Of all the encounters Mikael Åkerfeldt has had with his heroes over the years, it’s the night he got pissed and danced with the blonde one from ABBA that sticks in his mind.
It was 2011, and Åkerfeldt’s band Opeth were working on their tenth album, Heritage, at Stockholm’s Atlantis Studios. In the 70s, when it was called Metronome, ABBA had recorded their first five albums there. The same guy still owned the studio, and was still in touch with Agnetha Fältskog, one of their singers. As huge ABBA fans – mandatory in Sweden, punishable by prison for anyone who isn’t – Opeth would bring up her name every so often. “I’d joke: ‘How’s Agnetha doing? When’s she coming down to do guest vocals?’” says Åkerfeldt now.
