“I want lots of reverb,” Mikael Åkerfeldt told Premier Guitar. “I want the notes to disappear into the reverb.” This is the tonal philosophy of the man who wrote Blackwater Park (2001), Still Life (1999), Morningrise (1996), and Pale Communion (2014) — the five or six albums that, taken together, represent the most complete single vision in progressive death metal history. The notes disappearing into the reverb: this is the specific aesthetic statement that distinguishes Opeth’s guitar sound from the tight, dry, precise guitar sounds of the other Swedish metal bands in this section of the guide. Meshuggah’s guitar sounds like a precision machine; Opeth’s guitar sounds like something between a forest and a dream. The Fractal AX8 does the heavy lifting. The EHX Small Stone phaser adds the swirling motion. And the reverb — set generously, where Åkerfeldt likes it — ensures that the notes dissolve into the music rather than asserting themselves as individual events. His PRS Custom 24 plays “everything from solos to rhythm” — “it’s my favorite guitar of all time.” The Martin OM Mikael Åkerfeldt signature model (74 guitars worldwide, released at Guitar Summit Mannheim September 2025) honored his birth year with torrefied spruce and Guatemalan rosewood in an OM body. He has earned these guitars. He has earned the reverb. He has earned every note that disappears into it.
Mikael Åkerfeldt was born on April 17, 1974, in Hässelby, Stockholm, Sweden. He joined Opeth as a vocalist and guitarist in 1990 (at age sixteen), and has been the band’s primary creative force since assuming full creative control in the early 1990s. Opeth’s trajectory — from the brutal, progressive death metal of Orchid (1995) and Morningrise (1996) through the increasingly refined progressive metal of My Arms, Your Hearse (1998), Still Life (1999), Blackwater Park (2001), Deliverance (2002), Damnation (2003), Ghost Reveries (2005), and Watershed (2008) into the explicitly progressive rock — without death metal vocals or death metal structures — of Heritage (2011), Pale Communion (2014), Sorceress (2016), In Cauda Venenum (2019), and the recent output — represents one of the most sustained artistic evolutions in metal history. He co-founded Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson. He contributed vocals to Bloodbath. He composed the score for the Netflix series Clark. He received two Swedish Grammis awards. He has a PRS signature, a Martin OM signature, and a character in the cartoon Metalocalypse said to be based on him (Toki Wartooth). He is one of the most significant musicians in the history of progressive metal, full stop.
Background: Hässelby Stockholm, Death Metal to Progressive Rock Evolution, Blackwater Park Legacy, Steven Wilson Friendship
Åkerfeldt’s specific musical evolution — from death metal vocalist/guitarist in the early 1990s through the death metal / progressive rock hybrid of the middle period to the purely progressive rock approach of the post-Heritage era — is the most deliberate and most coherently executed artistic transformation in metal history. Each album represents a specific compositional and tonal choice, and the specific gear he uses at each period reflects the tonal requirements of that period’s music.
The death metal period (Orchid through Watershed) required high-gain amplification, specific palm-muted death metal tones, and the extended technique vocabulary (the death growl vocals that Åkerfeldt has since retired, the specific tremolo-picking death metal riff approach) that the genre demands. Simultaneously, the same albums required clean acoustic guitar for the folk and classical acoustic sections that alternate with the death metal brutality — Opeth’s specific innovation in the progressive death metal tradition was precisely this alternation between extremes, the juxtaposition of brutal electric sections and delicate acoustic sections within a single song structure.
The post-Heritage period (2011 onward) requires the vintage progressive rock tones — the warm tube amplifier character, the Mellotron pad sounds, the specific 1970s keyboard and guitar textures — that the Gentle Giant, Yes, and King Crimson tradition established. His description of the In Cauda Venenum recording: “We had a nice original M400 Mellotron, lots of old guitars, lots of amplifiers, and pedals.” The Mellotron M400 — the vintage keyboard that produces its sounds by playing back tape recordings of real instruments — is as important to the Opeth sound of the post-Heritage era as any guitar or amplifier.
His friendship with Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree (who produced the Opeth albums Blackwater Park, Deliverance/Damnation, and Ghost Reveries) is the most important single creative relationship in his career outside of Opeth itself. Wilson’s specific production aesthetic — the warmth and detail of his recording approach, his specific understanding of how acoustic and electric guitar interact in a progressive rock context — contributed substantially to the specific character of the Opeth albums from Blackwater Park through Ghost Reveries. The Storm Corrosion collaboration (their joint album released in 2012) represents the most direct creative fusion of the two musicians’ approaches outside of the Opeth/Porcupine Tree contexts.
The Rig: Mikael Åkerfeldt’s Guitars, Amps, and Effects
Guitars — Electric
PRS SE Mikael Åkerfeldt Signature (Primary Performance and Recording Guitar, “My Favorite Guitar of All Time”): Åkerfeldt’s primary and most personally significant electric guitar is his PRS SE Mikael Åkerfeldt signature — confirmed in the Equipboard interview where he specifically names it as “my favorite guitar of all time.” His description of its key features: “One of the standout features of it for him is the satin finish on the neck, as opposed to glossy which makes it easier to get stuck. The bridge pickup is an HFS, and the neck pickup is a Vintage Bass.” The PRS HFS/Vintage Bass pickup combination — the same configuration used by Dave Navarro (Series 2 #155) — provides the specific combination of bright, articulate bridge humbucker clarity (HFS) and warm, full-bodied neck warmth (Vintage Bass) that covers the full range of Opeth’s guitar needs: the aggressive, present bridge tone for metal riffs and the warm, singing neck tone for the melodic lead passages.
His endorsement of the PRS SE Mikael Åkerfeldt over the full-price PRS Custom 24 reflects the specific character of the player: he uses and endorses tools because they serve his music, not because they carry prestige. The SE series represents PRS’s more accessible Korean-made production; the Custom 24 represents the American-made higher-end production. That his “favorite guitar of all time” is the SE rather than the Custom 24 reflects the specific preferences that determine his choices.
PRS Custom 24 (Multiple, Various Colors — Primary Live Guitars): For live performance, Åkerfeldt uses multiple PRS Custom 24 guitars — documented by UberProAudio in “Tortoise Shell Flame Top, Blue Flame Top, Black Quilt, Black” finishes. The PRS Custom 24 is Paul Reed Smith’s flagship guitar model: a double-cutaway 24-fret solid body with mahogany body, maple top, PRS tremolo, and the company’s proprietary HFS/Vintage Bass or 85/15 pickup configurations. The multiple colors document the professional touring necessity of backup instruments — having identical guitars in multiple finishes allows instantaneous switching for string breakage or pickup failure without tonal change.
Martin OM Mikael Åkerfeldt Limited Edition Signature (2025, 74 Units): At Guitar Summit Mannheim in September 2025, C.F. Martin unveiled the OM Mikael Åkerfeldt signature — a limited edition of only 74 instruments (honoring his 1974 birth year). Features: torrefied spruce top (torrefied wood undergoes controlled heating to replicate the aged tonal character of vintage guitars), three-piece back of Guatemalan rosewood with East Indian rosewood wedge, European flamed maple binding, ebony fingerboard with black mother-of-pearl Roman numeral inlays, black Liquidmetal bridge pins, VTS-treated spruce bracing, Golden Era scalloped X-bracing, and the Low Profile Velocity neck (designed for SC body models and ideal for players used to electric guitar neck profiles). This is the most specific acoustic instrument documentation of any Opeth guitar and reflects Martin’s recognition of Åkerfeldt’s importance in the acoustic guitar world as well as the metal world.
CF Martin 000-28 (Earlier Documented Acoustic): A CF Martin 000-28 appears in UberProAudio’s earlier documentation of Åkerfeldt’s acoustic collection — a steel-string acoustic with the 000 (Orchestra Model) body, rosewood back and sides, and spruce top. The 000-28 is Martin’s most balanced acoustic: less powerful than the dreadnought D-28, but more sophisticated in tonal balance, with a clarity and evenness that suits fingerpicking and complex chord voicings.
Amalio Burguet 3AM (Cedar Top Classical Nylon) and Landola CT/2/W (Classical): Opeth’s classical guitar passages — particularly in the delicate, purely acoustic sections of the middle-period albums — are played on classical nylon-string guitars. The Amalio Burguet 3AM (a high-quality Spanish luthier’s instrument with a cedar top) and the Landola CT/2/W (a Finnish nylon-string) appear in UberProAudio’s documentation. The specific tonal character of nylon-string classical guitars — the soft, warm attack and the specific decay character of nylon strings — produces a distinctly different atmosphere from steel-string acoustic, and Opeth’s compositional use of both types reflects the specific tonal context requirements of each passage.
Various Vintage Guitars (Recording, “Lots of Old Guitars”): His Premier Guitar description of the In Cauda Venenum recording — “lots of old guitars, lots of amplifiers, and pedals” — reflects a recording approach that uses whatever vintage instruments are appropriate for the specific tonal requirements of each passage. His GearGods interview discussing the EarthQuaker Devices Grand Orbiter V1 phaser — “I got this in Akron, Ohio” — documents the casual, place-specific way vintage or boutique gear enters his collection.
Amps
Fractal Audio AX8 (Current Primary Amp, “Does Most of the Heavy Lifting”): The Premier Guitar Rig Rundown confirms: “Mikael Åkerfeldt takes a simpler approach for his colors with a Fractal Audio AX8 doing most of the heavy lifting aside from an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone phaser and a TC Electronic BodyRez pickup enhancer.” The Fractal AX8 is a floor-format version of the Axe-FX — providing the same amp modeling and effects processing capability in a pedalboard-format unit rather than a rack-mount. For a guitarist who describes reverb as his primary tonal tool and who wants “notes to disappear into the reverb,” the AX8’s high-quality reverb models and its amp model flexibility for both the heavy and the progressive rock sections of Opeth’s repertoire are appropriate.
Laney GH100L (Live and Ghost Reveries Recording): The Equipboard documentation confirms the Laney GH100L as Åkerfeldt’s live amplifier during the Ghost Reveries period (2005): “noted for featuring several Laney amplifiers.” The Laney GH100L is a British-made 100-watt tube head with a specifically British tonal character — warm, harmonically complex, with a natural tube saturation at moderate gain settings. For Opeth’s post-death-metal period recordings, where the guitar tone was moving toward warmer, more organic character, the Laney’s specific British warmth was more appropriate than the tight, aggressive American high-gain character of Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers.
Marshall Yngwie Malmsteen Signature Head (Heritage Album Rhythm Guitar): One of the more unexpected amp citations in this guide: Equipboard documents that for the Heritage album (2011), “we had a bunch of Marshalls. We’re endorsed by Marshall. The amp we ended up using the most was the Yngwie Malmsteen signature model, mainly for the rhythms.” The Marshall Yngwie Malmsteen Signature head — a modified Marshall JMP/JCM800 circuit voiced specifically for Malmsteen’s high-gain neo-classical metal approach — ended up as Åkerfeldt’s primary rhythm amp for the album that most explicitly abandoned death metal for progressive rock. The Marshall’s specific British crunch character suited the 1970s hard rock/progressive rock tonal reference of Heritage’s compositions.
Marshall Joe Satriani Signature JVM410HJS (Documented): The Equipboard documents: “Then we also had the Joe Satriani signature head and 1960 cabs.” The Marshall Joe Satriani signature — the JVM410HJS, a four-channel 100-watt head designed with Satriani’s specific tonal preferences — provides additional Marshall tonal variety alongside the Yngwie model. Opeth’s multi-amp recording approach for Heritage and subsequent albums is consistent with Åkerfeldt’s “lots of old guitars, lots of amplifiers” studio philosophy.
Mellotron M400 (Keyboards, Not Technically Guitar — But Essential to the Opeth Sound): While the Mellotron M400 is a keyboard instrument rather than a guitar, its presence in Åkerfeldt’s studio setup is as important to the specific Opeth tonal identity of the post-Heritage era as any guitar or amplifier. The Mellotron M400 — the original tape-based keyboard that produces sounds by playing back tape recordings of real instruments (strings, flute, choir) — provides the specific warm, slightly unstable, vintage character of 1970s progressive rock productions. His Premier Guitar quote: “We had a nice original M400 Mellotron” for In Cauda Venenum. The Mellotron’s specific sound — the “strings” setting’s particular lush, choir-adjacent warmth, the “flute” setting’s specific breathy quality — is as foundational to the Opeth sound as the guitars themselves in the post-death-metal period.
Effects
Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Phaser (Primary Pedal Effect, Premier Guitar Confirmed): The Premier Guitar Rig Rundown confirms: “Mikael Åkerfeldt takes a simpler approach for his colors with a Fractal Audio AX8 doing most of the heavy lifting aside from an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone phaser and a TC Electronic BodyRez pickup enhancer.” The EHX Small Stone is one of the most celebrated phaser pedals in rock history — a simple, four-stage phase shifter with a single rate control, first produced in 1974, associated with the specific swirling, “swooshing” quality of classic rock and psychedelic guitar. Its “pretty much on all the time” status (based on his statement about setting it on spring reverb in the Equipboard interview context) makes it a constant element of Åkerfeldt’s live and studio guitar tone.
TC Electronic BodyRez Pickup Enhancer (Acoustic Enhancement): The TC Electronic BodyRez appears alongside the AX8 and Small Stone in the Premier Guitar Rig Rundown — a device specifically designed to enhance the acoustic body sound of guitars that use undersaddle pickups (by adding simulated acoustic body resonance to what is otherwise a thin, piezo-pickup sound). In Opeth’s live context, where Åkerfeldt switches between electric and acoustic guitar passages, the BodyRez ensures that the acoustic guitar passages have the full, resonant body sound of a naturally miked acoustic.
EarthQuaker Devices Grand Orbiter V1 Phaser (Sorceress Tour): “In an interview with GearGods, Mikael Akerfeldt discusses using the EarthQuaker Devices Grand Orbiter V1 phaser pedal during Opeth’s ‘Sorceress’ tour.” The Grand Orbiter V1 provides a different phasing character from the Small Stone — a four-stage optical phaser with a resonance control that allows deeper, more dramatic phasing effects. The casual origin story — “I got this in Akron, Ohio” — reflects Åkerfeldt’s approach to gear acquisition: opportunistic, place-specific, based on trying an instrument or pedal and responding to its specific character rather than based on systematic research.
Reverb (Heavy, “Notes Disappear Into It”): The most important single effect in Åkerfeldt’s signal chain is the reverb — which he specifically describes as heavy, constant, and central to his tonal philosophy: “I’m the opposite [of Fredrik Åkesson] — I want the notes to disappear into the reverb.” Whether from the Fractal AX8’s built-in reverb modeling or from external reverb units in studio contexts, the specific character of Åkerfeldt’s guitar tone — the notes that seem to hang, bloom, and dissolve rather than asserting themselves with the precision of Meshuggah — is primarily the result of the reverb treatment. Heavy reverb applied to PRS Custom 24/HFS bridge pickup character produces the specific dense, warm, slightly diffuse guitar sound that Opeth’s emotional atmosphere requires.
Effects on Guitars Recorded at Source (“Not Added Afterwards”): His Premier Guitar quote about In Cauda Venenum: “We even recorded all the effects on the guitars. They’re not added afterwards. That basically ties in with my fascination to make fast decisions. We get a good sound, that’s it.” This is the direct, committed recording philosophy that produces the specific “recorded feel” of Opeth’s studio work — the effects are baked into the recorded guitar tone rather than being applied as post-production additions. The guitar track is what it is; the commitment is made at the recording stage.
Playing Style & Tone Philosophy
Mikael Åkerfeldt’s playing style is the most compositionally sophisticated in the metal tradition — the work of a musician who has absorbed progressive rock (the Jethro Tull acoustic-to-electric transitions, the Yes compositional ambition, the King Crimson harmonic complexity), death metal (the brutal, percussive technical vocabulary he developed in Opeth’s early career), acoustic folk (the fingerpicked acoustic passages that have been part of Opeth’s sound since Orchid), and jazz-influenced harmonic language (the chord progressions that move through territory that no conventional metal band would explore) into a single, coherent compositional vision.
His tone philosophy is the opposite of Meshuggah’s: where Thordendal and Hagström pursue precision, dryness, and note-definition-in-the-low-frequencies, Åkerfeldt pursues warmth, dissolution, and note-dissolution-in-the-reverb. The two approaches represent the two poles of Swedish metal guitar — aggressive precision and atmospheric beauty — and their coexistence within the same national guitar tradition reflects the breadth of that tradition. Both approaches are legitimate; both are extreme; both are distinctly Swedish in their commitment to a specific aesthetic without compromise.
His observation — “Even at your heaviest, Opeth’s music always maintains a human, rock ‘n’ roll feel” — captures the specific quality that distinguishes Opeth from purely technical metal: the human quality, the sense of a musician making choices in real time rather than executing a pre-programmed pattern, is maintained even in the band’s most technically demanding passages. This human quality comes from his specific approach to recording effects at source, to making fast decisions, to committing to a sound rather than endlessly refining it in post-production.
How to Sound Like Mikael Åkerfeldt
Guitar: PRS Custom 24 or PRS SE Mikael Åkerfeldt Signature — the HFS bridge humbucker/Vintage Bass neck humbucker configuration is the specific pickup combination that produces his guitar character. The mahogany body with maple top provides the warm-but-present tonal character of his electric sound.
Amp: Fractal Audio AX8 or AX3 for the modeling approach — the AX8’s amp models and reverb are central to his live sound. For studio recording: vintage Marshall heads (Yngwie Malmsteen signature, JVM, or comparable) with 1960 4×12 cabinets for the heavy sections; Laney GH100L for the warmer, progressive sections.
Amp Settings (Marshall/High-Gain for Metal Sections):
| Control | Setting (0–10) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Gain | 6–8 | Moderate-high — Opeth’s metal sections are aggressive but not maximum gain |
| Bass | 5–6 | Present — the warm, bass-rich character is part of Opeth’s sound |
| Mid | 5 | Natural — not scooped, Opeth’s guitar is mid-present |
| Treble | 5–6 | Balanced — bright enough for note clarity, warm enough for atmosphere |
| Reverb | 6–8 | GENEROUS — “I want notes to disappear into the reverb” |
Effects: EHX Small Stone phaser (rate slow, on most of the time for the subtle, constant phasing character). Reverb (generous — the “notes disappear” philosophy requires the reverb to be audible, not subliminal). TC Electronic BodyRez for acoustic sections. A touch of delay for the progressive rock passages. Commit to the sounds before recording — no post-production reverb adjustment after the fact.
Influence & Legacy
Mikael Åkerfeldt’s influence on progressive metal guitar is the most complete in the tradition — he is simultaneously the most important composer, the most important vocalist, and one of the most important guitarists in progressive death metal history. His specific influence on subsequent musicians runs through the specific compositional approach of Opeth’s albums (the integration of acoustic and electric, of death metal and progressive rock, of extreme and delicate within a single song structure) and through the specific sound he developed (the warm, reverberant PRS-through-heavy-reverb character of the progressive rock era).
His connection to Fredrik Thordendal (Series 2 #166) and Mårten Hagström (Series 2 #167) as contemporaries in the Swedish metal scene reflects the specific cultural moment: three Swedish guitarists in Umeå and Stockholm developing three of the most distinctive guitar approaches in 1990s and 2000s metal simultaneously, without direct collaboration, each pursuing a specific vision that was incompatible with the other two but collectively defined Swedish metal’s international reputation. His connection to Ihsahn (Series 2 #169) as a parallel figure in Norwegian black metal reflects the broader Scandinavian metal tradition within which both musicians developed.
The Martin OM Mikael Åkerfeldt limited signature — 74 instruments — represents the ultimate institutional recognition of his acoustic guitar importance, coming from the company whose instruments have been associated with folk, country, and acoustic music for nearly two centuries. That Martin created a signature model for a progressive death metal guitarist reflects precisely the range of Åkerfeldt’s musical identity: he is not just a metal guitarist but a musician, and Martin recognizes musicians.
Internal Links:
- Fredrik Thordendal of Meshuggah, a fellow Swedish metal guitarist of the same generation at #166
- Mårten Hagström of Meshuggah, another Swedish metal contemporary at #167
- Ihsahn of Emperor, a parallel Scandinavian extreme metal guitarist of the same era at #169
- Michael Amott of Arch Enemy/Carcass, another Swedish metal guitarist who developed in the same scene at #175
Frequently Asked Questions: Mikael Åkerfeldt Opeth Guitars & Gear
What guitar does Mikael Åkerfeldt play?
Åkerfeldt’s primary and most beloved electric guitar is the PRS SE Mikael Åkerfeldt signature — which he describes as “my favorite guitar of all time,” specifically praising the satin neck finish and the HFS bridge/Vintage Bass neck pickup combination. For live performances, he uses multiple PRS Custom 24 guitars in various colors (Tortoise Shell Flame Top, Blue Flame Top, Black Quilt). For acoustic, he plays a CF Martin 000-28, Amalio Burguet 3AM (nylon-string classical, cedar top), and in 2025 a limited 74-unit Martin OM Mikael Åkerfeldt signature was unveiled. He also uses vintage guitars in studio recording contexts.
What amplifier does Mikael Åkerfeldt use?
Current live rig: Fractal Audio AX8 (floor-format Axe-FX) doing “most of the heavy lifting.” For Ghost Reveries (2005): Laney GH100L. For Heritage (2011): Marshall-endorsed with the Yngwie Malmsteen signature head as the most-used model “for the rhythms” and the Joe Satriani signature JVM410HJS alongside it with 1960 cabs. Studio recording uses “lots of amplifiers” — vintage and signature heads appropriate for the specific tonal requirements of each album’s compositions.
What is Åkerfeldt’s reverb philosophy?
“I want lots, unlike Fredrik [Åkesson], who wants more of the dry tone so every note pops out. I’m the opposite — I want the notes to disappear into the reverb.” This philosophy produces the specific warm, ambient, dissolving-note quality of Åkerfeldt’s guitar tone in Opeth’s more progressive, atmospheric passages — where the guitar’s sustaining notes blend into the sonic environment rather than asserting themselves as individual events. The EHX Small Stone phaser and the Fractal AX8’s reverb both contribute to this effect in his live rig.
What is the Martin OM Mikael Åkerfeldt signature?
The Martin OM Mikael Åkerfeldt is a limited edition acoustic guitar unveiled at Guitar Summit Mannheim, Germany in September 2025 — limited to only 74 instruments worldwide, honoring his 1974 birth year. Features include a torrefied spruce top (heat-treated to replicate aged vintage tonal character), three-piece back of Guatemalan rosewood with East Indian rosewood wedge, European flamed maple binding, ebony fingerboard with black mother-of-pearl Roman numeral inlays, black Liquidmetal bridge pins, VTS-treated spruce bracing, Golden Era scalloped X-bracing, and Martin’s Low Profile Velocity electric-feel neck. It is the first traditional-body Martin with this neck profile.
What is Opeth’s musical evolution under Åkerfeldt?
Under Åkerfeldt’s creative leadership, Opeth evolved from brutal progressive death metal (Orchid, 1995) through the death metal/progressive rock hybrid that earned the band critical acclaim (Blackwater Park, 2001) to an explicitly progressive rock approach abandoning death metal vocals and structures entirely (Heritage, 2011 onward). The post-Heritage period albums (Pale Communion, Sorceress, In Cauda Venenum) draw from 1970s progressive rock — Yes, King Crimson, Gentle Giant — with vintage Mellotron and warm tube amplifier character replacing the high-gain metal tones of the earlier period.
What is Storm Corrosion?
Storm Corrosion is the collaborative project between Åkerfeldt and Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, releasing one self-titled album in 2012. The album represents the most direct creative fusion of the two musicians’ approaches — Wilson’s ambient, neo-psychedelic, prog production sensibility meeting Åkerfeldt’s compositional sophistication and vocal range in a context without any death metal elements. Wilson had produced the Opeth albums from Blackwater Park through Ghost Reveries, and Storm Corrosion was the formal expression of the creative friendship that those productions had developed.
What is the Åkerfeldt/Metalocalypse connection?
The character Toki Wartooth in the adult animated series Metalocalypse (created by Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha, 2006-2013 plus 2023 movie) is said to be partly based on Mikael Åkerfeldt — sharing aspects of appearance, nationality (Norwegian in the show, Swedish in reality), and gentle personality that contrasts with death metal exterior. Åkerfeldt has acknowledged the comparison with characteristic humor. Toki Wartooth is the lead/rhythm guitarist of the fictional band Dethklok.
