Mikael Akerfeldt shuts down solo rumours

Opeth mainman Mikael Akerfeldt says he has no plans to record a solo album – despite having been offered a record deal.

He says stories about a one-man project began circulating because he discussed his desire to learn more about studio production by experimenting on himself.

Akerfeldt tells Rocksverige: “I got an offer from a record label to do a solo record not long ago. Those rumours come from me saying that I would like to do a thing like that to learn more about the technical aspect of recording. I was going to start in an easy way with just an acoustic guitar and vocals – a singer/songwriter record.”

But he continues: “It hasn’t materialised. It was never decided. It was just something I said.”

Akerfeldt last year said he and Steven Wilson were open to the idea of recording another Storm Corrosion album. – but now he reports it could be too soon to follow their 2012 release. “I think there’s a possibility,” he says. “We don’t really know what to do with another record. What would it be?

“The good thing with Storm Corrosion was that there was no references, so when it came out nobody knew what to expect. But now there’s a reference, which makes it a bit dull.

“We said if we feel like it, we’ll do another one. But we prefer to do so when people forget about the first one.”

Opeth are on the road until October, including a set at Bloodstock on August 8 and at the London Palladium on October 18, where they’ll perform their Ghost Reveries album in full.

Tour dates

Jun 18: Tons Of Rock, Norway

Jun 28: Tuska Open Air, Finland

Jul 10: Monterrey Escena, Mexico

Jul 11: Mexico City Circi Volador, Mexico

Jul 12: Mexico City Circi Volador, Mexico

Jul 14: San Jose Pepper’s Club, Costa Rica

Jul 17: Santiago Tatro Caupolican, Chile

Jul 18: Buenos Aires Groove, Argentina

Jul 19: Sao Paulo Carioca Club, Brazil

Jul 31: Wacken Open Air, Germany

Aug 08: Bloodstock Open Air, UK

Aug 13: Summer Breeze, Germany

Aug 16: Motocultor, France

Aug 22: Pstereo, Norway

Sep 19: Plovdiv Roman Theatre, Bulgaria

Oct 04: Norrmalm Konserthuset, Sweden

Oct 12: Berlin Admitalspalast, Germany

Oct 13: Wupperal Stadhalle, Germany

Oct 14: Utrecht Tivolivredenburg, Netherlands

Oct 15: Brussels AB, Belgium

Oct 16: Offenback Capitol, Germany

Oct 17: Paris Le Trianon, France

Oct 18: London Palladium, UK

Oct 22: New York Beacon Theater, NY

Oct 24: Los Angeles Orpheum Theater, CA

Oct 25: Los Angeles Orpheum Theater, CA

Akerfeldt: I nearly give up every day

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.