Martin Axenrot knew he had big shoes to fill when he was called on to sit in for Opeth’s long time drummer Martin Lopez, who had become ill and was unable to tour with the group. After completing five tours with the titans of Swedish metal, Axenrot became a full member of Opeth in the spring of 2006. Being a fan of many styles of music, Martin never had any difficulty adapting his playing style to authentically replicate Opeth’s music live, but he did feel challenged when it came time to enter the studio to record the band’s latest masterpiece, Watershed. But judging by his fantastic performance – a brilliant mix of blast beats and precise double bass offset by impressive prog rock chops – captured on what everyone from the band’s rabid fans to Opeth founder, singer/guitarist Mikael Akerfeldt is calling the group’s best effort, Axenrot had no need to worry.
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