Opeth guitarist Fredrik Åkesson recently shared a memorable encounter with guitar legend Yngwie Malmsteen from his teenage years. He recounted advice he received about developing his own musical identity in an interview with Tuonela Magazine.
Åkesson recalled his teenage encounter with the Swedish neoclassical metal virtuoso when asked about meeting his guitar heroes in real life and how it felt as a full circle moment.
“I knew his girlfriend a little bit at the time,” Åkesson said. “And during the ‘Odyssey’ album when I was 14 or something, in his prime time when he was really big. He stayed for a while where I used to live. And I got invited to meet him being a fanboy kid when I was 14.”
The Opeth guitarist described the surreal experience of meeting his idol and the advice that followed.
“And so I hanged out with him and he signed my albums and I started drinking beers with him,” he continued. “I didn’t know how to play that much but I had this neocclassical [imitates his playing] and he looked at me. I played really slow and kind of sloppy. I just started practicing a lot that age. And he’s looking at me saying, ‘Find your own style.'”
Åkesson emphasized Malmsteen’s kindness during their meeting. He noted the significance of guitar playing during that era.
“But he was really super nice,” he said. “That was very cool, and of course, unreal because back in those days playing guitar was a really big. Maybe it still is of course to a certain extent.”
This encounter took place during a pivotal moment in Malmsteen’s career. It provided important context for why the meeting left such a lasting impression on the young guitarist.
Wikipedia documented that the “Odyssey” album that Åkesson referenced was Yngwie Malmsteen’s fourth studio album, released in 1988. The album marked a significant commercial success for Malmsteen, reaching No. 40 on the US Billboard 200 and charting across Europe and Japan. This commercial peak explains why Malmsteen was “really big” during the time period Åkesson described.
The timing of their meeting was particularly significant given Malmsteen’s influence on the metal guitar scene. AllMusic noted that Malmsteen is widely credited with pioneering the neoclassical metal genre, combining classical music influences with heavy metal guitar virtuosity. His technical proficiency and distinctive style helped shape expectations for metal guitarists throughout the late 1980s and beyond.
This historical context underscores the weight of Malmsteen’s advice to “find your own style.” The Swedish guitarist’s emphasis on developing a unique voice on the instrument came from someone who had successfully carved out his own niche in the metal world. MusicBrainz confirmed that the “Odyssey” period represented Malmsteen at his most influential, making his mentorship particularly valuable for aspiring guitarists like the teenage Åkesson.
The encounter ultimately proved formative for Åkesson, who would go on to develop his own distinctive style as a member of progressive metal band Opeth. The advice from one of metal’s most technically accomplished guitarists clearly resonated. Åkesson has since established himself as a respected musician in his own right while avoiding the trap of simply copying his influences.
