FREDRIK ÅKESSON Explains How WALTTERI VÄYRYNEN Became OPETH’s New Drummer

In a current chat with Rock Antenne’s David Loebe at Guitar Summit 2024, Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson shared insights on the band’s determination to convey drummer Waltteri Väyrynen in September 2022. Väyrynen, identified for his work with Paradise Lost, Bloodbath, and Bodom After Midnight, stepped in to fill the sneakers of Martin “Axe” Axenrot, who had beforehand exited Opeth.

Initially, drummer Sami Karppinen, Axenrot‘s drum tech, took over as a brief fill-in, masking two U.S. excursions and a summer season pageant run till the band was able to announce a everlasting addition. Åkesson defined how Opeth found Väyrynen by watching him sort out “The Satan’s Orchard” – a monitor requiring finesse past simply the standard excessive metallic drumming he was identified for.

“We had a man that helped us out in between, a man known as Sami, who truly was Axe‘s drum tech. So he did the 2 American excursions we signed up for, and in addition the pageant summer season season,” Åkesson recalled (through Blabbermouth. “After which we had Waltteri in thoughts as a result of we noticed him play the monitor ‘The Satan’s Orchard’, which is… He is extra of, I might say, an excessive metallic drummer, however in Opeth, it is advisable have a much bigger spectrum, it is advisable know the prog, the extra calm stuff, and tasteful stuff, and he performed that monitor, which isn’t a dying metallic monitor, however he simply nailed every part; he actually had your complete spectra as a drummer — all of the totally different parts which can be required inside Opeth, as a result of we form of change in between ’70s prog rock, onerous rock, metallic, dying metallic, progressive metallic, blah, blah, blah, and many others. Some barely jazzy stuff as effectively.”

After performing three excursions collectively, Väyrynen joined Opeth within the studio to file their upcoming album, The Final Will And Testomony. The primary monitor, “Paragraph Three,” was accomplished in a single take. Nonetheless, Väyrynen wished to present it one other shot, exhibiting his dedication.

“We did three excursions with Waltteri earlier than we recorded the album The Final Will And Testomony with him. So he simply nailed every part straight. Once we went into the studio, the primary monitor we recorded was ‘Paragraph Three’, and he simply nailed it on the primary take. So, we went, ‘That is it.’ However he was, in fact, as I might be, ‘No. One other one.'”

Whereas Axenrot hasn’t publicly mentioned his departure, his Bloodbath bandmate Nick Holmes, who additionally performs with Paradise Lost, revealed that Axenrot‘s exit may have been related to his decision against COVID-19 vaccination. It stays unsure if this was the only real motive behind his departure, as neither Axenrot nor Opeth has confirmed additional particulars.