Swedish guitarist and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth recently spoke with Ultimate Guitar and revealed why he's cynical about today's metal scene, claiming many bands lack originality and excitement in their sound:

"It's easy to put bands down, especially in the metal scene. There are a lot of bands I just think are unnecessary (laughs). They don't have to be there. Most of the time I hear a song from a band it feels like I get it right away, if you know what I mean. I'm more interested in music when I hear something and it doesn't necessarily have to be completely new or something I haven't heard before. But I want something to make me go, 'Oh, that's odd. That's interesting.' That's what I've developed into myself, which is why I'm very cynical about the metal scene.

I've discovered so much from old music and I developed this songwriting approach from listening to older artists and bands and that shaped me for what I'm doing now. Even if we're a contemporary band, all the influences come from all these fantastic older bands, which basically makes it sound the way we do. It's not because we listen to what's going on today or anything like that. That also has me kind of frowning upon the music scene as it is today. That it's not really so exciting. It's very rare for me to listen to something and go, 'Hmm. That' cool. That's interesting.'

I wrote the best metal riffs from listening to old shit that doesn't have anything to do with metal. Which a lot of people might think sounds strange but that's how it is. Because I stopped consuming that contemporary metal music by the time we did our first record (1995's Orchid) pretty much."

Having recently announced a US date at the renowned Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado on May 11th, Opeth and Gojira have now confirmed more US dates.

Says Gojira: “This spring we are excited to announce we will be playing some US dates with our friends in Opeth! Tickets go on sale this Friday 10 AM, local time.”

Opeth states: “A very nice little USA tour together with our friends Gojira.”

Confirmed dates:

May
4 - Nashville, TN - War Memorial Auditorium<
5 - Concord, NC - Charlotte Motor Speedway (Carolina Rebellion Fest)
6 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
7 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
9 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
11 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre
12 - Kansas City, MO - Arvest Bank Theater at the Midland
13 - Indianapolis, IN - Old National Centre
14 - Somerset, WI - Somerset Amphitheater (Northern Invasion Fest)