Mikael Åkerfeldt doesn’t see himself as a singer like Dio.
“I don’t really see myself as a singer — or a guitar player for that matter,” the Opeth singer told Finland’s Chaoszine, discussing his journey as a singer. “I see myself as a — I am a musician. I like to come to write music. I think that’s fun. The singer thing, it’s, like, nobody else wanted to do it [in the early days of Opeth]. I guess it has to be me.”
Åkerfeldt added, “And I don’t compare myself to my peers or my idols, especially my idols. I don’t go, like, ‘Hey, Ronnie Dio, what’s your trick? Mine’s this and that. I’m gonna teach you something.’ Those guys up there. I’m just like a bum who got lucky, if you know what I mean.”
In a 2016 chat with The Quietus, the rocker had again talked about being a singer, “There’s more confidence. I’ve been doing this for a long time. You have to bear in mind that I never identified with being a singer. I never wanted to be a singer. When we formed the band [he has previously claimed in a sauna, but certainly in Stockholm in 1990] I just wanted to play guitar. I was pushed into that position.”
He continued, “So gradually after X amount of years, I felt I became more confident and that it was something I really needed; that I could progress and improve as a singer. I needed that type of confidence and that’s been escalating ever since. Only now in recent years have I come to accept that, yes, I am the singer in this band. After 12 records.”
“My idols are those types of guys and I’ve never been able to sing like that so I have high aspirations when it comes to my vocal tone, so to speak,” said Mikael before mentioning his idols. “I want to be a good rock singer, classic rock-type singer: like Paul Rodgers, Coverdale and those kinda guys. I know I won’t arrive at a place where I feel I am as good as them but it helps me to advance to work towards a goal musically that is completely out of my league. It really helps me to develop I think.”
Åkerfeldt initially joined Opeth as a keyboardist in 1990. Two years later, when the bassist left, he became the bassist. Three years later, when David Isberg left, Åkerfeldt became the vocalist.
