# “We looked the the hippies they wanted to kill!”: How Opeth survived their early days in a scene they didn’t quite fit

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/we-looked-the-the-hippies-they-wanted-to-kill-how-opeth-survived-their-early-days-in-a-scene-they-didnt-quite-fit/
- Published: 2026-11-01T17:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-01T17:15:05+00:00
- Original publisher: Louder
- Original article: https://www.loudersound.com/bands-artists/mikael-akerfelft-opeth-nowrwegian-black-metal-era
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- Opeth felt like outsiders in Sweden’s black metal scene.
- Åkerfeldt says their appearance made them look like targets.
- The band kept to the fringes as it found its own sound.

## Summary

Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt recalls that the band felt out of place in Sweden’s early black metal scene, where they were viewed as outsiders. Their long hair and hippie appearance made them resemble the people some scene members targeted, despite Opeth’s interest in heavy music.

Åkerfeldt says the band avoided trouble by staying on the fringes and keeping their distance from the scene’s more extreme elements. The article presents this as part of Opeth’s early history, before they developed their own identity blending death metal with progressive influences.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.