Interview: Martin "Axe" Axenrot

I recently got to do an email interview with none other than Bloodbath, Opeth and Witchery drummer Martin “Axe” Axenrot.

Special thanks go out to Jasper Schuurmans, who helped making this possible. Blast some Bloodbath and read the interview after the jump.

Dose of Metal: You’ve been playing with Bloodbath since ‘Nightmares Made Flesh’. What is the biggest difference between playing with Peter Tägtgren and Mikael Akerfeldt?

Martin “Axe” Axenrot: The biggest difference, I guess, is that I know Mikael a lot better than Peter and we´ve play in the same band together for a while now. We´ve done quite a lot of touring and concerts together, ya know. I have never played live with Peter from what I can remember. Very nice guy though… and good voice too!

DoM: A lot of people call you Legolas, how do you feel about that?

Axe: I like to think that they´re only joking but I take it as a compliment otherwise…hehe. But if you look at Orlando Bloom how he looks normally without Legolias´ long blonde hair, I can´t really see many similarities with him anymore. I guess it´s all in the hair…

DoM: Bloodbath have played more melodic and more brutal death metal, which style do you personally prefer?

Axe: Not sure if I understood the question. But more of everything is nice. Even though less usually does the trick.

DoM: Do you have groupies? Or let me ask more politely: have you ever fucked a groupie?

Axe: I always give them away to journalists, photographers, crew, etc. They seem to have time for that sort of thing.

DoM: What is the biggest difference between playing for Bloodbath, Witchery and Opeth?

Axe: It´s very different when it comes to the music I would say. When we go out on tour with Opeth, we´d be out for 2 years, and play 200-250 shows a year. That makes it very different to the other bands with which we only do a couple of shows, if even that. I guess Bloodbath and Witchery is a bit more physical than Opeth. At least for me it is.

Witchery – WitchkriegDoM: Which one of these three bands get the most groupies?

Axe: Obviously the band that is biggest and has most fans gets the most groupies. Still, if your goal is to get a load of groupies, maybe experimental / prog / death metal isn´t the music you should be playing…

DoM: How do you feel about the term “supergroup” in relation to Bloodbath?

Axe: Good, I guess. I personally don´t call it the “supergroup”, but if someone wants to call it that, it´s fine with me.

DoM: Have you ever had a supergroup of groupies? Supergroupies?

Axe: Not that Im aware of…

DoM: Bloodbath have done a couple of dates at festivals this year, are there plans to do a full on Bloodbath tour in the future?

Axe: Don´t think so. Everyone is occupied with their main bands, I think. Katatonia tours a lot now, and Opeth are working on a new record. Hopefully there is time for a new BB record at some point…

DoM: How hard is it to get a decent shower during tour?

Axe: It depends on where in the world you are. We dont have shower problems with Opeth that much. I´ve done some Wicked tours in Europe with Satanic Slaughter in the nineties, when we slept in a minivan for 2 weeks. There weren´t even enough seats for everybody to sit in while we drove. One time one of the tires exploded on the German autobahn and we almost crashed. Pretty hard tour. It´s a long way to the top if you wanna rock n roll…hehe

Opeth – Porcelain HeartDoM: Which song, of the new album, was the most challenging to record for you?

Axe: I can´t really remember. Felt like the whole album is one long song. Derelict Herds maybe…. Thats a bonus song though…

DoM: Witchery has just released a new album this year, what was it like to work with Erik ‘Legion’ Hagstedt compared to Witchery’s former singer Tony ‘Toxine’ Kampner?

Axe: I was actually not in the studio while he put down the vocals. Think I was on tour. I think the vocal sounds good on the record, and what Ive heard it all went down very smooth in the studio.

DoM: You’ve been in Opeth for 4 years now, what was it like to step into Martin Lopez’s footsteps?

Axe: Actually my first show was 8th of august 2005. But as a member I guess it has indeed been 4 years. I´ve played a lot of songs from Opeth´s earlier days live, both with Anders and Martin on drums on the records. It´s always a good challenge to make ´em sound as good as possible live.

DoM: Mikael Akerfeldt recently stated that Opeth are currently writing for their upcoming album. How far are you with the songwriting yet?

Axe: I´m not involved with the actual song writing but Mike sent me a demo with a few tracks that he´d written so far and I´m working out the drum part from my own home. Can´t wait to hit the studio and start recording!

DoM: Cowgirl or reverse cowgirl?

Axe: Cowbell for me…

DoM: Which album, you’ve been on, features your favourite work?

Axe: Watershed.

DoM: You’re our second interviewee, do you feel honoured? You should!

Axe: Very!

DoM: Any last words for your readers at doseofmetal.com?

Axe: Either you do it or you don´t.

DoM: Thank you for your time!