conversely, when asked which song he was most proud of, he had a much more modern choice:
“I’d say ‘§2‘ from the new album. I love our new album, and I think that song is my favorite from the record. It feels futuristic in a sense, while also being nostalgic at the same time. Plus, I’ve got Ian Anderson from Jethro Tull narrating that song and Joey Tempest from Europe singing. I think it’s gonna be a favorite song of mine for a long time.”
As for what he feels is the most underrated album in his band’s discography, he looked to their 2011 deep dive into prog rock, “Heritage“. He stated of it:
“I don’t know how our albums are rated in the grand scheme of things, but I still probably think [2011’s] ‘Heritage‘ is underrated. We got so much flak for it, so I figure it’s hated. I know a lot of people now love that record, but it wasn’t popular at the time.
To me, it’s special because I don’t think we could write another record even remotely similar to it if we tried. I remember talking to Erik [Danielsson] from Watain — he doesn’t like Opeth, but he likes that album. A lot of black-metal people like that record for some reason. But many of our fans didn’t understand it or just thought it sucked. So, I think it’s underrated. But many of our records are a bit overrated.”
