In a shocking twist that no one saw coming, Mikael Åkerfeldt, the legendary frontman of OPETH, has revealed the real reason for his return to growling vocals on the band’s upcoming album, The Last Will and Testament. It wasn’t nostalgia, a change of heart, or fan pressure — it was his cat.
In a recent interview on Coffee With Ola, Mikael casually dropped the bombshell that his beloved cat, Lucifer (yes, you read that right), was the true inspiration behind the growls on the newly released single, “§1.” According to Mikael, the feline decided to sink its teeth into him during a particularly calm recording session, and the rest is history.
“Honestly, I wasn’t planning on it,” Mikael confessed, sipping his coffee like a man both at peace and completely over it. “I had my clean vocals all lined up, real mellow stuff. And then, out of nowhere, Lucifer just bit me. Like full-on chomped my arm. I was so startled, I let out this guttural scream… and it was perfect! I thought, ‘Well, if this is what the people want, so be it.’ So, if anyone’s happy that I’m growling again, they really need to thank my cat.”
Despite the positive fan reaction, Åkerfeldt remains slightly irked by how much attention the growling has received. “Look, we’ve done four albums without screams. People liked them, but now it’s all ‘Mikael’s back, OPETH is back!’ Like, was I gone? Did I take a vacation no one told me about? I’m tempted to just record an entire album of random cat noises and see if people still lose their minds.”
He went on to joke, “Maybe the next album will be a tribute to all the animals that have ever annoyed me during recording. It’ll be a mix of meowing, barking, and, of course, the occasional cat bite-induced growl. Maybe then the fans will appreciate the real artistry.”
So, next time you’re headbanging to The Last Will and Testament, just remember: the heavy, iconic growls you love wouldn’t have happened without a very angry cat.
#cats are satans slaves, #fake news, #Opeth, #praise the cat
