Tatiana Shmailyuk, lead vocalist with Ukrainian metal band Jinjer, discovered Opeth as a teenager. In 2019 she told Prog how her passion for Mikael Åkerfeldt’s voice led to the discover of much more progressive music.
“I discovered Opeth in around 2003 when I was 16 or 17. A friend of mine gave me a mix CD with a bunch of different bands on, and that’s when I first heard Damnation. I fell in love with it and I’ve been a huge fan ever since.
It’s my favourite album of theirs. Oh my God, it’s so atmospheric! And Mikael Åkerfeldt’s voice is so soothing – I’d never heard a male metal vocalist sing so clean before, but when he growled, it was the deepest shit I’d ever heard.
He’s also a wonderful compose; he really hits the jackpot. Mikael’s vocals have definitely inspired me to growl as deep as I can, but I try not to imitate other performers as I prefer to do my own thing.
I love all the songs on Damnation, but the one I like the most is Death Whispered A Lullaby [written by Steven Wilson]. I have goosebumps just talking about it! I appreciate listening to the album all the way through, as one long song, and that’s how I used to listen to it when I was painting. I used to do these very gloomy and dark paintings, and Opeth’s music really inspired my creativity.
I found their 2016 album, Sorceress, very relaxing too. It’s an album that needs time to really appreciate and understand it. I like to have it on when I go to sleep. I find it very soothing – but I miss his growling!
Discovering Opeth was a revelation to me. At the time I was listening to mostly nu metal and alternative music, then through Opeth I discovered progressive metal. Tool came next, then Anathema, Porcupine Tree and Katatonia. I really like Soen and Riverside now as well.
The first time I got to see Opeth live was actually this summer. We were both playing at Rock The Coast Festival in Spain and I was lucky enough to be able to watch them from the side of the stage. I was singing along and it was so cool.
I didn’t go up to Mikael afterwards though. I don’t think he needs to hear what I think about his music! I would probably have been too paralysed with fear to talk to him anyway, because he’s my hero!”
