Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt has revealed that he is in a “metal gentleman’s club” with members of Entombed AD and Grand Magus.
The vocalist says he and Opeth bandmate Fredrik Akesson regularly meet up with Entombed AD guitarist Nico Elgstrand and Grand Magus frontman Janne ‘JB’ Christoffersson to drink and discuss topics ranging from music to their childhood teddy bears.
Akerfeldt tells Metal Hammer: “I love to have people over, and so we’ve started a gentleman’s club. It’s me, Fredrik, Nico from Entombed AD and JB from Grand Magus.
“We go out to have a drink, or we come to my place and we listen to music. We have a group email thing where we discuss the topics we’re going to talk about at the next dinner. Like, if you had a teddy bear when you were a kid, what was it called? Things like that.
“It’s very metal. We were talking about a name, and the one we came up with was The Swallowers, because we’re always eating. I’m planning to get some rings made, because I know a silversmith, so it’s a serious business.”
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The Swallowers also enjoy some gentle ribbing, with JB usually on the end of it.
Akerfeldt adds: “With JB, it’s heavy metal or nothing, so he’s very easy to wind up! When he’s been to my place, I’ve played stuff almost exclusively for him – things he can’t get his head around, like Scott Walker or Magma.
“I love the guy. He’s very bright, very down-to-earth… and I’m making new friends, and that feels good.”
The full interview features in the next issue of Metal Hammer magazine, which is out this week.
Opeth are currently touring North America, before heading to Europe next month in support of their 12th album, Sorceress which was released last month.
Opeth tour dates 2016⁄2017
Oct 10: Minneapolis First Ave, MN
Oct 12: Oklahoma City Diamond Ballrom, OK
Oct 13: Houston Warehouse Live, TX
Oct 14: Austin Emos, TX
Oct 15 Dallas Gas Monkey Live, TX
Oct 18: Las Vegas Brooklyn Bowl, NV
Oct 19: Tempe Marquee Theater, AZ
Oct 21: Sacramento Ace Of Spades, CA
Oct 22: San Francisco Warfirled, CA
Oct 24: Portland Roseland Theater, CA
Oct 25: Seattle Moore Theater, WA
Oct 26: Vancouver Orpheum, Canada
Nov 05: Stockholm Annexet, Sweden
Nov 06: Oslo Konserthus, Norway
Nov 07: Copenhagen DR Koncerthuset, Denmark
Nov 08: Hamburg Docks, Germany
Nov 10: Vienna Arena, Austria
Nov 11: Stuttgart LKA Longhorn, Germany
Nov 12: Munich Theaterfabrik, Germany
Nov 13: Zurich Volkshaus, Switzerland
Nov 14: Milan Alcatraz, Italy
Nov 16: Cologne E-Werk, Germany
Nov 18: Tilburg 013, Netherlands
Nov 19: London SSE Wembley Arena, UK
Nov 21: Paris Le Trianon, France
Nov 23: Luxembourg Den Atelier, Luxembourg
Nov 24: Berlin Astra Kulturhaus, Germany
Feb 06: Sydney Opera House, Australia
