In a recent interview with Rock Antenne, Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson discussed the addition of drummer Waltteri Väyrynen to the band’s lineup. The guitarist explained the band had no limits in search of a drummer to replace Martin ‘Axe’ Axenrot.
“We had a guy that helped us out in between, a guy called Sami, who actually was Axe’s drum tech,” the guitarist explained. “So he did the two American tours we signed up for, and also the festival summer season. And then we had Waltteri in mind because we saw him play the track ‘The Devil’s Orchard’, which is… He’s more of, I would say, an extreme metal drummer, but in Opeth, you need to have a bigger spectra, you need to know the prog, the more calm stuff and tasteful stuff, and he played that track, which is not a death metal track, but he just nailed everything; he really had the entire spectra as a drummer — all the different elements that are required within Opeth, because we kind of switch in between ’70s prog rock, hard rock, metal, death metal, progressive metal, blah, blah, blah, etc. Some slightly jazzy stuff as well.”
Åkesson also clarified that Waltteri ‘nailed’ everything. “But we did three tours with Waltteri before we recorded the album [‘The Last Will And Testament’] with him. So he just nailed everything directly. When we went into the studio, the first track we recorded was one that we released so far, ‘Paragraph Three’, and he just nailed it on the first take. So, [we went], ‘That’s it.’ But he was, of course, as I would be, ‘No. Another one.'”
Axenrot’s decision not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 caused his departure from Opeth. After Axenrot’s departure, Sami Karppinen of Therion has stepped in for Opeth’s live performances. Later, former Paradise Lost drummer Waltteri Väyrynen was confirmed as Opeth’s new drummer.
Axenrot officially joined Opeth over 15 years ago, taking over from Martin Lopez. Lopez left the band in May 2006 due to ongoing illness and anxiety attacks that caused him to miss several of the band’s tours.
Now, Opeth is getting ready to release their album, ‘The Last Will and Testament.’ Although the album was originally set to be released on October 11, the band announced earlier that production delays have pushed the release date to November 22.
