Mikael Åkerfeldt

Mikael Åkerfeldt
Mikael Åkerfeldt

Mikael Åkerfeldt in 2008
Background information
Born 17 April 1974 (1974-04-17) (age 37)
Stockholm, Sweden
Genres Progressive metal, death metal, progressive rock, jazz fusion, doom metal, heavy metal.
Occupations Musician, singer-songwriter, producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards
Years active 1990–present
Labels Roadrunner
Associated acts Opeth, Bloodbath, Katatonia, Porcupine Tree
Website www.opeth.com
Notable instruments
PRS Guitars

Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈoːkərfɛlt]) (born 17 April 1974)[1] is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel. He is known for his progressive rock-influenced songwriting style and his frequent use of both clean and growled vocals.

Mikael and Peter Lindgren were ranked #42 out of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists of all time by Guitar World.[2] Akerfeldt was also ranked 9th place in the book "Top 100 Heavy Metal Guitarists".

Contents

Career and biographical details

Åkerfeldt with Opeth at Wacken Open Air in 2006.

A native of Stockholm, Mikael Åkerfeldt was the vocalist for Eruption, a death metal band which he formed in 1988. After Eruption came to an end in 1990, he joined Opeth, ostensibly as a bassist. When vocalist David Isberg insisted Åkerfeldt join the band, all other members left. Isberg assumed guitar duties, and when he left Opeth two years later, Åkerfeldt replaced him as the vocalist. Åkerfeldt performed the death vocals on Katatonia's album Brave Murder Day and Sounds of Decay EP.

Åkerfeldt is a collector of obscure 1970s rock and heavy metal albums. He also tends to show his influence from these obscure bands, making reference to them in Opeth album titles such as Blackwater Park, Still Life and My Arms, Your Hearse, as well as songs such as "Master's Apprentices". He is also influenced extensively by both jazz and the musician Ritchie Blackmore.[3]

On 15 August 2003, Mikael Åkerfeldt married his longtime girlfriend, Anna Sandberg. On 13 September 2004, Anna gave birth to a daughter whom they named Melinda. The couple had their second daughter, Mirjam Ebba Maria Åkerfeldt, on 28 October 2007.

Åkerfeldt is known to be good friends with Steven Wilson, the frontman of one of his favorite bands, Porcupine Tree;[4] Mike Portnoy, former drummer of Dream Theater (he is featured in their music video for Wither); and Jonas Renkse of Katatonia. He is also presumed to be the basis for the character Toki Wartooth from the popular cartoon Metalocalypse, as divulged in an interview with ultimate-guitar.com.[5]

Solo album

Mikael Åkerfeldt revealed in September 2009 that he is contemplating recording a singer-songwriter acoustic solo album.

"I've always been wanting to do a thing like that. I've got a bunch of lovely acoustic guitars back I wanna use more. Even though Opeth could probably do an album like that, I wanna do it on my own, and in that sense, I wanna record it on my own — in my house, basically. I think I can do it well. I think I can do a good album like that."
"I'd like to maybe simplify it even more [than the Opeth acoustic stuff], and have it just chords playing, and maybe some finger-picking stuff, so I could be able to perform it if I would wanna do that. So I don't want it to be lots of tracks, like overdubbing guitars with lots of melodies; I want it to be fairly simplistic so if I wanted to, I could play it live on my own... on a stool. [Laughs]"[6]
Mikael Åkerfeldt with Opeth at Ruisrock 2008 in Turku, Finland.

Equipment

Akerfeldt uses 3 different tunings: E Standard, Drop D and Open D minor 9 (D-A-D-F-A-E). He has almost exclusively used PRS guitars since the Deliverance/Damnation era and has his own signature model.

Electric guitars[7]

  1. PRS Custom 24 (Tortoise shell flame top)
  2. Gibson Flying V ('67 Reissue)
  3. PRS Custom 24 (Blue Flame Top)
  4. PRS Custom 24 (Black Quilt)
  5. PRS Custom 24 (Black)
  6. PRS SC 245 (Black Cherry)
  7. Fender Stratocaster 1975 (Black)
  8. Fender Stratocaster 1972 Reissue (Natural)
  9. Gibson Les Paul Standard V.O.S. (Tobacco Sunburst)
  10. B.C. Rich Mockingbird (Black)
  11. PRS 22 fret Modern Eagle (Grey Flame Top)
  12. PRS Modern Eagle Single Cut 24 Fret (Wine Flame Matte Top)
  13. Gibson SG Standard 1961 Reissue
  14. PRS Custom 22 12-String (Black)
  15. PRS Singlecut (Black Quilt)
  16. PRS SE Mikael Åkerfeldt Signature Guitar

Acoustic guitars/Steel string[7]

  1. CF Martin (with Fishman Pickup)
  2. CF Martin 00016GT
  3. Takamine 12 String
  4. Seagull (with Fishman Pickup)
  5. CF Martin 000-28

Acoustic guitars/Classical nylon

  1. Amalio Burguet 3am (cedar top)
  2. Landola CT/2/w

Amps[7]

  1. Laney GH100L with cabinet
  2. Laney VH100R
  3. Laney VC30
  4. Fender 1000 Rocpro
  5. Fractal Audio Axe-Fx Ultra preamp / effects processor

Discography

with Opeth

with Katatonia

with Bloodbath

Appearances

Notes

External links



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mikael Åkerfeldt — Mikael Paul Åkerfeldt (né le 17 avril 1974 à Stockholm, Suède) est un musicien suédois, principalement connu pour être l actuel leader, chanteur, guitariste, compositeur, et parolier pour le groupe de Metal progressif à tendance Death metal Opeth …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mikael Akerfeldt — Mikael Åkerfeldt Mikael Åkerfeldt Mikael Åkerfeldt (né le 17 avril 1974 à Stockholm, Suède) est un musicien suédois, principalement connu pour être l actuel leader, chanteur, guitariste, compositeur, et parolier pour le groupe de death metal… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Mikael Akerfeldt — Mikael Åkerfeldt Mikael Åkerfeldt (* 17. April 1974 in Stockholm) ist ein schwedischer Musiker. Er ist Sänger und Gitarrist der Progressive Death Metal Band Opeth und Sänger der Death Metal Band Bloodbath …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mikael Åkerfeldt — Munich Backstage Werk, 6 de diciembre de 2008. Datos generales Nombre real Lars …   Wikipedia Español

  • Mikael Åkerfeldt — (* 17. April 1974 in Stockholm) ist ein schwedischer Musiker. Er ist Sänger und Gitarrist der Progressive Death Metal Band Opeth und Sänger der Death Metal Band Bloodbath …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Åkerfeldt — Mikael Åkerfeldt Mikael Åkerfeldt (* 17. April 1974 in Stockholm) ist ein schwedischer Musiker. Er ist Sänger und Gitarrist der Progressive Death Metal Band Opeth und Sänger der Death Metal Band Bloodbath …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mikael — ist eine skandinavische, finnische und armenische Form des männlichen Vornamens Michael.[1][2] Bekannte Namensträger Mikael Agricola ( 1509–1557), finnischer Theologe und Reformator Mikael Åkerfeldt (* 1974), schwedischer Sänger und Musiker… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Opeth — in 2009 at the Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN. Left to right: Per Wiberg, Fredrik Åkesson, Mikael Åkerfeldt, Martin Mendez, and Martin Axe Axenrot Background inf …   Wikipedia

  • Orchid (album) — For other uses, see Orchid (disambiguation). Orchid Studio album by Opeth …   Wikipedia

  • Opeth — en vivo en la Sala Apolo en 2008 …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”