Mikael Akerfeldt & Fredrik Akesson of Opethrecently caught up withMetal Injection who have been lucky enough to hear the band’s new record! They talked a lot about the themes of the new album, Opeth’s past and they also talked about the ever-sensitive topic of religion where the guys had some pretty controversial things to say.

Mikael -“I would say that we’re atheists. Like many other metal bands, when we started out, we were into satanism and stuff like that. Growing up in Stockholm, and forming a band in the late ‘80s, it comes with the territory, I guess. But it was a gimmick in those days, just like it is today with the satanic bands. But we never had any religious beliefs ourselves. I think it’s still interesting with the occult. I always had a fascination for it. But it’s not something I want to push on to [others].”